Free The Honey Thief by Najaf Mazari, Robert Hillman Page B

he’d imagined. His classmates look shy, all of them dressed in the best clothes their families can provide. The school principal, Mulavi Mohammad Ayayub, stands proudly before the assembled students, ready to bow to the King. Three of Abdul Khaliq’s teachers stand together behind Mulavi Mohammad Ayayub, ranked in seniority from right to left.
    In three weeks’ time, the school principal and the three teachers behind him will be hanged in exactly the same order in which they now stand. But on this day, they are not to know that. Neither the school principal nor any of Abdul Khaliq’s teachers harbour any designs against the life of the King, although in the interrogations that precede their hanging each will confess, after torment, that Abdul Khaliq told them that he intended to shoot the King.
    Since nobody on earth knows that Abdul Khaliq is carrying a loaded pistol in a secret pocket, the young man might, if he wished, change his mind about the whole scheme and return to his family after being greeted by the King. It is a possibility. The King is greeting a student at the start of the line in which Abdul Khaliq waits. There is time to reconsider. Even when the King is about to speak to the student next to Abdul Khaliq, there is time. But Abdul Khaliq has now reached for the loaded pistol in the secret pocket, and a second later, he has fired it twice. ‘Aim for the heart,’ is the refrain in his head as he fires, and his aim is good. The King is dead before he has the chance to utter the words to the student on Abdul Khaliq’s right, ‘God grant you success with your studies.’
    And so it is done. No power on earth can restore life to the King. No power on earth can save Abdul Khaliq from the torment that awaits him. The teachers and the school principal watch on in horror as Abdul Khaliq is seized by the King’s soldiers and held by his arms – their lives are over. The bodyguards and ministers who carry the King’s bleeding body from the courtyard are already dreading what blame may be attached to them merely for being present at this calamity. The students have retreated into a huddle, kept from leaving the courtyard by the dead King’s soldiers – many of them fear that when the great axe falls, it will fall on them.

5
    The Death of Abdul Khaliq
    Abdul Khaliq is a prisoner in a cell guarded by six soldiers of the new King Mohammad Zahir Shah, the son of the dead King. The prisoner is dressed in the special uniform of those detained in Kabul Prison – loose grey trousers and a black-and-white striped vest. The special uniform is the innovation of the late King, who thought the prisoners in Afghan jails should wear similar identifying garments to those worn by prisoners in British jails. For the first few days of his imprisonment, Abdul Khaliq endures beatings and interrogation. High-ranking officers of the new King’s army take turns screaming at him, as if the louder the screams, the more evident their loyalty to the new King will seem. But with the passing of a few more days, it becomes clear that Abdul Khaliq was not the chosen assassin of an army of Hazara rebels. He says as much himself. The officers shriek at him, ‘Carrion! Who is your master?’ and Abdul Khaliq answers, ‘I have no master but God.’
    ‘And who gave you this weapon, carrion?’
    ‘I paid for it with my own money,’ says Abdul Khaliq.
    The officers don’t know whether to believe him or not. He seems too dreamy to be part of a clever plot. But at the same time, it is almost impossible for the officers to accept that a boy such as Abdul Khaliq could be responsible for the death of a king. It seems contrary to the law of Heaven. What? A foolish boy such as this end the life of the mighty Mohammad Nadir Shah? And yet, better that he should be a fool than a genius.
    The new King’s generals and ministers consult with the mullahs. The fate of the assassin will be death, of course, but by what method? He should die in a way