The Warmest,Barafzaar Iv

Setting: A glacial alcove near Parvez’s shelter. The ice walls shimmer with embedded relics—bottlecaps, bones, broken tech. Fardeen kneels, chipping at the wall with a heated chisel.

[Enter FARDEEN, breath visible, hands raw. He pauses, breathes.]

FARDEEN I was born to warmth— To cities that never ran out of light. But here I am, Chiseling silence from a wall of ice. And I don’t mind. Because she is near. Meera. She makes this place feel less like exile.

[He resumes work. Enter MEERA, quietly. PARVEZ watches from a distance, unseen.]

MEERA You shouldn’t be out here this long. The cold doesn’t forgive. My father’s deep in his calculations. You have time. Come inside.

FARDEEN I’d rather finish this. The wall remembers everything. And I want to understand what it’s trying to say.

MEERA Then let me help. Give me the chisel—I’ll take a turn.

FARDEEN No. I’d rather freeze than watch you suffer for my sentence.

MEERA You look exhausted.

FARDEEN Not when you’re near. When you’re near, it feels like thaw. Tell me—what’s your name?

MEERA Meera. I wasn’t supposed to tell you. But I wanted to.

FARDEEN Meera. It suits you. You’re made of everything this place forgot. I’ve known many people— But none like you.

MEERA I’ve only known two men— My father, and now you. And I wouldn’t trade either. But I’d choose you, if I could.

FARDEEN You already have me. The moment I saw you, My heart stopped looking.

MEERA Then I’ll say it. I want to be with you. If you’ll have me, I’m yours.

FARDEEN Yes. With all my heart.

MEERA Then take my hand. And with it, everything I am.

[They clasp hands. PARVEZ, still unseen, watches.]

PARVEZ [aside] I knew this would happen. And yet— It still surprises me. Let them have this. Let something in this place be simple.

?? Scene II: The Plot

Setting: A jagged ice shelf lit by auroras. Safeer and Tabish stumble through the snow, drunk on glacier gin. Carbaan follows, wearing a ring light like a crown.

[Enter SAFEER, TABISH, and CARBAAN. They pass a bottle between them.]

SAFEER When the bottle’s dry, we’ll drink snowmelt. But not a drop before. Carbaan, my man-beast—drink to me.

TABISH They say there’s only five of us left on this ice. We’re three. If the other two are as brain-frozen as us, This place is doomed.

SAFEER Drink, servant-mammoth. You’re my lieutenant now. Or my brand ambassador.

CARBAAN Let me lick your boot. I won’t serve the other one. He’s not radiant.

TABISH You lie, you prehistoric fish. I’ve drunk more glacier gin than any coward alive.

CARBAAN He mocks me! Will you let him?

SAFEER Tabish, hush. This creature is my subject. He shall not suffer indignity.

CARBAAN Thank you, radiant one. Shall I repeat my offer?

SAFEER Yes. Kneel and pitch it again.

[Enter ICE, unseen, humming softly.]

CARBAAN [kneeling] He sleeps in the afternoon. You could crush him with a cryo-spike. But first—take his books. They are his power. Burn them, and he’s just a man. And the girl— She is unlike anything I’ve seen. Not carved from bone, But from light caught in ice. Her eyes hold storms. Her silence is older than language.

SAFEER Is she that stunning?

CARBAAN She is the only warmth this place allows.

SAFEER Then I’ll do it. I’ll kill the man. She and I will rule this place. Tabish, you and Carbaan—my viceroys.

TABISH Excellent. Also, I forgive you for hitting me earlier.

CARBAAN He’ll be asleep within the hour. Shall we sing?

SAFEER At your request, monster. Let’s sing.

[They try to sing. The tune is wrong. ICE begins to play the real melody—soft, haunting.]

TABISH What is that?

SAFEER Music. From nowhere.

TABISH From no one.

CARBAAN Be not afraid. This place is full of sounds— Sweet airs that give delight and do no harm. Sometimes a thousand instruments Hum around my ears. And sometimes voices— That make me dream of skies opening And riches falling like snow. When I wake, I cry to dream again.

SAFEER This will be a fine kingdom. Music for free.

TABISH Let’s follow it. Then we kill the man.

SAFEER Lead on, monster.

[They exit, following the music. ICE lingers.]

ICE [to the audience] They think I am silence. But I am memory. And I never forget.

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