Three hearts were pumping in my chest. I looked at her belly as if to glimpse our child. All of a sudden, I felt straighter, more robust, braver. A sense of jitter crowded my heart; my eyes were like an owl scanning the world to find beauty and danger anywhere I looked. To beat the danger, to embrace the beauty.

Nevertheless, my sight was more limited than ever. My world was about three people. I had always imagined such a scenario: nervous, complicated, and overbearing. That meant I would never leave the mother of that child and lose my freedom. On the other hand, all I could think about was taking Tomris' hand, making her the princess of Tigrisia, and handing over our sleeping baby to his uncle Jaromir. I couldn't decide whether to teach my boy to sword-fight or let it be Jaromir. What if his eyes were like his mother's: slanting? Maybe he was going to be golden blond, just like Jaromir. I imagined Jaromir rocking him in his arms, seeing how they looked alike.

Tomris abruptly snapped her fingers in front of my eyes. "Pull yourself together!" I woke up as being born into this world for the first time. I looked into her eyes, pretending to be confident. "What are we going to do?" she said. I kept her hands in my palms. "I am thinking that Durad would fit him." She tilted her head. "What?" whispered slightly. "I mean, it is expected that you are not familiar with this name. It is Tigrisian. King Durad was one of the fiercest rulers of Tigrisia. I believe our baby deserves..." She screamed faintly. I was bewildered, even confused.

"I am not going to have this baby." Then, my heart felt like it was being squeezed. "What does that mean?" She didn't say anything. "He is our son." Tomris waved her hand in the air. "Come on; you don't know that."  The sound of the three hearts got lower. "Isn't he mine?" I asked vaguely. She slapped me on the cheek. "Of course, he is... I mean, the baby is yours," she screamed one more time, then shamefully closed her mouth. I rubbed my red cheek. "I just say you cannot know if the baby is a he," she whispered. My heart was pounding so fast that it would burst my chest. "It is okay. I have always wanted to name my daughter Miriam like my mother."

What I said was not real, yet at that moment, it sounded logical. It would be nice to give my mother's name to my child. Tomris leaned her hand on her forehead. "This would be a disaster. I am married to the prince of Danishmenthan. This child will be his." I clenched my teeth and strolled in the room. "This won't happen." Tomris straightened up. "So you are going to tell your brother about this." My eyes opened wide up, and the cold air made them dry. I remembered what Jaromir said the moment we last saw each other. This was precisely the kind of situation that would make people question my position and even shatter it. If this veils, that meant war. I knew Jaromir would fight beside me no matter how much he cared for Bayezid. Therefore, I would disappoint him: the foolish brother driving both countries to chaos rather than being by his side in Tigrisia. He would never trust me again. "He told me not to do anything that could hurt Dragarevic's dignity. This was the particular case that he beware." Tomris' hopeful eyes got awfully vacant. "I assumed," she said. I put my hand on her naive shoulder. "I will eventually tell him before the baby is born." She looked at me in disbelief.

Whereas there was another sense in her eyes. Something more than just disappointment or anger. She felt pain and hesitation, in fact, not towards me. She pricked up her ear. "Someone is coming." She slowly opened the door a crack and watched the surroundings. Then she pushed me out. "Vanish before anyone sees you!" 

The trumpets were heard even before the birds yawned to start singing. Temur's army had invaded the north. They said he didn't attend the battle but sent his son Matteo Lenk. It was the revenge of Bayezid destroying all the Mongolian troops returning to Mongolia from the southern cities. I saw warriors mounting their horses. Kartal was leading them. Before he joined the raiders, he dragged Tomris, who was dispatching them to a corner. I could disguise myself beneath the marble columns to listen within the absolute chaos. Their voices were vague, but I could catch a few words. "I told him." "He won't tell King Jaromir." "As I said before." "Never mind." "The other plan is already happening." "The baby is going to be the successor to the throne." I was frustrated. My blood cannot be the successor of this land of dirt. I was surprised that Kartal had already known.

 After a while, the castle was all quiet again. Bayezid was present but unseen. Tomris was ignoring me. She was not acting differently than before, but somehow, I felt like she was broken. I was undoubtedly going to tell Jaromir, yet the situation was heated, and as such a threat was along the way, I needed to postpone the confession. 

Nevertheless, my brother was the most superior man ever walking on this earth. We loved each other deeply. Love cannot disappoint. Even him stating to stand beside me no matter what happens proved my point. 

Before the Kasvoltran war, we played in the white rose garden of our Castle in Belgrad before this madman separated us for years. We were playing hide and seek. There was this diamond bracelet that shone stronger than the sun itself. It belonged to my father. Uncle Darcy, none of us knew what kind of traitor he was back then, told me he would buy a better ornament than that bracelet for me. However, it was the bracelet that belonged to my father I wanted. I was hiding beneath the rose bushes. He was searching for me. Those days, your heart could race even for incidents that do not fill a walnut shell. That happened when I eagerly waited to be found without moving an inch. Abruptly, Jaromir jumped from my back. "Gotcha!" he shouted. I was so startled that I was blown away when the bracelet got lost among the rose bushes.

I immediately started to cry as I realized its absence. My eyes were soaked that I couldn't see. In an instant, Jaromir vanished, and I was all alone. Uncle Darcy heard me and rushed towards me. "What happened, Vuk?" he asked, heavily nervous. I couldn't reply, gasping. He carried me up. "It's okay, boy, everything is just fine," he said, but I felt my father would never love me again. After a while, Jaromir crawled out of the bushes. His face and arms were scratched from the thorns of the roses. He was bleeding, but inside his palm, there was the bracelet. He said that he fell into the bushes at the dinner. Uncle Darcy still bought me a new bracelet. 

It had always been the same. My brother disappeared only to come and help me soon. All I needed to do was wait. 

Until his death, I always endeavoured to win my father's heart. I was not sure if I earned it after all. My mother was in a hurry, always complaining about the absence of Jaromir, always admonishing that I should be prepared for his grand return. All that I had was Jaromir—the one who unconditionally loved me. I remember Darcy having constant arguments with Mother about Jaromir being the successor. He had been stating that I should be the king as long as I could tell. Indeed, I was younger. He just thought that I was more accessible to manipulate. Despite this, I was glad I didn't see his cut head hanging down from Jaromir's hand. 

Before the sun went down, Tomris and I met in the forest, at our usual place. We sat on a fallen tree trunk. I realized that her hands were placed around her belly more than usual. This unconscious behaviour made me so exhilarated that I urged her to tell her what I had planned for us. "My brother will immediately take you and the baby to his patronage. You don't know him. I do. He can demonish everything that threatens us. He is capable of ruling the world. Yet, this is not the right time to inform him. We must wait till the upcoming war between Temur and Bayezid ends. Then, Jaromir will accept you and our baby when it settles down. He can even compromise with Bayezid and avoid bloodshed." 

"What if the war is lost?" she said from nowhere. I laughed. "It is impossible. My brother will fight beside Bayezid." She remained silent by swallowing a word stuck in her throat. "If the war is lost, then I am dead, and so is the baby. Tigrisia fights against Temur, remember?" she began, forgetting what she decided not to tell before. I repeated. "Bayezid cannot lose the war. My brother, Jaromir Dragarevic, is invincible." She dropped her head forward in dismay. "You adore your brother so much, don't you?" 

"He has always been family. Now I also have you and Durad." 

A month it was passed. Kartal had returned with victory. He said all of the Temur's soldiers were defeated except Matteo, who managed to escape. Bayezid lost it. He couldn't believe an army could not capture one man whose soldiers were dead. I felt that Bayezid wanted to see what Temur's son was like. He wanted to know Matteo. He tried to compare himself in every sense with Temur, including their sons. However, Temur had only a son, while Bayezid always believed he had just one. A meeting was held within the parliament, which took six hours.

Meanwhile, I wanted to see Oksana and ask her whether she knew any recent developments. I couldn't find her anywhere. Finally, I found myself in front of her room. The guardians didn't let me in; they said she caught a contagious, feverish, harmless disease, but she kept herself isolated to prevent the soldiers from seeing it. As I was about to leave, I heard voices from inside. I attended to approach, yet the guardians stopped me. "Queen says she will feel better in a week or two." I nodded, yet the case was so suspicious that I thought I would come by once the darkness arose. 

I spent the rest of the day in bed, waiting for the moon to show itself. I fall asleep. As I woke up, I went directly to find Oksana. The fancy door of her room was seen far away. I approached and noticed Tomris walking towards me soberly. She whispered, "Meet me in the barn; it is urgent," as she walked past me. I got so close to Oksana's door that it was stupid not to call her name, yet Tomris sent me a desperate gaze that possessed my feet to get down directly to the barn. It was the old cranky barn where she told me that she didn't like me. It felt strange to meet her there once again. 

When she was sure that we were not followed, she faced me. "Your brother is getting married to the lady of Siren Stone," she spoke clearly. I was confused. The Siren Stone was the biggest ally of Temur in the Balkans. She continued nonstop. "Bayezid learned that. He believes Jaromir betrayed him. He is planning a feast with all his allies in the Balkans. He already agreed on new successors that will take each of them's places, including Jaromir. He will poison all of them. He thinks they are all working for Temur. He is insane, Vukasin. You need to warn your brother not to come to the feast." I was stone cold and frozen. It was hard to contemplate. "You must go before they trap you like they did to Queen Oksana." A spark went off in my mind. I rushed to my room, grabbed my sword, and mounted one of the horses saddled at the entrance. I set out on my duty, my heart burning with determination and excitement to become the saviour of my brother for once. As Tomris' indefinite figure in the darkness started to fade, the light of the stars was enlightening my way.