Kartal eventually got to become the king's hand, which played the role of the king more or less those days. He was playing the game by the rules. Bayezid, on the other hand, was sending letters to Temur eagerly and in fury, waiting for his response and isolating himself from the rest of the world to find the best-fitted words to offend him. It was kind of eccentrically romantic. It is evident that a heavy bear of suspicion blinded his eyes; all he could see were men who might be working for Temur secretly. He would be relieved to feel Temur's proximity if he finally caught one. As I said, it was romantic. 

I was almost packed, waiting for a suitable time to declare my leave. Nothing was left in Danishmenthan that I was interested in. I had felt so lonely that I already dreamed of the next warm bosom in which I would bury my head. I would find a pretty girl or boy in the inns of Tigrisia, where I usually sidled in. There could always be shy daughters and confused sons of merchants and royals accommodated in the Dragon's Nest. Everything would be alright, as it was. I was sick, and only the warm breeze of home could heal me. I got all dressed up and headed to Bayezid's room. "Thank you for the opportunity, but I believe, my grace, that my appearance in Tigrisia would be more appropriate. I left my brother alone sometime now." I repeated this sentence until I got to the hall where most house members had rooms.

While passing the terrace, I heard a vigorous fight between a couple. I hid between the columns, instinctively laughing at myself as if I was conducting a crime here. The couple got out of the room parallel to the queue. 

+You do not have any right to whine. It has been nearly a year now, and there are no children, no heir, no pregnant woman. I want a son; you are refusing to give me.

- If it is that urgent, you must get all pregnant yourself, Mehli!

You are rude; has anyone told you that before?

- Damn you! Go to hell!

+ I am telling you to fix it as women fix these situations. With an heir, my claim on the throne would be unquestionable. That's your duty.

- Believe it or not, it isn't.

+Tomris, do not tease me. I plead with you. Please fix it. 

-Oh, okay then. I know how to fix it. I'm going to fuck other men. 

+You are hilerous, Tomris. Does anyone tell you that before?

-Die, die, die! Oh, things that I bear.

+You must know that I sacrificed my freedom to marry you, Tomris. I could be with any woman that I want at any time. 

-If you know who I sacrificed for this thing to work. 

+Who?

- Uh... I mean, "What?". I told my homeland. I sacrificed my land. 

I pressed my teeth on my lips; I would kill, live and die to be that "who". Suddenly, this marriage felt more than a duty to ally two people. What thing to work? I thought about it. Mehli wore his coat, "I am going out to do my stuff; you think about your stuff." He left somewhat, fearing Tomris' response. She wiped her forehead and sighed. She looked bored. She gripped the fences of the terrace. Her straight, dark hair flitted from the wind. I heard her wild rose scent. How could I get over her?

I thought. "I apologize, my love, that we will never retrieve each other. We met each other at different terms in our lives. I apologize that I won't tell you that you look like a miracle when you laugh, as if we are two peasants who will have a decent life together and like an angel when you cry. You don't know that I cried all night that day when I saw the love in your eyes fade. You are the only being that has given me tears. Maybe, if I survive this, I will find you. Maybe we would be alive and hoping or dead and dreaming." At first, I thought she knew I was there and felt the greatest delight, and then I realized she didn't think I was behind the columns. She was talking to herself, assuming that the breeze might send her message to me as I did. We had to carry the same soul. When I finally understood, my superb. In an instant, Bayezid pushed his door so firmly that the door crushed to the wall. He walked into the hall furiously. Tomris glided into her room. I followed him; he was holding an envelope tightly. He whistled for attention when he reached the barracks.

The colonels and a few soldiers appeared at the entrance; they were bewildered. He threw the envelope at them. The eldest colonel opened it; it was empty. He looked back to Bayezid, questioning. "Where do you think the message is, colonel?" Bayezid asked. The colonel turned the envelope to see the sending information. I sent it from Erzincan. The colonel's legs were shuddering. He reverenced and got into the barracks in a hurry. Bayezid abruptly faced me, "Your army, stay here, watch out, Edre," he ordered. I saw him going up the stairs. As I understood, the remaining armies were gathered to go to Erzincan, a city in east Danishmenthan. 

The castle was abandoned for over an hour except for the servants and the king's guards. I wandered around the halls and chatted with the guards and young soldiers. I learned that Mehli had followed Bayezid to Erzincan with a small group of janissary. How pathetic, I thought, that he decided to head the road when the death knell of the locals of Erzincan came to the lousy mouths of the people in the whopper streets of Edre. It was as if he saw that the heat was off, and it was safe to appear for a display. It would take more than three weeks for Bayezid to arrive in Erzincan, yet the testimony of the upcoming slaughter had been sent before it was even committed. I joined five knights who were responsible for the night watch. They were like-minded people. They liked to laugh and joke and sing and dance. I enjoyed their company. Ramis, the one with the curly beard, was a hell of a man. He was tall as a stone wall, not the old ones with moss on them but the ones that staved hundreds of enemies out. As it got late at night, he stood as the only one that wasn't wasted. The man's lips were locked; his responses were smiling, smirking, nodding and waving. Even the tavern songs couldn't break through him. I thought the intimacy of the ladies sitting on the laps of men who came here before us could make him open up a little. 

+ Zdravo, moj prijatelj! Ramis, this is Fiona. She is from... Where were you from, darling? 

- Macedonia.

+ Right, right. Macedonia. Ja see izvinjavam. This lady here thinks you look pretty lonely. So she asks whether you could spare her a beer or not. Molimo vas! How could a man like you refuse such a delicate creature? Sram te bilo!

He smiled without his will. "I don't understand Tigrisian, my prince." I sent Fiona to the lap I stole her from and got the chair next to Ramis.

+ What is it, my fellow? Are you one of those sad drunks?

I'm just tired.

+ Drink and forget the fatigue!

- It's just... my baby son. He cried the whole day; I couldn't quiet him. It just got onto my nerves, and my wife and I argued, and she kicked me out of the door. 

+ A son? You look too young for that. 

That smile that appeared after was genuine.

- I want to be with him as long as I can. Accompany him while he grows up. I want to be able to understand and keep up with him. Like teaching him sword fight, horse riding... women. 

Then we both laughed.

- I had always wanted a daughter, which might be strange for men who need successors, but I had always pictured myself becoming a father of a girl. 

+ You have a lifetime to make it happen, partner. My people say; Dokle god imamo vremena, which means as long as you have time. 

We tossed our grails; he cheered with a nasty laugh. "To the future children!" I was bumped to even think of a child, but I cheered with him. "To the future children!" 

We got separated after a while of walking through the streets. They returned to their watch, but I couldn't enter the castle. I couldn't dare it. Now that I had no idea what to tell her, I was locked into being prepared for eternity. The moon had hidden beneath the clouds, but its light enriched them, and the sky seemed so bright and luminous. Even though nature was against me, the light prevented me from taking shelter in the darkness; I found comfort. 

From the distance, I saw a horseman approaching steadily to the barn of the castle. As long as I could tell, the horse had a great bulk at its carriage. The rider dismounted the horse and led it to the barn. The dim light was finally at my service when she got her cape off. The servants were looking at her, and they hadn't gotten used to these late-night hunts. "Take the bulk to the depot," she demanded. I thought it was some meditation for her, a fatal moment she shares with another soul, alone and all naked from humane artificiality. 

I walked to my room; she stood on the balcony opposite my hall. She was dealing with the swiped cord of the bow; she didn't even see me until I approached her. It was a massive flaw for a hunter like her. We were walking beneath the columns in the darkness that covered all of our shame and greediness. At night, we purge ourselves from who we were and who we meant to be. In the evening, we were happy and beautiful. Together, we united. We existed as one. 

- Oi Hunter!

The cord escaped from her hand and lashed my face. She turned her face to me furiously. The look of anger was her comfort mask, which she learned to wear excellently to hide all the things light wanted to expose. 

+ Apology accepted.

My voice appeared soft and shivering like I was begging. She sniffed.

- What Apology?

I got closer and took the bow. I wrapped the cord to my finger and planned to tie it thoroughly to the bow, yet each time, the line slipped from my fingers and that romantic scene I had planned cracked. I remember that I was not going to look at her face till I got the cord fixed. I couldn't. She took the bow from me vigorously. "What apology?" she repeated sarcastically this time.

- All your apologies.

She stood there like a fool for a moment. Her irises twinkled, and then her eyes squinted with the sudden understatement. The bow fell onto the ground.

In the dark, we could. 

-