THE TIDES OF TIME

- Chapter 36 -

"I do. Unfortunately, I do," he replied before he could stop himself. "But there is no way I will let You harm those I love."

"That is none of my concern!" Jagoda shouted all of a sudden, and caused both Jovan and Zora to turn their heads her way. What they did not know was that Jagoda saw the shadow of the horseman who held her captive at the Boyana Church. And then, she saw all of him - including the bow and arrow he was reaching for. So, he did not die? Fine! She would make sure to use that to their advantage.

"None of Your concern?" Zora repeated her sister's words, baffled to say the least.

"Engaged or not, it is my birthright to rule this land!" Jagoda shouted again, and pointed the sword she held in her hand at Jovan.

"You won't win!" Zora snarled at her, unaware of the horseman's arrival nor his presence.

"I will! My father died so that I could take over! No one will stop me! Not even You!" Jagoda shouted and secretly signaled to Jovan that they were not alone.

"Your words are pointless!" Jovan closed his eyes at once to let Jagoda know he understood her secret message. He then picked up his sword and pointed it at... Jagoda, much to Zora's surprise. "You are outnumbered, and there is no way I will let You harm her! I will defend her until my last breath!"

"That is an odd moment to switch sides," Zora raised her eyebrow, but wickedly intelligent as she was, she figured out what was going on and began to look around. "Or, not an odd moment at all."

"They say if You have to eliminate Your enemy, You must do so Yourself!" Jagoda hissed out, pretending to be Zora, and shouted loud enough for the horseman to hear it. "You cannot even trust Your best MEN to handle it for You!"

"You would never have the guts to do what I have done!" Zora shouted back at her and continued to search through the trees for whoever Jagoda may have seen.

"And You would never have the nerve nor brains to do what I have done!" Jagoda laughed viciously and looked toward the horseman, signaling to him that she was now in command. "Come to think of it, I am done dealing with the likes of You two. Do what You must do, and be done with it once and for all!"

"You!" Zora looked toward the location where Jagoda turned to, and saw the horseman holding the bow and arrow.

"Kill her, now!" Jagoda exclaimed, pointing the sword at Zora.

"You imbecile!" Zora shouted with wild fury. "How dare You point the arrow at me!?! I'm Zora!"

"Prove it!" The man shouted in a voice that revealed he was obviously hurting from the wound received from Anil's dagger.

"How dare You undermine my command!" Jagoda shouted even louder and with much more conviction. To make it appear more believable, Jovan began to move slowly toward Zora while he pointed the sword at the horseman.

"Do not listen to her!" Zora hissed out with hatred and disbelief. "I am NOT Jagoda!"

"Of course she is!" Jagoda took a few steps closer and pretended to raise her sword at Jovan. "Just look at her! She's even wearing the pendant we took from her!"

"I will not let You kill her!" Jovan snarled at the horseman as the man pulled the arrow back and released it, just as Jovan moved away at the last moment.

The arrow pierced Zora's chest in the same exact spot where it had hit Jagoda, only this time there was no one shielding her. Zora fell back, hard, and began to gasp for the last breaths of air.

Much to the horseman's shock and utter confusion, Jovan stood there, looking at Zora, and did not bother to kneel beside her to comfort her. On the contrary, he just stood there, and... reached for the other sister's hand.

"Liars!" The horseman shouted. "You'll die for this!"

"Never!" Jovan turned around and shielded Jagoda at the very last moment. The horseman's arrow pierced his chest, and there was no denying that it had been poisoned.

"How could You do this?!?" Jagoda fell to her knees beside Jovan as he collapsed.

"How could I?!? How could I?!?" The horseman snarled and reached for another bow. "Zora died because of You!"

"No! Zora died because of her own blind greed!" Jagoda cried out, not giving a single thought to her sister's condition. She held onto Jovan as tears streamed down her cheeks.

"You... must... seek shelter... in the... hut," Jovan whispered, twisting from pain.

"I will not leave You alone!" Jagoda caressed his cheeks soaken from her tears. She shook herself from the shock and called out to the only woman who could help them. "Bojana!"

"Ha!" The horseman exclaimed in sheer victory as Bojana appeared in the hut's door. "Zora may be gone, but You will all perish today!"

"Not if Anil the Brave has anything to say about it!" Anil shouted out of nowhere, and threw his dagger with such precision that it impressed even Jovan. The horseman fell to the ground with a heavy thud, revealing Anil's quite accomplished stance. To be sure that the dagger did its intended goal, once and for all, Anil removed the dagger from the man's neck, kicked the horseman half a dozen times, and cleared the blood off the dagger's blade before rushing over to Jovan's side.

"Bojana!" Jagoda turned to the woman who knelt beside her. "We must save him!"

"Anil! Stop basking in Your own glory and help us carry him inside!" Bojana scolded Anil and gestured for them to raise Jovan at once, giving one last disgusted look to Zora's lifeless body.

"Please, Bojana, You have to save him!" Jagoda cried, caressing Jovan's cheek. "His life is too important to be lost now!"

"That, it is. That, it is," Bojana patted Jagoda's hand, then reached for Anil's dagger and used it to rip open Jovan's shirt after she moved the lapels of his coat away. "Oh, no..."

"What?!?" Jagoda asked and grasped Jovan's hand. "What?!?"

"I am afraid the horseman mixed poisons," Bojana grew sad with concern at the sight of bluish and purplish veins covering Jovan's pierced chest. "That is why Zora passed so quickly."

"There must be something we can do!" Jagoda pleaded with her.

"There is," Bojana sighed heavily. "We must send him back..."

"But where? I do not even know where he came from?!?" Jagoda sobbed and caressed Jovan's sweat-soaked forehead.

"Not where, my dear," Bojana placed her hand atop Jagoda's shoulder and looked at her with a worried gaze. "When..."