Arslan Senki: Legend of the Twins

15. The Outcome of the War

The next day, Asa and Bahar visited the village again. The princess now was resting after taking a walk with Jasper to say hello to the villagers. The stallion rested by the river while she herself laid down beside it, staring at the slowly moving clouds on the sky.

"What a fine day we are having. Right, Hime-sama?" Alya's voice caught her attention.

Asa glanced at her side and found the woman was sitting there, smiling. "Thinking about something?"

Asa smiled back as she sat upright. "Well, it's just seeing those white clouds remind me of my brother. Hopefully he's doing well..."

Alya's eyes slightly narrowed as she recalled her conversation with Bahar. The two only knew Pars would lose the war today and not the prince's condition. She decided to ask the djinn about it right now, and so she took out a crystal glossy flute from her pocket, closed her eyes and blew into it. Asa only curiously observed her without saying anything or making any sound. After all, Alya looked like she was deep in thought and Asa would hate to disturb her. "Ah."

Alya opened her eyes and smiled at the princess. "He's currently with a knight in black armor, fighting off the Lusitanian soldiers bravely in the battlefield."

"That knight got to be Daryun. If he's with him I don't need to worry," Asa chirped happily. "...but Alya, how did you know that?"

Alya smiled at her curiosity. "I asked the djinn about it, using this special flute."

Asa inclined her head towards Alya's outstretched hand, studying the flute curiously. "I don't understand. You ask djinn using this thing? But what is a djinn in the first place?"

"Djinn are mystical beings that lurk around us. They have vast knowledge about this world, including the past, and the future."

"Even they know the future? I thought only the gods know it!" Asa voiced out her thoughts in awe, making Alya chuckle.

"Well, you're not wrong. It's not like they know it; they only have sharper senses that can be used to predict the future."

Asa made a contemplative sound. "Is that so..."

Not so long after, they changed topic and talked about various random things. Leaning in comfort against a sleeping Jasper, the two females occasionally laughed freely together as they enjoyed their time.

"In ten years you'll meet with your soulmate," Alya said playfully, "Then the two of you are gonna have many children, I'm sure of it!"

Asa laughed at her claim. "Meeting my soulmate, eh? I can't imagine that'll happen to me. When I think of opposite gender, my brother is the only person whom I have in mind!"

"You seem to have developed an acute brother complex..." Alya blurted. Asa didn't hear her as she was busy continuing her story, this time about Arslan. "You know what, Alya, the other day me and Nii-sama..."

Asa's stories continued on. She told Alya about how she used to swap roles with Arslan until he got tired of wearing gowns and accessories, how they often sneaked into each other's room in the middle of night and slept together but still had their rooms separated, how he'd like to listen to her as she retell him the lesson Bahar taught her, how she admitted she sometimes envied him because she thought he was cute, and so on... everything about Arslan.

She abruptly stopped in the middle of recounting another story about her and Arslan. With head hanging and knees hugged, she mumbled, "I... didn't realize how I miss him until now..."