finally T_T .. the only thing that takes more time than writing...is finding something nice to put up there ^ (besties🥲)
Bandaged and grieving, Nikola sat on his throne, staring ahead as the doctor told him, "The medallion and the map saved your life." It was a map marked with the words: Nikola, the New Emperor of Rome. As the doctors cleaned up and left Nikola alone, he muttered to himself, "He did it, Sienna. He did it."
He had recently learned from his soldiers that Sienna had been abducted by Osman Bey when he and his Alps escaped from the fortress for the second time. He was now miserable as both his plan failed and his most loyal commander and friend was gone. "He entered the castle," Nikola continued tiredly. "He evaded the traps. He killed me...and escaped with you...You turned out to be right, Sienna. I should have killed him when I had the chance."
He sighed and stared at the map and medallion that held his dreams and the dagger that stabbed him. "My dreams have saved me. This is a sign. Now, I have been reborn, Sienna. Like Mithras killing the bull. Like the God of Kings, Dionysus." He paused and imagined Sienna saying, "Like Jesus Christ," and chuckled shortly under his breath. "I give you my oath, Sienna. I will make them pay. I will walk by the tents of the Kayis, and I will impale them on stakes one by one. And in the end, I will have a forest of impaled bodies."
He reached for the dagger, but winced, then tried again and held it up. "Then...I will have Osman's head on a spike." Clutching the dagger in his hand, he laid back on his throne, still thinking.
---
The group finally returned to the tribe, galloping to Dundar Bey's marquee, the tribespeople gasping and staring at the enemy with them. After Osman Bey greeted his uncle, he gestured for Goktug and Boran to take Sienna to the captive tent.
Sienna had been trying to cut through the rope that restrained her hands the whole way, but the horses were running too fast for her to focus, leading her to accidentally cut herself a few times on the bumpy road.
While she was getting off her horse, she spotted Savci Bey and Lena Hatun in the crowd, staring right at her. Sienna watched the two, her hate toward Savci and sister rising again. But before she could watch them any longer, she was being led away. Sienna stared ahead, feeling the tension and hatred within the tribespeople, attempting to cut through the rope again as she thought of possible ways to escape.
Fruits and crops were thrown at her along with insults. Sienna shut her eyes in frustration when a tomato hit her forehead. "Ow," she whispered, irritated. Goktug seemingly heard and shifted his body slightly so that he was blocking the captive.
She ignored everyone's looks and insults, but there was one face in the crowd she could not simply dismiss. It was that of a young boy. Someone she had met before too. The boy who glared, she labelled.
"Sen," he spat at her as he stood in front of Sienna who blinked at him. Goktug and Boran paused and shared a look. "I knew you were evil that day," he continued in his slightly high-pitched yet confident voice. "Osman Bey'im will punish you accordingly... Yilan!" Sienna swallowed at that insult and watched as he picked up a pebble and threw it at her. She winced and hissed when it hit her eye as Boran warned, "Ahmet, don't do it," and Goktug gently moved him out of the way before he could do it again.
Before the other tribespeople picked up on this new torture method, Boran and Goktug blocked Sienna and the items that were thrown, trying to calm the people down.
"Murderer!"
"Snake!"
Insults and blows were all she received until they reached the prisoner tent at last, and Sienna could not be more relieved. She stared ahead with one eye, the other bruised, as the Alps took her to the cage. Boran stayed by the door, preparing the lock while Goktug moved to untie her hands, both glancing at her rather unusual silence now and then.
"You don't have anything to say...?" Goktug spoke up, somewhat missing the talkative version of her.
Sienna stared ahead still, then whispered, "What is there left to say?"
The Alps shared another look, then Goktug stared at Sienna's eye, which turned red from the stone. "You must have done a whole lot of shit to piss off Ahmet like that," he smirked lightly.
Sienna exhaled heavily. "Will you stay and insult me too or-" She stopped and stared as Goktug reached into her belt and pulled out his cloth, something he found when he searched her but didn't say anything then. He looked at it, turned it around, then raised his brow. "Ah, you did clean it."
Sienna clenched her jaw in humiliation. "I found it useful."
"Yes..." he whispered, wiping off the tomato juice on her forehead along with the other fruit bits. Sienna stopped herself from glaring at him to prevent the stinging in her eye. Instead, she said impatiently, "You know, you can just untie me and I'd do that myself."
Boran watched with an amused and slightly confused expression as Goktug said, "Yeah, but you see, I don't trust that...don't want to fall into another of your traps, do I?"
Sienna did not answer, and he continued. It was a long, awkward moment, and when he was done, he lowered the cloth and slowly touched her wounded eye, making her grimace. "Why would you do that?" she complained, squeezing her eyes closed.
"I wanted to see if it'd hurt," he said dumbly, and Sienna pressed her lips together, "Did you find out?" Goktug cleared his throat instead of nodding, realizing that she was being sarcastic, then glanced at Boran who gestured to the door, implying that they needed to leave soon.
Goktug stared at his handkerchief for a bit, then glanced at Sienna who continued staring ahead. He sighed inwardly and put the cloth back in her belt; she stared. "I'll leave it to you to clean it for me again," Goktug said with a smirk, and Sienna adjusted herself and looked away.
He pulled out a dagger and started cutting the rope that tied her hands when he realized it had already been cut. Sienna bit her lip when he paused and glared at her. "You still-"
Sienna let out a long sigh and threw away the rope. "Ah ah...like you wouldn't do the same. Did you expect me to stay silent and nod along while you-"
"You know, I should just tie you up again-"
"Haydi, Goktug kardes, we're wasting our time," Boran intervened. "Find the dagger, and let's go. I'll wait outside."
Goktug held out his hand when Boran left. "I won't ask again."
Sienna shrugged. "Okay." She tapped her hand against the bars of the cage rhythmically as Goktug stared at her expectantly.
"I asked for your weapon, Deniz Gozleri," he said through gritted teeth and Sienna eyed him. "Don't call me that." Goktug chuckled, "Right, because you only have one eye now-"
"You know, my hands are untied and I could just strangle you to shut you up right now," she threatened, but Goktug only smiled mockingly. "I also know you won't do it."
Sienna blinked. "We'll see about that-" She started to grab his armour when he pulled her arms away, and her back hit the cage. Sienna kneed him, and while he stumbled back, she started for the exit. She ran and slammed the door closed on Goktug's face right as he caught up. He scowled at her, but Sienna only laughed darkly.
"Tricked you," she said in a sing-song voice before tying the dangling rope on the door to the cage to keep it closed. She waved her fingers at him as he shook the cage in anger. "Don't do this, Sienna," he warned, but she only smirked. She turned around victoriously but her smile immediately fell when she came face to face with Boran Alp, behind him two other Alps.
"Tricked you," Goktug mocked with a smirk from the cage, and Sienna scowled as Boran Alp grabbed her knife, turning her around so that her front was against the cage. Boran gave Goktug a somewhat disappointed look as he untied the door of the cage and took the enemy inside. Goktug grabbed the rope she threw down and started tying her hands behind her when he noticed the cuts and stains of blood on Sienna's sore hands. She winced slightly from the sting, and Goktug glanced at Boran who shook his head.
Goktug sighed and threw down the ropes, stepping out of the cage and locking the door. "Use your time now to rest...Osman Bey'im will come later to interrogate you."
Sienna faced them, rubbing the itching and stinging in her hands from the ropes. She slid to the hard, cold floor, staring onwards.
"Is Nikola alive?" she asked after a moment of silence, powerless against the forbidding question.
Boran scoffed. "Weren't you the one who said he was?"
"Or was that too another trick?" Goktug finished, his piercing blue eyes harsh.
"Is he alive?" Sienna asked again in almost a whisper.
"That you will never find out," the Alp smirked. "Your grief and confusion will consume you."
Sienna clenched her jaw, then growled and slammed her fist against the cage.
---
Savci Bey and Lena Hatun sat on a small couch in their tent, discussing a line from a book Savci was reading. Lena asked curiously, "What else remains after a great calamity, Savci'm?" after he talked about how civilization remained.
Savci smiled as he answered, "Love. Respect. Conscience. Maturity. Honour. And faith. Everything, Lena, everything."
Lena smiled as she listened, and her thoughts traced back to her sister who was now a captive of the Kayi Tribe. "Not for everyone, apparently," she said sadly. Savci noticed her change in demeanour and realized she was talking about Sienna. He sighed. "Maybe it is...but we just don't see it in everyone."
Lena stared ahead, then shook her head. "The way she looks at me...her eyes are filled with-"
"Rage?"
"Yes, but...betrayal even. She expects something from me that I don't know I can give...I feel like I'm doing something wrong staying away from her."
Savci shook his head. "As far as you told me, you did everything you could to bring the two of you closer. She chose her path. None of this is your fault."
Lena still didn't fully believe that. "Maybe we should...talk to her."
Savci took Lena's hands in his and shook his head slowly. "It's too late for that, Lena'm. It's dangerous now."
Lena sighed as she lay her head on Savci's shoulder, wondering where it all went wrong.
---
"When I entered the infidels' castle, it was like they were waiting for me," Osman Bey told his aunt, wife, and cousin as they sat in their tent. "There is a traitor among our midst. They learned what I was planning and sent word to the enemy...I suspect Targun Hatun."
"Is that why you captured that Commander Sienna, Osman'im?" Bala Hatun asked, and Osman sighed lightly.
"Frankly, that was not part of our plan, but she got in the way. She will be useful nevertheless. I will question her soon." Bala nodded. "But she won't give up information so easily...Bala, while I am dealing with the captive, you will follow Targun Hatun's every step. If you bring me proof, I will conclude this." He then turned to his aunt when Bala agreed. "Yenge, try to get something out of her." Finally, he smiled at his cousin. "Aygul Hatun, are you ready for your next mission?"
"Always, Bey'im," she replied confidently, and Osman asked her to come with him to the Prisoner Tent.
---
"Osman Bey will come soon, you can leave, Boran kardes," Goktug told his friend with a smile, patting his shoulder. Boran smirked. "Why? So, you can get captured again? I'm staying, kardes."
"Didn't you say you had somewhere to be, though?" Goktug reminded the honey-eyed Alp, wanting to speak to Sienna alone.
Boran looked like he just remembered, then sniffed and shook his head. "No, no, it's fine. Keeping you out of trouble is my top priority." Goktug nodded defeatedly, then glanced at the ground while Boran watched him suspiciously, a smirk forming. "Besides, why do you want to be alone with her?"
Goktug cleared his throat as he turned his attention to his friend. "I don't...I just don't want to leave whoever you were going to meet waiting."
Boran's smirk fell. "Now, what is that supposed to mean?"
It was Goktug's turn to mock. "Obviously, you were going to see G-"
"Will you two shut up," Sienna snapped from where she was, not sparing them a glance. While she was trying to peacefully meditate about killing Ertugrul Bey, the Alps' bickering was no help. "You're making my brain twitch with your pointless arguing-"
"I don't think you know how the brain works," Goktug commented cheekily, and Sienna faked a smile, retorting in a mumble, "I don't think you have a brain."
Boran almost snorted but patted his friend on the back instead. "Come to think of it, I do have somewhere to be...good luck, kardes." He turned around to leave, but then glanced back at Sienna, pointing at her. "Behave." And then he left.
"If I had no brain..." Goktug started, and Sienna listened with amusement. "...why are you in there and I out here? Hm?"
"Because your friend bailed you out," she answered simply.
"Yeah, because that was my plan."
"No, it wasn't."
"It was."
"Nope."
"Yup."
"I can go on for hours," she challenged, and Goktug stepped closer to the cage. "No, you can't."
Sienna looked him in the eye, leaning closer too and replied, "Yes, I can."
The two went back and forth until Sienna shushed him, making Goktug grin victoriously. "I knew you couldn't-"
"-Shh," she cut him off again, and now Goktug was losing his temper. "Don't shush-" "Shut up." Every time he would try to speak, she would cut him off, finding it all the more amusing when his icy eyes blazed with fury. Out of patience, he roughly grabbed the cage, now face to face with Sienna. She glanced at him, then laughed, "See, that's why we call you Fiery Alp."
Right then, Osman entered the tent followed by Aygul Hatun. He raised his brow at the sight before him as Goktug suddenly turned around to face his Bey, stepping away from Sienna whose eyes shifted to Osman's before tiredly turning away, resting her arm over her eyes.
"Finding life in captivity comfortable, aren't you?" Osman mocked, smirking lightly, earning a low snort from Sienna. "You know, when you live in captivity for so long, you start to feel free," she said, and Osman's smirk fell for just a second as he processed her words. He quickly remembered why he was here and said, "Then, I'll make your captivity amusing...how did you know we were coming to the castle?"
Sienna cracked a short smile and shook her head, her low chuckle shooting goosebumps up the Turks' arms. "You think we're that clueless, Osman Bey? You're starting to become predictable...it's getting boring."
"Answer the question," Osman commanded blandly as Sienna pressed her arm over her eyes. "Go away," she said, bored.
Goktug pressed his lips together at the attitude and childishness she was showing, her earlier words running through his mind as Osman repeated his question. Aygul stepped closer to the cage intimidatingly.
"Who informed you? Who is the traitor in the tribe? Who?" Osman's voice harshened with every word, and any other captive would have either spat rebellious words or spilled, but Sienna only hummed to herself to block out his thunderous voice.
"Aygul..." Osman started, not breaking eye contact with Sienna's rude behaviour. Aygul undid the knot on the cage door roughly as if reading Osman's mind before striding toward a half-sleeping Sienna. "It seems we need to remind her who we are. She's not afraid."
"When you look at something ugly long enough," Sienna started coyly, "you get used to it." Osman clenched his jaw. As Aygul raised her fist, Sienna sighed heavily, telling her, "Go ahead. Do it. Beat me up. Plunge me in water. Suffocate me. Break my arms. I know it all too well. But let me save you the time and bruised knuckles by telling you it doesn't work on me."
Instead of waiving off Sienna's words, Osman thought for a minute before asking, "Then what will?"
Now, Sienna looked him in the eye, a hint of mischief in her aqua-tinted stare. "A deal."
Osman thought for a bit then nodded, "Tamam, if you tell us the traitor in the tribe...I will let you return to your castle. No ropes. No Alps."
Sienna's smirk faded, and she almost sighed in exasperation. "But how does that work in my favour? If you figure out the identity of this traitor, we will not infuriate you with our traps, and in the end, you would win, just like you wanted. Right?"
Osman stared at the captive with such slight defeat before he asked, "Then what do you propose?"
Sienna smiled and leaned closer to the cage. "If you let me go, I will tell you the most important piece of information you'll ever hear."
Osman nearly snorted. "That's your deal? Please, let me know if you come up with something reasonable."
Sienna sighed in exaggerated disappointment, then turned her back to the cage as Osman started to leave. "Then, I guess you don't want to know about the calamity that's about to befall Sogut."
At this, Osman stopped, and Sienna, feeling his presence, smirked lightly.
"And what calamity is this?" he pressured.
Sienna tutted. "Ah, ah... you haven't let me out yet."
Osman thought for a few seconds, narrowing his eyes at the cunning captive before scoffing. "You lie."
Sienna shrugged and idly stepped around in the cage. "Alright then..."
Osman stared hard at her nonchalant expression, his dark eyes attempting to see through her. He sighed lightly after glancing at his companions, Aygul shaking her head while Goktug thinking.
"Destur var mi dir, Bey!" called an Alp outside the tent.
Osman turned his head slightly before giving permission, turning his attention to the Alp. Sienna stopped, subtly listening to the low murmur of information.
"Bey, Cerkutay and several of Nikola's soldiers are on their way to Sogut, according to Kumral Abdal."
Osman blinked, then glanced at Sienna for a split second, but she pretended she didn't hear, instead, cursing under her breath, "That was my job!" Then, a sudden and sharp realization hit her. If her duty was carried even in her absence, Nikola must have been the one behind it. Cerkutay and the soldiers were off to Sogut because Nikola ordered them to. Internally, she smiled in relief, but now she thought being on her sworn enemy's side was a smarter option, no matter how reluctant she was with this.
If she wanted to escape, she would have to side with them, or at least pretend to until she found Cerkutay and the soldiers, until she could warn them. She would have to accompany them to Sogut, inform them about the potential explosion, and escape to the castle before they captured her clueless soldiers.
After about a minute of silence that followed the Alp's departure, Sienna turned to Osman with a sly smile. "Why the silence, Osman Bey?"
Osman stood straighter and answered, "Now that we know about the calamity in Sogut, why do we need you?"
Sienna expected this. "You've already wasted time interrogating, then suspecting me; wouldn't it be easier if you knew exactly what was going on and how to stop it?"
"We're wise enough to find that ourselves, EvelAllah," he said proudly, and Sienna nearly rolled her eyes at his ego.
"But are you quick enough?"
He sighed silently, but Sienna caught his defeat. He then gestured for the two Alps in the tent to come over to discuss their next move.
"Time is running, Osman Bey," Sienna reminded in a dangerously cheerful tone, and after about a minute, the Alps faced Sienna with determined yet cautious expressions.
Osman opened his mouth to speak when Sienna interrupted him, holding out her hand to stop him. "Let me...if you free me, I will tell you what this calamity is. I'll even help you stop it. Osman narrowed his eyes at her, knowing there was something else she wanted.
Sienna, confirming his suspicion, continued, "Lakin...there will be no ropes on my hands, no straining of my shoulders." She smiled. "You'll have to trust your enemy."
---
ooh, where is this going...
It's finally March Break so I can write!! EXCEPT stupid teachers that love torturing their captives- i mean students gave us homework. Literally, my math teacher's like, "Guess what? It's the March Break, the perfect time to learn to factor inside and out!" I THOUGHT SHE WAS BEING SARCASTIC UNTIL SHE PILED A BUNCH OF CRAP ON US LIKE WHY?? And then there are those teachers that are like, "HEY i don't want you to work over the break. You deserve a mental break from school. Lemme just throw this assignment at you that should be completed when you return, but you don't have to do it over the March Break, so don't worry. Take this time to have fun :))." JEKFLJD GEE THANKS. there is so much more i would love to rant about but...i'll hold off on it.
Okay, so i said i'd release the new story in a couple of months but that may have to wait until summer or perhaps earlier if school decides to let me breathe. BUT i'll release the title (pfsh wut). It's called...Boğulma (Drowning). correct me if my- ahem Google Translate's Turkish is wrong thank you. I have no idea what i set out to do by releasing the fricking title of the sorta-not-really existing story but...yeah anyways bye.
And thank you for staying to read this trashy chapter!!