"You have one hell of a nerve showing up here, Zora!" Jovan shouted as he walked out of the hut, without bothering to pretend they weren't aware of Zora's arrival. He spoke in a raised tone of voice, yet a controlled one to the very end of the very last letter. Zora may have been above him because of her lineage, but he far outranked her in experience when dealing with situations that seemed beyond salvation.
"Jovan the Valiant," Zora spoke slowly in a way that would have raised the hair on a dead horse's back. "You have one hell of a nerve proposing to a woman then leaving her for her weakling of a sister."
"Jagoda is stronger than You will ever be," he hissed out to make it seem he was losing his temper.
"That is a weak assumption made by a weak man," Zora replied in an amused tone of voice.
"My hand is not weak, nor is my sword!" Jovan shouted, still unable to figure out where Zora was hiding because of the echo given off by the trees of the surrounding forest.
"I would say that some men are stronger with their sword than their hand, but that would imply You knew how to use Your... hands," Zora laughed wickedly.
"You have no idea how I use my hands!" Jovan shouted at her.
"But I do when it comes to Your lips!" Zora said stoically and loud enough to be sure that Jagoda and Bojana heard her inside the hut. "Not so Valiant now, are You?"
"Some sacrifices are worth the price," Jovan replied with sarcasm.
"Some prices are worth the sacrifice," Zora bellowed out a wicked laugh.
"You will not win, Zora!" Jagoda appeared in the doorway of the hut and caused Jovan to rush back to her.
"Go back inside," Jovan pleaded with his beloved, even more so because he saw a sword in her hand. "You are in no condition to face her."
"He's right, You know," Zora laughed sarcastically and appeared from behind the hut, with a sword in her hand.
"What did You do to Kinga?!?" Jagoda stepped out of the hut.
"Oh, You mean Your blindly trusting confidante?" Zora replied with a heinous smirk. "She finally figured out who I was, so I took her out."
"Liar!" Jagoda shouted at her sister, yet could not dismiss the undeniably painful sight of Kinga's sword in Zora's hand.
"Maybe," Zora moved her shoulders up and down. "Maybe not. It won't matter soon."
"And why is that?" Jovan hissed out as he stood between the sisters, shielding Jagoda with his body.
"Not so Valiant, and apparently not too bright either?" Zora chuckled and leaned to the side to look Jagoda in the eyes. "At least he's a good kisser."
"You won't win this time, Zora," Jovan stepped closer toward her.
"I think I will," she smiled wickedly. "As a matter of fact, I know I will. You see, there isn't a person that was born on this soil that can defeat me."
"You got that right," Jovan tipped his head to the side in a sarcastic gesture.
"I am glad we agree on something," Zora sent him a mischievous look. "You can still join me. Since You asked me to marry You, I am willing to... overlook Your recent misbehavior."
"Not in a million years," Jovan shook his head but lowered his sword. "You cannot win Your people's hearts or their respect by paving Your path with dead bodies. Especially, Your family's."
"You glamorize the race to power, my dear Valiant," Zora shook her head, but lowered the sword for a moment. "Power begs for sacrifices that common people know nothing of."
"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..."