For a man who thought he had lived through enough twists and turns to fill a lifetime, Jovan had to admit that hearing his former best-friend's name roll out of Jagoda's lips surprised him more than realizing he had been thrust back to the 21st century.
Goran Dimitris...
Goran Dimitris was someone who used to be like a brother to him. Jovan would have risked his life for the man if the battlefield or mission demanded it. Jovan would have even trusted his own life to that man without so much as an ounce of hesitation. And that man... had played him as if Jovan never mattered to him at all.
It took Jovan a considerable amount of thinking, and a trip down the history lane, to get Goran out of his system. So, for Jovan to hear that name at this very moment, and coming out from his beloved's mouth not only troubled him, but confused him all the more. And for a man who preferred to know all the facts, confusion was not something he took lightly.
"Would You mind repeating what You just said? Just so I can be sure?" Jovan asked Jagoda in the Old Albanian dialect as he sat up on the bed and turned toward her, disregarding any and all signs of ache rippling through his body.
"Goran Dimitris, Your has-been best friend. He's here," Jagoda whispered back, this time in English. This in turn resulted in Jovan narrowing his eyes on the woman he kissed just a moment ago.
"You speak English?" He intended for his question to sound casual, yet it came out almost accusatory.
"You speak my language." Jagoda looked back at him, taken aback by his question. "Do You see a problem with that? I certainly don't see one."
"Neither do I, Sultana." He sighed, realizing the oddity of his concern and the logic of her explanation. "I just... did not expect it."
"I did not expect to fall in love with a 21st century wild boar prone to throwing himself in the path of poisoned arrows, but here we are," she replied bluntly and sent him a kiss by touching her lips and blowing the imaginary peck his way.
"Ouch," he winced in response.
"I am so sorry, I did not mean for You to get hurt back there at Bojana's hut," Jagoda rushed to his side and cupped his face, feeling guilty.
"You only bruised my ego. My chest never felt better," he chuckled with sarcasm only to wince from a jolt of pain.
"Serves You right," Jagoda scolded him.
"Serves me right?" Jovan raised his eyebrow, amused.
"Yes," she nodded and smiled with love in her eyes. "You should never test a woman who loves You."
"Duly noted," he agreed but grew serious. "Jagoda, how do You know about Goran?"
"Would You want to hear the short version or the long one?" She asked, but looked toward the window, moved by her gut feeling.
"Any version is better than none at all," he grunted and moved toward the edge of the bed, allowing his feet to hit the floor beside the bed.
"Alright," Jagoda agreed and decided where to begin the rather complex explanation. "None of this would have happened if it weren't for Bojana."
"I figured she would know how to send me back," Jovan smiled.
"I'm afraid there is more to it than that." Jagoda paused, seeing the confusion in his eyes. "She knew how to do it since she did it once herself..."
"She... what?" Jovan blinked, puzzled.
"Bojana was the reason why You came to my time. She traveled in time... before we met," Jagoda said quietly.
"I need to sit down," Jovan said as a knot formed in his gut.
"You are sitting down," Jagoda raised her eyebrow.
"I need to stand up then." Saying so, Jovan gathered all his strength and attempted to rise from the bed. He failed miserably, and sat back down.
"Apparently not," Jagoda laid her hand on his shoulder.
"What do You mean she traveled in time?" He asked and swallowed hard, then added after a longer pause. "Which Bojana?"
"My Bojana," Jagoda explained and sighed. "She didn't tell me the whole story, just enough to convince me that bringing You back to Your time was the only option."
"Oh, that's deep. That's really deep," Jovan chuckled nervously. "I bet she met my Bojana. That would make so much sense."
"They did meet," Jagoda whispered, much to Jovan's surprise.
"Really? Where? Did Bojana get drunk? Did she fall face first into Lake Prespa?" Jovan shook his head at the thought of it.
"Yes, she did," Jagoda replied with conviction. "Bojana told me it happened shortly before she met You - in Our time."
"Bollock!" Jovan laughed.
"That is a word to which I am accustomed by now, so I would ask You to refrain from using it," she warned him. "You asked for an explanation, and I am offering it to You."
"Fine," he straightened up, and refrained from wincing. "Bojana drank the foul-smelling concoction and fell into the Lake. Got it. But that is nowhere near explaining how You know about Goran."
"Your brain works slower than Your mouth, Valiant," Jagoda exhaled a considerable puff of air and rose from the bed. She walked over to the window to check if Goran approached the hut yet. Seeing that he did not, she continued with her explanation. "Bojana could always sense things - emotions, intentions, events that may soon come to pass. Call it what You will, but I always loved that about her. Because of her... keen insight, she knew the day my father was killed that it was no accident. And she knew who stood behind it. She knew Our people needed help, and that I needed... someone who would support me by loving me enough despite the danger that would soon come my way."
"But how does it relate to Goran?" Jovan asked, again, unable to see it.
"The day my Bojana ended up crossing the tides of time through Lake Prespa, was the day Your Bojana had learned of Goran's betrayal. She had come to the lake to vent, to heal, and to throw some rocks into the water," Jagoda moved her shoulders up and down. "Whatever that meant."
"That was my Bojana. That was her ritual whenever she needed to find peace within her heart," Jovan grinned, and suddenly recalled that it was that very reason which led him to Lake Prespa to throw stones the last time he visited the Lake with his beloved grandmother. "And she did not throw the rocks into the water, she threw them against the wateredge. We call it skipping stones."
"Well, apparently one of the stones skipped against my Bojana's forehead as she emerged from the Lake's water," Jagoda smirked.
"Ouch," he winced.
"Double ouch, to be precise. Both women screamed at the top of their lungs," Jagoda chuckled and shook her head at the thought of both women coming face to face with one another.
"I would pay to see that," Jovan wiggled his eyebrows with mischief.
"Your Bojana screamed so loud that her hair turned silver from the fear," Jagoda added.
"Now I would certainly pay to see that," Jovan laughed. "Then again, I gauge grandmother would triple that price if she knew I saw that."
"They would triple it if either one of them would hear You reference their age," she laughed as well.
"Got that right!" Jovan agreed.
"Without a doubt. But, back to Your has-been best friend," she pointed at Jovan. "When both women calmed down, Your grandmother recognized my Bojana's dialect. She introduced herself, and they connected instantly upon figuring out they shared the same name."
"Figures," Jovan clicked his tongue.
"Shush, if You want me to finish the story," Jagoda walked back toward him, pacing the room in anticipation of Goran's arrival.
"Sorry, ma'am," Jovan raised his hands but laughed at her facial expression.
"I will pretend You did not refer to me this way," she narrowed her eyes on Jovan.
"What way?" He chuckled.
"Wild boar," she grinned.
"Your wild boar," Jovan winked at her.
"Fine," she looked up to the ceiling with sarcastic resignation. "Anyway, both women exchanged their life stories. Your Bojana spoke of Goran and his betrayal, while my Bojana spoke of a hero that was desperately needed in Our time. Someone brave, someone righteous, someone Valiant. And Your grandmother brought up Your love for the stories about Jovan the Valiant."
"I did love those stories," he smiled just then.
"Would it surprise You to hear that both Bojanas figured out that those stories were written about You?" Saying so, Jagoda stopped in front of Jovan and placed her hand on his cheek with care.
"Bollock," he denied any notion of it.
"They didn't think so," she whispered and brought her lips down to his, stopping herself just a breath away. "And You made me believe in it, too."
"It was You who made me believe in it," Jovan raised his hand to caress her cheek, when a sudden thunderous knock on the door shook the hut in its foundation, proving to Jagoda that the hunch in her gut was right all along...