Following after the ceremony, Farangis took Bahar's ashes in a canister with her back to Peshawar. According to her, Bahar wished to be buried as soon as cremated her body. She alone went away while the army continued its march towards Uraiyur.
Before she set off, she told Asa to never let go of the charm that Ayyar lent to her. Although she inwardly questioned it, after seeing how serious Farangis was Asa promised she would do as she was told.
Now, the princess was riding next to Arslan on their march. On the way, they regrouped with Rajendra, who gave his deepest condolences and together, continued on until they finally arrived at the royal palace of Uraiyur. Upon their arrival, Arslan, Asa, and Rajendra were quickly surrounded by the palace maids, ready to be dressed up for the upcoming event, but when those maids tried to take Asa with them, the girl grabbed Arslan's wrist and wouldn't let go.
"Uh, Asa?" Arslan forced a smile for her, feeling a slight pain as the maids looked at them in wonder. Then as if she wasn't fully awake yet, her eyes fluttered open and she quickly released her grip. "S-Sorry..."
Understanding her anxiety, Arslan motioned for Alfarid to accompany her. The Zott girl whipped her head in enthusiasm and quickly, but gently took Asa's hand in hers. Asa only followed after her in silence when Alfarid led her away with the maids.
"We heard a princess is also coming, so we have prepared a set of clothes for you! It certainly will draw out the beauty within you!" one of the maids happily remarked as soon as they entered the dressing room.
In response, Asa made a face of disapproval. "Um, no, I..."
"Thanks but Hime-sama brought her own set of clothes!" Alfarid yelled out as she stood between Asa and those maids then shoved them all towards the door, shooing them, "Since just me is enough to dress her you can all get out! We'll call you when we need something!"
As Alfarid forcibly closed the door, she let out a sigh and chuckle. "Phew! Honestly, I can't stand crowds like that! They only give headache!"
Asa just stared at her, silently watching as she took out a basket with her gown and accessories in it. "Now then, I suppose I'll help you put these on~!"
"No, stop!" Asa quickly snatched the basket from Alfarid before she could open it, "Thank you but... I can do that alone."
"Oh, okay..." Alfarid nodded slowly, staying in her place just like what she had been told. But when she saw Asa struggling to take off her armor, she rushed to help her. "Thanks, Alfarid-chan." Asa said with a thin smile.
Alfarid whipped her head happily, then only stayed and watched as Asa gently took out her light blue gown from the basket. Again, when Asa tried to put it on, she struggled to do it, prompting Alfarid to help her.
The two girls fell into silence as Alfarid concentrated on buttoning Asa's dress. While she was mentally complaining about how complicated a princess' gown could be, Asa, who was deeply in thought, called her name. "Nee, Alfarid-chan?"
"Yes, Hime-sama?"
"Aren't I pathetic? I can't even wear my own gown..."
"What are you saying, Hime-sama? You are not!" Alfarid quickly denied as she took out Asa's bracelets from the basket, "To be honest, I, too, won't be able to put these all on by myself!"
Asa hummed in response, casting her gaze downwards. "I suppose you are right..."
A long silence filled the air between them, with Asa lost in thought and Alfarid focusing on Asa's bracelets. Alfarid noticed something when she put them on Asa: one bracelet was already encircled around Asa's left wrist. Instead of gold, that bracelet was made from neatly braided straw and only had small hanging chime as its decoration. Now that she thought about it, the princess always wore it...
Her musing was abruptly put to a stop when Asa's spare hand removed that bracelet from her wrist and clasped it in her (Alfarid's) palms. "Hime-sama?"
"You can have it... I don't need it anymore."
"Eh?! But isn't it a precious treasure to you? It's a memento of that little girl, right?"
"Indeed," Asa, who was already halfway towards the door stopped and without turning to Alfarid, said, "It is exactly because it is a memento I don't need it."
Alfarid couldn't find her voice, only staring down at what's now in her possession as Asa left her alone in the room.
●●●
Meanwhile, Arslan and Rajendra had done with their costumes and now were waiting for the duel to start. The young prince kept looking around him, a look of wonder in his eyes. Rajendra found his act to be rather amusing. "Looking for Asa-hime, Arslan-dono? Well, no matter the place, women always take much longer to dress up than us men. Who knows what they're actually doing!"
"Hm, right." Arslan just nodded out of reflex as he wasn't paying attention to him. He breathed out in relief upon finally seeing the two girls entering his view.
"Sorry for the wait." Asa smiled thinly and he returned the gesture happily.
Elam was smiling at Asa from where he stood until he noticed a sullen Alfarid next to him. He raised a brow at her, curious. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," she murmured, eyes boring into Asa's back, "I just don't think I can understand what prodigies had in those genius heads of them."
Elam stared at her for a while before breaking into small laugh. "What was that? Since it's you, it should be obvious!"
Alfarid elbowed him then, causing him to wince. Meanwhile, the twins were paying attention to Rajendra as he introduced Karikala II and Gadhevi entered the arena. While Arslan didn't judge, Asa knew that man could be worse than Rajendra from the way he brought himself.
Loud cheers resounded across the dimly lit arena after that as a soldier lit the torches placed in the ditch around the ring.
Narsus stepped to beside Arslan, telling him, "Denka, this will be the time where your stateliness will be tested. It may not be where your heart truly lies, but..."
"I understand," Arslan nodded firmly, before turning to Asa, "You sure you want to watch this?"
"Yes. I want to see Daryun win," Asa replied, only making him nervous but he soon relaxed when she entwined her fingers with his and smiled softly, "Besides, I want to stay close to you."
They sat down in their respective seats after that and soon heard footsteps; Daryun's footsteps. Then from across him, a rattle of chains echoed before a tall muscular man with a large scar across his shark-like face entered the arena. He broke the handcuffs binding his wrists and let out an ear-splitting roar, forcing everyone but Daryun to cover their ears.
"That's-- Bahadur?!" Rajendra gasped as the roar subsided.
"Rajendra-dono! That man you just called Bahadur, who is he?" Arslan nervously yelled out to him while Asa commented, "I don't know you but I am seeing a monster standing across Daryun..."
Rajendra just brushed them off, saying, "Ah, don't worry! Despite his appearance, he is no match against Daryun-dono."
"Right, Denka, Hime-sama! There is no way Daryun-sama, the number one knight in this world will lose to him!" Elam said enthusiastically to the twins. Arslan nodded and smiled in response while Asa only spared him a glance, her eyes devoid of emotions as they traced after Bahadur's movements.
The gong was pounded and as soon as Mahendra announced the start of the duel, the two proxies charged at each other.
●●●
So far, Daryun was pushed into corner several times. Even when he looked like he had inflicted a fatal wound by embedding his broken sword into Bahadur's body, the latter kicked him and only laughed it off. Arslan was extremely anxious right now, but knowing his sister was next to him, he tried his best to maintain his composure and stabilize his breath. Meanwhile, the said sister didn't budge in her seat as she kept on focusing on the duel.
"Good, Bahadur! That's the spirit!" Gadhevi stood up from his seat in excitement, cheering, "Quickly consign that parsian dog into oblivion!"
"I have heard of him before... he is no different than shark. He is insensible to pain." Rajendra noted as he joined Arslan and his vassals' side. It was truly a mistake for him to approach Arslan, as just seeing his face had made something within Arslan snap and ultimately, he lost control over his overwhelming emotion.
"You... you knew this yet you chose Daryun as your proxy for this duel before the gods?!" He boomed, gripping Rajendra's tunic tightly and forcing him to look into his eyes, "Should Daryun get killed by that monster, I swear upon the gods of Pars I will have your head and that of that monster and hang them from the castle gates here!"
There was a moment of tense silence until Karikala II broke it, "Please be calm, my dear Parsian guest. It was after Rajendra made his choice that Gadhevi chose his proxy. We heard your knight is a hero without rival... then finding him at a loss, Gadhevi freed that man from prison. That is just how feared your man is by his enemies. Do him the favor of placing your faith in him."
Arslan took his advice into mind and slowly released Rajendra from his grip, frowning as Rajendra patted his shoulder.
"Rajendra! It seems you better prepare yourself," Gadhevi mocked, "Chichi-ue, he claims to be the crown prince of Pars yet the way he lost his composure... how disgraceful! The calm girl next to him is more suited for that title. Or perhaps we've been mistaking the princess--the identical twin sister--for the crown prince this whole time?"
"Why, you!" Alfarid growled, but Arslan paid no heed to Gadhevi's mockery and instead looked at Asa, who looked terribly calm. But upon closer observation, she was tightly kneading her hands, he could see her knuckles had turned white. Her face was stiff and her widening eyes were locked on Daryun. It's clear she was holding her anxiety. When Arslan noticed this, he slapped his cheeks then vigorously shook his head. As his vassals and Rajendra looked at him in shock and wonder, a determined look was reflected on his eyes and he turned to glare upon the arena.
"You can do it, Daryun!" Arslan cheered as loud as he could. The other people with him were slightly taken aback, but after some time Rajendra, Narsus, and Gieve grinned knowingly while Alfarid and Elam heatedly joined him, "Go, Daryun-sama!" "Defeat him!"
"What's with those Parsians..." Gadhevi clicked his tongue at the suddenly lively group, "Tsk, whatever. Bahadur! It's time to settle this!"
Bahadur roared once again and swung his giant axe repetitively at Daryun. Daryun, thankfully, managed to avoid all of his attacks. Still, the audience grew more and more tense on each swing directed at him. It was when he was trapped between Bahadur and the circling flame did Asa reach her limit, as a certain terrible memory flashed in her mind. As Bahadur brought his giant axe down and Arslan took a deep breath, she slammed her hands onto the rails and together with Arslan, screamed at the top of their lungs,
"DON'T DIE, DARYUN!!!!!!!"
"WIN THIS, DARYUN!!!!!!!"
....to which Daryun responded immediately. He roared, swinging his arm forward and hurling his burning cloak at Bahadur's face. Bahadur let out a cry of agony as he dropped his axe and tried to get rid of the cloak.
"What are you doing Bahadur, you want to return to the jail?!" Gadhevi's panicked shout got Bahadur to focus on Daryun again. He tried to reach Daryun but the man instead caught his arm and twisted it, stopping his movement. As Bahadur struggled to break free, Daryun pulled out a short sword from his back. "Prepare to die!" He bellowed, using it to plunge Bahadur's throat with all his might and thus killing him.
When Karikala II proclaimed Rajendra as the winner and cheers began filling the air, Asa's eyes were locked on Daryun. But instead of Daryun, what she saw was a pale woman in white robes.
"He did it, Asa!" Arslan's call snapped her out of her mind and made that woman vanish. The girl turned to him, soon finding a broad, sheepish grin plastered across his face, "Daryun won the duel!"
She was at a loss of words but finally smiled thinly in relief. "Yes..."
At that moment, the twins didn't expect their happiness would last no longer than a minute. But things had happened, and now they must be ready for whatever thing that awaited in their future.
~Chapter 37 : End~
(A/N: The new chapter came out today, informing the name of the duel before the gods. Can't wait for the next chapter~)
Thanks for reading!