Sabır (Patience) - Kurulus Osman

Chapter 25

"Kizim, I'm sorry."

Ceyda quickly awoke from her nightmare. There was a blurred figure like before, and she felt the same voice that sparked recognition. It was just about to kill Ceyda when her brain awoke her. She sighed in frustration when she realized she was still in the Mongol area.

"It's fine, Ceyda... You did this, so you will pay the price," Ceyda calmed herself. She stood up and stretched, then washed her face and was about to wear her armour when she frowned.

"This thing again..."

Ceyda never liked changing her clothes too often, mainly because she would get attached to whatever clothing she wore. But this time, it was different. This was not handmade by the women of the tribe or purchased from the prosperous markets of Sogut. These were Mongol clothes, and Mongols destroyed her tribe. Her family. Her father. Before images of death and destruction could appear in her mind, she wondered if there were any other clothes.

She looked around the room, and her eyes landed on a cupboard that seemed as if it would contain clothes. She walked towards it and opened it, revealing at least ten unique outfits, similar to the ones she took off the day before. She smiled. "Now, that's more like i-Snap out of it, Ceyda," she smacked her head. She never showed an interest in new clothing before; she didn't understand what she was going through now.

Ceyda examined the outfits one by one when her smile fell upon a unique dark red coloured armour with a jet-black inner. She immediately fell in love with the outfit. Excitedly, she took it out and put it on. She tied her hair into a messy bun and reached for the hat she wore before, but she could not find it. She searched the room over and over, but there was no sign of the hat. "Where is that stupid hat...? I could have sworn I left it there before-"

Her confusion suddenly turned into anger, "Kongar...But I locked the door how-" she turned to see a window half-open and facepalmed at her stupidity. "No wonder it was so cold yesterday... but he wouldn't be that desperate. No, that's not him...but then again, I don't know him."

Before she wasted hours thinking about whether it was Kongar or not, she searched the room once more for anything she could put over her head without drawing too much attention. Her hands landed on a piece of clothing. She picked it up and analyzed the long red scarf. It was too small to wrap around her head, so she tied it around like a bandana. It didn't cover all her hair, but she concluded it was better than nothing. She attached her weapons and left the room.

Right before taking another step, she came back to shut the window, "Not this time." The view was of the area in front of the inn. Ceyda saw some Mongols standing guard, but she didn't see Balgay. "Maybe he's inside." She left the room and walked down to the main area of the inn. He wasn't there either. After searching a bit more, she decided to ask the soldiers, "Asker, where is Comm-my father Balgay?"

"He went to the forest with the other Mongol soldiers, Commander Ceyda."

Ceyda was shocked. Commander Ceyda? Vai, it even has a nice ring to it... Commander Ceyda, Komutan Ceyda, Komu-

"Balgay told us to escort you to the forest when you wake up. After you."

"I don't need an escort. I can go myself."

"You don't know the secret place, Commander."

Ceyda contained her thrill of being called Commander and agreed, "Okay, let's go."