Sabır (Patience) - Kurulus Osman

Chapter 37

The arrow was loose enough to pull out, so Ceyda gently pulled it out and handed it over to Kilic who passed her the cloth. She quickly compressed his wound with the cloth to hold in the blood.

"Is he going to be okay, Ceyda?" Kilic asked.

"InshaAllah... but he is bleeding badly. We need to cauterize it at once. Abdurrahman Gazi'im," she turned to Abdurrahman and started getting up as he replaced her and put pressure on the cloth. Ceyda looked around for a place to rest and laid out four mats of fur around the fire Erkut lit. She seated herself on one and pulled out her weapons, sharpening them with a rock as Erkut and Abdurrahman Gazi laid Dundar near them and took a seat as well. Kilic grabbed water from his saddle and took a seat too. After drinking his water, he offered some to Ceyda, but she shook her head and continued sharpening her swords, getting faster and rougher with each file. She was angry at Dundar for not being able to protect his son. She was angry at Batur for leaving her, and most importantly, she was angry at herself for letting him go without a proper farewell. Suddenly, she felt something hot and wet on her hand and flinched. She looked down and saw that her hand was covered in blood. While sharpening her sword, she cut herself, and without realizing it, did it more than once.

Kilic, who was sitting beside her, saw the wound and widened his eyes. He quickly took out a cloth and passed it to her as Ceyda's was used on Dundar. She took it, angry at herself, and wrapped her hand. She tried tying it, but it was harder with one hand, and the cloth kept slipping off. She tried a couple more times, but it didn't work, frustrating her even more. She yelled in anger and threw the cloth away, raising a hand at Kilic who tried offering help. "There's no need."

Abdurrahman Gazi and Erkut noticed the bloody hand and became concerned. "Ceyda kizim, let Kilic wrap it. You're losing a lot of blood," Abdurrahman reasoned.

"There's no need!" Ceyda repeated. The anger she held inside was coming out, and the others decided to keep silent.

Ceyda's yells woke Dundar up, and he slowly recognized the people in front of him, "Abdurrahman Gazi."

Abdurrahman turned around, and Ceyda squinted her eyes at Dundar.

"Why did you do this to me?" Dundar questioned weakly.

Ceyda shook her head in disbelief. "Why did you do this to our tribe, to our Ertugrul Bey, Dundar Bey? Great agony awaits you in your grave. I feel sorry for you," Abdurrahman grieved.

Dundar stayed quiet for a bit, then spoke, "My son..." Ceyda listened harder. "You killed my Batur." She dropped her weapons and strode over to Dundar.

"Ceyda," Abdurrahman Gazi calmed.

"Batur is not dead. Stop saying that!" Ceyda shouted, her eyes filling with tears.

"You believed these lies, just like you believed Alisar, Sofia, Balgay. Ahh Dundar Bey, ah," Abdurrahman disapproved.

"Abdurrahman Gazi. Kill me. Kill me. Or... I... I'm going to kill all of you." Ceyda watched Dundar in disbelief. "I'm not going to leave the blood... of my son Batur on the ground. Kill me."

"Who sent you to the place where Osman trapped Balgay, huh? Tell me. Tell me so Osman can reveal the treachery around us. Then you will get the answer to your questions."

"The real traitor is Osman."

"Osman killed him? Osman killed him?! Osman didn't go near Batur after he left. Where were you? Weren't you with Batur? You killed him, emmi. You killed him! You killed him!" Ceyda started shaking Dundar, and Abdurrahman Gazi pulled her back, "Don't do it, kizim. He needs to live."