Kabul - Acceptance: Sequel to 'Yasak - Forbidden' (A Goktug Alp Love Story)

CHAPTER 10

A/N: Dedicated to these lot up here for making me laugh 😆 

@m2bashi , @NewMarauders87 , @MickeySalah , @XzunairaX

Melike stormed into the stables and boarded Jarrah so fast and swiftly that the horse had barely noticed that she had already sat herself down on his back when she kicked at his flank, breaking him into a gallop.

"Melike, wait!" cried Boran as he ran after her, panting as he struggled to get onto his own horse. "Come on, boy, let's go after her!" His chestnut horse neighed as he too, broke into a gallop after the stormy-grey blur that was Jarrah, barely visible by then as Melike had already ridden him far out across the brown plains before entering the woods. "Melike, wait for me!" yelled Boran, cracking his horse's reins to go faster as he went after his sister. "Dur, Bacim, dur!"

Melike only slowed down when she got so deep into the forest where the trees were too dense to gallop through, giving Boran time to catch up to her. Her knuckles turned white as she grasped Jarrah's reins, her nails digging into her palms and her jaw clenching with irritation. As his own horse slowed down, Boran could hear Melike's heavy breathing, his eyes taking notice of the way her shoulders rose and fell with every inhale and exhale. She was furious.

"Melike!" gasped out the tawny-haired Alp when he had finally caught up to his sister, out of breath as his horse stopped beside hers. "Melike, why did you not wait for me? You were going so fast-" "It's not fair, Boran!" cried Melike, rounding on him, her eyes blazing as they watered with angry tears. "Goktug cannot be executed! He would never harm an unarmed soldier, you and I know that!"

"I know, Melike!" exclaimed Boran. "I know. Please, calm down." He regretted his words immediately as Melike glared at him, her brow creasing in such a way anyone in his place would believe that she was about to attack. "Do not ask me to calm down!" she snapped. "How can I be calm, after everything Hazal Hatun said, Boran Alp? How can I be calm, tell me now!" "Melike, we will figure out a way to rescue Goktug, I promise," said Boran, trying to reason with her despite the fact that his own rage and fury had his blood boiling as they coursed through his veins. "I promise you."

Melike huffed, and turned away, wiping sweat from her creased brow angrily. "What game are they playing?!?" she demanded to nobody in particular. "How dare they do this to Goktug? How dare they frame my husband and put him up for execution?" "I know, Melike," sighed Boran. "It is foul play. I am sure of it."

"This was more than just a game and foul play, Boran," said Melike, turning back to face him. "They are trying to take down the entire tribe, starting with Goktug. They are trying to use him to break the treaty between Ertugrul Bey and Nikola. They want to end it all for the Turks." Boran grimaced at her, knowing his sister was right. "They don't want us here, Boran," continued Melike, her voice dripping with dangerous rage. "They want us gone! They want us to perish altogether! Byzantines and Mongols have one goal in common- and that is to eliminate the Turks, their biggest enemy and the only ones who can take both of them down. That is why they cannot allow leaders like Ertugrul Bey and Osman Bey to exist, leading their people into battles they will surely win, no matter what the odds."

"And they want to start with small tricks, slowly building their way into the center, to bring down the power that is ours," Boran finished for her. "They scheme so we could slip, until we fall into the pit that would lead us to their doom. I know, Melike, I know." Melike shook her head, scoffing. "They underestimated us," she said in a soft voice. "They do not know that we will stand up stronger every time we fall." Boran smiled at her in admiration, as she voiced the thoughts in his head, but his smile fell when she turned away again.