Sienna - Kurulus Osman

15

The castle prepared for Osman as dawn fell, and Sienna changed into her armour before meeting Nikola as he surveyed the guards, archers, and the soldiers' positions, Sienna close behind.

"Which passage do you think he'll use, Nikola?" Sienna asked, remembering the many secret roads within the castle that could allow one to enter without being seen if they were witty enough.

"He'll come, Sienna, that's what matters," Nikola dismissed. 

"He doesn't know we're waiting for him," she stated. 

"Would he come if he knew?" Nikola scanned the guards' positions and nodded in approval. "Good."

"It's Osman," Sienna considered. "He'll come."

"He'll come," Nikola confirmed. "He'll see. And he'll die, Sienna."

"He'll die..." Sienna remembered how Osman took her captive and the insults he threw at her, treating her like a worthless dog. "...as long as I'm the one that kills him. Right, Nikola?"

Nikola stared at her with a furrowed brow. "You'll kill him? Right away?"

"Right away."

"Why?"

Sienna paused, then explained, "Patience is key in hunting wolves. You have to wait for them to come to you, bait them. And when the right moment arrives, you take your weapon," she swiftly pulled out her dagger, "and stab their heart." She pointed it an inch away from Nikola's chest. "If you wait too long, Nikola...the wolf will claw your heart out and tear your skin apart." Nikola watched her curiously as she put away her dagger.

"Wolf, eh? Sienna, you told it as you lived it."

Sienna smirked lightly, then slightly pulled aside her high-neck inner, revealing four faint claw marks, the doing of a wolf.

Nikola looked at it with a raised eyebrow and lightly chuckled. "Kurtlar avcisi Sienna, ha?" Sienna covered up her scar as he said, "I didn't teach you this."

"There are many things you didn't teach me that I know, Nikola," Sienna commented, starting to walk toward the main gate.

Nikola laughed, "Really? Like what?"

"Honesty toward my friends." She stared at Nikola as he waited expectantly. "Your laugh is annoying."

Nikola blinked, then broke into a fit of laughter as Sienna cringed. "Good to know."

"This is our chance, Nikola," Sienna told him seriously. "We will kill him once he arrives. Besides, I've run out of patience."

"Slowly, Sienna, slowly."

---

Sienna unlocked her bedroom door and stepped inside when arms wrapped around her waist, making her look down at a pair of glossy green eyes. "You're back," Derya exclaimed. 

Sienna smiled and playfully pried the young girl's arms off her to hold her hands. "You think I forgot about you, hmm?"

Derya's smile softened. "That Tekfur Nikola wants you to, doesn't he? That's why you don't visit me as often anymore...because of him."

Sienna bit her lip; in a way, the girl was right, but Sienna didn't want her to be. "No, that's not true. There's just been a lot of work, so I haven't-"

"I thought you were honest to your friends." Derya's bright eyes suddenly dimmed, and she slowly pulled her hands away from Sienna's.

A confused and now suspicious Sienna watched Derya carefully, wondering if and how the girl had overheard her earlier. Before she could say more, Derya cut her off, "Seems like Nikola's teachings and beliefs have made you forget your own. Do you ever wonder if he's using you, Sienna? Because I think he's just-"