Bosphorus Rose

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Bosphorus Rose

Chapter 3

Iskender cursed to himself as he ran his fingers through his hair, pacing around the village square. He had ran down the hill as fast as he could without thinking. By the time he got to the village, he was thirsty and panting. The sun was high in the summer sky, basking the entire city in its heat. Luckily for him, there was a fountain in the centre of the square, a domed pavilion with ornate taps coming off from the marble base. He was sure it was one of the charitable works of Ismail Celebi, or at least one of the other wealthier residents of Beykoz.

The cobblestoned square was empty, save for the flock of chickens pecking around by the fountain. It seemed like the entire village had gone for Ismail Celebi's wedding feast. Iskender bent over, drinking the cool water from the tap. When he turned around, the chickens seemed to have taken an interest in them, clucking at his feet. One of them even pecked his shoes.

Iskender tried to walk briskly from them but those little winged creatures followed him.

"W-What do you want?" Iskender exclaimed, a hint of fear in his voice. "I don't have any bread!"

The chickens didn't seem to understand him, drawing closer to him. Of course they wouldn't understand him, they were chickens. Iskender sighed to himself, he was certainly going mad.

He had messed up, once again. Thrown away his chance at reconciling with his family. He was going to go in, present the gifts to Muhsine, probably fall on his knees and dramatically beg for forgiveness from his parents in front of everyone, and everything would go according to plan. His parents wouldn't dare refuse him in front of everyone. Especially not in front of the pious family of Ismail Celebi. They'd see a man yearning to reconnect with his parents, and were they to reject him it would only reflect badly on themselves.

But now he had insulted and humiliated the bridegroom in front of everyone. He caught side of the boy fainting as he ran down the hill.

He felt a bit bad about it, but honestly it was the boy's own fault. He shouldn't have been in Iskender's way. What was his name again? Mehmed? Murad? He didn't know.

Iskender was a man much too proud to acknowledge his own hubris.

The chickens were starting to irritate him now, he yelled at them to go away, but they persisted. He took out the coins in his pocket and tossed it at them, the gold hitting the ground with a clink. He had hoped for the metallic clatter to distract the chickens, but they only paid attention to it briefly, before proceeding to peck at him again.

"Go away!" Iskender cried out, stomping his foot as he tried to scare them off.

That certainly angered them.

"No! No!" Iskender said, as the frenzied hens started pecking away at his shoes and trousers . "Get away from me!"

Some of the fens even began to flap their wings, lifting them off the ground. They seemed determined to kill him. Or at least that was what Iskender thought.

It was then when the blue carriage entered the square from the road leading up to the mansion.

⚜⚜⚜

Once everything was ready, Murad returned to the carriage. Fatima and Azemet were waiting outside. Azemet had his hands clasped in front of him, looking down at the ground in front of him. He was trying to avoid meeting Fatima's gaze. Fatima was talking about the wedding, how the bride's gown was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. Azemet only nodded and smiled.