Chapter 3: 3. A Girl in His House
Salim grabbed the girl's body. He carried her in his arms and brought her to her room. Behram followed behind him.
"The blanket," Salim told Behram by pointing at the blanket using his gaze.
Behram understood his duty immediately. He cleaved apart the blanket that covered the bed and opened a place for Salim to lay the girl. Behram brought the blanket to the corner of the bed. Finished, he returned to his formal position. Behram stood at the side of the bed with his head slightly lowered and his hands crossed in front of his body.
"Please, My Lord," Behram said.
"Thank you, Behram," Salim replied.
Salim laid the girl on the bed. He did it slowly, worried that she would wake up suddenly and be hysterical again. Then he pulled the blanket to cover her body.
"What should we do with her, My Lord?" Behram asked. "She seems to be in a tremendous shock."
Salim looked at the girl. He looked at her facial lines. Behram was right about she was being shocked. Even when her eyes were closed, her face still looked unsettled. They must have really scared the girl.
'What a pity,' Salim thought.
He was about to take his gaze away from her when something inside him pushed him to stay. There was a curiosity arising in him. She for sure made him curious. That girl really caught his attention.
Salim had never seen someone like her before. It was a bizarre thing when in the Ottoman Empire there were all kinds of nationalities living in its territory. But during this time Salim rarely came out of the palace. Or it could be said that he seldom. So perhaps he was the one that wasn't well informed about what was going on outside.
As someone who lived in the cage system (1) he must live in the palace. Let alone get out of the palace easily, all of his movements -- even the smallest ones -- were watched. Outliers he had seen were limited to representatives of other empires. Specifically, only from European countries.
Salim's pair of green eyes now moved to sweep the girl's entire facial features. Her eyes were round and narrowed at the tail, her nose was small and not high, and her lips weren't t that red and thin like the Turks or Europeans but looked full and so sexy.
'Sexy?', Salim was surprised to find himself describing her lips using a term from the modern era. And even more surprised that he thought so.
He closed his eyes. Tried to cut off the madness that could arise in his mind because of his eyes.
"Satan," Salim suddenly said.
Behram slightly raised his head when he heard it. He started at Salim. "Sa-tan, My Lord?" he asked to confirm his hearing just now.
Salim clicked his tongue. He opened his eyes and looked at Behram. For a moment he thought. It wasn't possible to tell Behram that he was referring to himself being tempted by satan because of that girl.
"This girl called us ghosts. Ghosts, satans, whatever... They're the same," he said later. His voice sounded very convincing. But the truth was he just hiding his feeling.
"Then what should we do with her, My Lord?" Behram asked. He was waiting for his next task from his master. But first, he had to make sure of his master's intention because he was a bit clueless about what Salim was talking about.
Salim approached Behram. "You take care of her," he said.
After that, Salim sat on the couch that faced the bed. His right arm spread over the back of the couch while his legs crossed. Instead of paying attention to what was in front of him, Salim pointed his look at the couch he was sitting on while whistling low.
In his place, Behram didn't move. He was confused about what he had to do. More than that, Behram was confused by the awkwardness of Salim's attitude at this time.
"How should I kill her, My Lord?" Behram asked.
Salim immediately turned to Behram with his lips pursed. He was shocked by the conclusion drawn by Behram just now.
"Last time we came here, did you watch another mafia movie, Behram?" Salim probed.
"Yes, My Lord. It was Peaky Blinders," Behram confessed. He didn't look at his master's face at all because he felt ashamed. His master just found out about his secret world.
"With Turkish subtitles?"
"Dubbing, My Lord."
Salim nodded his head. Then he clicked his tongue. "I asked you to wake her up," he said, pointing his gaze at the bed. "We have to find out about her identity, what she's doing here, and most importantly... where Yıldıray is."
Behram lowered his head deeply to hear his master's last words. His feelings were mixed between guilt and shame. The combination of those two feelings eventually forms anger inside him.
Understanding his servant's state, Salim stood up. He approached Behram to encourage the old man. "It's not your fault," he said and patted Behram's shoulder.
"Forgive me, My Lord," Behram pleaded. He tried to hold back all his emotions while saying so that was how his voice sounded very deep.
"No one wants to be locked up, Behram," Salim said. There was irony in his voice when he said it. It felt like he was talking about himself while in fact he just talked about Yıldıray.
Salim then glanced at the bed where the girl lying on. His eyes caught something. An idea appeared in his mind then.
"But since she knows where Yıldıray is, we have to do something about her," he told Behram. However, his green eyes couldn't be separated from the girl.
"I'm going to the kitchen to get something for it," he added.
Salim stepped away from the place. He counted in his heart. Waiting, more precisely.
'One... Two... Three...'
Her voice was heard.
Salim smirked.
***
Consciousness returned to her. With her eyes still closed, Arsia moved her fingers.
She was just about to open her eyes when she heard people talking. One of them was young and sounded so charismatic. The other one sounded like a boring old man.
'Both of them are men', said her inner.
Arsia peeped. She found two men there in her room. They were the same ones as those she had seen before she fainted. Those men, they made her faint.
'They weren't ghosts?', she thought. She was shocked and feared, of course. But she tried to control herself.
'So who are they?', she wondered while still observing those two.
One of the men -- the young and attractive one -- turned to her. Arsia closed her eyes hurriedly. She didn't want them to know that she was conscious. Arsia had to find out what those two were going to do. She eavesdropped on their conversation.
"We have to find out about her identity, what she's doing here, and most importantly... where Yıldıray is," said the young man.
Something inside Arsia was alerted when she heard he mentioned Yıldıray. That was the name of her new landlord, tho.
'What does he mean by Yıldıray?', Arsia guessed.
Then Arsia heard the sound of steps. She didn't know who moved between those two. But from the voice that came after, Arsia knew that the one who had just moved was the young man.
He spoke again to his buddy. His voice was more clearly heard in Arsia's ears now. Not like before when he was talking while sitting on the couch.
The young man said, "It's not your fault."
The old man said, "Forgive me, My Lord."
'My... Lord?', Arsia almost burst out laughing hearing that.
'Are they playing roles right now?', she was wondering.
It was hard for Arsia to hold herself back from laughing. Her fear was suddenly gone just because of the noble title said by the old man to the younger one.
'Well, he is indeed handsome. But if every good-looking man is called as noble, how come the world?', Arsia was busy commenting inwardly.
But the humor soon vanished when Arsia heard the young man speak again. Arsia became wary. Her body stiffened.
"Since that girl may know where Yıldıray is, we have to do something about her," the young man said.
'He said that he will do something to me? What does that mean? What is he gonna do?!', Arsia panicked instantly. In her mind, those two would definitely kill her because she just interacted with Yıldıray.
'They're going to finish me off because of Yıldıray!', Arsia moaned herself as well as feeling so stupid for not realizing this possibility before. No wonder Yıldıray forced her to move immediately. Now Arsia regretted that she was too innocent to trust Yıldıray.
Arsia was even more worried when she heard the young man say he was going to pick something up in the kitchen. In her mind, he would take a knife to kill her. This made her even more anxious about what to do.
'Let's think, Arsia! He is about to go!'
Unable to stand it, Arsia opened her eyes. She threw her back from lying to sitting quickly.
"I don't know where Yıldıray is!" she exclaimed.
Yes. Finally, Arsia confessed.
That young man turned his body and looked straight at her now with a smile full of victory.
'Shit!'
---
(1) Imposed by Sultan Ahmet I, the cage system (Turkish kafes sistemi) required princes to live in the palace, be educated there, and be watched over. Before, Ottoman princes were living outside the palace to get their education and fratricide was legally allowed by Mehmet the Conqueror.
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Ariuna_Inci
Ariuna_Inci this is a fictional story but I do mix it with some historical events that happened during the Ottoman era. cmiiw. hope you enjoy it! xoxo.
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