Chương 10: 10. Suddenly Bride and Groom
Just like Arsia, hearing about Arsia's deportation also made Salim worried. His brain thought quickly to find a way to save Arsia. That girl must stay here and shouldn't be sent anywhere. So how could Salim let her be deported to her country which was kilometers away from Turkey? No way.
'We're getting married, Sir. This lady is my fiance.'
That was what came to his mind and was voiced through his mouth.
On his left side, Behram was horrified. On her right side, Arsia was sculpting as she had just seen Medusa. Both Arsia and Behram, who had always been at quarrel, finally had something in common to share: an objection to Salim's statement. But for Salim, he had already solved their problems most reasonably.
'The police won't ask any further after this', Salim was so confident. He was sure that the police were just bluffing at them.
But this was life, sometimes some things go beyond people's expectations. It could be because the path of destiny was like that or... because the era had changed. Either way, Salim -- without realizing it -- had just put them in a more complicated situation.
The policeman looked unenthusiastically. If this was a movie, Salim's statement would be sounded so heroic and romantic. But what a pity, it didn't impress the police at all. All that the police wanted was to finish his job so he must prove Salim's statement just now.
"Do you have any pictures of your engagement?" the police asked.
Salim and Arsia shook their heads. Behram also shook his head even though he was not the one questioned.
"Or can you show me proof that you have registered your marriage plan?" the policeman continued his questioning.
Again, they could only shake their heads.
The policeman sighed. "Then how can I believe it?"
None of them answered. Arsia had already sunk into the crust alive. Salim was worried to make another mistake. Behram was drawn away by his fear that his master would end up marrying Arsia.
"Well, as you say, if both of you are going to get married you should invite me so I can see it with my own eyes," the policeman said flatly but sounded like a bolt of lightning for those three.
And that was how Behram's fear finally came true.
***
Three of them got out of the taxi. Behram came down from the front door while Salim and Arsia from the rear door.
Salim didn't enter the house as soon as they arrived. He stood quietly beside the road and stared at Arsia. That girl had just walked on the porch of the house. She walked there without even looking at him let alone Behram.
Since coming out of the police station Arsia behavior hadn't changed. The girl was silent. Even when Behram said something that should have aroused her emotions while in the taxi, Arsia still looked blankly out the window. She was lost in her thoughts.
The girl who had always caused a stir since the beginning they met, now seemed so vacant. Finding Arsia like that made Salim filled with guilt.
Salim wasn't stupid. Rather he hid his intelligence behind his ridiculous behavior. Even so, for 25 years of his life, of course, there were problems that he couldn't solve, one of that was this. The difference was that Arsia was the first problem that he cannot solve in 2019.
"She seems to be in shock, My Lord," Behram voiced what Salim already knew. He stood a little behind Salim, watching Arsia from outside the house.
"Yes, you're right, Behram," Salim replied.
Behram stared at his master. "Then what will you do, My Lord?"
"I will do as I said," Salim replied.
"Pardon me, My Lord... Is that mean that you really going to marry her?" Behram questioned Salim's decision.
"Yes," Salim turned to Behram. "Otherwise she will be sent out of here. Even if this happens in the Sultanate, I don't have the power to change Sultan's decision. Here, I'm just Salim," he said explaining the situation to Behram.
"Please forgive me, My Lord. It is not my intention to doubt you but you have never been married before and Arsia is not someone from the Sultanate era. Arsia doesn't even know who you are. I'm afraid this will make things more complicated. How will you deal with it?"
Salim smiled faintly. He had thought about it in the taxi earlier. So it could be said that he was calm now even though he still couldn't wipe out his guilt toward Arsia.
"We don't have time to find Yıldıray. Even if Yıldıray can be found then what about Arsia? Do I have to let her be deported to her country because of something that she didn't do?" Salim said.
Behram was silent in his place. His master was right. Among all the truth that was spoken by Salim, there was a fact that Salim had to pay for Yıldıray's mistake. And even though Behram didn't have a good impression of Arsia, he realized that that girl was just a victim of the chaos created by Yıldıray.
'That disobedient child! He humiliated me to my grave!', Behram let out his anger in his heart.
"Now I have to tell Arsia about everything, Behram. I wish you can be more patient with her?" Salim confirmed Behram's willingness to help him.
"As you wish, My Lord," Behram replied, bowing his body slightly.
They both entered the house. There Salim found Arsia sitting in the living room with her face looking down.
"Where have you been?" Arsia asked, aware of his presence. Arsia raised her face then. Her black eyes stared straight at Salim. "Is no one going to tell me what's going on here?"
Arsia's voice sounded so calm. But Salim was able to catch the heartache that she felt. Salim didn't reckon Arsia for it. He even thought that Arsia was right. In this place, it was she who was victimized by the situation. Even if Arsia took out a knife by now toward him, Salim would understand.
'She looks so upset and... fragile', Salim thought.
"Are you sure that you want to hear it now? I can explain it whenever you feel better," Salim offered. He really felt sorry for Arsia.
"Is there another insanity that you hide? If there are any, now is the right time to say it before I get my sense back," Arsia said as she looked at Salim and Behram in turn.
Salim looked at Arsia. He considered for a moment before finally saying, "Okay. Come with me. There's something I need to show you."
Without questioning anything, Arsia obeyed Salim. The two then entered the room next to Arsia's room.
A gleam of soft yellow light immediately met their eyes when Salim opened the door. The rays appeared from bottom to top of the wall in front of them. As the rays shifted, the wall turned into a giant post box. So large that it could be enough for several adults to enter it at once.
Salim stared at Arsia. As he expected, that girl was so surprised when she saw it. Arsia's round eyes seemed about to come out of their socket, her mouth was opened, and her body was sealed in place.
"H-how did it get there?" Arsia asked with her pair of black eyes staring in shock at Salim. From Salim, Arsia turned her gaze back to the wall in front of her to check her vision. Then she looked at Salim again. "H-how did it get there? Isn't there supposed to be a window?" she repeated her question with her index finger pointing at the giant post box. Arsia wanted an explanation.
"Yes. There should be a window," Salim confirmed Arsia's statement. Then he took out the golden key from his trouser pocket. "This key calls it here," he explained as he lifted the key into the air.
"B-but how?" Arsia stared at the key and the post box in confusion.
"The post box is a time portal. As you can see there is a lock and it will appear just when the key is here," Salim stopped his words to see Arsia's reaction. Of course, that girl looks amazingly confused, what else? But Salim had already explained it and he had to finish it. He continued, "We aren't from this time, Arsia. We're from the Ottoman Empire during the reign of Sultan Mustafa I."
"Sultan Mustafa I?" Arsia repeated.
Salim nodded. "Yes."
"Sultan Mustafa I... Sultan Mustafa I..." Arsia tried to remember. "Sultan Mustafa I who ascended the throne after Sultan Osman II. Do you mean that Sultan? The year 1617?" asked Arsia in surprise.
Salim looked at Arsia with a serious face. "Right."
After that Arsia's face turned deathly pale. Salim thought that Arsia would be turned to be hysterical and yell at them as she did before. But Salim was wrong. What Arsia said afterward really shook him as a man.
"I'M GOING TO MARRY AN OLD MAN?!"
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