His gut surely revolted. As did his mind. For a man in love with someone who captured his heart, proposing to a woman pretending to be his beloved sickened Jovan. But, Jovan knew he had to do it to save Jagoda's life. And that made it a thousand times worse.
He hated deceit. He loathed it. But... he knew that the only way to save Jagoda was to pretend he was not aware of Zora's treachery, nor that Zora herself stood before him instead of her own sister, with her hands wrapped around his waist.
He could see the change in Zora's eyes the moment he mentioned marriage. Her eyes sparkled. And they did so not because of feelings she may have held in her heart for any human being. They sparkled because of her unquenched and limitless greed. Zora all but exclaimed words of sweet victory the moment Jovan's lips whispered of marrying her.
"You are such a wonderful man, Jovan," Zora beamed with happiness, though Jovan knew with absolute certainty that her affection was directed at herself.
"I wouldn't be the man I am today if it weren't for You," Jovan whispered, and oddly realized how true those words really were.
"I waited for You for so long," Zora tried to stay in Jagoda's character, but she could not have fooled Jovan. He recalled Anil's words describing the difference between the sisters. And the lack of the golden strand of hair in Zora's case, which Jovan had picked up on, had nothing to do with it.
"Why wait any longer?" Jovan caressed a strand of hair away from Zora's face. "I wish we could marry tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?!?" Zora exclaimed, half-surprised and half-overjoyed. "Are You... certain?"
"That, I am, Sultana," Jovan nodded. "And I have my reasons for it."
"And what would those be?" Zora narrowed her eyes on him now.
"Well, I fell in love with the woman that captured my heart in every possible way, and she stands before me, looking into my eyes," Jovan whispered and all but threw up in his mouth as those words left his lips.
"And?" Zora smiled lightly, accepting his declaration but needing to hear more of it.
"It will be good for the morale of the people. Seeing a united front will bring them hope," Jovan continued.
"And?" Zora asked again, wondering if there was more.
"I am a foreigner to this land, but I was advised that to succeed Your father, the beloved late Lala Şahin Pasha, and become the beylerbey leader of this part of land granted to Your father by Sultan Murad I, You would have to marry. If we marry now, then Your sister will have to accept her defeat," Jovan leaned in and whispered to her ear. "And the law of the land is the law."
"Jovan, nothing would bring me more joy than becoming Your bride," Zora sighed, already anticipating the events that were to follow. Both the marriage, as well as her succession as the ruling beylerbey of the land they stood on. "But how can we arrange the wedding celebration on such short notice? And where? I certainly wouldn't hope to marry You in the cave behind Our back?"
"We will pick the location together." Jovan smiled at her, but his heart hurt already. Here, in Zora's eyes, but especially in her heart, was the difference between true love and greed. He saw it clearly. He saw the difference between understanding that the beloved mattered more than any place on earth, and not understanding that material objects were just a backdrop to what really mattered in life.
"Alright," Zora smiled at him, content with everything Jovan had said. "I have a few places in mind. I am sure they would agree to host Our union, even in such a short time."
"I checked with the locals, and they informed me of a few locations that would be suitable, if You agree." Saying so, Jovan took Zora's hand in his and decided to take her for a little stroll in the moonlight. Anything was better than standing face to face with her, looking at her face, and not seeing his beloved Jagoda's eyes looking back at him. But, he was wrong. The cold and unwelcoming touch of Zora's hand only reminded him more of who he was dealing with. As such, he decided to forgo the intimacy of their joined hands, and instead placed the palm of her hand on his arm.
"I must say, it felt odd when You took my hand in Yours," Zora questioned the gesture. "Is that a custom familiar to where You are from?"
"You may say so," he replied with a trained smile. "I would say that it is a custom as similar to where I am from as poisoned arrows are to this region."
"Some grow to overcome the pain from being shot," Zora advised him and leaned in closer, pretending to embrace his arm.
"And some grow to show love in the most precious of ways." He stopped abruptly, and turned to her. The time to act had come. And he definitely did not wish to spend any more time on small talk while his beloved was somewhere out there, fighting to stay alive while her own sister enjoyed the air of freedom.
He was glad that Zora stopped with her back turned to the moonlight. This way he did not see her face in full gleam of the night. Seeing the face so familiar to him - now cold and foreign to him - twisted his gut. He sighed at the mere thought of it, and pulled out a ring from the inside of his kaftan. Zora gasped as the large green emerald jewel of the ring glistened right in front of her. "I hope You will accept this humble ring as a sign of our love for everyone to see. It was the best I could do, under current circumstances."
"It's... it's the royal signet ring that belonged to Blagun's father, the ring my father bestowed upon him as the leader of our armies," Zora brought her hand to her lips in disbelief, all but flipping cartwheels to finally hold the ring she had been after for years.
"It is," he agreed. "Blagun had given it to Kinga for safekeeping as they laid siege on the city yesterday."
"So that's why You spoke with her right before we left the cave?" Zora wondered out loud.
"Among other things, but yes, I requested that she surrender the ring to me for exactly this purpose," Jovan nodded.
"Did You know that my father had given it to Blagun's father the day he took leadership of Our armies?" Zora's eyes gleamed at the sight of the ring in a way they never had before. "It's as if this royal signet ring would now be returning to Our family."
"If You think of it that way," Jovan nodded and caressed a strand of hair away from her hair. Zora still wore the gown of white and gold, with jewels atop her head. "A Sultana deserves to be treated like royalty."
"Men like You do not come by often, Jovan," Zora said, but had not bothered to look up at him. Her eyes were fixed on the royal signet ring, and Jovan might as well have evaporated into thin air and she would not have noticed.
"So, should we marry in the Belogradchik Fortress?" Jovan asked and figured he would have to repeat the question, but Zora did look up at him after a moment.
"Kaleto? I would hope not. I know the man who governs that Fortress. He would sooner seal off the gates if he saw Us rather than letting Us in," Zora chuckled and moved her head at the thought of it. She was already anticipating conquering that very Fortress as one of the first raids she would undertake as the new beylerbey.
"All right," Jovan nodded. "What about Asen's Fortress?"
"I would have to say no to that as well," Zora replied without even a thought about it. "Asenitsa River is beautiful, but the Fortress would be unprepared to host such an event. Plus, it really is not in the best shape after all the recent raids."
"Understood. Then what do You think about the Mezek Fortress?" Jovan continued.
"It is too cold of a place. My father and I visited it many times. We were not too fond of it," Zora brushed off that idea as well.
"If You do not like it, then I feel the same way," Jovan inclined his head. He looked up and saw the Boyana Waterfall behind Zora's back. Suddenly, a thought came to his mind from somewhere deep in his gut. "Then, how about... the Boyana Church?"
"No!" Zora shook her head and Jovan saw a flash of something he could only describe as fear in her eyes. "That place is definitely too small and meager to host Our union. We should celebrate Our love, not limit it within such small walls. I changed my mind about the Mezek Fortress. It would be a fitting location for Our wedding. It would feel like my father would be there with Us since we had come there so many times in the past."
"Then Mezek Fortress it is, my dearest. Let Us hurry back and advise Our friends of Our plans. We have no time to lose," Jovan smiled with gleam and intensity in his eyes that took Zora's breath away, all the while confident that he figured out where Zora had Jagoda held captive...
YOU ARE READING
THE TIDES OF TIME
Romance⚔️ "Being born and raised to respect life and its rules, Jovan Galanis made something of himself. He was ambitious, outgoing, disciplined, and righteous to his very core. His parents died when he was a young boy, and having been raised by his Macedo...
