GonBor- A Gonca hatun and Boran alp story

Chapter 57- Information

Boran alp P.O.V

We ride through the forest, ending up at a very familiar location, Osman's secret cave. "Seriously, we're back here again?" Osman Bey nods, "You didn't think I would give up on my super cool secret cave, did you?"

"But this place isn't even a secret anymore though," I point out and Osman shakes his head. "Everyone who knew about this cave is already dead... well except you guys." "You do realize you sound like a psychopath saying that right?" Gunduz asks, a slightly concerned look on his face and Osman just laughs.

"Come on," Osman goes and opens the hatch, jumping straight down instead of using the ladder. "Use the ladder, for god's sake, Osman. Before you hurt yourself or something," Gunduz shouts, rolling his eyes.

 He grabs the top ring of the ladder, climbing down, the rest of us following. When I get down, I blink a couple of times, my eyes adjusting to the dim lighting. I remember when we first made this place, we were 16 years old, always sneaking out to work here without telling anyone.

I was surprised we were able to keep this a secret for so long, well except Gunduz who figured it out eventually. "So, what are we doing here?" Goktug asks, looking around, "You guys are going to be doing some spying."

I turn and look at Osman, "Spying? On who?" "Well, the only way to get to the bottom of this Kotyan thing, is to get more information."Osman Bey informs us, tossing a bag at each of us, "Here are your disguises." "Do I have to be some byzantine musician again?" I ask, raising my eyebrows.

Osman laughs, shaking his head, "No, but that was pretty funny." I roll my eyes, "Of course it was, but aside from that, what do you want us to do?" Osman Bey nods, remembering what he was going to say. "Ask around, you'll be acting as merchants. Don't be too specific, just ask the people if they've heard the name. Meet me back here at sunset tomorrow, we'll see from there."

I nod, "Eyvallah, Bey'm," "Oh, and one more thing, leave your swords and daggers here. I have other ones you can take with you." Goktug raises an eyebrow, "Why do we have to leave our swords?"

Osman Bey just looks at Goktug for a moment before drawing Goktug's sword from his sheath. Osman turns the handle of the sword, showing us the Kayi symbol, and looking pointedly at Goktug. "All your weapons carry a mark of Kayi,  your weapons will put you at risk for being caught and recognized."

I look at Goktug with a small smirk, "Did you never notice that before?" Goktug shrugs, "I don't pay attention to the handle of my sword!" Osman Bey shushes him, "Alright, hurry up and get ready, I'll tell each of you where you are going."

A couple of minutes later, we exit the cave and I walk over to my horse, petting his head. "Alright, boy, I'll be back soon, be good alright? Actually, you can annoy Gunduz Bey as much as you want, but no one else." I say with a grin, my horse has a known infuriation with Gunduz, I'm pretty sure he hates Gunduz. "Ha Ha, very funny, Boran, I'm not going anywhere near your horse."

Goktug, Turhan, and I were going to different sections of the large bazaar to the east. It'll take a couple of hours to get there, especially since we're not riding our horses that are built for war. "Seriously donkeys? Where did you even get these?" Goktug asks and Osman smirks, "I got them from Sogut, and you're merchants, what did you expect? Warhorses?"

The weird thing about these spy missions is we can't wear our armor, which makes you feel incredibly light. Osman has a joke about, usually when we're wearing armor, if he tried to hit me, his arm would bounce off my armor. But, whenever we're not wearing armor, Osman takes advantage of that.

"Oh wait, I forgot to do this," Osman braces his hands on the edge of the cart, jumping up and smacking his arm on my chest where my armor would have been. I wince at the sting, "Ow, why must you do that every time?" Osman shrugs, "It's fun, Boran, plus it's a tradition," I nod sarcastically. "Of course, beating me up has always been a tradition."

"Be careful, May Allah be with you," I put my hand to my chest, "Eyvallah, Bey." 

Later That Day~

We arrived at the bazaar afternoon, and after finding a room at the main inn, we split up, hoping to get as much information as possible. I come across a Muslim man selling fruits with his young son, his produce was less, barely filling half the crate. "Selam Aleykum," I greet, "Aleykum Selam," the man says back. "May it be easy, your product is less, what happened?" 

"Bey, my tribe was attacked by Mongols, they burnt most of my trees. These were the only ones I was able to save." I nod, frowning slightly, "Mongols? Who was their leader, do you know?" I ask, carefully and the man shakes his head, but the boy speaks. "Kotyan, that's who the soldiers were talking about."

I nod, smiling at the boy and taking a silver coin from my pouch. "Here, this is for you, spend it on whatever you want alright? Allah razi olsun." The boy smiles and taking the coin from my hand. I buy a couple of apples from the man, paying him a little extra, before moving on to the next stall.

After walking around for only a couple of minutes, I hear a terrified scream, "The Mongols are coming!!" 

A/N: Oh crap, m o n g o l s

Also, Gunduz and Boran are the best, I put a lot of emphasis on their relationship. They're cooooool.

Anyway, Salaam and Have a great day!