GonBor- A Gonca hatun and Boran alp story

Chapter 60- A Letter

Boran Alp P.O.V

Goktug and I step into the Marquee where Gunduz Bey, Turgut Bey, and Osman Bey stood. "What happened to your hand, Boran?" Osman asks, raising an eyebrow and I look at my hand. "I... accidentally stabbed myself."

Osman just stares at me for a moment, "Of course, you did, it's not like it's the first time." Gunduz says, rolling his eyes. 

"You stabbed yourself?" On accident?" Osman asks slowly and I nod, "Yup," Osman shakes his head. "Why is it that every time I talk to either of you, you're doing something weird? Punching each other, somehow stabbing yourself, I don't even know what." I raise an eyebrow, "Every time I talk to you, Bey, you're doing something equally weird," I retort.

"When have I been doing something weird?" Osman Bey shoots back, and Gunduz sighs, "Shut up, both of you. We have something important to talk about."

Turgut Bey chuckles, "Some things never seem to change." Gunduz pulls out a couple of letters, gesturing for us all to sit. "Aktemur sent me some information about this Kotyan guy." Aktemur is Gunduz's only son, he hasn't been in the tribe for a long time. Honestly, I forget about his existence from time to time.

Gunduz doesn't really talk about his personal life at all. I know he talks to Aktemur often, but he never tells us anything. Everyone calls Osman the mysterious one, but it's definitely Gunduz. Seriously, I've known him for so long, but never know what he's thinking.

"Kotyan relies on his strength in numbers and recruits soldiers by manipulation. Many of his soldiers aren't even Mongolian." Gunduz tells us, pointing to a line on the page, "How does Aktemur know these things?" I question and Gunduz looks up with a smirk, "Well, my son has been doing some spying of his own."

"Kotyan not only manipulates men into his army, but he also has the strongest children taken away from the tribes he raids."  Goktug frowns, "Just like me?" Gunduz nods sadly, "It almost happened to Osman too." 

Goktug looks up, "It did?" Osman just nods, "I was ten and thought it would be smart to try to stab the commander with my small dagger. But, obviously, my plan failed miserably and I got taken away."

"What were you and Konur doing when Osman Bey here was trying to assassinate a commander all by himself?" Gunduz asks me and I chuckle, "We were hiding and committing murder of random Mongolian soldiers."

"What happened to me, I don't want that to happen to any other child," Goktug says firmly and Osman nods. "What else does Aktemur say, Abi?"  Gunduz scans a couple more lines, "He's not under Geyhatu of the Ilkhanate. This means we won't have to face the Mongol state by fighting him. And we know the names of some of his commanders."

Osman raises his eyebrows, an intrigued look on his face, "Now that is something we could use, we could track them down." I nod, "Alright, so now what?" Osman shakes his head, "Nothing for today, you two need to rest. We'll talk about what to do tomorrow."

Goktug and I nod, standing up and putting a hand to our chests. "Eyvallah, Bey," Gunduz too stands up, walking outside with us. "What are you two going to do?" He asks and I shrug, "Probably going to find Yigit and Zehra, see what they're doing."

Goktug nudges me, "Here they come now," I spot Zehra and Yigit running towards us. Zehra runs over, jumping into my arms, "Zehra, Yigit, what are you two doing?" I ask, ruffling Yigit's hair, "Painting," Zehra replies happily and I raise an eyebrow. "Painting?" "Gonca hatun taught us this morning."

"Come on, I want to show you mine!" Zehra says excitedly, tugging on my hand and I smile, "Alright, you guys want to come?" I ask and Gunduz nods while Goktug wrinkles his nose, "Painting?" Zehra goes over to him, this time tugging on his hand, "Come on, Goktug Abi, please?" 

Goktug lets out a dramatic, drawn-out sigh, and I roll my eyes, "You're so dramatic, Goktug." We walk with Yigit and Zehra to a little table that was set up outside my tent where Ahmet was already sitting. Zehra quickly drags Goktug into looking at her art and trying to get him to paint something too.

 "Just pick a color, Abi!" Goktug stares at the colors and buries his face in his hands, "This is too difficult. I need an adult!"

I laugh as Gunduz pats Goktug's shoulder, and speaks in a solemn, borderline condescending tone. "I hate to break it to you, Goktug, but you are an adult."

Goktug shakes his head, laughing, "Fine, I'll pick blue." Zehra scrunches her nose at him, "Why blue?" "What's wrong with blue?" Goktug retorts, and I shake my head, turning to Yigit as he shows me his painting. 

"Purple is better than blue!" 

"But, why? Blue is such a good color!"

"But, you see blue all the time! Purple is prettier!"

"There's so many different shades of blue though!"

I shake my head, exasperated at their bickering, "He's having a full fledged argument with a 4 year old over colors." Gunduz nods, "Goktug's having all the conversations we refuse to have with him."

"Purple is a very special color! You only see it sometimes!"

"Look, my eyes are even blue! But, they're a different blue from the sky and the water!"

"Your eyes are blue?" Zehra asks intrigued and Goktug nods as Yigit looks up from his painting of the night sky. "Yeah, haven't you ever noticed? His eyes are blue, kind of like an icy color."

Goktug looks impressed, "See, Yigit gets it!" Zehra just looks at Goktug's eyes and then narrows her own.

"Purple is still better."

A/N: Hey guys, sorry I'm uploading this so late. Anyway, whose side are you on? Goktug's or Zehra's? Blue or Purple?

Salaam and Have a great day!