Feriha Hatun (Ertugrul's Wife)

Chapter 15

Ertugrul

I jumped off my horse and ran to where her grave was. When I saw a piece of her clothing tied to a stick by the grave, that's when I really knew she was gone. I fell onto my knees and let all my emotions out. I cried and cried and cried. She's dead because of me. I couldn't save her, when I am meant to be an Alp, the son of a Bey.

Instead, I got injured and she died protecting me. I'm such an Idiot. Wiping my tears away, I made a Dua for her and slowly started trudging back to my horse.

Feriha's body rollled over in her coffin and her eyes shot open. She tried to move but she felt contained. "What the- where am I?" She mumbled to herself.  Her arms felt around and came in contact with wood. "Am I- N-no I can't  be!" She exclaimed, suddenly realising her situation. If she tried to break the lid, she'd be buried in soil.

It would be hard not to suffocate from the soil. If she tried screaming for help, she was sure no one would be able to hear her. Plus what are the chances that someone would be by her grave right now? She also didn't want to die as she believed that now she had woken up, Allah was providing her with a second chance and she needed to utilise  that.

"Allah Hu Akbar" she muttered to herself before taking a deep breath and preparing to scream. "HELP!" She yelled at the top of her lungs. "PLEASE, ANYONE HELP!" She yelled again, whilst silently praying someone would hear it.

As fate would have it, Ertugrul had only just sat on his horse. All of a sudden he heard, a faint yet desperate yell for help. Jumping off his horse, he unsheathed his sword and looked around trying to find the source of the voice. It sounded like it was coming from underneath him? He glanced down and shook his head in disbelief.

The punishment inflicted on people by allah shouldn't be heard above the ground. He leaned down trying to hear the voice as it shouted again. He moved all the way until he came into contact with a stick. Her stick. "No, it's impossible, she's dead" he told himself.

"ERTUGRUL!" Feriha screamed one last time from her grave, her hope dissipating. Above ground, ertugrul heard the faint scream of his name. "Feriha!" SHE'S ALIVE! He thought. He glanced around quickly and found a discarded shovel. Quickly, he began dighing. "Hold on my love! I'll save you!" He yelled down to her as he dug.

"Ertugrul!" His brother Gundogdu's voice called from behind him. "Ertugrul, what are you doing?! You've gone mad! You can't dig up her grave!" He shouted at him as he tried to pull him away. "No! I heard her voice, she was calling for help" Ertugrul shouted back as he shoved Gundogdu off and continued digging. Gundogdu was furious. He stalked towards Ertugrul and tried to yank him back again.

Until he heard something that made him freeze. "Ertugrul, please hurry, it's hard to breathe!" He heard a shout from beneath. He couldn't believe what he had heard. He dropped down and started digging along with Ertugrul, but with his hands. They dug rapidly, and soon could see her coffin. Ertugrul dropped his shovel and he and his brother quickly wiped the dirt off the lid.

They both pushed the lid, grunting as they did. As soom as the coffin opened, Feriha sat up and engulfed Ertugrul into a hug. "Thank you for saving me!" She exclaimed happily. "Alhamdulillah! By Allah, I didn't think anyone would hear me, but we weren't destined to lose each other yet!" She spoke with a smile. "Thank you to you too Gundogdu brother" she told Gundogdu as Ertugrul helped her step out of the coffin.

Gundogdu slid it aside and began filling the hole once again. "Wait brother, I want to plant a tree here" Ertugrul said, running back to his saddle and pulling out a small plant. He also grabbed some water and ran back, where he planted it. Then he hamded his bottle to Feriha, who drizzled some water on it. The trio then got onto their horses (Feriha sat behind Ertugrul on Aktalgoli) and sped back to the tribe.