Destan: archery lesson

Bow and arrows

Batuga was walking along the corridors of the palace in search of Akkız, asking the guards on the way if they had seen Ulu Ece. Not finding his wife either in the throne room, or in the dining room, or in the chambers, he decided to look for her into the bailey.

"Yaman, you can't beat me no matter how hard you try!," Akkız pulled the bowstring once again and shot a bow clearly at the target for archery, again splitting the previous arrow in two parts. Sırma, who was standing next to her husband, looked at him sadly.

The mountain warrior began to get nervous: he hits exactly in the center of the target, but Akkız repeatedly makes his arrow fly into splinters. Çift başlı kurt'un yüreği, which recently became Ulu Ece, sincerely was rejoicing at another victory, and the friend's reaction amused her: Yaman was a skilled archer, he have never missed a moving target, he could shoot from any distance and any position, but Akkız was also very accurate.

Hearing the ringing female laughter and the factitious male growl, Batuga realized that he found what he was looking for: his wife was practicing archery and again had defeated Yaman. He stopped to watch.

Gracefully turning the bow in his hand, the hillman prepared for the next shot. The arrow landed right in the center again.

"Get ready to lose," Akkız shouted and prepared to make a shot.

"Ulu Ece!"

At the moment when she was about to shoot an arrow, a mocking voice was heard from behind. Her hand trembled, and the arrow didn't hit the center of the target. Sırma clapped her hands joyfully, and Yaman whistled.

"It's not fair! Batuga! ," Akkız screamed, "You distracted me!"

"Han'ım", Yaman and Sırma, both greeted Batuga, putting their hands to their hearts and bowing their heads. "Finally, I managed to convince them not to get down on the knee," the new Kağan of Gök Orda noted to himself with satisfaction.

Only the stubborn mountain girl raised her head and looked at her husband with a challenge:

"I lost because of you!"

"We won't tell anyone," Batuga descended from the steps and went straight to his wife. "And your title of the best archer will not take a beating," he said with a smile, approaching her. Putting his hand on her back, he touched her forehead with a kiss.

Yaman and Syrma exchanged glances and lowered their eyes to the ground. They were a little embarrassed by what they saw. Then they looked at each other again, smiling.

A blush appeared on the Akkız's cheeks. Even in front of her friends, she was embarrassed that Batuga was so openly showing his feelings for her. But Çift başlı kurt'un ruhu was ready to declare his love to the whole world.

"Batuga Han, if you allow us, we'll go. If there are no orders," Yaman said. He couldn't get used to Akkız's glances with her husband.

"You can go," and Batuga let them go.

"I have lost in any way," Akkız resented again when her friends had gone.

"You're not on the battlefield. It's a friendly fight." He smiled. "No serious consequences. Your honor as a warrior hasn' t suffered."

"Were you looking for me?" Akkız changed the subject . "When will we start preparing the army? The threat that China may attack us still exists."

"Temur and I have already discussed everything. He will deal with it."

"What about me?"

"Now you have another duties, Ulu Ece," Batuga replied with a smile. "By the way, wouldn't the best archer do me the honor of teaching me archery? I suppose Kağan should be able to do this, too."