Again I'm so terribly sorry for taking so long – again. But here is another update.
Chapter 3
Dastan was angry. He had tried for hours to teach Katrina the Persian language. But he wasn't angry at her, he was angry with himself for not giving her the time to learn it. Looking out over the city he let his head roll back into his neck.
„Please. Forgive me, Dastan." she said to him, her eyes filled with unshed tears.
Dastan sighed and slowly turned back to Cathy. He put his hands on her arms and drew her into his body.
"No. I am sorry if I hurt you."
Cathy wiped the tears away and gave Dastan a small smile. "Do you think we can start again?"
The prince laughed and kissed her cheek softly.
Starting over, the two of them sat down and Dastan started his lesson again.
/
Later that evening, Cathy sat by the large balcony in her room and looked out over the palace gardens. She spotted Dastan, who had turned at that moment. Cathy waved down at him and grinned.
During the lesson she had learned many new things and also that she had somehow ended in the 6th century Persian Empire. The only question now was how.
Even Dastan's brothers Tus and Garsiv had joined the lessons she had with Dastan, helping her a lot since she had come to stay with the royal family.
Garsiv had once told her that Dastan was their adopted brother, as the King had found him while visiting the market of Nasaf.
Cathy was brought out of her thoughts as she heard a loud thump beside her. Turning around she gasped as she saw Dastan sitting beside her on the clothes covered bench.
"Wh...How did you get up here?" she asked astonished.
Dastan grinned and pointed to the open space of the balcony. "I climbed."
Laughter bubbled from her and she grinned at the prince. "You are a real trouble maker, my prince."
But he only smiled at her. "Well there always has to be a black sheep in the family." That was his only answer before he stood from the bench.
Dastan held out his hand to Cathy and waited for her to take it. But she was unsure. Mostly when he came to her, he wanted to do something crazy. The last time he gave her that look, Dastan took her climbing the palace walls.
"What do you plan on doing now?"
"It's a surprise, my dear lady. Now come on." he simply answered and took her hand, pulling her out of her seat.
Dastan led her after him through the many corridors of the palace, until finally he arrived at at the large doorway, leading out to the gardens.
"You haven't been to the gardens for a while, so I thought I will take you there."
Cathy grinned up at her saviour. She had suffered from boredom, as Dastan's Uncle Nizam didn't want her to wander around the palace alone.
"Thank you, Das. You really are my saviour. In more ways than one." she said, pulling the prince into a tight embrace.
Dastan laughed and swung her around. She had been his constant companion, since Katrina had arrived.
"Come on! I thought you were such a great warrior, my prince." Dastan was pulled out of his musings by her taunting. She grinned and sprinted down the pathways, passing the King, Tus and Garsiv.
Dastan laughed and ran after her. His father and brothers laughed at seeing him so carefree with the young woman. The king knew that his youngest son had taken a liking to the woman. Sharaman could see himself in his eyes, when he had looked at his first wife and fell in love with her.
Only when she had come to a dead end which served as balcony had Dastan the chance to reach her.
"You are quite fast, my dear." He said breathing hard. "But still I got you."
With that he pulled her against his body and started tickling her sides. Cathy laughed and pleaded for him to stop his assault.
"Please Dastan, I can't breath." she whined and put her hands on her knees, taking a deep breath.
The prince grinned at her and gave her the room she wanted. He looked at her smile, the way her eyes had gained their familiar shine whenever she was around him and they had fun. He didn't even start to think on the way the rest of her looked.
"What are you thinking, my prince?" Again she had taken him out of his thoughts and thrown Dastan back into the real world.
"Nothing, sweet lady. Just how I will get my revenge on you." he told her nonchalantly and gave her a look that promised his intentions.
"Oh no. No!" she said as he slowly advanced on her. Cathy held out her hands in a feeble attempt to stop him, but Dastan still came to her.
With a loud laugh she tried to run, but the youngest prince held her tight to his body. He looked down at the smaller woman in front of him.
"Do you regret your decision?"
"Which one?" Cathy asked him and smiled at the prince.
"That you are going with me to the market. I told you, I wanted to take you there." Dastan said and hoped that she wouldn't back out now.
"Of course I will go to the market with you. How else should I get new clothes and jewels." she said and winked at him, before leaving the circle of his strong arms.
/
The next day found the prince and his friend at the market of Nasaf. Dastan had promised Cathy to take her there. He intended to give her a special gift, though he wasn't sure if she would accept it.
As he turned to look at his companion, the prince saw the troubled look in her eyes. "What is wrong? Do you already regret coming with me?"
Cathy was startled from her thoughts hearing Dastan speak. She shook her head and send a small smile in his direction. "No, of course I don't regret accompanying you. I was just thinking of something, but it's not important to trouble you, my prince." she said with a small smirk.
Dastan rolled his eyes at her addressing him like that, when she knew he hated for her to call him 'Prince Dastan'. But still he nodded his head and softly grabbed her hand, pulling her along the narrow streets into the busy doings of the market.
Together they looked around at all the things that were sold there. Every day other merchants came and went and sold their goods. "My Lady! The finest silk from the far East. Or maybe you'd prefer the finest of Egyptian Cotton?" One of the merchants showed her the different coloured fabrics.
"I...No thank you." Cathy told him but Dastan objected and bought three foot of each. "Das, I don't need this."
"Sure you do. Maybe you need some new clothes or you have found someone you want to marry. You'd need a wedding habit."
Dastan didn't know how right he was with this. She had found someone she wanted to marry. But it was far from easy to go through with it. But Cathy would never freely say these things.
The two walked to another stall where the merchant sold jewellery. "Ah, I have exactly what you're looking for, son." He said to Dastan and looked through all sorts of necklaces, wristbands, bangles and rings.
"This is for the lady, son. You should hold onto her. She's something special." he said and held out a beautiful necklace. Cathy took a closer look and saw that it was the old medallion that had landed her here. But it looked very new and without any scratches, nothing like the one she had been given.
Dastan took it and paid for it. Slowly he turned and held it out for Cathy to see. "May I?" he asked and pointed to her neck. Cathy nodded and put her hair up so he was able to put it around her neck. After he had closed the clasp he leaned back and took a closer look at her.
"It suits you, Princess." he said and kissed her very gently on her cheek.
"Thank you." Cathy was able to whisper as his action took her breath away. Never had Dastan done something like this.
As they walked along in the market both heared the sounds of fast hoof beats approching. Hastly Dastan pushed Cathy to the side as the rider came up to them. "What's happened, Das?"
The prince only shook his head and looked after the rider. "It was one of our spies. He must have found something." he explained and turned back to Cathy.
"Come, let's not be troubled by that." Dastan took her hand again moved her along the market. Not long after the two met Bis. He was a good friend of Dastan, as he had once rescued him as they were still children. It was the day the king took him in.
"Bis. What brings you out to the market?" Dastan asked him and smiled at the other man. "Katrina. Prince Dastan." He said with a slight bow. Cathy was used to the formality.
Everyone outside the royal family called her by her given name Katrina, only Dastan, Tus, Garsiv and the King called her Cathy. Nizam was the only one inside the family calling her Katrina.
"Oh, you know, the usual, Prince Dastan. Would you like to take part in a small bet I have going on?"
"Oh, of course."
Cathy looked at Dastan with wide eyes. She knew what he was taking part in. Whenever he had been out with Bis he came back to the palace with more bruises and bloodied lips then before.
"Das, don't do that. You've only just healed your last split lip." she told him worrying for his health. "Ah, don't worry so much. I will win this time. I promise." Dastan told her and went with Bis to the place the bet was to take place.
It was always the same. Somewhere behind the market place a fight was taking place. And it was usually Dastan fighting against some ugly brute from the streets of Nasaf or one of the army. Dastan had taken off his shirt and went into the ring. All the people around were shouting and whooping.
Cathy was the only one doing neither of that. She was more worried about Dastan's health than the money the people had bet on him winning. It was now the third time that Dastan was hit and thrown into the crowd standing around the fighting scene.
"Come on! I've bet my complete salary. That's embarrassing." Bis told him, holding onto Dastan. "Well, you can try it yourself." was the only thing Dastan replied and Bis shoved him into the ring again with a 'Go ahead!'
Dastan was held by the man he was fighting against and was hit in the face with his knee numerous times. Cathy put her hands up to shield her eyes. She had never seen him fight and it was horrible. But then it was exciting for her as she could see Dastan's naked chest. After another hit from his opponent Dastan asked him, if it was all. The guy hit him in the face with his fist and that was when Dastan found the strength to hit back. For a short time he had the upper hand but was hit again.
That was when Cathy could see a rider coming towards them. "Prince Dastan?" he asked as Dastan was held down by his opponent. "Where is Prince Dastan?" the soldier asked again. "Prince Dastan is not here!" Dastan answered as the man was still on top of him, pressing him to the floor. This answer earned him laughter from the crowd.
"Master, please. Prince Tus has called for a war council." he said and Dastan pushed the guy away from him. Cathy was somehow relieved that he hadn't been hurt so far, but on the other side did she miss the sight of the prince fighting.
"I'm on my way." With that Dastan got of the ground and looked for Cathy. He knew she watched him fighting. His mind was divided. He didn't want her to see him like this, but then he was proud and wanted to show her that he was able to protect her.
"Come let us go back to the palace. I need to get changed." he said and reached for Cathy's hand. On the way back to the palace Dastan raked his mind why he would be thinking those thoughts.
