Chapter 11
Aftermath
Things seemed to be going well. The guards had stepped down and were allowing the boys to leave the house. Dastan was on the ground and Yasmina and Bis were circling him. Garsiv stayed in front so the guards could see him and know everything was right. He couldn't believe the stupidity of these men and was surprised they worked at the palace. He believed the palace guards were trained much better than that which is why he found it hard to believe Dastan's stories before. But apparently there was a group that did everything Dastan and the children had described. He could see that his own man, Bahadur, was being shoved away and ignored by the cocky leader of this band of misfits. He would certainly be dealing with him and all the men he saw here today. One thing that did surprise him was Jafar was nowhere to be seen. He wondered if the guards had done something or if Bahadur had told him to run.
He saw Rahim jump to the rope to start down but as soon as he saw a flash he knew this was only the calm before the storm. A small knife fell from the boy's belt and landed not far from him. Before he could pick it up one of the smallest ones, no more than 5 got to it and held it up to the older boy as he jumped to the ground. Garsiv turned just in time to see an arrow flying at them. He tried to push the boy down but wasn't fast enough. He closed his eyes as he heard the thud when it made contact, missing the wide eyes of the boy a second before he fell and Dastan reaching his arms out to catch the boy. He saw Bis slide in beside him to protect Dastan and when he turned to scream at the archer he saw the others had raised their weapons again. His hand fell to the dagger Ayman had given him and moved to Bis's side, also covering Dastan and Yasmina behind. He looked at Bis as he held his small dagger and the two boys nodded a solemn understanding.
Garsiv saw everything as if it was in slow motion. The older boys push the smaller ones behind and created a semi-circle with their small daggers and knives drawn as they stared down the guards. Garsiv managed to catch Bahadur's eyes and saw him plead with the Prince to stand down and hide, even knowing he wouldn't. When Garsiv shook his head Bahadur struggled even harder against the men holding him until they hit him in the head to be rid of him. Both princes screamed for the guards to stop but their cry were unheard. Garsiv looked back over his shoulder to see Yasmina huddled close to Dastan's side shaking in fear as he met his brother's eyes and shook his head. Garsiv could only frown at his new brother and hoped they would both survive to really talk again. He saw dust being kicked up in the distance and could only pray it was help coming but the thought was lost as the arrows were let fly.
The boys were resourceful and were able to use pieces of wood, large stones and barrels to deflect the largest amount of arrows. Some of the smaller boys ran into the ruins so the rock wall would protect them. As a boy in the semi-circle fell the small ones would drag him into the ruins.
Seeing this was going to slowly the blood-thirsty captain ordered his men to move forward with their swords. This actually increased the odds for the street boys who knew how to fight in close quarters. Bis killed a guard and took up one of his swords and whistled as he threw the other to Garsiv. The loud clang of metal on metal echoed through the market and shortly there was a crowd of onlookers booing the guards and cheering the boys.
Bis and Garsiv were fighting back-to-back for the majority of the fight, refusing to move and allow their precious loved one to be further hurt. Garsiv was well trained in combat and saw Bis watched certain moves and then copied them; he was a very fast learner. Bis also surprised Garsiv with some very unorthodox methods that worked very well.
The dust in the distance came closer, even though Garsiv didn't dare look away to see, he knew who it was. Bis suddenly fell against Garsiv as a large guard attacked the boy. Garsiv flew around and drove his dagger into the man's chest, saving Bis. Unfortunately this left Garsiv open and an arrow embedded itself in his upper thigh. He gritted his teeth in pain but refused to cry out as he raised his sword to deflect another attack. Bis then repeated his action, flying behind the prince and driving his dagger a few feet away into the archer then raising his own sword.
A few moments later a flurry of dust and horses and colour and King Sharaman, Tus and the entire person royal guard in ornate golden uniforms arrived. It took them only a moment to size up the situation and when Tus saw Garsiv had been shot he dismounted and ran towards his brother as he screamed. "NO!"
Sharaman tried to stop his eldest son but fell a fingernail short of his sleeve. He waved a group of guards into follow Tus and protect Garsiv and Dastan. The King watched a little boy fall to the ground and his anger surged. The fighting continued and then he straightened to his full height in the saddle and moved into the fray. "Stop this!"
The commanding sound of the Kings voice caught everyone by surprise and slowly the fighting stopped. The guards looked around in shock to see the King and quickly bowed to the ground; as did the onlookers who had been tending fallen boys. Sharaman took in the carnage around them and couldn't believe his men had done this.
He dismounted and knelt beside the small 5 year old as he checked for life. His head bowed and he looked toward his sons. Tus was between Garsiv and Dastan, going back and forth looking at their wounds. He was calm in appearance but his father knew the 16 year old was screaming inside.
When Tus had come to him asking why the guards were sent to attack the market instead of help in the search he looked surprised. He had not ordered anything of the like. They went down to the command center in the guards housing unit and talked with the General in charge. He also had not ordered it but one of the stable boys told them of a group of rogue guards who made their own orders. They were always terrorizing the people of the city. The King asked why these men hadn't been reported and the servant said they had many times, but the General had done nothing. The older man had the good sense to shrink away from the King in shame. He ordered the General arrested and thrown in jail as he ordered everyone left to follow him and Tus into the town.
Sharaman waved over healers to help his sons and the boys and went to express his extreme displeasure to the captain. "You will explain yourself Captain. You have turned a simple rescue into a massacre. Where was your sense, man? These are boys, not trained soldiers; they were no real threat to you."
As the man tried to come up with a convincing lie to cover his blood-lust Bahadur finally awakened, nodded to the King, and moved over to help the princes.
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Tus saw the scene of horror and was lost for a moment. Then he saw Garsiv shot in the leg with an arrow and the boy beside him kill the archer. His breath hitched in his chest as he saw Garsiv flinch and fall against the other boy. Fear, anger, dread and many other emotions ran through him as he screamed. "NO!"
He dismounted quickly and made for his brother. The rogue guards nearby had the sense to lower their weapons as they saw the crown prince appear. As Tus ran to Garsiv 5 guards with thick Persian shields stood in front to protect the injured. Seeing he was safe, Garsiv let himself fall to the ground next to Dastan. Tus looked over to see Dastan was unconscious and he fell to his knees between his brothers. He checked Dastan was still breathing and then put his hand on Garsiv leg to slow the bleeding.
"Garsiv are you alright besides this?" Tus's terrified eyes bore into his brother searching for pain.
Garsiv shook his head as he took a breath to calm himself from the adrenaline of the battle. "No."
"What happened here?"
"They came in shooting. An arrow landed a breath away from me and near killed the little girl." He indicated Yasmina who was quickly checking Dastan over and then crawled over to Garsiv. The little 9 year old pushed Tus's hand away and gently moved the fabric away from the arrow to see the wound clearly. Garsiv caught his brother's questioning looked and smiled as he explained. "She's a small but well trained healer; she managed a miracle last night and kept Dastan with us until the morning."
Tus looked at Dastan in greater concern as he touched the boy's forehead. "Were you able to explain our true intentions to him? Did he believe you? Was he angry?" Tus had so many questions. Things he was concerned he wouldn't be able to explain to Dastan if this had gone even more wrong.
"Yes, I was able to talk to him. He understands and no he wasn't angry as much as sad and disappointed. A look I do not hope to see in his eyes very often, he reminded me a great deal of you, brother." Garsiv laughed but then flinched as he jarred his leg.
"Easy, brother. Once Dastan is back at the palace he will be well, as will you."
Tus turned to Bis and nodded to the boy. "You must be Bis; I have heard much of you. Thank you for helping my brothers. I and my father are in your debt. Anything you wish is yours as our thank you."
"I'll keep that in mind, prince. But for now I would enjoy this arrow out of me."
Tus smiled at the humour and nodded. "And you will have it. You and all your wounded will return to the palace with us. You will see there that not everyone behaves as these monsters do. I give you my word, no harm will come to any of you and when you are healed you may return here, if you wish."
Bis looked at some of the other boys. Almost everyone was hurt in some way and everyone was lying on the ground being looked at by a healer. He looked back to Tus with eyes showing the concern of a true leader. "I will hold you to that also, prince."
Garsiv got Bis's attention. "You also have my promise of safe passage. After all, you did save the life of a prince. I value my life; so I will see you are cared for. "
"It's not me I'm concerned with, it's my family. Many are dead, other are wounded all because of a mistake. Forgive me if I can't take you all just at your words."
Garsiv looked down and raised a hand to keep Tus from defending his brother. "You're right."
A shadow drew their attention up to see Bahadur with a large bruise on his right cheek. "Then you also have my promise of safety for your group. I am the head of all guards inside the palace. You will all be well cared for."
Garsiv and Tus both nodded in thanks. Bahadur extended a hand to Tus helping him up and he helped Garsiv up. They brought carts to take the injured back to the palace.
While everyone was being loaded Garsiv grabbed Tus's sleeve. "Brother. How did you know about the attack?"
"A family from the market came to the palace and explained it. I overheard the servants talking and then spoke to the woman, Taraneh, and she told me the rest. About you staying with them and being Ayman's family. They fled the market when they saw the guards moving in with their weapons. The boy with them, Jafar, explained the guards plans and a servant told us of their appalling behavior."
Garsiv breathed a sigh of relief. So Jafar and Ayman's family were safe inside the palace. There would much to answer for in the days to come but right now all he cared about was getting Dastan treated and his brother and father out of this open space and back to safety. On the way back to the palace he finally let his exhausted boy rest and slowly closed his eyes letting the darkness take him.
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Hey everyone. Sorry about the week between updates, this week was just crazy. I started to work on this many times but it never happened. I even lost a draft that was about 5 paragraphs, lost in somewhere on my computer.
We have a few new names on the list now. Good to see newbies and regulars alike.
Shadow: WOW, now that's a review. Well yes, you were right with the first guess. Gotta love Tus showing up. And it's mean your dad won't let you have a kitty, I love mine. I spent an hour yesterday cutting knots out of her fur; this humidity is not nice to long thick haired Persians. She's tried to pull them out herself but doesn't always get them so I cut them off. Don't know about a series, we'll work on the trilogy for now. That's 3 votes.
Pghj2005: so does that name mean something? And yes, I love psychotic guards and Sharmy is gonna have fun with them after Bahadur's report and what Garsiv saw. LOL It made me laugh when you said duck. And thanks for the nudge today.
BellaCullen1789: that's 4 votes for a trilogy. Well it's Tus and the King. I did consider Nizam but I'm saving him for later, he's off being evil somewhere.
Petitefilledusud: you're welcome
Talk-ape: yes they are
Ash: you're half right, we all know Tus by now and he can't stay away from his brother. That's 5 votes for a trilogy.
Lexer047: done LOL
Kaddielinn: yes Bis is protective of his friends. Aww we have another regular joining the gang.
Xxnuttynicxx: thanks and done
Shani8: yes necessary and fun and evil and sorry it took so long but we're back onboard now.
