After that incident, Yildiz had somehow managed to evade that crazy boy and the foreign one. She couldn’t fathom what type of idiot would declare themselves the next sultan so proudly when everyone knew that current heir was an overweight and talentless boy by the name of Rashid. You can’t be sultan unless you’re a prince and what prince goes wandering around Istanbul so late? Everyone knew the law and even if it didn’t exist there should be guards or something. And what’s more why pick a prince who can’t fight when there’s one who can? At that she remembered her earlier frustration that there was someone who could avoid her kick.
She then mentally shook herself at such thoughts and breathed a sigh of relief that she had reached the place she called home. And she would have entered too if not for the nagging feeling that she was being watched.
“Whoever you are, come on out,” shouted Yildiz to the air as she reached for her concealed dagger from inside her dress.
“Wow! You were able to tell we were tailing you… Alright I’ve decided,” said Altan as he and Göker left their hiding place and made themselves known to Yildiz.
“Why do I feel like I’m not going to like this,” muttered Göker.
For her part, Yildiz was in shock. She had made sure to take the most complicated path to reach home! How was it that she didn’t lose them? It was then that she came to the conclusion that even though these guys were crazy, they were strong and smart crazy people. According to her father, those were the worst kind. Although she knew that inside her father and his friends could easily take care of them, this was her problem and she wanted to deal with it her way.
Then all thoughts were gone from the three children’s minds as they began to hear angry yelling and cursing in Turkish.
“Why do you look so scared,” curiously asked Göker at Yildiz’s pale face.
“Do you want our help,” asked Altan.
“Are you crazy? The person inside is probably that stupid Pasha’s son. Even I can’t go against someone that high,” exclaimed Yildiz.
“And what if I say I can get rid of them,” replied Altan.
“How,” questioned Yildiz.
“Just trust me, but in return I want a favor,” responded Altan.
“A favor,” asked Yildiz.
“Yup. Nothing in this life is free so I think that it’s natural to ask for one,” replied Altan.
Thinking that he probably couldn’t follow through and needed to see how harsh life really was, she agreed on the condition that she would only pay him back after he was done.
At her reply, Altan grinned and took her hand, but Yildiz felt like she just shook hands with the devil himself.
“Now both of you, let’s go in,” ordered Altan.
“Didn’t you hear what I just said. I said Pasha’s son as in the rich brat of someone who controls an entire territory,” pointed out Yildiz.
“He heard you, but don’t worry everything will be fine,” responded Göker matter-of-factly.
“Why are you so calm,” screamed Yildiz at his answer.
“Because this is Altan,” replied Göker simply.
Yildiz then sighed, and said, “Fine, but if things turn sour, I’m gone.”
“They won’t,” responded Göker and Altan simultaneously.
Those three children must have made quite the site. All three were only twelve-years-old, but not one of them could be counted as ordinary. Göker who held distinctly Northern features and coloring, Yildiz who held a beauty that would surely blossom as she aged, and Altan who possessed an aura and presence that only seemed to grow with each passing day.
With Altan in the lead, he assessed the situation. The person in question looked to be around fourteen or fifteen with a lean build. It was odd, he looked to be strong and although he was surely drunk, to Altan, he didn’t give off the feeling of one who enjoyed bullying others. So the question was why was he causing a disturbance? He then eyed the young man cursing in a mix of Turkish and what sounded like a strange Arabic dialect he hadn’t heard before.
Walking up to him, Altan asked, “What is the problem here?”
“This isn’t a place for children,” sneered the young man.
How interesting. Although his words are slurred, his eyes are clear, thought Altan to himself.
“My lord, would you care to make a bet,” asked Altan to the shock of Göker.
Göker could not fathom what type of game his friend was playing to be lying about his status.
“A good Muslim doesn’t make bets,” responded the young man.
“And neither do they drink,” replied Altan.
“I’m no- What’s your name,” slurred the young man.
“I am Altan. And you, my lord,” replied Altan with a grin.
“Mostafa and I don’t bet,” replied the young man.
“What a sheikh doesn’t know won’t hurt them so what do you have to lose,” responded Altan.
Mostafa clenched his fists and asked, “What will I get in return?”
“Your dignity.”
“And what will you get,” asked Mostafa.
“If I win I’ll tell you,” replied Altan with a cocky grin.
Then the young man laughed and to the amazement of all save Altan, all pretenses of losing his senses to drink vanished as he said, “What an interesting kid. Alright, I accept.”
Altan then asked, “Is there a chess matt and pieces I can borrow?”
A man in his forties brought over what Altan requested and Altan thanked him as the two of them began their match. If you had told anyone there on that day that they would be watching a chess match between two boys with anticipation, then the whole room would have laughed. Yet that was exactly what happened. In that small crowded bar in Istanbul, not a soul spoke as everyone kept their eyes on each move of the boys in front of them.
The only sound that could be heard of the normally noisy bar was that of each chess piece as both boys fought with everything their young minds possessed to defeat their opponent. At first, both boys went easy not used to dealing with those that they could call a match, but it soon became apparent that despite appearances, both boys were far ahead of their years.
After a good amount of time had passed, and both had taken a good chunk out of each others’ pieces, Mostafa broke the deadening silence when he said, “Who are you?”
“As I said earlier, I am Altan,” replied his opponent as he moved another of his chess pieces across the mat.
“That’s not what I meant,” exclaimed a slightly angered Mostafa as he too moved his piece.
“What I wanted to know is-”
“Check.”
Looking down onto the mat, Mostafa found that his king was indeed cornered. He then looked at the flame-haired boy in front of him to see Altan’s slightly cocky grin. This only furthered his idea that whoever this boy was, he wasn’t ordinary. But normal or not, Mostafa wasn’t going to lose! And yet, time and time again, Altan kept placing him in check.
“Check mate.”
At the sound of Altan declaring his victory, Mostafa looked to the mat and found that he had lost. For the first time in his life, he had lost at the game that no one else had ever managed to best him at. Not even his conniving brothers could beat him at this game, but how was it that he lost to this strange boy that sat across for him?
“What is it that you want,” asked Mostafa with clenched fists after a full three split seconds had passed.
“Your loyalty,” simply replied Altan.
“My what” exclaimed Mostafa.
“Exactly what I said. I like your eyes and you’re not half bad, even if you did let your temper take control towards the last part of the game,” responded Altan.
“Please don’t tell me he’s serious,” asked Yildiz.
“You obviously don’t know Altan. He never jokes about these things,” replied Göker.
“Ah…That reminds me. You still owe me a favor,” said Altan as he turned his head to Yildiz.
Yildiz’s face paled at the knowledge that her earlier opinions about making a deal with the devil were proved correct.
“Yildiz, what did you agree to,” asked an exasperated face of a middle aged man.
He wore a faded burgundy turban, old brown trousers and a faded green robe with old sandals. Even so, there was a strange look in his dark green eyes that even put the fearless Altan on edge.
“Perhaps it is better if we talk in private,” interjected an old man dressed in the same raggedy fashion as the middle-aged one.
The man nodded and the old man led the middle-aged man, Göker, Altan, Mostafa, and Yildiz to a back room away from the crowd and prying eyes. As for the bar, as soon as the group began to leave the main area, the noise started up again as if they hadn’t been staring at a game in awe to the point that they couldn’t hear each other until the middle aged man closed the door.
The old man asked, “Now that that’s settled. What is it that our Yildiz agreed to?”
If possible, the girl began to become even paler.
“She said that if I could stop this one from causing trouble, I can have something in return,” simply replied Alton while jerking his finger to Mostafa.
Mostafa scoffed then said, “I never said I would stop causing trouble.”
“You know I’ve heard of you. You have the highest scores in your year, but always get threatened by the other students because they say you were sent here not for an education, but because your own brothers in Egypt want you dead,” responded Altan.
Mostafa’s eyes widened and he said, “Who told you that? I’ll-”
“I wasn’t lying when I said I’d give you your dignity back.”
Mostafa then laughed before he sobered up and said, “I understand. But, kid, if you’re lying, I’ll stick a sword right through your heart.”
Altan only grinned in response.
After this exchange, both older men gave Yildiz a look that said, “You made a deal with this sort of person?”
“I didn’t think he’d actually be able to do it,” defended Yildiz.
The old man sighed and said, “Regardless. A deal is a deal. As those who care for Yildiz, we will pay it for her. What is it that you want?”
“Hmm…decisions. Decisions. What is it that I want,” pondered Altan as he paced around the room before he continued, “What I really want I have to get through my own power.”
“Then are we done here,” asked the old man.
Shaking his finger, Altan replied, “Not by any means. Although you can’t give me anything I want, that one can.”
Everyone then turned to find that the boy had been pointing at the middle aged man.
“What is it you could possibly want from him?” responded the old man.
“My teacher once told me that in Istanbul, there exists a certain place run by a certain man. He does not dress fancifully, but all information that enters this city is known by him. Not only that, but his network reaches throughout the entire empire,” replied Altan.
“What does that have to do with anything,” replied the old man angrily.
“I want that network.”
For the first time in a long time, both men were struck by the golden eyes of this boy. They were not the eyes of an ordinary child, but they had never heard nor seen him before tonight.
Nervously, the old man said, “What makes you think I have such a network?”
“Oh no, not you, but the man who has been keeping silent throughout this exchange,” responded Altan.
Right when the old man was about to respond, the middle-aged man who had been silent for a while now said, “Boy, who are you? And don’t just tell me your name.”
With a flourish, he replied, “I am Altan: a prince to this empire and the next sultan.”
“Such big words for one so small,” responded the middle-aged man.
“Perhaps…but as I’ve said, I will gain what I desire through my own ability,” responded Altan.
The man then smiled, “How interesting…Well, a deal is a deal and you managed to stop that brat so very well. My network and all its information is now yours.”679Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO72jP9YKn8
