Chapter 12: Lydia
When they told Çağın, "You're going to the World..." he was only fourteen years old. He had taken on the responsibilities of nobility early. If he hadn't seen every responsibility as an adventure, creating excitement for himself, by now he'd have a withered body and a sullen face. Like every noble, he had about two hundred years to live. He was still at the very beginning of his life, yet he had experienced enough to multiply his age by five. Undoubtedly, the most extraordinary of these experiences were the times spent with the heir.
He had learned to control his weaknesses and ego beside a woman who was revered for having none. After crumpling his pride like a piece of paper and throwing it away, he had adopted righteousness as his guide. He had decided that values were something even more perfect than the intoxicating bounties of the World.
The values in the World and in Elysian were very different. Çağın had accepted neither those of the World nor those of Elysian. He had his own values, his own virtue, and morality.
He had set himself certain rules when he was just a little boy, only three hours after being sent to the World. Sitting on the cold pavement stone under a buzzing street lamp in the starless night, shivering, he had said, "I can be afraid..." "But I cannot be a coward."
He didn't visit Elysian often, and when he did, he was in the presence of the monarch, so he couldn't mingle with the other nobles. The palace folks loved Çağın. Other nobles hated this but couldn't say anything to him about it. Because Çağın's soft and friendly nature made those around him feel indebted to him. His different and sharp intellect, smiling face, and truthful language continued to live in the heart of his counterpart as gratitude. They paid this gratitude with respect. Çağın loved the rule in the World, "You don't have to love everyone, but you must respect them." In Elysian, not everyone was respected. If you wanted to be respected, you had to earn it. Çağın had cultivated himself in such a way that he became someone everyone respected without making any special effort. Therefore, even those who hated the heir wouldn't do anything to Çağın, couldn't do anything, just because he was by the heir's side.
If the nobles tried to harm him or threatened to do so, he might be afraid but would not be cowardly. He would continue to stand behind what he believed to be right. Still, his soul was not made of courage. When God created him, he had hummed the hymn of loyalty.
This loyalty was with the heir.
Çağın knew her very well. When the heir returned, she found her siblings significantly empowered, and even if she didn't realize it herself, she was scared of it. Not of her siblings, but she feared disappointing those who trusted her, especially her father. This fear had caused her to falter. Çağın was aware of all this. He was even sure that the heir secretly thought she was very weak and vulnerable compared to all her siblings with talents. He knew this made her angry. Yet, despite all this emotional turmoil, Çağın believed in the genuine goodness that shone in his friend's heart. He wanted to be by her side, telling her, "If you want your power to emerge, just be yourself!", showing her the right path if she went wrong, and supporting her on the right path forever. Therefore, knowing that the heir had some rest and cleansed herself from complex emotions for a few days while he organized the Day of Existence celebrations made him happy.
After checking the list of meals to be prepared for the feast and making sure the ingredients were delivered to the palace kitchen without fail, he had given instructions for the large hall and the garden of the palace to be set up as gathering places and ordered all the doors, except for private areas, to be opened. The public hadn't entered the palace for centuries. Generations had watched from behind the palace's huge walls and observed a monarch trembling. Celebrating the Day of Existence in the palace was a strategic move to regain the public's trust.
When he re-entered the great hall, he saw Hesna dealing with records. Her purple hair covered half of her face, and the hem of her long dress gathered on the floor. He couldn't see her eye, but he could see her long eyelashes lit by sunlight. He found this woman breathtaking. He had no emotional feelings for her, rather... He admired her. Hesna hadn't been blessed with beauty, but for Çağın, she was the most beautiful being in the universe.
Standing next to the beautiful woman, he had said, "Thank you for coming to help, I couldn't have been this quick without you."
Hesna stopped examining the records and lifted her head. A few strands had escaped from her hair tied back, her sunrise-colored eyes sparkled, her shoulders stood as if they never tired, and her pink lips curved upwards.
After placing a wide smile on her lips and leaning her head on her raised left shoulder, Hesna had said, "Contributing to the Day of Existence is a great joy for me, call me whenever you need help..."
"Do you like celebrations?" he had asked, leaning his left shoulder against the wall. The height difference between Hesna and him was minimal, nullified by his slanted posture. They were looking directly into each other's eyes. Çağın was pleased to see the sparkle in the violet eyes up close.
Hesna's laughter, flowing like a unique melody from her lips, spread peace around with the sentence, "I love everything that brings happiness."
After Çağın placed a mischievous grin on his lips and winked, he had said, "So you do love me..."
Hesna chuckled at the young noble's flirtatious manner and continued to engage with the records instead of continuing the conversation. Çağın straightened his posture and approached Hesna, beginning to share his ideas about the music to be played at the celebration. Eventually, they found a record that would make everyone hear their favorite sound when played at the celebration. Çağın, listening to the tinkling sound rising from the record with delight, asked, "What do you hear, my purple-hearted princess?"
Hesna smiled and shrugged while scanning her eyes. "So it's a secret..." Çağın said without feeling the need to hide his curiosity. Maybe he thought she was hearing the sound of diamonds clashing, but the purple-hearted princess was listening to the voice of her favorite person with pure joy. Without showing it, she asked the noble in front of her, "What do you hear?"
Çağın shrugged like her, trying to create a mysterious atmosphere, but the purple-hearted princess could guess what Çağın was hearing.
The unpredictable one was herself, and she had realized that the heir was slowly beginning to notice this. Who knows, maybe the one wanting Çağın to spend time with her was the loveless sister. She didn't show her thoughts. As always, her words flowed from her tongue with the melody of gentleness, her smile brightened nature. After Ç
ağın was motivated by Hesna's energy, he continued the preparations with great zeal. Thanks to their enjoyable conversation, neither felt tired when the day ended.
After thanking Hesna one last time, Çağın left the palace and started walking towards the forest he lived in. While all nobles lived in the most beautiful places of Elysian, in homes with the best architecture, Çağın preferred to live in a forest near the palace.
He enjoyed living in his tent there, but sometimes the forest path could be challenging. That day was one of those times. The wind, whose hum was no different from a scream, bent the trees' backs, making it difficult for Çağın to step. The wind lifting his hair felt like it was scraping his skin; he couldn't control his facial expressions.
He changed direction and started heading towards a small cave he knew was nearby. Nature must not have wanted anyone today, pushing away everyone trying to approach with its wind. When Çağın's great struggle brought him to the front of the cave, the young noble's lips slightly curled. He planned to wait here until the wind died down, but things didn't go as planned.
He hadn't noticed the mud at the entrance of the cave, so his right ankle was almost sunk to his knee in the mud. "All that was missing was for us to get stuck in the mud..." he had muttered, laughing as if mocking himself. Fortunately, the trees that grew closely together somewhat reduced the wind's force.
He thought if he pushed himself into the cave and leaned forward, he could easily free his leg. After taking a deep breath, he grabbed the nearest tree branch to pull himself up and managed to lean his free left foot against the entrance of the cave. However, he was in a much different position than he had planned. The cave was much higher than it seemed, especially with one leg stuck in the mud. When he lifted his leg too high, a pain stabbed his muscles, and the sweat running down his forehead emphasized his struggle. Not having his hand on the branch anymore was another problem. While trying to grab the stone ground of the cave, extending his upper body over his leg, he heard a mocking laughter.
He lifted his head as much as his position allowed and looked at the woman standing inside the cave. She had crossed her arms under her chest, clearly enjoying herself as she watched Çağın.
Çağın smiled at Eva while not hiding the discomfort his doubled-up posture caused. "Funny, huh?" he asked while internally mocking himself for getting into such a foolish state. He couldn't hold back his laughter mixed with irritation anymore and let it out.
"I would have enjoyed it more if you were completely stuck in the mud."
"I would love to entertain you, but..." His words were cut off by the sound of fabric tearing. Çağın widened his eyes in horror as Eva laughed so hard it could scare the birds in the forest. Her face was wrinkled from laughing, pain stabbed her stomach. Çağın felt the tear in his pants, his face blushing from shame, Eva's from laughing.
"How about you stop laughing and help instead?"
Eva crouched down, placing her right hand on Çağın's foot, looking down on him, "What will you give me in return for my help?"
"Nothing..." Çağın replied with a forced grin. "You're going to help me in return for entertaining you."
Eva laughed like crows cawing in response to the young noble's confident attitude. "Eh..." She snorted with feigned displeasure. "That's not worth my help."
Çağın sighed with feigned helplessness. "Thank you..." he said while trying to move his mud-stuck leg and pull himself up, but it was futile.
"I do everything for myself, stupid noble, you can't thank me."
Çağın stopped struggling, lifted his head, and looked directly into her yellow eyes. Their relationship consisted of mocking each other and a few playful sentences; he knew he wouldn't really get any help from her. Normally, he would respond to her answer with a string of mocking words, but this time, trying to match his helpless state with her confident stance, he decided to try hitting a nerve of the immortal woman. "Really..." he said, not completely removing the mockery from his tone. "Have you ever thanked someone before?"
The master of immortality would thank every gain for what she lost, but she wouldn't tell this to the young noble. She shrugged carelessly while maintaining her nonchalant attitude, "Ah, Çağın... I'm sure you know I only thank myself." she said.
Çağın sighed with frustration for not getting what he wanted, while Eva laughed at the game the young noble failed at. Really, did this foolish noble think he could upset her by trying to evoke a sense of pity that was removed from her? She shook her head involuntarily. None of the fools around her could accept that someone without pity would be smarter and braver. That's why the evil always won; they called it a fairy tale when the evil lost in a fantasy world.
"You know you'll owe me if I get you out of here."
Even though Eva hadn't asked a question, she expected confirmation. Çağın saw this and said, "Of course, I know."
"So if I help you now, you'll owe me a favor in the future, right?" Eva asked again.
Çağın didn't intend to continue this conversation any longer. He knew he wouldn't get help from Eva by asking her. "I love talking to you, Eva..." he said, placing a crooked smile on his lips just before. Then he stopped trying to pull himself up and leaned back. In seconds, his entire body was submerged in mud. Çağın struggled, spitting mud out of his mouth at random, trying to get out while Eva raised her eyebrows, her lips widening with a mocking smile.
After a long while, the young noble managed to escape the mud and threw himself into it. Not a single part of him was free from mud. As he tried to catch his breath sitting down, Eva watched the young noble with an amused demeanor.
Finally, Çağın found the strength to stand up and decided to head to his tent despite the still-strong wind. When he smiled one last time at the yellow eyes with even his teeth covered in mud, Eva laughed.
Çağın said, "This noble flees..." bowing slightly in a reverent gesture, then walked away with large steps.
*
Elysian felt the restlessness of its heir.
A harsh wind shook the trees, hit the mountains, and stirred the oceans. The spirit of the four elements, Ova, understood that this wind tearing through the trees came from the soul of Elysian itself. Still, she thought it would be good to visit the climate fairy, Amila, touched her silver air chain, and merged with the blowing wind. She flew in the sky, breathed on the leaves. Her voice was about to be carried away by the wind's howl when the air separated her from itself.
When Ova's body returned to flesh and bone and she looked around, she knew the green tent in front of her belonged to Çağın. She frowned. She had intended to visit Amila,
the climate fairy, so why had she ended up at Çağın's dwelling?
Looking around with the purpose of finding someone, the inside of the tent next to a white tree trunk in the middle of the forest near the palace was empty. Yellow and orange leaves from the trees covered the ground so much that they obscured the soil, but there were no leaves behind the tent area; it was clear the ground had been dug. Approaching, she realized it was a tunnel.
She had to bend down to enter the tunnel. Luckily, the tunnel, slightly inclined, wasn't long, and she didn't have to walk hunched over. After only twenty steps, she reached a wider area and couldn't help but let her mouth hang open in shock. She was underground, in a cellar filled with all sorts of money. The light from the torches fixed to the dirt walls was reflected by the gold coins. All kinds of coins were neatly arranged. The silver coins were right next to the gold ones. The majority were nickel and copper alloy coins. Ova knew these coins were currently used in the World.
Her facial expression, tense with astonishment, relaxed with mockery. "So not only the children of the monarch have stolen things from the World..." she said while plunging her hand into the pile of coins. When her hand reached the soil after going elbow deep in coins, she laughed in amazement. "Wow!" she exclaimed. "Look at Çağın..."
Her words were cut off by a fake cough. She was startled but didn't show it. In fact, she was so good at hiding her feelings that without removing her arm from the pile of coins, she turned to look at the owner of the voice coming from behind her casually. Çağın didn't look angry, rather, he seemed quite tired. The kohl around his amber eyes had smeared, and his shoulders sagged. She hadn't thought the Day of Existence preparations would tire him out, but by the time he left the palace and it was midnight, even breathing had become difficult for him.
He was surprised to see this woman in front of him, and after a few seconds of silence, he had murmured, "Good thing I came here after cleaning up..." His surprise gave way to curiosity. "Welcome, uninvited guest..." he said with a slight smile. Every letter of his words was pronounced with politeness.
Ova pulled her arm out of the coins and turned her body towards the young man. The colors the sky carried before darkening and brightening were placed in the man's hair and eyes. Ova had found these colors suitable for Çağın. Although she didn't know him well, she could guess he was as interesting and exciting as the beginnings and ends that followed each other. The fact that he lived in a tent despite being a noble and filled the area right next to his dwelling with coins proved this. Ova stopped examining the man and said with a flat voice, "Thank you."
The young man gave a brief glance at Ova's fire-representing red eyes and coal-black hair before continuing, "Don't get me wrong, but..." "Why are you here?"
Ova shrugged as she answered, "I don't know." "I was going to Amila, but the wind brought me here."
"Ah..." Çağın raised his eyebrows, causing wrinkles on his forehead. "Amila was around here a little while ago."
Ova scrunched up her face. She had missed her by a small time difference. Still, she wasn't upset. This underground cellar had caught her interest. Without hiding it, she asked, "Did you bring these from the World?"
Çağın didn't compromise his honesty. "Yes."
"Why?"
"I like them." he said, placing a crosswise smile on his lips and shrugging.
Ova was the first to break her usually stoic expression, laughing as if Çağın's liking for these things was strange to her. "Money has no value in Elysian."
"In the World, it has a lot of value."
Ova furrowed her brows. "You say that as if it's a bad thing?"
"It is a bad thing." the answer excited Ova. She didn't like dealing with other nobles, but she wasn't going to miss this conversation. After all, she wouldn't get the chance to talk every day with someone who could go to the World and even bring things back from there. She pushed herself up using both hands on the coins behind her and leaned back. Sitting on the coins, Çağın's furrowed brows, the shadows of his eyelashes falling on his cheek, made him shake his head uncomfortably, as if not the coins but his organs were falling to the ground one by one.
"Why?" asked Ova, not hiding her desire to talk when she realized it.
Çağın hesitated. He wanted to lean forward to pick up the fallen coins, count them one by one to make sure none were missing. He took a deep breath, reminding himself not to be so obsessive.
He had encountered this woman before; he knew who she was, but he also knew Ova preferred to live undisturbed, not bothering with anyone. Her curiosity had... Surprised him. He slightly nodded, hiding his discomfort and astonishment before replying: "Imagine two people standing in front of you..." He hesitated before continuing, needing to swallow. "One has a lot of money, and the other has a beautiful smile. Which one do you choose?"
"The one with the beautiful smile."
"You didn't hesitate, why?"
"Money is of no use to me." she had shrugged before speaking.
"What use is a beautiful smile to you?"
Ova paused for a few seconds. She frowned in thought, unaware she was shaking her head slightly. She felt like a fish that had bitten the bait without thinking. As the bait dangled, she couldn't find anything to say, hoping the man holding the rod would continue the conversation.
Çağın's smile widened as he said, "You chose not what was useful, but what you valued."
Ova was either impressed by this man who had caught her off guard or was quite annoyed by his knowing attitude. She couldn't decide at that moment, and she didn't want to waste time thinking about it. "So people choose what they value, and what they value is money, right?" she asked.
Çağın spread his smile wide and pointed his index fingers at Ova. "Exactly."
Ova had to lower her head to hide the giggle that escaped her lips. After a few seconds of silence, she lifted her head, shaking her head to toss the hair in front of her face backward. Her long hair fell from her shoulders to her back.
Çağın leaned his back against the dirt wall and relaxed into a comfortable position like Ova before breaking the silence. "When I first saw money..." he said, inserting his hands into the pockets of his white pants before he saw Ova's curious eyebrows lifted towards him. Because she looked at him with interest, he felt foolish for starting his speech with such a simple sentence, "I didn't understand what it was." But when Ova laughed, that feeling disappeared.
"Yet, I took it and put it in my pocket..." he continued. "Of course, I didn't know it was theft at
the time. When those who saw what I did started chasing me, I ran. While running, I was afraid both of being caught by the chasers and of not understanding what I was experiencing because I didn't know the value of what I had stolen. It turns out I had found and pocketed a historic coin from the Lydians to our time at an excavation site." He laughed as if proud of this act. "Maybe it was the first coin ever used."
The young woman found some of the words Çağın used strange, guessing these words were used in the World, so she didn't dwell on them, listening carefully to the story Çağın excitedly told.
Looking at the coins in the room, she asked, "Where is it then? Here?"
Çağın hadn't shifted his gaze from the room to the young man until he said, "Here..." He looked first at his face, then at his hand raised in the air, and finally at the coin at the tip of his fingers. "This is my lucky charm, I never part with it." he said before putting the coin back in his pocket.
Ova swallowed silently, muttering to herself that she would take that coin one day. She lifted her gaze from the man's pocket to his face. She didn't know why she had created such a desire inside her, and she didn't care. She believed questioning feelings was a betrayal to Elysian. If she felt something –which wasn't often– the only thing to do was to live those feelings. When she stopped sitting on the coins and came down, a few more gold coins that Çağın had carefully arranged fell to the ground. The young woman bent down, picked up what she had dropped, and arranged them as before.
Çağın was somewhat relieved by Ova collecting the coins, but he would check again after the woman left. He watched Ova, who was arranging the scattered coins indifferently, and changed the subject with his question, "Were you looking for Amila because of the wind outside?"
Ova murmured, "Mhm..." having finished arranging the coins and turned her face to Çağın. "I've lingered enough..." she said, showing her discomfort for neglecting her duty. Standing in front of Çağın three steps away, she continued, "I must go."
Çağın nodded affirmatively, "I'll be waiting for your next visit..." "Come again."
The young woman let her expressionless gaze wander over Çağın's face for a while before turning her back. Before entering the short tunnel, she said, "I will come." Whether Çağın heard it or not, she didn't know.
