Gender: Female
Age: 119
Sign:
Capricorn
Country: Iran
Signup Date:
June 26, 2011 |
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07/28/2012 12:55 PM
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Connections 2
Category: Stories
| CONNECTIONS
 Prince Tus || Lover, Unofficial Husband / First Love
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When Maniya worked as a servant in the royal palace of Babylon, between the ages of 15 and 18, she developed a na�ve, teenage crush on the king's second oldest son, Prince Garsiv. Of course it was something that she kept to herself and did not seek anything in return, knowing it was not possible. She only observed Garsiv from afar and avoided being in his presence, focusing on accomplishing her tasks swiftly and properly. The only time she came face to face with him was when she was appointed to bring a tray with wine goblets to the royal table during a banquet and she tripped, dropping the goblets and spilling the wine. Unlike Garsiv, Tus had an amiable reaction, despite having been the one stained with wine. To him the servant girl wasn't a complete stranger. They had crossed paths one time before in the palace and even exchanged a few words.
Not long after Maniya had had the fortune of being freed from slavery and given the position of a servant in the royal palace her younger childhood friends, Dastan and Bis had a similar fate. Dastan's fortune was the most spectacular as he was taken in by the king himself, the King of Kings, supreme ruler of the Persian Empire, to be raised as his son. He of course could not abandon his best friend Bis and the king had no objection to offering the other boy as well a place at court. Bis became the Stable Master's apprentice and so Maniya was able to speak to him more frequently. Often after finishing her regular duties she would help in the stables as well, an environment she had worked in before. She could also blend in without suspicion as she dressed and looked like a boy, with her hair cut short and messy bangs almost falling over her eyes and a cap that helped her disguise. She had been dressing like this all her life, not only because trousers were more practical while laboring but also because passing for a boy sparred her much unwanted trouble and unpleasant circumstances.
Maniya would usually strive to finish her chores earlier so she would have more time for the education that her mentor Dalasa was giving her. In these brief moments of spare time and sometimes even at night she would find a secluded place where she could focus on studying and the stables provided such places. When she first met Prince Tus she did not know who he was. Up until then she had only seen Prince Garsiv from far while Tus, already a young man of 24, had an overwhelming crowded schedule since he had to prepare day after day for his future as the next King of Kings. It was his birth right as the Crown Prince, the first born son of the King of Kings and he had been preparing for this role all his life.
Maniya was in the stables one quiet afternoon, sitting in a secluded place where she usually sought refuge from the crowded palace environment and she was so focused on her reading that she did not hear someone approaching her. A male voice suddenly interrupted her thoughts and she looked up to see a young man dressed in common clothes. He expressed his amazement at what he thought to be a stable boy reading scrolls written in the Persian language. The Parthian language was the common tongue of the Empire since the Parthian dynasty had ruled the lands ever since they rebelled against Alexander's successors. Although King Sharaman was the third King of Kings belonging to a Persian-Parthian dynasty and he had made great progress in rebuilding a Second Persian Empire on the mold of the first, the Persian language was not yet used extensively by the common people throughout the empire.
Not knowing who she was addressing, Maniya responded casually, encouraged by the young man's amiable attitude and friendly smile. She proudly confessed that Persian was her native tongue and made a few remarks regarding the importance of education for all people as a decisive factor in ensuring the superior position of the Persian Empire among the nations of the world. Maniya had formed such elevated opinions as a result of paying close attention to the world around her and to the discourses and actions of her masters and their interlocutors as well as by eagerly learning what Delasa was teaching her. The young man was impressed by the stable boy's answer but since he was pressed by time he could not linger in conversation and asked for assistance in saddling two horses. Another surprise came when the presumed stable boy stepped closer in better light to do what he had been asked and the young man remarked that the boy was in fact a girl.
Upon being exposed, and being uncomfortable about it, Maniya managed to appease her worries, acknowledged her true identity and presented arguments in her favour, saying that there was no shame in honest work, regardless of the trade and that she had the experience to perform the necessary tasks correctly. Still, she hurried to finish the current task, worried that she had already become too exposed to someone she did not know. Having lived as a slave all her life and then being freed by a pure stroke of good fortune, Maniya thought it best to be careful in her new life and not do anything that might reverse the good fortune. She could not end up in slavery again. Now that she had had a taste of a better life she started having hopes of finding better employment later on, once she had completed her basic education.
After the young man proceeded towards the exit with the two horses Maniya retreated to her secluded place but her focus was distracted once again a few moments later when she heard the young man calling out for Dastan. Looking out, she saw Dastan rushing towards the young man who had mounted one horse, and mounting the other. Then the two of them rode out of the stables. Driven by curiosity Maniya sought out Bis and inquired about the identity of the young man. She was perplexed to discover that he was none other than Prince Tus.
That was the last time Maniya went to the stables to find a quiet place for her studies and from that day on she was always careful not to find herself anywhere near prince Tus. It was bad enough that she had to deal with an impossible crush on Prince Garsiv but to develop a crush on the Crown Prince himself was absolutely ridiculous. With him being gallant and handsome a crush would come naturally to a na�ve young girl who, as a simple commoner born a slave, had had such a pleasant encounter with the future King of Kings. Two years later Maniya came face to face with Tus once again when she spilled wine on him while serving at the king's table during a banquet. He recognized her and despite the circumstances he was no less amiable than he had been the first time they met and still smiling.
The third time they met things became much more complicated. It was a year after the banquet incident, when Maniya was a free young woman with a promising future, having been adopted by Lady Navaz, a noble woman who had chosen to live away from court. She had escaped servitude at the palace after being presumed dead since she had fallen from a great height into a river bellow, to what seemed to have been her death, or so everyone assumed. The outcome was in fact most favorable since she had also been wrongfully accused of theft. As a free young woman the only tasks that Maniya now had to accomplish were the ones she set for herself or the ones that her mentor and adoptive mother, Navaz, set for her. In the beginning these tasks involved only her education and unlike her previous tasks they were not a tiresome burden but a true delight. For the first time in her life Maniya was free to go wherever she wanted, whenever she wanted.
One of her favourite places that she began to visit frequently were the ruins of an old city situated on the outskirts of the city of Babylon. The architectural style of the now abandoned constructions resembled that of desert dwellings. The sand-coloured walls blended perfectly with the rocky desert surrounding it and were contrasted by the green shades of scarce vegetation. The more abundant plains were those close to the banks of the Ufrātu River that flowed in the vicinity. Although not a city in itself the ruins were still home to nomads or travelers who sought temporary shelter there. Farmers living in the region also brought their flocks of sheep or goats to graze on the river plains and some of the animals would sometimes wonder off and get lost in the maze-like structure of the ruins.
Still, despite not being a completely abandoned place there were many chambers or courtyards where Maniya could spend an entire day without coming across another living soul and the noises of the outside world faded as well. In such a place Maniya would come to study or to dance, a newly found passion of hers. She would remove the long tunic she wore on the outside and reveal a dancing outfit of pure silk, whose soft texture that shifted delicately with each move from the breeze emulated the undulating moves that comprised the dances.
One warm spring afternoon Maniya made her way to one of her favourite places among the ruins knowing that somewhere near a group of nomads had set a temporary camp and the sounds of the musical instruments they played could be heard quite well from Maniya's position to offer her the necessary accompaniment for her dances. This time she had chosen a red outfit and also made use of a separate red silk veil to accompany her dance. A veil was a common accessory for a dance and with two of its edges being held lightly between her fingertips it was either held in place while the body moved or swirled about to accompany the moves of the body. In a way it was an image of how the body should move in such dances, weightlessly and delicately, like silk in the wind or like the wind itself. In fact, certain types of dances were known as dances of the wind.
That fateful day Maniya chose to dance one of these dances of the wind. She moved with focus and dedication concerned only with her moves and ignorant of her surroundings, being certain no one would venture to that place. At one point during the dance she threw the veil into the air then leaned slightly backwards and raised her arms. On its descent the veil was stopped by her palms and the rest of it fell over her body. Quickly she pushed it upwards again, as if wanting to throw it behind her but just as she straightened herself she caught the veil between her fingertips as it now hanged behind her back like a cape.
The very next moment her fingers unclenched involuntarily and the veil fell to the ground. Her enthusiastic smile vanished as well, being replaced by a look of shock, rightfully so given the unexpected sight her eyes beheld. Standing not too far away, near one of the archway entrances to the chamber she was in was none other than Prince Tus, looking the same as she remembered him from the first time she had met him and once again dressed in common clothes. Maniya was so taken aback by this that she found herself speechless and frozen in place. Tus on the other hand greeted her with the smile she had received from him twice before but did not say anything. While Maniya was speechless because of the unexpected encounter he seemed to be speechless because of being mesmerized by the scene he had witnessed.
When she suddenly regained her senses Maniya acted on her first impulse and sprung around, grabbed the bag and tunic she had left there and ran without looking back, disappearing through one of the archways into the shadowy corridors of the ruins. The moment he saw her sudden reaction Tus called after her, telling her not to run because he did not mean to scare her and only wanted to talk. He noticed she had forgotten her veil on the sandy ground and took it, then started running after her through the maze-like corridors, calling after her with the same words whenever he got close to her.
After a long chase Tus was eventually able to corner her and Maniya had no choice but to confront him. When he stepped close to give her the veil her fears came true when he gazed at her from up close and suddenly realized she looked very familiar. His memory helped him further and he asked her on a tone of mixed bewilderment and excitement if she was not Maniya, Dastan's childhood friend whom everyone thought dead. After the incident Dastan confessed the truth about Maniya's identity and Tus then knew whom he had met that one time in the stables. Putting her deceiving skills to good use Maniya offered a convincing enough reply that denied his affirmations and chose to be mysterious instead, telling him that a name is of little importance and he could give her whatever name he wanted.
She hoped that her lie would be convincing, after all she now looked quite different from before, having long, slightly curled hair with no bangs to cover her forehead and fall over her eyes and a cleaner skin and appearance since she now had access to the finest cosmetics like any noble woman. Her eyes were delicately framed by thin dark lines in an Egyptian fashion and she wore an outfit made of expensive materials. Despite this Tus found it difficult to believe her response but chose to play her game and said he would call her Maniya. When he asked what name she would give him she replied that she did not need one because anonymity was much more interesting.
The conversation that followed was also mysterious in the senses that Maniya purposely offered vague or confusing answers in order to avoid becoming trapped in a situation where she would have no choice but to tell the truth, something she knew she had to avoid at all costs. Then she rapidly excused herself but Tus delayed her, expressing his desire to see her again. She offered another vague reply but judging by the way their encounter had played out Maniya was certain she would find Tus there the next time she came, waiting for her just in case she might show up.
While she made her way out of the ruins and back to Babylon she was particularly careful not to be followed. Keeping her true identity secret as well as her new dwelling was crucial. The latter was not such an easy task given that Navaz's villa was in the center of Babylon, in the richest district, close to the royal palace and the Fire Temple. Only when she reached the confines of her chamber and escaped the euphoria state she had been absorbed into by the highly unexpected encounter, Maniya analyzed the matter from a more objective perspective. Unfortunately at that early stage of her life she was more influenced by na�ve emotions than by the clarity of reason. This, combined with the new social position she found herself in gave her hope and actually led her to believe she could somehow be with Tus, in an actual relationship. Her feelings for Garsiv had not vanished either, despite the banquet incident but she pushed them aside, dismissing them as silly ideas of her early teenage years.
With this in mind Maniya decided to continue frequenting the ruins and meet with Prince Tus. Although a more rational side of her kept thinking all that could not be real she indeed found him waiting for her in the same place the following day. Their second conversation was a more scholastic one. Tus noticed the bag she carried with her and when he inquired about its content Maniya showed him the scrolls she was reading for their historical information and also to improve her knowledge of the Greek language. The scrolls contained information regarding the travels and conquests of Alexander of Macedonia as well as biographical accounts. Maniya shared with Tus her interest for the history of their nation, the First Persian Empire and also for Alexander of Macedonia, as a person, because of his grand goals and the determination with which he carried them out. She hoped to be able to travel as well, following Alexander's trail and then going even further to explore unknown lands and gain a better understanding of the world.
Tus was amazed and intrigued to hear such desired coming from a young woman of only nineteen and also considered the possibility that he might have been wrong in thinking she could be Dastan's presumably deceased childhood friend. After all, for one to have such dreams and have hopes of fulfilling them one would have to be of noble ancestry in order to have the financial means for such journeys. The scrolls that Maniya had were also quite expensive and difficult to come across. For a commoner such treasures would have been off limits. For their third encounter Tus manifested his desire to see Maniya dance like he had seen her dance the first time. She did not abandon her mysterious ways and did not give a clear answer but the next time they met she danced for him the most appealing dance she knew.
For almost two months these frequent encounters became a regular occurrence and halfway along the way they also became intimate. It was nothing too intense, only a few innocent kissed and comforting embraces but for young Maniya it was everything; her first kiss, her first real love. Beginning with the second month of their platonic affair things took a different turn. This time Tus began acting mysteriously, offering elusive explanations and many times failed to arrive at their meetings. When he explained his absence Maniya could tell that he was not speaking the truth but at the same time she perceived his remorse as being sincere and understood that something must be happening in his life to trigger such a change. She also could not press the matters further for fear of placing herself in a situation where she would be forced to reveal her true identity, which she had managed to keep shrouded in mystery despite their many encounters.
In their very last meeting, although at the time neither of them knew it would be the last, Tus surprised Maniya with a peculiar gift, a string of glass prayer beads. It was neither a randomly chosen gift nor one with religious connotations. He chose to give her those prayer beads because of their sentimental value. The unique beads had been in his mother's family for several generations and she had given them to her oldest son to give as a gift to his future bride. Tus decided to give them to Maniya to show that in his heart at least she would always be his bride, although in real life she could never be his first wife. He did not share any of this with her when he gave her the gift but later Maniya discovered everything on her own.
Curious to solve the mystery behind Tus' peculiar behavior and his absences, Maniya snuck inside the royal palace to visit her two best friends, Dastan and Bis. Soon after her apparent death she had gone in secret to see both of them again and let them know she was still alive, while also making them promise to keep her secret. Ever since her affair with Tus began she stopped visiting them and when she did visit them again she made no mention of her encounters with Tus. After all, two thirteen and twelve year old boys had other things on their minds. As it turned out there was no need for any tactful inquires because the answer she was looking for was the news of the hour in the palace. Prince Tus was to take as his first wife Princess Vira who would one day rule by his side as Queen of the Persian Empire. Their marriage had been arranged for a long time since it represented a needed political alliance, like most marriages.
At first the news did not come as a great surprise to Maniya since she had imagined that such plans had to exist, given Tus' stature, and Navaz had also warned her against it when Maniya told her whom she was meeting in secret. It was only after she met Princess Vira in person that the fantasy world she had been living in was shattered. When sneaking inside the royal palace to speak with her childhood friends Maniya disguised herself as a servant and accidentally ended up among the retinue of the recently arrived princess. The opportunity to be so close to Princess Vira changed her views completely, despite how much emotional suffering it brought her. While before Maniya had cried and shouted when Navaz advised her to put an end to her affair with Tus and boldly swore to defeat all obstacles to be with him, she now understood that it was not right to build her happiness on other people's misfortunate.
Princess Vira was nothing like Maniya had expected and she did not see her upcoming marriage simply as a duty. She was genuinely excited about it, she was concerned about not being to the Prince's liking and what was more, she seemed to have deep and sincere feelings for him. Just like Maniya, Vira had also observed her future husband from afar on several occasions in the past and grew to love him. They had met on a few occasions when they were younger but because of the tumultuous conflicts throughout the empire Prince Tus had been rarely available to meet with the princess each time she visited.
Maniya also understood that Vira's excitement about her upcoming marriage was not at all that of a silly girl with trivial concerns. Vira was nothing like that. She was a witty, intelligent, knowledgeable and strong-willed young woman, aside from being a beautiful, elegant and well-mannered lady. Since she had been brought up to one day be the Queen of Queens of the Persian Empire, Vira took her future role very seriously and was determined to be a strong queen, involved in political and military affairs as well and become her husband's most trusted aid.
In all honesty the empire could not have hoped for a better future queen and such a strong figure was much needed in that point of the empire's history. Also, for an arranged marriage Prince Tus could not have hoped for a better wife. As much as it devastated her, Maniya had to accept these realities and find the strength to completely let go of Tus. Eventually she accepted that in the given circumstances the only way to make Tus happy was to disappear from his life and allow him to find peace, happiness and love alongside his future queen.
Of course Maniya had envisioned other scenarios as well, since she had been aware of the complicated reality from the beginning. She knew she could only be a second wife or a mistress but she had been too overwhelmed by her feelings to consider the implications of such positions. For a start she would become tied to one place, which was the opposite of what she had always dreamed of and of what her new mission in life implied. Also, being aware that Tus' feelings for her were intense and genuine, she did not want to shatter Vira's dreams, which resembled her own, by coming between her and Tus. The Princess was undoubtedly aware that her husband would later on take other wives as well but Maniya concluded that since she was the first wife and future queen Vira deserved to have her husband's full attention at the beginning of their marriage to get to know each other better and solidify their important union.
Maniya's presence and Tus' affections for her would have only been an obstacle and would have brought Princess Vira a kind of emotional suffering that Maniya was familiar with and did not wish it on anyone. There were metaphorical parallels to be drawn between the condition of a princess and that of a slave and since Maniya was well aware of what it meant to be a slave she swore to prevent anyone from living in such conditions as well as in conditions that just slightly resembled them.
However, the emotional side of the situation, concerning Tus and Vira's happiness, was only a small part of the issue. There were much more important reasons that made Maniya understand her presence would only complicate things and possibly even be the cause of negative outcomes. Tus was not just a man with an important position but the man with the most important position in the empire, since preparing to be the future King of Kings was an even more difficult task than actually being the King of Kings.
Maniya knew that he could not afford any unnecessary distractions and that he had to take his training very seriously and work very hard. The empire was also in a fragile state and could not afford any dissent within the central government that King Sharaman was trying to reinstate. Tus' affections for a freed slave could have given rise to unwanted circumstances and at that early stage of her life Maniya did not feel like she could bring any contributions. She did not want to be just a wife or a mistress, she wanted to help in improving the administration of the empire and the lives of its low class citizens and slaves but she was still young and had much to learn.
After meeting Vira in the palace Maniya went once again to the ruins, not to meet Tus but only to leave the beads he had given her, thinking she did not deserve them and also as a message to Tus, letting him know that she would no longer be coming to meet him. Just as she was about to leave she heard Tus approaching and hid, watching from a distance how he picked up the beads with much sorrow in his eyes. Without making her presence known Maniya snuck away, leaving Tus there to search and wait for her in vain, hoping he would understand the message and that it was for the best.
Then something intriguing occurred in the days following this event. While learning Sanskrit, a language for which she had developed a sudden liking, having a peculiar feeling about it as if she had some sort of connection to it, Maniya was completely baffled to discover that in Sanskrit her name translated as glass bead. Immediately she thought of the prayer beads that Tus had given her and began to wonder what was all supposed to mean. When she shared this information with her housekeeper, Zoraideh, a wise woman who was also her confidant and a good adviser, Maniya received a very peculiar but also intriguing response.
Zoraideh told her that it could not be just a coincidence and her destiny must be tied to that string of beads. She told Maniya that according to the beliefs of her people the gods would write a person's destiny before they were born and then palace it around their necks at birth. Although Maniya would dismiss such ideas as superstitions it was still an interesting coincidence that the gift she received, which bore the meaning of her name, was also something she could hang around her neck. Thus, according to Zoraideh's beliefs she would literary have her destiny around her neck.
But of all the beliefs that Zoraideh shared with her the one that had the deepest impact said that ever since birth every man and woman walk towards their written destiny and there is a time in their life when they come face to face with it. That is the moment which changes everything and you understand what you came to do in this world. Because of the circumstances in which Maniya received the prayer beads she believed that moment to be the one Zoraideh spoke of.
Being profoundly marked by the possibility of such things being true, or at least needing to believe them in order to make her loss more bearable, Maniya returned to the ruins in a hurry and was relieved to discover that Tus had left the beads there. From that moment on she never parted with that string of glass prayer beads and always carried them with her, either wrapped around her right wrist like a bracelet or around her neck. She also vowed to dedicate her life to ensuring the happiness of the man she loved, even if it meant disappearing forever from his life and only helping him from afar, without him knowing. She believed this was part of her destiny.
The day she went back to retrieve the beads was the last day that Maniya went to the ruins of the old city. Tus did return there several times hoping to meet her again but with no luck. He also noticed that the beads were no longer where he had left them but assumed someone else had taken them.
Prince Garsiv || Husband / Teenage Crush
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In her teenage years, although street-smart and with a good enough grasp on reality, Maniya was very much under the influence of her emotions and her simplistic view of life. Between the ages of 15 and 18, when she worked as a servant in the royal palace of Babylon, she developed a crush on the king's second born son, Prince Garsiv. He had never been aware of her existence, she was after all a lowly servant and she would not dare to ever come into his sight. Not because she was not allowed to but because her secret affections prevented her from having such a courage and she was a shy, naive young girl back then.
From a distance she continued to love him in secret, with the innocent affections of a teenager, and from her position of a servant she secretly tended for him. Being aware that Garsiv had no interest in knowing about the servants and their duties as long as he received everything he needed, Maniya became the servant that prepared his meals the way he liked them, washed his clothing and other such tasks.
The first and only time Garsiv became aware of Maniya's presence was the first and only time she served a tray at the royal table, during a banquet. To her utmost horror, her nervousness made her trip and drop the goblets of wine from the tray. The only one being stained by the flowing liquid was the oldest prince, Tus but he had a surprisingly kind reaction and told the shocked and trembling girl that she should not worry about it. Garsiv however reacted violently, scolding the girl viciously on a shouting tone and letting her know that for such an offense she should be whipped.
The mercy of King Sharaman sparred Maniya of a severe punishment but just the following day she was falsely accused of theft by a noblewoman from the palace. In her rush to escape the guards sent to capture her she ended up on the ledge of a balcony from where she slipped and fell into the river below. Due to the great height from where she had fallen the general assumption was that she died. Only after the news of her death Garsiv learned from Dastan that Maniya had been his childhood friend, a secret she had asked him to keep.
From that point on Maniya began a completely new life and her new residence became the house of Navaz, her mentor, who also legally adopted her. With all the unbelievable transformations that had taken place in her life, the things she now had to discover about herself and the mission she was entrusted, Maniya moved her thoughts away from her teenage crush. When she grew older she even laughed at herself for the way she used to think and feel and dismissed her innocent love for Garsiv as the nonsense of a silly and simple-minded girl.
This perception prevailed even when she once again spotted from a distance an older Garsiv, now a man and a warrior. But although her conscious self would tell her not to linger on such thoughts, on a deeper level she could feel the lurking of familiar emotions from the past. And so yet another inner conflict between the two sides of her personality was unleashed. Eventually she had to admit to herself that, for instance, her always taking the hallway overlooking the courtyard where Garsiv trained, whenever she sneaked into the palace to visit her friend Dastan, was not a coincidence.
Suddenly she realized that she was back in the same situation she had been in her youth, secretly trying to get a glimpse of Garsiv whenever she could. Maniya never held a grudge against him for how he had reacted to her spilling the wine a few years before. She would not have expected him to behave differently towards an insignificant servant he had never seen before and she had always been aware of his personality, with his fits of fury, arrogance and superior attitude. Throughout the years those traits remained more or less the same, his involvement in war giving him only a stronger focus point in life, towards which he could direct his ambitions.
The strange thing was that even though Garsiv's main personality traits were ones that Maniya usually preferred to avoid, with him it seemed that those very traits had drawn her to him. But now things were different. Maniya had more freedom than she could have ever imagined and also an important mission in life, so even though she would occasionally allow herself to check in on Garsiv from afar, most of her time was spent on her duties and travels. This helped her take her mind off personal feeling she could not or did not want to understand and avoid having to take a final decision. There was some strange feeling of hope in her soul, although she could not figure out for what exactly.
The difference now, aside from Maniya viewing life through the eyes of a young woman and not those of a child, like before, was also that Maniya had acquired some personality traits that were the exact opposites of the ones she used to have. Now she was a bold, courageous, witty and independent woman who no longer waited for things to be given to her but who instead took whatever she wanted whenever she wanted. These new impulses eventually led to her voluntarily presenting herself to Garsiv, though under a made-up identity. Such thoughts had crossed her mind before. What if she would find a way to spend just one night with him and satisfy her desires? After all that was all she could hope for since becoming a constant presence in Garsiv's life would inevitably lead to her meeting Tus once again, who would recognize her immediately. Not to mention that she would have also had to be very careful in not revealing her true identity as Dastan's childhood friend. But even if she might have easily accomplish that she always ended up postponing it.
Faith however made the decision for her and placed her in a situation that would determine Maniya to take a path leading to her much desired encounter. While returning from a very long journey of several years, the one that marked her the most, Maniya got word of a cavalry unit of the Persian army, led by Prince Garsiv himself, engaged in an armed conflict with a Dahae tribe from beyond the north-eastern border that had attacked a Dahae settlement within the empire. Conflicts between tribes who had submitted to Persian rule and those who chose to continue the fight were very common at all border regions of the empire.
The only reason for which Maniya did not hesitate in taking a decision this time was the rumor about Garsiv having been greatly injured in battle. The Persian cavalry unit had crossed the border and captured a fortress occupied by the rebel tribe. The Kyrkmolla Fortress of Gurgānj, in the Uvārazmish region, was in fact a Persian construction, build there a few centuries back when that region had been within the borders of the First Persian Empire. After defeating the rebels the Persians seized the fortress, although by then it had been abandoned by its non-combatant inhabitants.
Making use of her stealth and deceiving methods, as well as her superior agility, Maniya infiltrated the fortress and entered, through the window, a small chamber situated in the superior levels of the fortress. The door had been locked and bolted from the outside and when the Persian soldiers inspecting every corner of the conquered fortress broke in, Maniya presented herself as the daughter of the Dahae king allied with the Persians, whom the northern rebels had attacked. She told them she had been kidnapped and imprisoned in that chamber a few months before. Fortunately for Maniya's cover, the king had died in battle and there was no one around who could expose her.
When brought in front of the captain, Garsiv's second in command, Maniya made sure to drive the conversation in such a way that the captain would bring up the issue of Garsiv's health so she could offer to mend his wounds. Once she did that the captain agreed to let her see Garsiv. Her credibility was due to the fact that the king whose daughter she was pretending to be had always been a reliable ally of the Persian monarchy and the healing methods of the Dahae were also renowned for their effectiveness. Of course, Maniya had chosen this cover precisely because of these reasons.
Once in Garsiv's chamber Maniya discovered that he had not received many injuries, being a skillful fighter after all, but the reason for him being literally on his death bed was a poisonous arrow that had pierced the right side of his upper chest. For one whole week Maniya stood by his side, systematically applying to his wound the medicine she had prepared, using mostly herbs and other ingredients she had taken with her from the provisions she always carried on her travels. Most of the time she just stood next to him and held her hands over his wound, which was meant to stimulate the energy flow of the body in order for it to heal itself.
As Garsiv's state of health was beginning to improve and the moment when he would wake up was approaching fast, Maniya's fears turned from Garsiv dying to him coming face to face with her. She knew there was almost no chance for him to recognize her since she was both older and quite different looking and he wouldn't have remembered a servant he had seen only once either, even if he did find out she had been Dastan's childhood friend. Still, almost the same feeling of nervousness as she used to have in her youth took over her senses. From a certain perspective it was understandable because she did find herself experiencing what she had only dreamed of.
The first meeting was more pleasant than she had expected. Maniya had prepared to face Garsiv's rather temperamental self especially since, being wounded, he found himself in a more or less helpless position that he never enjoyed. Instead, after becoming aware of his situation and being told what had happened, including Maniya presenting herself, according to her cover, Garsiv became more relaxed. Undoubtedly, her cover as the daughter of a loyal Persian subject was very helpful in earning his trust in a short period of time.
Maniya spent a few more days aiding in Garsiv's recovery, this time with him being awake for the most part of the day. As his health was getting better they no longer kept to the confinements of the chamber where his treatment had taken place but also had walks along the corridors of the fortress and through its courtyard. Although the time spent together was brief and Maniya was mostly trying to dodge questions connected to the life of the person she was pretending to be, which she might not respond correctly, she also became familiar with a different side of Garsiv's, that of the man behind the tough soldier.
She had never purposely attempted to seduce him but often enough her behavior and way of being had a seductive air to it and the inevitable consequence of that was a very passionate night of intense bodily pleasure. It all came naturally and when she succumbed to his manifested desires none of her past doubts and fears were hunting her mind. The time they had spent together, just the two of them away from everything and everyone, as if they could actually be together, had completely suppressed those doubts and fears.
Not long after they had both fallen asleep close to each other Maniya awoke abruptly, as if commanded to. That was the moment when she reverted to reality and understood that the critical point had been reached. She had done what she had wanted to do and all that she could ever do with Garsiv. The only thing left to do was leave. And in the middle of the night she did just that, sneaking out of the fortress as skillfully as she had gotten herself in. She made her way to the village where she had left her mare, Devi and recovered her from the family who had taken care of the animal. After that she continued her journey back to Babylon.
Garsiv was surprised to find that the enigmatic woman he had spent half a month with was nowhere to be found and even more surprised, shocked even, when he found out that the Dahae king had no daughter but not as shocked as he had been when he finally understood why Maniya kept insisting that he did not remove the bandages even when he no longer felt any pain or discomfort. Upon removing the bandages he was amazed to discover that the poisonous wound that almost killed him, received only two weeks before, had fully healed, leaving behind only a small scar.
The only people whom Maniya told about what had happened between her and Garsiv were Navaz and Zoraideh, her closest confidants, as well as her childhood friend, Dastan. If before she had avoided being seen by Garsiv because she was nervous about it, now she had to avoid being seen by him because she had no other choice. Before she had also entertained thoughts of becoming reacquainted with Tus, even if just to be an occasional lover, but with this new development such a thing was no longer possible.
Her resolution was that she and Garsiv, as well as she and Tus, during their earlier encounters, had done everything they could ever do and there was nothing more that could happen between them, especially with the position of the two men and her adventurous way of life. Her resignation to this reality was sustained by the philosophy which stated that ''The secret to happiness in life is not doing what one likes to do but liking what one has to do''.
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