It was supposed to be a happy day. Festival of Mehregan the harvest time and the time for visitors to bring their gifts to the king from all around the Persian Empire. last year it was a lively festival with happy faces and gifts exchanged between friends and families. But this year things are different.

Arta was sitting in her favorite spot, on the couch in her chamber's marble balcony watching the sun as it was hiding behind the mountains. Her elegant body was wrapped in a fur robe protecting her from the cool breeze that yelled the beginning of autumn. Curly brown hair was cascading down her shoulder and was dancing by the breeze creating a mesmerizing vision. Her almond-shaped amber eyes were fixed on the mountain view in front of her. She was deep in her thought and did not notice when her father entered the balcony.

"Happy Mehregan my dear." said her father softly.

Turning her head toward her father she stood up quickly and held him tightly in her arms.

"Father, when did you arrive. Happy Mehregan to you too."

Releasing himself from her arms he looked at her with his kind eyes. Arta could see a trace of concern and sadness in his tired eyes.

Kissing her forehead "let's sit for a moment" he said.

Looking at her father she understood that things are not as good as she was hoping. Her heart skipped a beat.

"Has Kian returned with you?" asked Arta with a concerned voice.

"Yes my dear, don't worry. Your brother is fine and now he is having a meeting with the generals in his office"

Letting out the breath that she was holding she asked his father "Is everything alright then?"

Looking at the mountain he let out a sigh "not really. We lost the battle in Nahavand to the Arab's army and they are getting closer to the capital. We need to prepare ourselves for their attack soon."

It hit her like a bucket of cold water. Shivering a bit she tried to conceal her feelings from her father.

"What if we lose the capital too?" She asked in a low voice.

"Let's not think about that now. I want you to leave the city and stay with your aunt in Bokhara until we get over this situation. I know she will be happy to have you there"

Standing to protest "No. I will not leave and flee to Bokhara like a coward. I will fight them and be a part of the army to protect our Empire fro..."

"Listen to me Arta." He interrupted her with a louder and using a more authoritative tone.

He continued "We have lost more than half of our army and they are three times bigger and more powerful. I need to send you off to a safe place so that I don't need to worry about you."

Looking at her father a tear dropped from her eye and he grabbed her wrist gently pulling her to sit down again.

"Don't do this to me father. I cannot leave you. I can fight and be helpful. You don't need to worry about me. Don't send me off." Looking into his father's eyes she was trying to convince him.

She continued "What would people say if they notice that I have escaped? They will lose their faith in us"

Silence came over them as she was looking into her father's eyes, the king of Persia. Running away and abandoning their citizens has never been their way of ruling. But things are different now. Persian army has become weak in recent years due to the political conflicts in the court and people's dissatisfaction because of the high taxes that the war has imposed on them. She knew that her father was a peaceful king. He was a good ruler and genuinely concerned for his people, but he was not a warrior. During his reign, he tried so hard to avoid any confliction but this time their enemy from the neighbor country was so stubborn and full of hatred.

"Arta please understand that if you leave, my mind would be in more peace and I don't need to be worried about your safety"

"What about the people? Where should they seek refuge? Should we all go to Bokhara then?"

She continued arguing with her father "If you send me off you should accompany me with at least 50 soldiers, right?"

She didn't wait for her father's answer and continued "We need every single one of our soldiers. You just said they are 3 times bigger than us." She was holding her breath and waiting for the king's respond.

Although he was deeply concerned for her only daughter, he knew even if he forces her to leave she would find a way to come back and that could make things more complicated. "OK, you can stay." he said finally.

Arta shrieked with happiness and hugged his father firmly.

"You are as stubborn as your mother" his mouth shaped into a sad smile.

Arta's mother passed away when she was giving birth to her 20 years ago. Everyone said that Arta looks so much like her mother. The difference was in the color of their eyes. Her mother had ocean blue eyes while she has inherited his father's amber eyes.

Smiling back to her father she averted her gaze from him and looked at her hands on her lap. Although she was raised receiving lots of love and attention from her family, she always felt guilty about her mother's death.

Searching his pocket, the king took out a tinny silver box decorated with pearls. "Happy Mehregan"

Putting the box into her palm, she looked at him with big surprised eyes and a heart-warming smile like a child. She didn't expect that her father would remember to prepare her a gift in this war situation. Previous years they always exchanged gifts while having an actual ceremony with dancers, music, foods, and drinks. It seemed like it was ages ago that they were laughing and enjoying life light-heartedly.

She opened the box carefully and her smile become even wider. Looking at her father with appreciation written all over her face and back to the box "Thank you. This is so pretty."

Smiling back her father said "This was your mother's. I gave it to her when I first met her and she had always wanted to give this to our daughter one day" He chuckled remembering his wife's memories.

Arta looked at the necklace and felt the love that her mother had for her. The necklace was a combination of pearl and turquoise it was very elegant.

"Your mother loved you very dearly and I'm sure she is watching over you from heaven"

Taking the necklace in her palm she moved it closer to her heart and a tear escaped her eyes.

Her father patted her hair gently and left her in silence.

***

The sun was shining and the heat was radiating from the palace practice yard. "I see that you have become more experienced in the past few months that I've been away." said Kian mockingly with a smile on his lips and his sword on Arta's neck while she was on her knees.

Standing while she was trying to catch her breath "Let's hope that Arabs soldiers are not as experienced as you are"

Replacing his funny smile with a serious look Kian looked at her sister with concern "Is there any way that I can convince you to leave the city Arta?"

"Ummmm, let me think" Arta looked as if she was thinking seriously.

"No I don't think so." said with a fake smile.

"It's not funny. It's a real war. People get killed" Kian said with a serious tone.

"I know what I'm putting myself into. Can we stop talking about it? I won't change my mind. Now shall we continue or you have chickened out?"

Clashing their sword together, they both knew she was a total failure in fighting with the sword but she was a good archer.

Defeating her for the second time in their practice "make sure the enemy does not get close to you. You are a big disappointment in fencing. Stick to your bow." Kian was mocking her but deep inside he was so worried about her sister's safety.

Taking a more serious tone he said "You need to be careful Arta. You should be prepared for any kind of situation. If things didn't go as planned you need to leave the battlefield and flee to Bokhara, with or without us."

"No way! I will never leave without you" Arta said stubbornly.

"Then I will not let you come to the battlefield. In fact, I'll talk to father to send you to Bokhara immediately" he said with a serious face.

"Do whatever you want. Father said..."

Kian interrupted her with a horselaugh "Guess what? Father has assigned me as the general of the army and I say who should come to the battlefield and who should stay behind and in your case who should leave for Bokhara."

She was furious. She didn't have the energy and patience to start her lecture about the citizens and the number of soldiers again for Kian too. So she just stood there and locked her gaze with her brother while anger was pouring out of her eyes.

"I let you stay if only you leave when I ordered you to leave in case things get out of our hands."

Arta's Knuckles whitened as she was gripping her sword tightly in anger. She finally let out a sigh. She knew she didn't have many options and knowing her brother well she knew he would send her off to Bokhara immediately if she insisted more. "Okay I will do as you order, your highness"

With a hiss, she turned around and left Kian. She could hear Kian was laughing. He was enjoying mocking her so much. But deep down she knew he cared for her so much.

Back in her room she was still angry with her brother and nagging under her breath pacing back and forth. She stopped when her maid came in and inform her that the bath is ready.

Walking inside the bath hall she already felt more relaxed. Her personal bath hall was a candlelight marble hall with high ceilings and several pillars in the basement of her chambers. There was a medium-size bath pool in the middle of the hall filled with flowers and different kinds of aromas. Entering in the bathing pool the warmth of the water subsided her anger.

Thinking more straightly she was thinking again about what will happen if things get out of their hands as Kian mentioned? She couldn't even imagine. It seemed so unrealistic. There is no way that those Bedu Arabs could defeat the great Persian Army. Thinking to herself she was trying to comfort herself. But deep down she was so worried and frightened.

***

A cloud of dust was getting closer and closer to the Takht fortress. The sound of 30,000 Arab troops walking in their black armor while hammering their swords to their shields was horrifying to any living soul.

Sultan Faisal who was riding his horse in the front line of the army along with few other generals came into a halt and the wave of soldiers stopped. Silence washed over the field not very far away from the fortress.

"We'll camp here." ordered Sultan Faisal.

The fortress was visible from there. It was only a few kilometers away from the Takht fortress. Takht was a fortress to the Parse area. It was about 4 hours ride from the palace where the Persian's king was residing, the capital and the heart of Persia.

The tents were set up, and the soldiers were sitting around fires in front of their tents talking and satisfied with their victories so far.

"How is the situation?" demanded Sultan Faisal from one of his generals sitting on the cushions in his tent.

"The fortress seems to be well guarded. It is not easy to break their fortifications."

"I wasn't expecting less. No army has passed this fortress in over 250 years." Said Sultan.

"I think we should attack them using catapult" Suggested one of the generals.

"That could slightly damage their defense but it's not effective." Said the general who was the youngest among them and was sitting close to the Sultan. He had the darkest of eyes. He looked cold and dangerous. He was fit and tall with broad shoulders. His black long silky hair was visible from underneath his turban. He had a shorter beard comparing to the rest of the people inside the tent.

"Do you have any plan in your mind Osman?" asked Sultan from the young general.

"Not any particular. We know that they don't take the battlefield into their cities and among their citizens. The king of Persia has always been deeply concerned about his people after all" he said mockingly.

He continued "we should just wait for them to come out. Since we are outnumbered, we can easily keep them busy in the field, surround them and then reach ourselves to the gates."

Sultan Faisal nodded to his son in agreement.

***

Sitting around the dinner table in the King's palace Arta, Kian, and the king were eating dinner in silence. The king was deep in his thoughts examining a document without touching his food. Kian was just playing with his food and looked so exhausted. Arta wasn't any better, she didn't have any appetite and she was drinking from her wine. The silence was broken when there was a knock on the door and Abtin appeared looking concerned. Abtin was the general of the royal guards and the most trusted and loyal person to the king.

"My king" he bowed his bulky figure. He looks as old as the king. His gray hair and smart green eyes made him look stalwart.

Standing up the king got closer to Abtin "What's the news?"

Looking at Arta and then at the king Abtin wasn't sure if he should break out the news in front of Arta or not.

"It's ok Arta should also know about our situation." King said.

"The enemy has camped near the Takht fortress."

The king's gaze averted to the colorful silk carpet and after a few seconds he looked at Abtin and Kian who was now standing beside his father "make the final preparations, we will leave before dawn"

Arta took another sip from her wine and drank it to swallow the lump in her throat. She was really frightened after all the terrifying stories that she had heard about the violence of their enemy and now they are as close as ever to them. She didn't want to show any weaknesses in front of her father and brother.

Kian left with Abtin and the king was also about to leave when he turned around and looked at Arta with his kind and concerned eyes "You better get some sleep. Tomorrow will be a long day" with a smile that didn't reach his eyes he left Arta alone.

********