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After your flattering encounter with Jasak and his friend Henry, warmth lingered in your cheeks at the realization - you had, in fact, caught the eye of the cute Cuman Gadjo. He had stood out to you from the moment their group arrived at camp weeks ago. Their leader deep in talks with yours to arrange mutual aid. Since then you’d occasionally wander down through their camp to the small pier to do the laundry and respectfully left alone - aside from a nod or two - on your way through.
Jasak had caught your eye from the start, but the two of you had barely exchanged even a nod until the night the Cumans joined your camp for a drunken celebration. He had sat beside you and asked you something in Hungarian, and when your baffled expression made it clear you hadn’t understood a word of what he said, he simply took a long drink from his mug, sitting defeated with a distant look in his eyes.
______
However two days had passed since his translated confession with Henry and you hadn't seen him since. You peered down to where their camp was set up just to make sure they were still there. And decided to sneak down to visit.
Nervously approaching the tents, you heard chattering and blades sharpening, before seeing a few Cumans on benches around the pit. One soldier restringing his bow, and another preparing a midday meal.
“Ah! my dear, how nice of you to visit us.” the jovial gravely voice of their leader, Vasko, pulls you out of your observations.
You bow slightly in greeting, “Sir. I'm looking for.. Jasak?”
Vasko's eyes brighten with mischief, leaning back, he calls into a tent across from the camp. “Jasak! Hagyd abba a mocskolódást, és gyere ki onnan, a lányod eljött hozzád!”
The camp begin to make whooping noises as you see a flustered and annoyed Jasak come out of the tent, putting on his helmet, “Jobb, ha kussoltok, köcsögök, különben mindnyájatokat a királyságba küldök, gyertek!”
The camp laugh while he walks over with his head slightly lowered in embarrassment. He lifts his eyes to see you and he found himself doing a double take that you're really here, for him? “Mit keres itt?” He asks Vasko.
Vasko shrugs, turning back to you, “What do you want with our boy Jasak, hm?”
Nervously wringing your hands, your confidence wavers under their scrutiny, “I thought… after what he said the other day, he might want to go on a walk with me…”
Vasko turns back to Jasak beaming with pride, “a lányod azt akarja, hogy vidd el sétálni.”
“Mi?” Jasak blinked, bewildered.
“Úgy tűnik, Henry barátunk megtette neked a szívességet. Folytasd!” Vasko gave Jasak a good shove your way. Causing more chuckles from the other cumans who had stopped their activities to watch.
Jasak makes a hissing noise with his teeth at them before turning his attention to you fully. You watch as he silently takes in your features, his eyes softening. Before your nerves get the better of you, you watch his lips part gently as if he's to speak before halting. He turns his head back to Vasko but without taking his eyes off of you. “Hogyan mondják csehül, hogy 'gyönyörű', Vasko?”
“Az 'beautiful' lenne”
“Beau-ti-ful.” he sounds it out before you and bows his head in greeting. To him, the word fits.
“Ó, a fiú nagyon költő!” Vasko teases, drawing more chuckles from the men.
While you don’t know what Vasko has said to make them laugh, heat rises to your cheeks. Jasak watches you return his bow with your own. When you look up he clears his throat and quickly looks ahead to a thin trail behind you and mumbles, “Menjünk”.
You let him take the lead as you both enter the trail that skirts along the pond. The both of you nervous and unsure. Jasak looks behind him often to make sure you're still with him. He wants to speak with you but stops himself each time.
“Bárcsak tudnám, hogyan beszéljek veled...”
“Hmm?”
“Ó, ez nem lesz könnyű” He throws his hands up in defeat.
You frown, not understanding his words but his tone makes you think he was talking to himself, so you brush it off. You continue walking a while, appreciating the design on his shield. His head is bent forward, shoulders slightly slouched. He’s nervous.
The two of you come up to a short and wide pier built beside the shade of a small willow tree.
“Oh, this is where the girls and I go to bathe! I didn't know there was a path that led to your camp too.” You say a little meekly.
“Igen, Gézával vadászva találtam rá erre a helyre, remélem tetszik. Talán ha újra látni akar, és jobban felkészültem, csinálhatok neked egy pikniket.” he gestured at the pier.
You take that as a prompt to rest on the sun-baked wood. Expecting him to sit with you, you look up and catch him staring, caught somewhere between admiration and disbelief.
“A templom falaira kellene festeni.” His voice is quiet, reverent. Then, clearing his throat: “Ber-u-ti-ful”
He watches you blush and coyly look down and comes to sit down opposite you, leaning back against one of the wooden posts.
“Thank you, Jasak.” A small pause. You attempt conversation. “Do you like it here? In Bohemia? Yes?” you move your hand around in display of the area around you to emphasize your question and watch as he tries to piece together your words.
“Nem. Csehország- ” He frowns. “Bohemia, nem. Itt nagyon más a helyzet.” Then softer, “Haza akartam menni, de- “He hesitates, meeting your eyes, “a találkozás miatt nem szívesen indultam el. És nem vagyok benne biztos, hogy képes lennék visszatérni Vasko nélkül.”
You try not to frown as you struggle to grasp any sense of what he says. “I wish I could understand you…” you sigh.
Jasak expression softens, hes not certain why you're unhappy, but wants to make sure you're still comfortable. “jól vagy?” He asks, leaning forward and drawing your eyes back to his. He offers a small smile when you look at him and you give him one back which allows him to settle more.
You look around you, the lake is calm, flying bugs dart through the reeds, an occasional popping sound of fish and frogs break the water surface. A soft breeze rustles the hanging branches of the tree behind you.
“Maybe we could share some words… to help us communicate.” you gesture at yourself to say your name, and gesture to him and say his name. Jasak copies you, quickly understanding. He likes your name, a lot. it's not one he's familiar with but it suits you.
You point to the tree nearby, “tree.”
Jasak follows your hand to see the willow resting at the base of the pier. “Tree…” he echoes, his accent bending the word. Then, he offers you his translation, “Fa.”
“Fa?!” That’s the last sound you expected to describe a tree. It makes you giggle.
“Igen, fa” he confirms, his smile growing at your amusement. Then, he lifts his chin toward the sun, “Nap.”
“Nap” The strangeness of it delights you, "Hungarian is unlike anything I've ever heard! Nap…” you let the word simmer on your tongue a moment before you translate for him, “we call it, Sun”
His eyes have yet to part from your face as he watches every expression. It’s a little intimidating as you can’t quite place what he’s thinking. “Nap… Sun…”
“Yeah, sun” you nod. You turn his attention to your dress by hold the fabric over your legs, “dress…”
“Dress” his accent rolls the ‘r’ of the word that makes you grin and your smile bolsters his reassurance of your interest. “Beautiful dress” he adds, sweeping his gaze over it and you wonder if it's not the first time he's thought those words towards you. “Beautiful…nő” he gestures at you.
You tug at your dress again, “nő?”
“Nem. Dress - ruha. Nő - vagy te. ” He gestures between the two of you, “Jasak - férfi, te - nő, Gyönyörű nő.”
You hesitate, piecing it together. “...Jasak, férfi.”
He nods, encouraging you.
“And I’m… Gyönyörű nő?” You stumble over the words. But the way he looks at you makes your stomach flip.
“Igen.” His voice is quieter this time. As if he’s letting you in on a secret. “A legszebb nő”
The most beautiful woman.
You're not sure a man has ever looked at you quite like this before... like he’s memorizing you.
You look to the side, there's one thing you want to be sure of when it comes to his interest in you. Has he left a lover back at home? With the new words you have learned, you try your best, “Jasak… Gyönyörű nő in Hungary?” You bring a hand to your heart to try to emphasise love.
“Nem,” He shakes his head, and raises a hand towards you. “A gyönyörű nő Csehországban van”
The most beautiful woman is in Bohemia.
He leans back, taking in the sight of you as your cheeks redden in recognition of his words.
Your tongue stumbles a little and you look down with determination, attempting recall the right words you want to reply with, “férfi… gyönyörű… Jasak”
You look back up at him to see a look of stunned admiration on his face. It takes a moment for him to shake himself free from the reverie your words pulled him into.
His cheeks redden and rise and you match his smile.
Growing surer of himself, he rises to his feet and offers his gloved hand. You take it, letting him pull you up. His hand remains in yours, warm and steady, as you smooth your free hand over your dress.
Jasak’s grip lingers. Caught up yet again in some kind of reverence. You've never felt so central to someone's world in this moment.
“Innentől kezdve minden nap látni akarom a mosolyodat. Hadd látogatjam meg holnap… yes?”
You have no clue what he said but the way in which he spoke has you nodding. He squeezes your hand and leads you back onto the path behind him.
“Ha tehetném, egész nap itt tartanálak, de mivel újra látni akarlak, nem keverhetném bajba.” He looks back with a coy smile.
You dont try too hard to understand what he said and let yourself be led back along the pond into the camp. Feeling protected the whole way.
______
“Jasak! Nem ijesztetted el a sétán, hmm?” Vasko's merry taunting disrupts the two of you who had been lost in thought for the remainder of your walk. You look up to see Vasko by the fire pit, arms wide in greeting
“Piszkálj!” Jasak rolls his eyes. He steps to the side allowing you space to step out from the trail and stand beside him. The closeness of which you stand does not go unnoticed to the men at the camp.
“Lesz-e a jövőben roma esküvőnk??” Vasko teases further.
“Meg akarsz halni?” Jasko threatens, but you sense their dialogue is all in good nature.
“Tell me,” Vasko addresses you, coming closer, “Jasak has a good heart. So if you’ve got some lover waiting for you up in your camp, you’ll let me know, yes? I’ll break it to my boy gently.”
“Yes, I mean, no, I'm not tied to anyone. Except there is one guy - but I dont want him.”
“Hmmm….. that's still competition, no?”
You grimace and nod your head, “he is relentless. He received my father's blessing and basically put me off limits from any other potential suitors at the camp.”
Jasak, noticing the sadness in your voice, speaks up with concern. “miről beszél?”
“Van egy férfi a táborban, aki azt hiszi, egy napon az övé lesz”
“beleteszem a mocsokba.” Jasak spits, smaking his fist and palm together.
Vasko pats Jasak on the shoulder, “Nos, azt hiszem, jó ötlet lenne, ha nem bontjuk meg a táboraink közötti bizalmat, ha lehet, nem? Jöjjön el hozzám, ha segítségre van szüksége." he then bows to you and wanders back to his seat.
Glancing at the camp, Jasak turns to you and with a nod of his head he leads you up into the craggy pathway that leads to your camp, the tall rocks covering you both from eyes from either side.
He stops just before the path opens to your side of the camp and turns to look at you.
Neither of you say anything for a while, the language barrier cutting off anything either of you want to say.
The realisation that you're both on the same page has the two of you laugh softly. The mutual understanding easing your nerves a little.
“Bye Jasak…” you nod at him and make your leave.
“Viszlát” he replies, watching you depart.
You smile to yourself as you walk back to your tent, continuing with your chores for the day. It's still early days, but you feel giddy inside that the cute cuman gadjo likes you back. You don't know where this might take you but you don't think you mind that very much.