Читать книгу O’TKAN KUNLAR - Абдулла Кодирий - Страница 24

Alongside Rayim Bek Dadkhwah, a man in a striped Bukharan robe straightened in his saddle upon seeing Hasan Ali.

“Oh yes! Ha! It is our very own Hasan Ali,” he said. “Come here, Hasan. Otabek is in good health?”

Hasan Ali descended to where Yusufbek Hajji was standing. They greeted each other, and then Yusufbek Hajji turned to Azizbek, saying, “This is our man, Your Honor, just now arriving from Margilan.”

Azizbek bit his lower lip. He would have liked to pass a capital sentence upon Hasan Ali and thrown him into the hands of the executioner for daring to spook his horse by pounding on the gate. Not responding to Yusufbek Hajji, he continued on his path. Yusufbek Hajji followed Azizbek, while Hasan Ali fell in behind the detachment of soldiers winding their way toward the orda. Upon reaching the fortress gates, the orda begi offered his arm to Azizbek, helping him dismount from his horse.

As Azizbek entered the fortress, Yusufbek Hajji dismounted his own horse and requested his leave: “May I take my leave, Bek?”

Azizbek glanced at Hajji. “You have my permission – attend breakfast in the orda tomorrow.”

“Very well, Your Honor.”

One of the soldiers assisted Yusufbek Hajji in mounting his horse, which then trotted over to Hasan Ali, who up until that point had waited apart from the others. The cavalry then filed into the orda, leading the horses behind them.

Yusufbek Hajji fretted over Hasan Ali’s sudden arrival without Otabek at his side and was convinced some evil had transpired.

“Why have you come earlier than planned? Is Otabek all right?” he asked, blurting out the question before he had even reached Hasan Ali. Hasan Ali either didn’t hear the question or pretended he hadn’t heard it; either way, he made no reply.