Chapter fifty

Once things began to relax more, Askalian soldiers were sent to retrieve Queen Marianna's body as well as assess the damages done to the palace. The foreign visitors were each given quarters to stay in, though they all planned on returning to their respective countries as soon as possible. Most of them were able to get a decent night's sleep as well- contrary to the Askalian royalties, all of which were wide awake the entire night, Prince Alex especially haunted by the day's events.

Just as shocked as Alex were Amirah and Zaahira, the pair sharing a room and eventually a bed together when night terrors kept them from sleeping on the first night, and several after that. Amirah, especially, was detached and emotionless, yet constantly anxious and easy to startle. It was of no surprise to her siblings and Sinbad, though. She'd been through a lot in the past few months. She needed support and space, and they were more than willing to give it.

Over the week that those from Heliohapt and Sindria were in Askal, Amirah kept mostly to herself. She ate little, and spoke even less. She avoided Leonidas and his siblings like the plague, as well as Sinbad for the most part. With everything that was going through Amirah's mind, she couldn't think highly of herself. With that, she no longer found herself suitable for Sinbad, nevermind the fact that she felt awful for everything else she'd done to him. He was better off without her, and she was better off avoiding him.

It hurt, sure. It had hurt ever since she left Sindria, which felt like centuries ago now. But it was almost impossible to distinguish that pain amongst everything else she felt. At this point, her feelings and concerns towards Sinbad and their relationship were the least of her worries. But she couldn't avoid him and everyone else forever- she knew that.

She couldn't attend Marianna's funeral. Neither could Alex, Amirah learned, when she'd run into him on her way away from the ceremony. He was completely dishevelled, his hair and normal attire a mess. He clammed up at the sight of Amirah, the princess mirroring his reaction.

"Amirah..." Alex started, blinking rapidly and looking around until his gaze focused on their feet. "I...haven't seen you around, I was, uh...worried."

Taking a deep breath, Amirah willed her heart to return to its normal rhythm. "You don't get to be worried about me. Not after everything."

"I...I know. I don't expect you to forgive me. Not now, or ever, really. I'm still glad you're alright, though," Alex spoke. "Uh...I heard my father wants to hold a meeting tonight with King Sinbad and King Armakan...did you get invited?"

"I did," Amirah nodded somewhat, crossing her arms and shifting her weight.

"Are you...-?"

"I haven't decided yet," Amirah cut him off to answer.

"Oh...well...I wasn't invited, but I think Leon-," Alex faltered as Amirah tensed, her fingernails digging into her arms, "...was." Alex shuffled about, thinking about what he wanted to say thoroughly before speaking, for once. "Look, I'm sorry, again, I really am. I'll stay away from you from now on. I...hope you have safe travels back to...wherever you choose to go." Then, before Amirah could say anything -not like she wanted to, anyway-, Alex turned and sped away, forcing himself to push his awkwardness away and not look back.

Amirah remained still for a few moments, watching the prince leave. She thought over his words carefully. Her upper arms had crescent-shaped cuts in them, Amirah realized, as she contemplated. She began walking, barely paying attention to where she was going, and eventually forgetting she was even moving in the first place.

What was she going to do once everyone was prepared to leave?

She couldn't go back to Sindria. Amirah knew that. But going back to Heliohapt meant returning to her mundane, old, life. It also meant keeping Zaahira from what she wanted to do. It was the same old story, same old set of excuses and concerns. Amirah was sick of this, and she knew everyone else was too. She squeezed her eyes shut in frustration.

Why can't I just make up my damn mind? What's holding me back?

Amirah opened her eyes. She blinked, confused. It was dark, and it took her several moments to adjust to the sudden decrease in light. Her mouth was dry, a metallic taste lingering on her tongue. She pulled herself to her feet, surprised by how dizzy it made her.

Nausea swam in Amirah's stomach, lead weighed her limbs down, and something else, too. She took a step forward, but her left leg refused to move, causing her to trip and fall. Looking down at her leg, Amirah was horrified to see a lightly rusted chain clamped to her ankle. Following it back, she saw it was welded to a stone wall, and that no amount of desperate tugging at the chain would free her.

She turned away from the corner and took in her surroundings. It was painfully familiar. Three plain, stone, walls, and one barred wall across the room, a door on that same wall with a large padlock chained to it.

Amirah laughed.

None of it was funny, of course, but Amirah couldn't believe what she was seeing. She was back in the cellar below the Apostolos' castle. There was no way it was real, it couldn't be. She was in the halls of the castle just a moment ago. Amirah was free of this place, she had been for months. She hadn't made that up, right...?

Amirah laughed, while tears welled in her eyes and streamed down her cheeks. She hung her head, gazing at her lap helplessly. The pale blue dress and white flats she wore were barely visible in the dark lighting, and Amirah nearly didn't notice them. Nearly.

That was not the outfit she'd been in during her time in captivity. Upon further examination, Amirah realized the wounds she'd received were still scars, and that her hair was also styled differently; thin black pins held her hair back into a messy bun.

In fact, there were a lot of differences. She'd never been chained to the wall like that, the cell had never been that big, there was no padlock on her cell. The area gave off the same feeling as the Apostolos' dungeon, and Amirah could feel it in her bones that it was the same place. But everything was so different, so warped. Was Amirah dreaming? That was the only conclusion that made sense.

Amirah turned to look at her chained ankle. The metal chain was secure, not nearly corroded enough by rust to break off. There was a lock on the anklet, though, which looked as though it could be picked. With only a second's thought, she raised her hands to her hair, pulling one of the pins out and letting that clump of silver hair fall over her shoulder.

Her hands hovered over the lock for a moment. Amirah had no idea how to pick locks, but she was damn determined to figure it out now. It took several tries, and by the end of it, the pin was mangled beyond repair, but she managed to do it. Another chuckle, this one out of satisfaction, as Amirah pulled the hunk of metal off her leg and weakly tossed it aside.

Then, Amirah took another pin from her hair, moving to the padlock on the door. She would get out of there, no matter what it took. She hadn't been able to save herself the first time, but she would now- even if it was just a dream. It had to be a dream.

The door opened with less of a struggle than the anklet. Amirah didn't spend much time paying attention to the details of the dungeon, instead surveying the area for an exit and promptly moving towards it. Unsurprisingly, that door was locked as well, but Amirah was starting to get the hang of lockpicking. She almost wished she'd learned it earlier in her life.

Up several flights of stairs Amirah went, the quality of the winding passageway increasing with every set. How far underground had they gone to build that dungeon? It seemed unnecessary. Then again, Amirah thought, if Marianna was trying to hide if from King Alexandros, it made sense.

There was a wooden door at the top of the staircase, painted white. The paint was cracked, faded back to a dark wood color in some places. It didn't fit well at all with the platinum stone walls and bright gold accents of the surrounding area. Nevertheless, Amirah pressed on through the door.

White light washed over the princess, and she covered her eyes to keep from going blind. Once her eyes adjusted to the new lighting, Amirah entered the new area fully, the door abruptly slamming closed behind her.

"Good thing I didn't want to go back there..." Amirah muttered to herself with a glance back at the door. Turning back to the new area, Amirah properly looked around.

Once again, she new exactly where she was, in a strange, warped, way. It was still the castle, marble support towers and white walls lined with vintage paintings, elegant carpets accenting the cracked marble floor saturated with crimson blood that also splattered across the grey-white veins of the floor. All clear signs that she was still within the Askal castle, and hadn't magically teleported to another location via the very mismatching door. But...wait...something wasn't right...

A stabbing pain in her stomach. The sound of her disembodied screaming. A hole ripping through the palm of her hand- a hand that didn't even exist at the time, but still hurt like hell. Thoughts that weren't hers filled Amirah's head; a power she'd refused to use coursing through her veins, infecting the mind of another person against their will.

Fixated on the blood splattered tiles at her feet, Amirah experienced everything all over again, the images just as vivid and painful as the first time. Her heart rate increased, her breath speeding up to match.

"Thank you."

Blood splattered everywhere, filling Amirah's blurred vision. Frozen in place, unable to do anything. So helpless. The body was lowered slowly to the ground. A scream, heart shattering and utterly in denial. Amirah clenched her jaw and covered her ears tightly. Yet she could still hear it, the scream, and nothing could save her from the stench of blood.

This isn't real.

Amirah felt sick again. She couldn't breathe, she could barely think. She was trembling, looking around for something, anything, that could stop the heavy feeling in her chest. The scene before her had vanished the moment she looked away -thankfully-, but what she saw next only made her feel worse.

"Q-Queen Marianna...there's no way...you're...-" Wide-eyed, Amirah cut off as her brain attempted to comprehend the being making its way towards her. Marianna's long dress was torn in several places, her skin a sickly green, hair clumped together with dark liquid that coated her chin and abdomen as well. "-...dead."

"It's your fault," The queen rasped, jaw barely moving around the words. She stumbled closer to Amirah, clouded over green eyes focused on Amirah's, unwavering. She repeated, "It's your fault."

"No...no it's not," Amirah backed away from the undead queen. "I didn't do this. I-"

"Yes you did, Amirah! It's your fault! My children," Marianna paused, red-tinted tears spilling from her eyes, "my poor children... You left them without a mother! You did it! You killed me! Amirah!"

Amirah winced, holding her ground, but with far less conviction, "I didn't! I...I didn't mean to... I'm sorry, alright?!"

Marianna cried out, an inhuman noise escaping her throat, then lunged at Amirah, grabbing her by the shoulders and shaking her violently.

"Amirah, listen to me!" Marianna shouted desperately.

Amirah furrowed her brows. That wasn't Marianna's voice. Not even close. That was-

"Amirah, listen to me, you're okay. It's okay."

In the blink of an eye Amirah was in a completely different area. Someone had a hand on her shoulder. "Sharrkan...?"

The general sighed heavily, pulling Amirah into a tight hug. After several moments he pulled away slightly, to look her over anxiously, "Are you alright? You scared the hell out of me!"

"Y-Yea...I'm fine," Amirah nodded. Though being drenched in sweat and still shaking didn't quite convince Sharrkan of her words.

"Amirah..." The general started.

"I know... I'll be alright. I just need to rest for a bit and think-"

"Amirah." The siblings turned at the new voice.

Amirah bowed her head momentarily, trying to show respect while also finding her hold on reality once again, "Brother Armakan! I didn't expect to see you..."

"I'm glad I found you," Armakan spoke solemnly as usual. He wore his typical Heliohaptian attire, his large snake coiled around his body. "You didn't forget about the meeting, did you?"

"Oh, right! Of course I didn't forget..." Amirah assured the king, barely. Her thoughts were still muddled, and she had no idea how long she'd been...dreaming? Having a flashback? She wasn't even sure what had happened to her; it'd felt so real.

She was thankful when Armakan was distracted from questioning her further, as Sharrkan asked instead, "Where's Narmes?"

"On his way to the meeting already, with Ja'far," Armakan answered. Continuing to address his younger brother, he said, "Sharrkan, I will escort Amirah to the meeting, you can rest for now."

Sharrkan nodded, meeting Armakan's surprisingly open eyes for a moment. A mutual understanding passed between the siblings, the first one in a long time. "Go ahead," Sharrkan spoke to Amirah, "I'll catch up with you later."

"Alright," Amirah agreed with a curt nod, and the siblings parted ways.

Silence hung in the air as Amirah and Armakan made their way through the Askal castle, Amirah letting Armakan lead the way, as she had no idea where their destination was. It wasn't very long before Armakan decided to start a conversation, breaking the silence with, "Amirah, are you feeling well? How is your mental state? You've been through a lot the past few days."

"Yes, I'm fine. But I'd rather not talk about it now."

"Fair enough," Armakan replied. "But, besides that, I have to mention..."

"What is it?" Amirah paused walking as Armakan turned to her. He raised a hand and used it to pat the snake coiled around Amirah's neck, Akido nuzzling into the king's hand affectionately.

"I overheard some things about you and King Sinbad recently," Armakan said with a small smirk that caught Amirah off-guard more than his words had.

Red darkened Amirah's cheeks and she began walking forward again, the fact that she didn't know where they were going far from her mind. As calmly as she could, she inquired, "Oh, did you? W-Where did you hear this exactly...?" I'm so screwed.

"Do you remember our last talk? I asked you if the reason you were reluctant to come here to Askal was because you fell in love, and you lied and told me you hadn't," Armakan spoke evenly as Amirah internally combusted.

Thinking quickly, Amirah replied, "I'm so sorry about that, Brother Armakan, I-"

"You don't have to apologize, Amirah," Armakan stopped her. He stopped walking, too. "I shouldn't have forced the arranged marriage on you. Part of me regrets letting you leave Heliohapt in the first place, but I know that was your decision to make. I just regret not being able to protect you. I'm sorry, Amirah."

"No, no, it's..." Amirah trailed off. She sighed. "Thank you, Brother Armakan."

Armakan nodded. "Let's hurry to the meeting now, we'll be late."

~