Chapter thirty two

The next morning, to all of the general's and Sinbad's surprise, Prince Alexandros had arrived to breakfast even earlier than they had, helping the maids get everything set up from laying out the tablecloth to carrying trays of food over. When asked what he was doing, the prince simply shrugged and said he always helped the maids and butlers in his palace and that it was a 'force of habit'.

A strange man with blond hair and brown eyes stood nearby, watching the prince as he worked. The man wore clothing similar to the soldiers of Askal, minus the heavy metal armor they wore. He wore a belt around his waist which held two short swords, one on each side of his waist, while his boots and vest were the same as Alex's, his shirt black and with wide, layered, cuffs that swayed when he moved his hands. Once everyone was gathered, he introduced himself with a short wave: "Hey. I'm Cayden, Prince Alex's assistant."

The generals happily introduced themselves, followed by Amirah and Zaahira who were surprised Alex even had an assistant. "Why weren't you here yesterday?" Zaahira asked, voicing everyone's question.

Cayden glanced at Alex -who sat beside him- for an answer, averting his eyes as he decided to answer for himself instead, "I get really seasick being on a ship for so long... It took me overnight to get my bearings and become presentable. Sorry." The blond leaned back in his chair casually, jumping as he was kicked from underneath the table.

Stop acting so casual! Alex yelled at his older sibling mentally. Their mother had placed a spell on Leonidas, making his eyes brown instead of blue and his voice a slightly different pitch to others. It was a necessary cover, as Princes Amirah would recognize Leonidas' voice and eyes in an instant without it. The only downside was the spell wouldn't work on anyone who knew Leonidas' true name and identity.

'Cayden' straightened his posture, resisting the urge to roll his eyes at Alex. Meanwhile, the generals ate and chatted merrily, while Princess Amirah struggled to keep her nerves under control.

Sinbad sat to the right of Amirah, acting as cheerful and casual as usual, which stressed Amirah out. He spoke to her and everyone else on the same level, no extra glances or 'accidental' touching as she'd received before. Amirah couldn't bring herself to talk so casually with him, something about it felt wrong.

After breakfast, Amirah tried to catch up to Sinbad as he left to his office, only to be cut short as Alex appeared in front of her. "Amirah! I wanted to ask if you would join Zaahira, Cayden and I on a trip to the marketplace!" The prince was clearly excited, as if he'd never been to a market in his life. Which was probably true, Amirah thought. Amirah looked over the prince's shoulder to see Sinbad walking away, casting a quick glance back at them before continuing. She didn't get to think more on it, as Zaahira took her by the hand and dragged her away excitedly.

~

"Have you really never been to a market before, Alex?" Amirah asked as she and the rest of the group shopped around, Alex and Cayden marveling at everything they saw.

"Not like this, no," Alex shook his head, his pace matching Amirah's.

"I've never seen so many people out and about before," Cayden -Leonidas- spoke, looking almost uncomfortable surrounded by so many other civilians. He noticed how everyone stared at their group, especially him and Alex. He supposed it made sense, Amirah and Zaahira were popular amongst Sindria's people, while he and Alex were clearly foreigners, and royalty at that.

Amirah chuckled, "You should see Mahrajan."

"What's that?" Alex asked curiously.

Zaahira jumped into explaining before Amirah could speak, "A few times a year this giant sea monster attacks Sindria and King Sinbad has the generals kill it and that night there's a big festival where they cook the sea monster up and it's really fun!" Her tone was rushed and excited as usual; Amirah was surprised the males even understood her.

Alex's and Leonidas' eyes widened, the former exclaiming, "Seriously?! That sounds awesome!"

"Maybe we'll get lucky enough to see it," Leonidas said.

Amirah smiled sadly, "I hope so."

Zaahira noticed the princess' darkening expression and nudged her lightly, whispering, "Don't worry about it, okay? Let's just have fun today!"

"Okay," Amirah returned the blonde's kind smile.

The group continued on, but not even minutes after their talk of Mahrajan they were abruptly stopped as several screams rang out nearby. Alex was the first to react, jumping and searching wildly for the cause. He nearly fainted when he realized what it was.

Just as Zaahira described, a large, blue and white creature with coral horns rose from the ocean, easily climbing into Sindria. It began spraying water from its mouth, destroying nearby houses and trees with ease.

"W-What do we do?!" Alex panicked, while Leonidas reached for his metal vessel.

Meanwhile, Amirah beamed with happiness. She could already hear the gongs- the generals and Sinbad would arrive to hunt the sea monster soon. Running forward, she looked back to Zaahira, "How about we take on the hunt this time, Zaahira?"

Zaahira instantly brightened, "Let's do it!"

"W-What are you guys doing exactly?" Alex struggled to keep his composure, watching as Zaahira used gravity magic to fly and Amirah activated her djinn equip.

Leonidas sighed, relaxing some as he inspected Amirah's djinn equip, "This must be that 'Mahrajan' they were talking about." Alex looked back to him, relaxing as he too realized it was fine. Leonidas nodded his head to Amirah, "Check out her equip, though. She got it to work with ease, huh?"

"Probably because it's her metal vessel," Alex looked back to the sky as the females prepared to take on the sea monster.

The male's attention snapped to a nearby cliff as Sharrkan complained loudly: "Aw, Amirah and Zaahira beat us to it!"

Sinbad had opened his mouth to choose two generals to take the monster on, surprised when he realized what Sharrkan was talking about. Zaahira waved to them with her wand, while Amirah taunted: "We can't let you guys steal the spotlight all the time, can we?"

The gathered citizens roared with excitement, cheering the females on. Sinbad raised his arms in defeat, declaring, "You better not disappoint us then!" Despite their relationship's situation, Sinbad couldn't help but feel as though he was falling even deeper in love with the princess as he watched her attack the Sindrian monster.

It was over in mere moments, Zaahira's magic paired with Amirah's staff -which she'd shaped into a sword- slicing the monster up neatly, the inedible parts cast aside as the slices of meat were caught by the citizens of Sindria. The crowd adored the show, clapping and congratulating the females as they landed on the ground gracefully.

"Did you enjoy the show?" Amirah asked Alex and Leonidas as she released her djinn equip and strolled over with Zaahira at her side.

"That was amazing!" Alex exclaimed. "Your djinn equip is incredible!"

"Have you ever seen a djinn equip before?" Zaahira asked jokingly.

The prince paused, then answered quietly, "Well...no. Not really..." He clammed up as Amirah and Zaahira struggled to stifle their laughter. "I've heard a lot about them though!"

"You really are innocent!" Zaahira laughed, holding her stomach.

Alex searched for a reply, some kind of snarky comeback, but he had nothing. Leonidas hit his shoulder, making the prince stumble forward. "Laugh!" Leonidas said. "It's just a joke."

The prince pouted, "I-I know that!" He shoved the smirking male lightly, "Shut up, L-C-Cayden!"

Leonidas glared at him quickly- this idiot nearly blew my cover!

Missing the slight mishap, Amirah forced herself to stop laughing. "I'm sorry, Alex. You're just extremely easy to tease."

Alex huffed and crossed his arms, yet a smile creeped onto his features. He'd expected Amirah to be formal and proper with the whole situation -which she had been at first- but she'd opened up to him far easier than he thought she would. Zaahira as well. Maybe Alex was good at something after all? He shoved that thought aside. I'm not acting. I truly enjoy hanging out with them. He could tell Amirah wasn't acting either. At least not completely. Though he could tell she was at war with herself; constantly battling between being herself and acting as a princess 'should' be.

The strange part was Alex knew Heliohapt's rules weren't strict in the way she made them seem. If any country, it was Askal that trained their royalties to think and act in a certain way. So then where had Amirah learned to act like that? Had she placed that burden upon herself? Alex couldn't help but assume so.

"Hey, kid, are you spacing out or something?"

Alex was pulled from his thoughts by Leonidas' typical lazy way of speaking, his 'Cayden' mask removed. Alex glanced around, surprised to see they were alone. "Where'd everyone go?"

"The girls went to help set up the festival," Leonidas explained. "The hell were you thinking about that whole time? She said where they were going and everything."

Alex shrugged, "I don't know. Let's just go help."

Leonidas groaned, "More helping. More being nice. More acting. This is getting annoying."

"If things work out you'll be keeping this up forever, you know." Alex began walking towards the palace.

"Nah, I'm sure mother's got a plan once we get back." Leonidas followed him.

"I'm surprised she hasn't told even you, her most trusted sla-"

Leonidas grabbed Alex, pulling the younger male back roughly, "Don't piss her off, Alex."

Alex's eyes widened. Was she watching them even though she was so far away? It wasn't as hard to believe as Alex thought. "R-Right..."

Alex was still bound by their mother's will, even on the other side of the world. There was no escape for him, for anyone. Doubt clawed at his stomach, but he pushed it away. They had a job to do, with zero room for error or regrets.

~

Author's Note-

Forgot to mention they also hid Leon's rukh cause yanno Yam or Zaahira would be able to tell he's fallen if they didn't. 

Speaking of rukh, someone wanna design/draw me a djinn equip for Leonidas? xD I'm really bad at it

I'll like write you a one shot or something pls