Chapter twenty eight

"Hey, Sinbad, you have to get up." Princess Amirah nudged the sleeping king gently, still mostly asleep herself.

Sinbad whined, "No..."

Amirah smiled, sitting up some. "Come on, we'll be late for breakfast."

"I don't care..."

"Ja'far will get mad~" Amirah sang.

"Oh well~" Sinbad mimicked her.

Amirah chuckled, letting him win. She lied back down, nuzzling into Sinbad. The king responded similarly, pulling her into a hug.

They lied there peacefully -nearly falling asleep again- until Amirah heard the familiar chipper voice of Zaahira. The princess shot upright, softly cursing as she looked towards the door.

Sinbad sat up as well, all the while pouting. "Why'd she have to come get you today?"

"Sorry." Amirah quickly got out of bed and gathered her clothing, trying to think of a way to get in her room before Zaahira. After grabbing Akido she looked towards the window across the room, coming up with an idea.

Sinbad watched in amusement as Amirah ran over to the dresser and grabbed her metal vessel, equipping Antheia then heading towards the window. "I'll see you later, then?" He kept his voice down as he spoke. Zaahira was knocking on the princess' door now, confused as to why she hadn't answered.

Using one of her extra arms to wave goodbye to Sinbad, Amirah jumped from the window, flying over to her window just around the corner. Climbing inside, the princess released her djinn equip and rushed to get dressed, hiding Sinbad's Sindrian robes in the closet before answering Zaahira at the door.

"Morning, Princess!" The blonde smiled brightly at the slightly disheveled princess.

"Morning, Zaahira," Amirah forced herself to smile back, still extremely tired.

Inside Sinbad's room, the king flopped back onto his bed, still too tired to bother getting up. That was until he heard Zaahira say to Amirah:

"You weren't at breakfast, so I wanted to make sure you were alright. King Sinbad wasn't around either, have you seen him?"

Both Amirah and Sinbad stiffened, the latter jumping out of bed and quickly getting ready. It's already past breakfast?! Ja'far's going to kill me! The king stumbled over to his dresser and began putting his jewelry on, messily pulling his hair into it's usual ponytail.

"Ah, good morning Zaahira, Amirah," Sinbad casually pulled open his bedroom door, greeting the females before him.

Amirah cast him a small smirk, silently saying: oh, now you're awake? "Good morning, King Sinbad," She and Zaahira greeted at the same time.

Sinbad acknowledged the look with a quick narrowing of his eyes; a subtle smirk pulling at his lips before he returned to his normal lively personality to laugh and say: "Ah, I really should go see if Ja'far needs anything. I didn't realize it was so late!"

"I'm sure he assumes you drank too much last night and are now hungover," Amirah teased, lightly crossing her arms. Zaahira seemed surprised, looking between the pair quizzically.

"And what were you doing last night, Miss Amirah?" Sinbad shot back, mirroring her pose.

The princess clammed up at this, unsure how to respond. "I-I was sleeping!!"

"Yeah...you went to bed pretty early, Princess," Zaahira spoke nonchalantly. "Are you sure you're feeling well?"

"I'm fine!" Amirah panicked; it felt like she was backed into a corner.

Sinbad chuckled, choosing to not continue tormenting the princess. Instead, he said his goodbyes and headed down the hallway in search of Ja'far.

Amirah huffed and turned towards the opposite end of the hallway, making it seem she was annoyed with the king when in reality, she was trying to hid the blush dusting her cheeks. "Come on, Zaahira. Let's go train or something..."

~

It was around mid-day when Amirah and Zaahira's training was interrupted by a Sindrian courier nervously approaching the pair, a letter addressed to specifically Amirah in-hand.

"A letter?" Zaahira poked her head over Amirah's shoulder as the princess looked the envelope over. "Hey, that's King Armakan's seal, isn't it?!"

Amirah eyes widened, "It is! I wonder what he wants?" She carefully ripped the seal and opened the envelope, pulling out the official-looking letter. The princess quickly skimmed the words on the paper, her eyes freezing before she'd even finished the first paragraph.

"...It is with great reluctance that I request your return to Heliohapt immediately, as there is a pressing matter at hand..."

Amirah moved so Zaahira couldn't read over her shoulder, worry taking over. A pressing matter? What's happened?! She continued reading:

"A small country on an island west of Heliohapt's king has been rather persistent in asking me to open a trading route between our countries. He's a oaf of a man, but he's extremely clever. His lighthearted requests are lined with threat and I'm sure he plans on declaring war if I refuse much longer.

I realize this is abrupt, as I only recently allowed you to leave the country, but this is important. You are to return to Heliohapt as soon as possible and wed the second prince of Askal. It is the agreement King Alexandros and I came to after several hours of discussion. This will solidify and confirm the new trading system between Heliohapt and Askal, and potentially their joining of the Alliance in the future..."

Amirah couldn't focus on the words anymore. Her heart raced. Why wasn't I told this sooner? By the way Brother Armakan says it the king of Askal must have been asking for months, so why? I can't just...

"What's it say, Princess?" Zaahira's voice broke her from her thoughts.

At a loss for words, Amirah handed the blonde the paper.

"What?!" Zaahira exclaimed loudly as she read over it's contents, drawing the attention of the others training nearby. She searched the princess' face for some kind of answer; something that said the words on the page were wrong and a lie. She found nothing but quickly lost hope.

"Maybe I can talk to Brother Armakan..." Amirah started, but she knew it was hopeless. Slowly, realization set in, and Amirah began to accept it. "We...I can't disagree."

"Why not?!"

"You read the letter, if I don't go the king of Askal could wage war."

"So? The Alliance would help, right?!" Zaahira sounded desperate at this point.

Amirah looked away. "Still, hundreds of people could die. I can't risk that."

Zaahira sighed, defeated. "Then...we're leaving?"

"You don't have to," Amirah shook her head, still avoiding the blonde's gaze. "I don't want to take you away from all this."

"What about King Sinbad?"

Amirah clenched her jaw- she'd forgotten about that. "And what of Ja'far? I'll go alone; you can stay here."

"Are you kidding? I'm not letting you go alone," The blonde frowned, moving so she was in Amirah's line of sight. "We'll do it together, alright?"

Amirah finally raised her head, her golden eyes meeting Zaahira's surprisingly determined gaze, "Alright..."

~

"Have the preparations been made?" A woman dressed in long, dark, fabric sat upon a stone throne in a room hidden far beneath the ground, her blonde hair tied into a neat bun and green eyes piercing into the man before her. She was quite clearly royalty by the way she held her head, looking down upon the young man.

"They have. Al should be heading to Heliohapt in roughly a week for the wedding," The man -roughly in his mid twenties- bowed down on one knee before her, his masked head lowered.

The woman huffed, folding one leg over the other, "At least my idiotic husband is good at one thing."

"And what is that, Mother?" Lee raised his eyes, rather amused.

"Being completely oblivious."

~

Author's Note-

aaaand everything suddenly changes. Hehehe~