Okay this chapter took a while. I couldn't decide on how to do the wedding scene because I don't know how the weddings are in Persia, so I ended up cutting most of it out. Secondly, I didn't know how I wanted the interrogation to go and whether or not to kill off the assassin, but I resolved to let the poor guy live since I've decided to bring him back into the storyline later on...a whole lot later on, but he still comes back.

Furthermore, I know it gets confusing switching back and forth between Daria's group and Kas's group, but I promise you that all is going to end soon! :D

And...well, that's all I can think of for now.

Please read, enjoy, and review! ( I love me some reviews!)

-KB

*Chapter 2*

"Oh! You two look great!" Tamina squeals as we walk in. Her helpers had brought in our clothes for the wedding and right away I had objected. Sama, and her annoying fortune cookie self, had told me to just wear my clothes under it so that Tamina would be happy.

Why did I obey? I couldn't wear my usual pants because they were too bulky so I had to slip on my smaller ones which always had my legs left cold. My top though is still on, thankfully. The dress is long and...frilly, if you will. It holds snuggly to my top and around my waist, where a gold wrap circles around me, and then swirls out around my legs. I refused to wear the flashy sandals, but the helpers didn't seem to mind that so much, so I got my way with that at least. The top of the dress is basically strapless except for the bead strings attached to it that hang loosely over my shoulders.

I glance over at Sama and her girly grin. She's totally enjoying herself. Geez, why did I come? I smile when Tamina gives me a hug again and then I hear cheers and music begin to play, giving Tamina the signal to enter the room.

The wedding seems to last for hours, but I know it hasn't been that long. Lucky for me, I was smart enough to bring something to fiddle with; my chain whip has always been nice and shiny.

"Would you stop?" Sama hisses quietly in my ear. "Why'd you bring that thing anyway? It's rude!"

"No it's not! It's keeping the boredom at bay." I hiss back. I can hear her groan under her breath, but I ignore her.

Near us I can hear the ceremony coming to a close and that's when I'm about to get up and run for the hills.

"STOP!" The shout from the guards have my plans ruined instantly when I look up and see a man dresses in black raise a hand baring a knife and race at an unnatural speed towards the newly married couple!

Time seems to slow around me! I glance at the assassin, over towards Dastan, and then back at him. He's going after Dastan! I'm too my feet a little too late though, because he gets by me before I can get in front of him.

Before I lose my chance, I rip out my chain whip and snap it forward. It wraps around his arm perfectly and I pull back with a stern jerk. The blades rip into his flesh, but not enough to cause massive damage; I don't want him dead, yet.

The assassin jerks around, our eyes lock, and I slowly pull on my whip, forcing him to move to my will. His arm, and the dagger, hit the floor.

Screams finally die down, it's odd how I didn't hear them until now, and guards surround us in a flash, taking the assassin into their charge.

"Daria!" Tamina and Sama both approach me as I wrap my whip back up and retie it onto my side. I don't look away from the assassin and neither does he. His black eyes are deadly and strange, sending a shiver down my spine. He's not normal, something's not right here.

"Are you insane?" Arsalan snaps, jumping to his feet when he finishes telling them where he's been all night.

"Calm down. You're drawing attention." Firuz grabs Arsalan's shoulder. "We need to take this back to the hide out."

"I agree." Kas says with a smile, spinning on his heel and heading back towards the stable they were currently hiding in.

"You're just agreeing because you don't want to talk about this right now!" Arsalan growls, lowering his voice to a hiss in Kas's ear.

"Yep because right now you're mad and I don't want to be yelled at." Kas grins.

"Coward."

"Say what you will."

Firuz just shakes his head as he follows behind his arguing friends. Kas had returned late this morning after a long morning of trying to dodge guards and find his way out. He had conveniently come stumbling out the front entrance, passing tow guards who dismissed him as a drunken servant.

Kas can't even believe they called him that! He didn't dress that badly did he?

He glances down at himself, wondering.

He's dressed in a faded black, plain sleeveless shirt, its v-neck opening widely over his chest. A dark red face wrap circles around his neck, the hood hanging lazily down his back. Black pants tuck into his brown boots with a brown belt wrapped around his waist. His two, curved blade swords usually rest across his back, but he had left them back at the stables so that he could scale the castle side without the extra weight holding him down. All in all, he doesn't dress that poorly.

"Do I dress like a servant?" He asks Firuz.

"Huh?" The younger boy asks, glancing at him as if he's crazy.

Kas is really getting tired of people looking at him like that. The guards had done the same thing!

"No, why?"

"No reason." He answers shaking his head.

They finally enter into the stable from the roof top and sit down in their circle.

"Now explain to me why it is you put not only yourself in danger, but also the rest of us as well?" Arsalan's anger returns out of the blue and Kas drops his head in defeat. Why bother? He might as well face it head on.

"Very well, I found an easier way into the castle, but we'll have to go through the dungeons underground. There are a lot of hallways and rooms in there, but it's pretty easy once you get the basic shape of the castle in your head. It's shaped like a 'T'. The front of the castle is basically all the front chambers and bedrooms. Near the back is the main throne room and main hall. I got a quick glance at the throne room on my way through and I think I saw a doorway in the back. That's got to be where all the valuables and really good treasures are." Kas explains, drawing the layout in the sand around them.

"So we have to get through the entire castle to reach that room?" Firuz asks.

"No, the dungeon entrance is actually in one of the towers near the throne room. We can take the stairs directly up and then into the main hall. Once there, the fun will begin. The only ones in the main hall are two guards who occasionally pass through on their rounds. You okay there, Arsalan?" Kas chuckles at his friend's expression. The bulky young man, even though as muscular as he is, doesn't really care to fight if he can help it.

The color comes back to the muscle man and he nods. "Y-yeah, but…that's a lot of guards."

"Two? Are you serious?" Firuz chuckles.

"Shut it." He growls weakly.

They all share a good laugh, not realizing the chaos breaking out in the very castle they speak of.

I watched as they drug the assassin away, the man glared directly at me the whole way. His eyes still stick into my memory like a bad dream that just won't go away. Now, an hour later, Dastan and Tamina are off in another room with a bunch of other people discussing what to do with him. Sama has been eating since then. She hates stressful situations, but at least she can sit still. My feet turn me around again, carrying me back towards the other side of the room. If I keep this up any longer, the floor will fall out from under me for sure.

"Daria, sit still. They figure out what to do just fine. Then we'll all head back into the throne room and finish up the wedding and then eat our weight in food that we'll never work off." Sama chuckles weakly, trying to get me to stop thinking so much about the situation.

How could I? Sure I stopped an assassin from killing Dastan, but why did he glare at me as if he hated my very being? Shouldn't he have been glaring at Dastan or Tamina? That would've made more since.

Two hands grab my shoulders and force me to a stop. "Will you calm down? Jeez! Sit down!"

Sama pushes down hard on my shoulders, knocking my knees out from under me and forcing me to fall into a nearby pile of pillows. She then returns to her own seat and watches me with a steady gaze; ready to jump up if I decide to start pacing again. Since she wants to play it that way, I cross my legs and tap my foot nervously.

Eventually that too gets on her nerves and she jumps after me. I dodge and take for the door, Sama close at my heels. I run out into the hall and head for the room Tamina is having her meeting. If I have to wait then I'll wait in there with them. That way, Sama won't be able to kill me.

She gets a hold of my elbow, but I pull her forwards, both of us come dangerously close to hitting the door of the room in question. We skid to a stop quickly.

"That was close." I breathe.

She's about to smack me across the head, but the door suddenly pops open and a guard, big and brawny, steps out, crossing his arms and glaring down at us.

We smile sheepishly and back away a little.

That's when I hear Tamina's voice.

"We can't just kill him off before knowing his intentions. Why did he come here to kill? What was the point of that when he could've killed us in our sleep?"

"We can't just let him live either! He nearly killed you, princess!" Someone yells in protest.

"But we don't know that for sure. Daria stopped him before he could do anything." Dastan cuts in.

"Ah, yes, your thief friend. Are you sure it's a good idea to have rabble like that inside the castle walls. They could be the next to turn on you-"

"No!" Tamina's legendary anger is starting to bubble.

Sama and I push the guard aside and press our ears to the door.

"They are close friends of ours and they have been for a long time now. Do NOT even think that they would do anything like that!"

The room goes silent for a long time until someone moves inside. "It's settled then. The assassin will be questioned before his sentence it decided. Any objections?" Dastan asks. No one answers so I believe Tamina's outburst has put them all in their place.

I lean away from the door when I sense the person next to me. Sama and I stare at the guard who has leaned in next to us to listen too.

"You didn't hear anything." He points out.

"Nope!" We smile before spinning off and run away.

We skid to a stop in the main hall, glancing around at all the doorways around us.

"Are we heading to the dungeon?" Sama asks.

"Yep. I want to know what that assassin has to say." As if on cue, my words have the door to Tamina's meeting opening and a tall man stepping out. He points to two of the guards and they follow him, approaching us.

I grab my friend by the arm and we quickly duck behind a few plants to hide. The man and his sentries walk by, speaking low.

"The princess will have her question, but we must make sure that threat is killed. Get him to talk before I take of the rest. Understood?" The man asks.

"Yes." The two answer in union.

That man's voice hits me with recognition. He's the one who had called Sama and I rabble! My eyes narrow and glare at him as they walk by. We take our time, ducking behind cover now and then as we follow behind them. They lead us straight to one of the towers just off the main hall right outside of the throne room, and then down a long spiraling staircase. The dungeon is poorly lit and smells curiously of sweat and something else entirely. Death?

We stop behind a wall as the man enters one of the cells with the two guards. Another guard, standing before the cell, opens the door for them and closes it behind them. Their voices carry to us just fine, though, so we don't move from our hiding spot.

"Stand, prisoner!" A guard snaps. Someone grunts after being hit, but the movement eventually comes to a stop.

"What is your name?" The man who called us rabble asks.

No answer.

"Answer me, damn you! I am the head of military, so don't think I won't kill you here and now!"

Still no answer.

Someone quickly moves again and a scream breaks into the air, causing us to flinch. A body falls to the floor.

"I'll make you suffer dearly for what you've done; then again, you can stop the pain if you just talk."

"I won't suffer as much as you all will." A strange weak voice answers. It's smooth as silk and beyond normal. It sounds so full of power!

I glance at Sama and she nods, hearing it too.

"You all? You mean Alamut?"

"No, this world."

Everything goes quiet. "What do you mean? Speak."

"The original guardians of the Sand Glass are the ones who have brought this fate on this world. You should ask them." The strange voice says, chuckling.

"How…do you know of the Sand Glass?" The head of military asks.

"We are the ones who made it for the gods. They placed the sands of Time within it. It's because of us that the End that you all fear is locked away in our creation." The voice, obviously a man's, takes a breath and then coughs before continuing. "We know it has been cracked and if the object of Time is not retrieved, protected, and returned to the gods, then this world will cease to exist."

"Huh?" Sama whispers. I quickly cover her mouth, before her voice can carry into the echoing dungeon. Even a whisper can carry down here.

"The dagger is perfectly safe. We have made sure." The military leader assures him.

Dagger? Yeah, Dastan had mentioned something about that in one of his stories one time, but I can't seem to remember…

"The dagger?" The man scoffs, laughing out loud. "The dagger is merely an example of the power the true object of Time has. It doesn't compare at all!"

My eyes widen at this bit of information. Another object of power? It's more powerful than the dagger? If it's not returned, the gods will destroy the world?...Great, now what?...

Kas scoots back away from the hole in the wall. He had climbed up into the air vent so he could get a better look at the dungeon, but he had run into this interrogation instead. It overlooks into the cell itself, giving him full view of the whole thing. He remains frozen in shock. The man curled up on the floor, his hands held fast behind his back, had just gave him a great piece of information.

A dagger, another object more powerful than that, and something called a sand glass. He'd never heard of any of these things before, but he was definitely going to find out. He can see it now: all three of them in his possession could get him a lot if he had them. He wonders just how much someone would be willing to pay for this 'power'. Then again, this 'eng of time' stuff sounds serious too…Nah!

He quickly and quietly slides back out of his hide out inside the air vent in the wall. As he comes out, he lets his legs hang out over the top of the roof he had used to climb inside and then drops down a whole inch. He picks up his curved swords and straps them back on his back before taking off back towards the inner castle wall. When he finally makes it back to the street, Firuz and Arsalan appear out of nowhere and jerk him into the shadows between two buildings.

"Where the hell have you been now?" Arsalan growls.

"Calm yourself and listen to this…"

"What are you talking about? Are you sure?" Tamina falls slowly into a nearby pillow.

"We've told you all that we know. At least…all that we could hear. The rest of the conversation was a lot of whispering and hissing and then some torture for the assassin, but other than that, yeah that's pretty much it." I nod, fiddling with the chain whip hanging from my side.

Dastan finally moves after a long time of standing like a statue against the wall while we told our story. He goes to Tamina's side and places a hand on her shoulder. "Maybe I should call on my brothers. They can stay here with you and help protect Alamut while I take a look at the supposed 'object of Time'. We can't seriously be sure it's real until we see it with our own eyes."

"I'm going with you." I add, standing up straighter off the table I'm leaning against.

"Me too." Sama agrees.

"No, I can't have all this chaos right now. It's too dangerous." Tamina cuts us all of with a voice so small that it surprises me.

"Tamina," Sama whispers getting on her knees in front of the princess, "What do you know of all this? The assassin said something about the original guardians of the Sand Glass causing all of this."

"No!" Tamina cries. "The original guardians, the first five, kept all of the secrets of the Sand Glass and they passed them forward to the next guardians in line when they were old enough to learn of their birth right."

"Maybe…" I trail off. They all turn to look at me. "What if…the last of those five decided that some of those secrets were better left buried with the sands? What if he or she decided not to pass along all of those secrets, and so those secrets were never known later by the next guardian? Maybe that's why you, or even your past relatives, wouldn't know about it."

I look up and see that they all stare at me as if I've lost my mind.

"What? You never know!" I defend myself, flinging my arms out.

Sama sighs. "Tamina, Daria may have a point. She makes sense. Is there anyone who may know anything about this?"

"Princess?" A guard enters into the room, asking permission to advance further. Tamina gives him permission and he comes forward, carrying an arm full of objects. "These were found on the assassin's person." He sets them out and then leaves the room.

Dastan and I surround the table and give the objects a good look over. Nothing out of the ordinary, really: daggers, poison vials, smoke screen powder, a pair of twin swords, and a rolled up sheet of paper with an odd drawing on it.

"This looks like the Sand Glass." Dastan whispers under his breath. I can just make out the words so I glance over at him as he unrolls the parchment. A sketchy drawing covers most of it surrounded by smaller, almost indecipherable, writing. "It talks about it." He says a little bit louder when he catches my looking.

"This Sand Glass thing?"

"Tamina, I think it's time we tell them. Everything." Dastan grabs my shoulder and turns me around to face the woman. Tamina stares at him for a good long moment before nodding.

"Near the beginning, the god's wrath almost destroyed this world, but a small child came forth…she was the first guardian…"

Tamina's story continued and I finally learned why this place called Alamut was really sacred.

Nearly an hour later, her voice finally stops and Sama and I are allowed to pound them with questions.

"Wait, but how did you find out again; about what happened with you and Dastan? I thought you said he turned back time and went back to the second before they raided the castle and revealed that his uncle had betrayed them. If he did that then how did you remember again?" I ask.

"Simple. Dastan eventually told me, and I believed him. It wasn't impossible, so he had to be telling me the truth. There's no way he could have known that much about the dagger and the Sand Glass and not be telling the truth." Tamina glances up at Dastan and smiles.

"I had to eventually tell her. She interrogated me to no end." He laughs.

"So, this dagger, where is it now?" I cut into their happy moment with a little hesitation.

Tamina stares at me long and hard. "Come with me."

She leads out of the room, down through the main hall, and into the throne room where she passes by said throne and back towards the back wall. There, two statues, both tall males wearing armor and baring swords that they hold blade down in front of them, stand tall and proud on either side of a rounded golden door with runes and designs that look older than time itself. She slips a golden key from around her wrist and fits it into the door, turning it gently. Around the door, different runes move and shift until the door finally clicks open.

"This room must never be opened by anyone, but me." Tamina tells us. We nod.

She leads us into a circular room where tall columns reach to the ceiling gold fabrics drape here and there from the roof, making the room look more royal than the throne room. In the dead center of the room, atop a round stage that also serves as a step, a tall round golden cylinder stands with a round doorway carved into its front; revealing its treasure inside.

My thoughts start to wonder away from me, my treasure hunter self surfacing. 'I wonder how much someone would pay for that.'

There, held up on a pedestal with the sun shining down on it from the two massive windows on the back side of the room, is a beautiful majestic dagger. Its hilt is crystal clear like glass while the dagger itself is covered in runes and designs of a foreign nature. It's just screaming 'look at me, I'm special!'

I have to stop myself from rolling my eyes. Of course it would be screaming that; it's obvious that the darn thing is special. Why does that always happen? It's like everything that's powerful or out of the ordinary always has to stand out. It's so predictable!

"Wow. Pretty." Sama mumbles to herself. I glance over at her. Her eyes are wide and pinpointed on the dagger and I can see the thief there behind that look. She's been hanging out with me too long.

"Down girl." I pat her shoulder and whisper in her ear.

She smiles sheepishly and lowers down off her toes slowly. "Sorry."

Tamina takes a step up the center rise and heads towards the dagger slowly, bowing low once, before reaching for it. She gently touches the tip and handle as if it will break if she's not careful. Dastan goes by her side when she stops just before the step down from the rise. We step up to her as well and stare at the dagger.

"This is the dagger I spoke of. Inside its hilt are the legendary sands of Time. The dagger only holds enough to go back into time three times, about a minutes worth if you want the simple terms. It's very dangerous if not used the right way. Dastan learned that the hard way." Tamina gives Dastan a knowing look.

"Well, the first time I hit it on accident. The second and third time I hit it were for curiosity. After that the sand was used up and I couldn't use the dagger anymore, so I had to face Tamina's anger alone." He chuckles. "Can I try it again?"

"I think you've had your fun." Tamina brushes his hand away, pulling the dagger away from his clawing fingers with a smile.

"So, if that's the dagger, then what's the other 'object of Time'?" I stare at the dagger a little more closer and try to decipher the runes with no success.

"I don't know and I don't know where it could be hidden."

"Maybe we should still have a look at the Sand Glass. The crack may have not been fully fixed." Dastan adds to her statement.

"What if the crack is still there? Could it get worse?" Sama voices her opinion, eyeing the dagger with a look of worry. "If it does, we all die along with the rest of the world."

"Way to be positive, Sama." I groan.

"I'm being realistic."

"It's annoying."

"Get over it."

"Okaaay." Tamina cuts our argument. "I think Dastan is right. I'll send for my most trusted guards to escort you there. The original pathway there has been…temporarily shut down since our last visit down there apparently." She eyes Dastan before continuing. "So I'll have you take my personal pathway down there. It's much safer."

Tamina calls for two guards to lead us to the Sand Glass, the great legend buried under the city, but I don't understand why we need guards to lead us there. It's just a pathway, how hard could it be to walk?

She replaces the dagger back onto the pedestal and then goes over to one of the columns standing in the middle of the room and touches one of the designs carved into it, turning it slowly.

Sama and I quickly leap up onto the rise as a section of the colored tile circling the floor falls out from under us and lowers down in section after section, forming a stairway leading down into the darkness below.

"Whoa!" We exclaim together.

"This is the easiest way down." Tamina smiles at our expressions. "Please be careful." She quickly kisses Dastan, but it's deep and loving. I try to erase the image before I gag. I really hope I don't get that hooked on a guy when I'm older. Ugh!

"We will. Daria, Sama." He follows the two guards down the secret stair way and we chase after them, waving at Tamina with smiles. She returns our smiles but she looks more worried than anything else.

As they disappear, Tamina turns the design again and the floor closes, returning to normal. As she leaves the room she doesn't notice that the door had been open the entire time she had closed the secret way nor did she note the eyes that had seen their entire act.

Okaaaaaay, that chapter was shorter than I thought it was...hmm.

Anyhoo, I just realized that, yes I had to look up theses people's names cause I don't know any Persian names, Daria and Kas both mean treasure...ROFL!

Odd huh? Seeing as they're both treasure hunters. HAHAHA!

Please review and enjoy! (But please don't be too hateful... :D )