Chapter 3

Schehera sat alone in her bedroom, Sinbad had moved her quarters to the Purple Leo Tower near his, while he claimed to have done this to make room for King Armakan Amun-Ra and his retainers, she had a feeling there was an ulterior motive. Masrur made a joke about keeping the king's paws off of her but she didn't understand, what paws? She played with a long silver chain between her fingers, it was just an inexpensive thing with a simple toggle clasp but it was perhaps one of her most prized possessions.

"Here," Sinbad took hold of her wrist and placed the chain in her hand.

"What's this?" asked Schehera.

"A thank you I guess," he replied. "I know you used your jewels to bribe the guard and pay for my medical bills, thank you, but why did you help me?" Schehera shrugged.

"Cause you needed help, cause I wanted to... cause I could I guess," she answered. Sinbad smiled.

"I like your style," he said. "I know its just a cheap necklace but it was my mothers-"

"I can't take this," Schehera interrupted with a gasp trying to give it back. "You're mother she's-"

"Gone and has no use for it," said Sinbad. "Take it, please. I doubt I'll ever be able to pay you back so please, keep it."

Schehera didn't know what to say, the necklaces despite it's humble origins had value far greater than anything she had given up, they were jewels given as gifts and had no meaning to her at all. "Thank you," was all she managed. Sinbad's smile widened when she put it on.

"Looks like a pretty girl is a pretty girl regardless of what she wears," he remarked making her blush.

Schehera smiled at the memory, however the chain was no long just an accessory but her metal vessel. She'd acquired a djinn during the 3 years away and had yet to tell Sinbad, she didn't know why she didn't. At first she thought it was a djinn with no true offensive capabilities which suited her fine, by positioning her necklace in an circular shape, Schehera could open a portal leading to an artificial dimension created using her magoi, she was able to conjure and manipulate the size of the portals by adjusting the size of the chain however this was also limited to the amount of magoi she possessed at the given time. She mainly used it for storage, however there was another side to her djinn weapon equip she wished she never discovered.

"Truthful spirits of reconciliation, in the name of my magoi and my will to grant me a greater power, I order you and your members to come forth, Seire," she called out quietly, she held the necklace in her hand her magoi surround and then compressed around it, the chain glowed and grew longer and longer until it could stretch from one end of the room to the other, it began to coil around Schehera's hand, hovering around it. She pushed the circle into the wall in front of her, it seemed to sink and disappear releasing ripples from where it touched, like a pebble being thrown in still water.

Schehera reached into the shimmering space within the circle, she'd done this so many times now that it'd become second nature, she willed for the item she desired and when she pulled out her hand there was long thin sword known as a katana in her homeland. It was all black but for a silver hilt, the sword used to belong to her father and his before that. Growing up Schehera was enchanted by the katana, everything from the ripples along the blade to the leather work of the handle spoke of elegant and beauty, but now, all she saw was the sword that killed her brother and father. It was a sword stained with their blood and her own, unconsciously she reached over her heart where the blade had pierced her, the wound ached even though there was no scar. It was a curse sword, however nothing held an edge better and she preferred to have no other weapon in her hand when she was about to journey into another dungeon.

"Hello old friend," she said to the katana. There was a knock on the door, Schehera jumped. "Stop that!" she snapped at the shimmering portal, it practically sulked as the rippling paused. "Who is it?" she asked. The door opened.

"It's me," said Maseur poking his head in. "We're about to head off, you ready?"

"Yeah," Schehera answered. "Give me five minutes."

Masrur rolled his eyes. " I'll give you ten." He replied closing the door. Schehera quickly hurried to her bed and picked up the rug-sack and tucked her sword into the sash around her waist. Almost as a second thought she reached around the edges of the portal and pulled out her out her necklace, it closed and she wrapped the metal vessel around her wrist like a bracelet. "Coming!" she said opening the door and hurrying out.

"It's been a while," Sinbad said with a wolfish grin on his face, Schehera pulled her attention away from watching the waves of the ocean and turn to face him.

"Huh?" The two were standing on the deck of of a ship on its way to Aktin Kingdom, only Masrur and Jafar had opted to join them this time, the other generals citing that they'd done this enough times already.

"It's been a while since we've been on a adventure together," said Sinbad. Schehera smiled.

"I guess so," she replied.

"Come on, be at least a bit more excited will you!?"

"I am," Schehera insisted. "It's just that I don't do well on ships." She did look a little green. "I'd use my shawl but I want to save as much of my magoi as I can."

"Go ahead, you'll be fine," SInbad assured her, she rolled her eyes.

"I'm sorry, but I don't have a limitless supply of magoi like you do," she said sarcastically.

"You have more than Sharrkan and Masrur combined."

"That isn't difficult, they practically got zilch."

"You got more than Yamraiha?" Sinbad tried again. Schehera leveled him with her stare.

"Yeah okay, I'll accept that," she conceded. She pulled her shawl off her shoulders. "I'll just trail a little behind." Just before she climbed off the side of the ship Sinbad quickly grabbed her around the waist.

"Bye," he whispered in her ear, Schehera felt her cheeks flush, to hide this she quickly crawl out of his arm and jumped onto her flying shawl willing it to move as fast as possible.

"Did I upset her?" Sinbad pondered as he watch her leave.

What on earth is he doing? Schehera thought. She needed to establish boundaries, they weren't children anymore and what he just did was highly inappropriate. However her heart was still racing, he had such a nice scent to him, she'd forgotten that, it was a unique mix of fragrances, but as pleasant as it was she couldn't tell if it was good or bad. She the familiar rush of old emotions, why did she love such a man? Schehera wanted to hit herself for falling for him of all people.

Sinbad was laid back and fun-loving person, while he was no doubt a good king and leader, he still had so many faults. He had a weakness for getting drunk and doing outrageous things, to the point that even his closest friends would lose all faith in him during his intoxicated state. Above all, he was a shameless flirt and is not above using his charm to get what he wanted. Why couldn't she love a nice boy like Masrur or even Prince Koumei? He life would be so much easier. It was getting harder and harder being in Sindria, it seemed like he had a different girl in his bed every night since she arrived, something even the visiting King Armakan noticed.

"You should leave with me," King Armakan had offered. "He'll do nothing but make you suffer."

Schehera shook her head. "Am I that obvious?" she asked incredulously.

"A bit," he admitted. "You have that look in your eyes, its hard to describe, but you relax when he's near and you freeze when another woman crawls into his lap. I think it's sweet, how honest your eyes are, you face however, you could stab a man with a smile." Schehera laughed. Armakan stoked her hand gently, she felt a jolt of excitement when he touched her, but she knew it was because she liked the attention he gave her, that was it. "Being here won't make you happy," he warned her.

Schehera's shawl hovering just behind the ship, she was so flustered and distracted that she didn't realise how much time had passed, by the time she had composed herself she looked around to see ships with their anchors down hovering around Aktia Kingdom's port. It was a small port country, famed for its pearls and powerful navy, architecturally, it reminded her of Sindria, however the climate was less tropical and the sun harsher.

"Shall we stay the night at an inn and go dungeon seeking tomorrow?" suggested Jafar. Schehera nodded her head in agreement but Sinbad had other ideas.

"Come on, I'm not going to be able to fall asleep anyway!" He exclaimed hurrying off.

"I could," Masrur remarked but he followed his king willingly. Schehera giggled and joined them.

"Where we going?" she asked.

Sinbad grinned. "A gentlemen's club," he answered. Jafar groaned.

"Of all men, you just had to follow him didn't you Jafar?" he asked himself.

The club they went to had food, wine and plenty of pretty girls, Sinbad was instantly recognised and they welcomed him as a guest of honour, showering him with the best food and entertainment. Sinbad laughed, a drink in one hand and a pretty girl on his lap, Masrur sat beside him with a buffet, eating and ignoring everything around him while Jafar stood behind the couch his king sat on with a sigh of disbelief.

"Do you not do this enough at home?" he asked.

"Come now!" Sinbad drained his cup of wine. "You can never have too much fun, can we?" He asked pulling another girl onto his lap, they giggled and squealed feeding him grapes and more wine.

"No your majesty," they chorused. Jafar shook his head, he looked around for Schehera hoping she was all right but she was distracted as well, she was on stage with a few of the girls, joining them as they gossiped and danced. As they went into the night, things began to die down, Masrur was still eating and Jafar was drunk and passed out on the ground thanks to being constantly fed drinks by Sinbad. The King himself was quietly sipping wine alone having sent the girls away. Schehera however was now with a one of the acrobats who was teaching her a few tricks with a staff, Sinbad couldn't help but notice that they were extremely close together, he was clearly flirting with her, he used every chance he could to put his hands on her but what bugged him more was that she didn't mind.

"Doesn't that bother you?" Sinbad asked Masrur.

"Doesn't what?" asked Masrur with a mouthful of food, he followed Sinbad's line of sight to where Schehera was. "Oh, that."

"Yes that."

"That's nothing, she likes anyone with a pretty face," Masrur replied bluntly, Sinbad almost choked on his drink. "As long as they're human I guess, and muscles, she likes muscles for some reason." He added, "On men not women, she likes big boobs on women."

"What?" Sinbad had never heard any of this. "Doesn't that bother you? I mean she's so openly with other people."

"Why should it bother me?" Masrur asked slightly confused, however he was beginning to realise Sinbad's true intentions.

"Never mind," replied Sinbad. He didn't know what to think, this was the first time he'd even noticed this side of her. She was off limits, not just to him but to everyone with bad intentions, he thought. She was someone he couldn't mess with because he didn't want to lose her.

"She's human too," Masrur said almost reading the King's mind when in reality he was reading his expressions. "You saw her as this perfect princess, a saint, you put her up on a pedestal and locked her in a cage in your heart so she'd never be touched and you only saw what you wanted to see. Why is that?" Masrur asked, trying to get the king thinking. Sinbad watched Schehera, she was having fun, the acrobat had lifted her onto his shoulders and was carrying her across the stage, he could hear her laugh and see her smile. "She's human Sinbad, and humans get lonely."

"Why, why does she care what I think? I'm hardly a saint, I'm, I mean, why?" Schehera was untouchable, she was a princess after all, and he was just a fisherman's son, he couldn't lay a hand on her.

"Why do you think?" asked Masrur, he was glad his king was finally beginning to see, finally, it'd been so frustrating over the year that he'd wanted to hit him numerous times.

Sinbad watched as Schehera climbed down, they were dancing now, and again it involved a lot of touching, so much touching, too much. Sinbad almost stood up to push him away but he had no right, she was her own woman… Yes, she was a woman, it didn't matter what their status was, who cared? He never did, so why did it ever matter to him? "It's too late," he said regretfully.

"It's never too late," Masrur replied. "Unless you're dead, it's never too late."

"I-I…" Sinbad frowned. "What is she doing?" he demanded, Schehera was pulling on the acrobat's loincloth which was all he was wearing.

"Looks like she's giving him a tip," Masrur observed watching the money being handed over.

"Doesn't that bother you?" Sinbad asked Masrur again.

"I guess, that's a very generous tip, I mean I know she's made some money from her books and stuff but still, you need to be more careful with your funds."

"No! Not that! I mean, wait, what books?" asked Sinbad suddenly distracted.

"Her books, you know, 'The adventures of Sinbad', 'Torran the language', stuff like that, she's been trying to get me to learn how to read so she can show off her work to me."

"What?"

"I know, foolish right?" agreed Masrur. "Why do I even need to learn to read? Can't she just read it out?" Sinbad was beginning to realise that the fanalis was intentionally being annoying and not getting the point to bug him.

"What books?"

"Why else do you think you were recognised so quickly when you walked in?"

"Cause of my autobiography?"

"You mean the one where Drakon is a dragon and Jafar has 7 horns on his head and breaths fire? Really, you think that became popular?"

Sinbad shook his head. "So she wrote about me?"

"And described you pretty accurately as well from what I've been told, Spartos is a huge fan by the way, he's been building up the courage to ask for an autograph."

"Where's Sinbad?" asked a flustered Schehera as she sat down beside Masrur.

"Don't know, you seem to be having fun. Where's your acrobat?" he asked.

"Don't know," Schehera echoed. "I slipped a tip into his underwear and sent him on his way."

"Aww, you two seemed like you'd make a cute couple," Masrur said sarcastically.

"I know, you could grate cheese on those abs."

Sinbad wandered the streets until he found what he was looking for, a bookshop, while he didn't find his own work there he found Schehera's, she used the pen name S. Yurie, and judging from the display, she was a very popular writer. She primarily wrote non-fiction, focusing on history and the Torran language, from teaching people how to read it to its culture and history, they were leather bound and heavy with information. Beside them, were a series of paperbacks, they were smaller with larger text and were easier to carry, clearly designed for children, Sinbad smiled as he picked one of them up, 'Book One: Fated encounter' it read, he opened it up to a random page.

Sinbad was a man destined for great things, he read. Tall, attractive with tan skin and a muscular build. He had very long, purple hair tied in a ponytail and deep set golden eyes that seemed to look right through you. Sinbad smiled at the way she described him, however that didn't last long. His eyes seemed to see through the clothes of all the women he found attractive, which was most of them especially when drunk.

Sinbad slammed the book shut, what was she writing? He did no such thing… he opened the book up to the last page at the end.

From the moment we met, he was dazzling, admittedly he wasn't perfect, but he was laid back and fun loving, you always knew you'd end the night with a story if you were with him, perhaps not a flattering one, but a story none the less. I know my life was made rich knowing him, and myself a better person, with him I learnt of sides of myself I never knew. Felt emotions that I'd never experienced, joy, frustration, even sorrow, however the one I'll always remember was the most important one of all. And so ends the tale of the Adventures of Sinbad.

Sinbad shut the book again, did he read that correctly? She'd practically declared it to the world and yet he was so caught up in himself that he never noticed, he flipped the book to the acknowledgements.

To my fellow travellers, with thanks. To the one who changed my life, with love.

The next morning Schehera cheerfully skipped and waited near the dungeon, she'd changed out of her usual flowing white robes and instead wore a haltered neck dress that reached the back of her knees and opened up at the waist, underneath she wore a pair of shorts and fastened it all with a deep blue sash. Instead of her usual ballet flats she now wore heavy black boots and her shawl was tied around her waist. She had her father's sword tucked into her sash and her metal vessel tightly coiled around her wrist.

"You look terrible," Schehera remarked when she saw Masrur, Sinbad and Jafar walking towards her. Masrur had a stomach ache from over eating, Jafar was heavily hungover and Sinbad had dark circles under his eyes from staying up all night reading.

"Shut up," Jafar groaned.

"Hmmmm," was all Masrur managed to say. Sinbad looked like he had something he wanted say but couldn't put the words together into a sentence in his mind. It seemed that only Schehera was in fighting fit form.

"Let's just go," said Sinbad storming towards the dungeon.

"Hey! Wait!" Schehera called out chasing after him, suddenly the dungeon door opened, beams of light shot out and grabbed them, pulling them in, upon entry, she felt that familiar feeling similar to that of a mucous membrane that she'd experienced every time before. The door shut behind them, preventing anyone else from entering.

"Damn it Sinbad," Schehera cursed getting up after having fallen flat on her face, however when she looked around only Masrur was beside her. "Sinbad? Jafar?"

"It seems like it's only us," Masrur commented.

"I guess so, do you think they never got pulled in or maybe we were separated on purpose?" Schehera asked.

"Don't know," the fanalis answered. They looked around, it was very dark, but from what she could see they were in a small corridor, the walls and ground made from large stone bricks tightly packed together. It was unlike any dungeon she'd ever seen in that there was nothing, no life, not even any light. "It looks like a maze," Masrur remarked kneeling down and touching the ground. "Should we just keep going alone?" He began examining the individual segments when he noticed something strange, the stones were warm as if they were alive, he stood back up warily.

"Might as well, let's see if we can beat Sinbad and reach the treasury first," said Schehera. Something was off but she couldn't put her finger on it, all her senses but her sight told her they were in a large room, yet it didn't match with what she saw. Was it an illusion?

Already? A voice whispered, but neither heard.

Masrur laughed, distracted neither saw what came next, it happened so quickly Schehera didn't realise Masrur was hit until he was on his knees with a large wooden spike straight through his chest. It pierced through his armour and out the other side, blood poured out of his wound. Masrur!" she screamed, Schehera ran towards him and tried to cover his wound with her hand to stop the bleeding. "Masrur, hold on, we'll get you out of here kay? You're going to be fine. You're going to be fine." Masrur stumbled and fell on his side. "You'll be fine," Schehera repeated helping her friend onto his back and using her shawl to try and stop the bleeding. "This is nothing, don't worry, this is nothing," she said trying to reassure him.

"Schehera?" Masrur eye's were glazed, he reached out towards her, there was so much blood, her fingers slipped as he grasped her hand. "There you are," he whispered with a smile, they were his last words. Scherhera didn't know what to do, she felt his hand go limp and fall to the ground beside her.

"Hey Masrur, this isn't funny," her voice was breaking, tears trickling down her cheeks. "Get up," she told him. "Open your eyes. Please, please? It's me, it's Schehera, open your eyes. MASRUR!"

"Do you think they left without us?" asked Sinbad as he and Jafar wandered through the labyrinth, it was dark but they just kept moving forward.

"Maybe, but perhaps they were dropped in a different place," suggested Jafar.

"Maybe Schehera doesn't want to do this with me?" said Sinbad. Jafar frowned confusingly.

"Why would you say that?" he asked. Sinbad held up a copy of Schehera's book. "Oh, that."

"Yeah." Sinbad ran his fingers through his hair. "I didn't… why didn't you tell me?"

"We thought you knew," Jafar replied.

"Knew what!? What are you talking about?" Sinbad demanded, Jafar eyed his king suspiciously.

"Are you serious Sin?"

"What? Serious about what?"

Jafar's jaws dropped. "No, you honestly had no idea?"

"JUST TELL ME!" said the king of Sindria.

"First page, read the first letter of each sentence of the very first page," Jafar instructed. Sinbad opened up the book and did as he was told, he stopped in his tracks when he read it, the first letter of each sentence on the first page spelled out 'S-I-N-B-A-D-I-L-O-V-E-Y-O-U'.

"She, why didn't she just tell me?"

"She did," answered Jafar. "We all thought you read it, and the next day, you acted as if nothing happened so we all assumed you rejected her."

"But, I never, I never even knew she wrote a book."

"She gave you a copy!" exclaimed a frustrated Jafar. "She highlighted the letters for you! I saw her put the book on your desk and tell you to read it!"

"I don't read," Sinbad replied trying to justify his actions. "I-I never thought, I, I just…I fucked up…"

"Yeah you did," said Jafar. "Why do you think she left? That book was published a week before she vanished on her own, we all knew, so surely you must have known, she told us she was writing a novel while we were on the road! You idiot!" There was a long silence.

"…am I too late?" asked Sinbad.

"Yes, Jafar answered bluntly. "You wouldn't believe the rumors I've heard about her, the stories. She was really upset, she left heart broken and drowning her sorrows in wine and good times."

"What rumor?"

Jafar hesitated. "It's nothing, baseless, anyway what are you going to do?"

"What rumors?" Sinbad asked again.

"…there were stories that came from the east, we kept them from you for a reason-"

"What rumors?!"

"She was involved with one of the Kou princes," said Jafar quietly.

"Kou prince? Involved? As in, a relationship?"

"Yes."

"Which one?"

"Does it matter?"

"No, but I want to know."

"Well I don't know, probably Prince Koumei, she hasn't stop taking about him since she got here."

"She talks about him?"

"Yes."

"I've never heard anything about some prince."

"Because you were too busy glaring at the back of her and King Armakan's head!" Sinbad glared at Jafar for a long while before he stormed off ahead. "Where do you think you're going?" asked who Sinbad thought was one of his generals. Jafar discretely pulled a knife from within his sleeves, without making a sound he crept up behind the king.

"Damn it," Masrur cursed as he tried to force his way into the dungeon. He slammed his shoulder into the entrance but it didn't budge. The two generals stood outside helpless, not knowing what was going on inside.

"It only took Sinbad and Schehera, why?" asked Jafar. Masrur kicked the door.

"It took only the king vessels," he replied. "Perhaps the djinn doesn't want excess baggage?"

"Schehera? A king vessel?"

"We both possess household vessels, we've chosen out king, Schehera hasn't."

"But that doesn't mean she's a king vessel, a candidate maybe, perhaps it just wants another player in the game? Schehera's strong, stronger than both of us," Jafar pointed out, Masrur grew even more silent than usual, he tried to kick the door down again to avoid Jafar's gaze. "What?" Jafar asked suspiciously.

"She's a king vessel… since she already has a djinn."