As Sinbad landed on the edge of a cliff Freya jumped from his gripped and pulled out the silver rod she had kept hidden from view, "How dare you! Asfal Issal!" she shouted sending blades of wind flying at Sinbad.
Sinbad however jumped around avoiding all of them, "Please calm down you don't understand," Sinbad said in a calm voice trying to quell Freya's anger.
"Calm down! How could you expect me to calm down," Freya's eyes were spinning and her face bright red as she flung more blades of wind at him.
Sinbad dodge all of them effortlessly coming closer and closer to her, "No stay away from me!" she shouted as Sinbad grabbed hold of her wrist with one hand and pulled the small staff out of it with the other.
"Please just look over here," he said as he led her behind a boulder and peeked around the edge of it, "See, there are pirates here, and I didn't want you to get hurt," he whispered to Freya as they watched the pirates come to shore.
Freya immediately relaxed, "You're right… I'm sorry for attacking you Sinbad, it was foolish of me to jump to conclusions," Freya bowed her head in apology.
Sinbad smiled, "It's alright, in your position I probably would have done the same thing," Sinbad let go of her hand, "it's getting pretty late, you should probably return home, I can escort you there if you'd like," Sinbad offered as they made their way off the cliff.
"No it's alright I can manage from here… if its not to much trouble I would love to meet with you again," she said nervously.
A shocked expression found its way to Sinbad's face, "I'm sorry Freya but I'll be leaving this country soon and heading for Immuchak," Freya looked at the ground, "Oh is that so… well in any case I strongly believe that we will meet again and I look forward to it," they parted ways as Freya waved goodbye and headed back to the manor.
…
Freya walked along the streets of the town admiring how quiet and peaceful it was at night, she yawned as the manor came into view, "Finally I'm back home, it sure has been a long night, I hope Mother and Father haven't been to worried about me," she walked up to the front gate were a servant opened the large front door for her.
"Freya! Thank goodness your finally back!" Hafa ran down a set of stairs and hugged her daughter tightly, "Where have you been?" is asked in a worried voice.
Freya rubbed the back of her head, "It's a long story and I'm quite tired so I'll tell you all about it in the morning Mother," Freya smiled and headed up the stairs to her bedroom, "Good night," she said looking back.
"Please come to your Fathers office tomorrow morning, we have something very important to discuss with you," Hafa called up then stairs.
Freya collapsed on her bed and snuggled up underneath the covers in a small ball, "Sinbad really is an amazing person, I can see why people admire him so much," Freya closed her eyes, "I wonder what Father needs to talk to me about?" she drifted slowly off to sleep.
…
The sun rose once more and Anisah rushed into Freya's room to rouse her, "Lady Freya you must get up now!" she pulled the covers off the bed and shook Freya rapidly, "Your Father wishes to speak with you please don't be late again!"
Freya sat up on the bed, "Okay, okay I'm up!" she rolled her eyes.
The next half hour was spent getting dressed and eating breakfast until she was finally ready and at the door to Bahir's office. She lightly knocked on the door, "Father you wished to see me?" she asked waited for a response.
"Yes, come in," Bahir called from the other side of the door. Freya walked into the office to see her father sitting at his desk with his fingers intertwined and her Mother standing to his side.
Bahir cleared his throat, "Freya, you are no longer a child. You are my eldest daughter and with that, as I'm sure you are aware, comes a certain amount of responsibility," Freya walked up to the desk with a puzzled look on her face as Bahir continued, "As such you Mother and I have decided that you are at the age were you should consider getting married," Freya's puzzled look immediately morphed into a shocked one.
"Get married! Father, I'm just not ready for something like marriage!" she almost shouted.
Bahir shook his head and sighed, "We thought you might react like this, but you must remember that the things we decide are only going to benefit you and your future,"
Hafa stepped forward, "Freya we only want what's best for you, and as it so happens Lord Ramiz has a son your age called Sahib,"
Bahir held his hand up to silence Hafa, "As you are aware Lord Ramiz is a member of the Royal court making this union will be most beneficial to both of our families," Freya was speechless, she had never considered getting married before in her life and she always imagined that when she did it would be for love and nothing else.
"We have already arranged for you to meet Sahib tomorrow afternoon, please be prepare and be on time to meet him." Hafa finished the conversation.
…
'Marry! What is he thinking I can't marry a complete stranger!' Freya's thoughts raged in her head as she walked through the grand halls. Suddenly all she could think about was Sinbad, 'I can't believe he's leaving Reim… maybe I could! No I couldn't do that to my family' in her head she pictured Sinbad's handsome, smiling face and blushed, 'Sinbad' she thought as a voice drew her back to the real world.
"Lady Freya, is something the matter," Anisah asked in a gentle, calming voice, "What was it that Lord Bahir wanted?"
Freya looked at the ground, "It seems he wants me to meet the son of Lord Ramiz and marry him," she said in a sad voice.
Anisah saw the sorrow in her eyes, "It'll be alright my Lady, I'm sure that Lord Bahir only has your best interest in mind," she said in a comforting voice.
"Yes, I'm sure you're right… however I'm just not ready for something like this!" Freya ran off into her room sobbing.
…
In her room Freya through herself onto the bed and buried her face into a pillow, trying to mask the sound of her sobbing voice, "Why is this happening to me!? I can't possibly marry a stranger! Why don't they understand," she cried into the pillow.
At this point Anisah ran through the door, "Lady Freya! I'm sorry I should have been more careful before saying something like that," she sat on the edge of the bed and began to stroke Freya's hazel hair.
Freya sat up and hugged Anisah tightly, "It's not… your fault… Anisah," she said in-between sobs, "I just can't deal with this anymore, having my whole life planned out for me by others and not having a signal say in how things go,"
Anisah continued to stroke her hair, "I don't understand what the problem is… is there someone else you love?" she asked.
Freya stopped sobbing and wiped her eyes as she pulled away from Anisah, "No?…" she said.
"You don't sound so sure about that," Anisah picked up a hair brush and began brushing Freya's hair.
"No, I'm not in love with anyone… but," she stopped mid sentence as her mind wondered to Sinbad, "There is no one, there can't be…" she said a little bit of denial in her voice.
…
(A few hours later at the Sindria trading company)
Sinbad lay on his bed facing the ceiling wondering what Freya was doing write now, "Maybe I should go visit one last time?" he asked himself as Jafar walked through the door, "Sin we're almost ready to leave, we need to get going," he stated firmly.
Sinbad lifted himself off the bed, "Yeah… I'm coming…" he walked out the door to and down to the docks. He took once last look at the city of Narpolia and wonder how long it would be before he could return here. He turn away and started to walk up the plank.
"Sinbad!" a voice called from behind.
The name Ramiz means "Honored or Respected" and Sahib means "Companion". Hope you all liked the chapter, I've been going flat out to finish it so I apologize for any mistakes.
Have a great day!
