Chapter Four—Sinbad, Lord of the Seven Seas
"Adventure, hm?" Ja'far smiled. "Does that imply this is a new place for you?"
Selene gave a curt nod. "Yeah."
"Then allow me the courtesy of showing you around," Ja'far smiled, extending his hand. "You do seem to appreciate the simple things in life, so I think I can show you all of the perfect—"
"Hey! Ja'far!"
Selene and Ja'far both started, turning towards the voice. A man looking a couple years their senior appeared through the crowd, a good head taller than most of those around. The crowds seemed to part for the impressive man. He was draped in a white piece of cloth, a purple dress shirt accenting the colors well. He wore a large smile on his face, golden brown eyes sparkling in the sunlight, his long dark purple hair waving with his movements behind him.
Selene couldn't help but notice the way fabric hung off his sculpted muscles, despite her fervent efforts to glance look away from that fact. Thankfully the next thing she noticed was the excessive amount of jewelry he wore, more than she had seen any man wear before.
It was then that she felt Alduin burning at her side. It wasn't as if the vessel was heating up or emitting sparks of any kind. It was all mental. She could feel his power radiating from her hip and through her body. It was as if sparks were racing along her skin, making the hair along her arms stand on end. She was sure if her hair wasn't tied back in a braid it would be standing up like a frizzy ball.
It was at that moment Selene noticed the rukh. They followed after him, trailing around him—not as many with as with a magi, but enough to be…
"A dungeon capturer…" she breathed out the words, catching Ja'far's attention. His eyes widened at her.
"How did you-"
"Ja'far!" he stopped himself, glancing over at Selene. His smile widened. "Wait, is this your girlfriend? I didn't know you had a girlfriend! You dog!"
"What?! No!" Both Selene and Ja'far yelled, though Selene's voice was much higher and louder than his.
Ja'far moved before Selene could, bashing his fist into the man's head. "What the hell Sinbad? You don't come running over to someone and just decide that they're dating!"
"Oh, so you're not?" Sinbad smiled, slipping out of Ja'far's grasp and turned his attention to Selene, whose eyes grew to about the size of saucers, placing her hands in front of her on mere instinct alone.
One of his hands grabbed both of hers, encircling it with ease, the other coming to rest on her cheek, already turning red with heat. "I do not believe that I have seen such a beauty within our city walls before. I cannot believe that this is the first time I have been graced with your presence."
Selene frowned. She could almost feel the waves of charisma flowing off the man. She had seen his type around and knew it well.
Play boy.
She pulled her hands free in a downward motion and stepped to the side, getting a little closer to Ja'far, who looked mortified with his head in his hands.
"Sinbad…" she tried out his name, watching him grin as confirmation that she had gotten it correct. She nodded her head, the pieces falling into place. "So, you're the famous Sinbad, dungeon capturer, conqueror of the seven seas, and ruler of Sindria."
"The one and only!" he smiled, his chest puffing up with pride.
Selene turned to Ja'far. "And that must mean that you are the famed Ja'far, one of his generals and household vessels."
Ja'far smiled, though it seemed pressed, and nodded in response. "You seem to know a good amount about us."
Selene nodded, smiling softly. "Yes. Knowledge is key to understanding."
"So what is the key to learning your name?" Sinbad swooped in.
"Smooth as ever," Ja'far cringed. "Her name is Selene."
Selene gave a flourished bow. "At your service…for the moment."
"She is here for…an adventure of sorts. She works for the Twin Fir Hospitality Company, the one that runs the Skylar Inn."
"Oh! That one that burned down?"
Selene hung her head in agony again. Oh that is going to cost us a pretty penny. I wonder if we could do the renovations ourselves? No…Laila would throw a hiss hit about it and Leon would probably do the bulk of the work, and I—oh let's face it, I'd try to delegate all of it so I could run around managing everyone instead of having to do any of the heavy lifting. I could do the small stuff, but…
"Selene? Are you alright?"
Selene looked up to see Sinbad waving a hand in front of her face. "You went a couple shades pale there."
She swallowed hard, blinking back the massive weight that she felt on her shoulder. "Yeah. It's just going to be fairly costly to finish the renovations. It's been weighing heavily on my mind."
"Well, at least you aren't the one in charge of that, are you? I'd hate to be that guy."
"Ha, ha…yeah." Selene forced the smile onto her face. "Yeah…that guy is going to really hate doing the books, and moving the money around, and making sure things get done properly, and get the paperwork done, and get a city investigator out to make sure everything is up to code…" she trailed off, forcing herself to give a harsh laugh again.
Man…this is absolutely going to suck.
"Don't tell me you're the elusive owner!" Ja'far exclaimed.
"Oh god, no!" Selene exclaimed, waving her hands back and forth, lying out her ass. "I'm just high enough up the food chain that I have to make sure things happen correctly. Otherwise it's my head."
"Ah, that's fair. Too bad though. I've been told that the owner is a wonderful and powerful person," Sinbad mused. "I've been wanting to meet him for a while."
"Well, technically, three people own and operate the company," Selene interjected. Laila and Leon were as much owners of the company as she was.
"Yeah, but the twins are well known," Ja'far countered. "The third party is the mystery person. They haven't even shown up to one unveiling, always sending a proxy of some kind. We're not even sure what kind of person he is. Or if he's even a he."
He is definitely a she, Selene groaned inwardly. At least this meant her position in the hierarchy of the company was still unknown, which meant she was still unknown. Less chance of the Kou Empire finding her.
"True. She could be an amazing beauty," Sinbad mused. "If I got a few minutes with her, I'm sure we could help to expand her business to other areas of the world."
"And reap some of those benefits?" Ja'far scowled.
"Well, a finder's fee would be nicely appreciated, but not necessary of course."
Selene rubbed the back of her head awkwardly. "The head of our company is a bit of a recluse. You're welcome to write to them of course."
"What? A recluse?" Sinbad pouted slightly. "Damn. Well I guess I'll just have to go to your headquarters then."
"But they're not there!" Selene scrambled.
"But I thought he was a recluse?"
"Well, he is…but he doesn't stay at the headquarters. Or even visits often. Courier is the best way to get his attention."
Sinbad paused, mulling this idea over.
"Do you want me to send a message?" Ja'far offered.
"Yes, that does seem like the best course of action."
Selene let loose a heavy sigh of relief. "Okay. Now that that's done, I'm going to go check out the city."
Sinbad slid his arm around her shoulders as if it were as natural as walking. "Then let me give you a tour. I am, after all, the king of this great city."
Selene looked over her shoulder at Ja'far, her eyes pleading, but he just sighed and tagged along behind them.
"Once he's made up his mind there is no going back. He's very stubborn that way," he muttered towards her.
Well, I can be just as stubborn, she thought, ducking out of his grasp.
Selene skillfully maneuvered herself so she was between both men, wrapping an arm around them both. "There we go. Much better," she smiled.
Ja'far stifled a laugh while Sinbad's eyes widened.
"Just deal with it," she rolled her eyes. "I'm not like other girls."
"No, no you are not." Sinbad grinned at her.
"So, where are we headed?" Selene glanced over at Ja'far who had taken the lead in directing them.
"I figured we'd head out to the west," Ja'far commented. "There's a nice meadow there at the top of a hill. It's actually one of Sin's favorite spots."
Sinbad nodded, his head tilting back slightly.
"Oh, and why is that?" Selene inquired, her attention turning back to Sinbad.
"Once you see it you'll understand."
And she did.
The view was enough to plaster a huge grin on her face, making her look like a little child who had just entered into the biggest candy store in the entire city. In front of her the city basked in the golden glow of the setting sun. The waves rippled and pulled at the boats near the docks. Almost immediately in the center of her few was the town itself. Dotted bits of light, lanterns being put up to scare off the approaching night, danced about, flickering in her vision. The houses were of so many different shapes and sizes, some smooshed together, and others far apart. And then there was the palace, located to her right. She had seen the massive entity upon entering the city, but it was truly magnificent from this view. The spires topped with gold shown like fire, the marbled walls glittering where the last rays of light touched. But that was not all. The view itself was spectacular, but it was the noises she heard that made it that much more wonderful.
There was that roar of life she loved. It was loud and chaotic and messy, and wonderful.
"Pretty impressive, huh?" Sinbad smiled.
"It reminds me of my home," she smiled, the two images overlapping in her mind.
"Do you mean Reim?" Ja'far questioned. "From what I've heard Reim is nothing like this."
"No…I'm from a place farther than that. You probably haven't heard of it, but it used to be just as lively as your city, full of such lush forests, filled with homes, and it was one of the most beautiful places ever. I truly loved it there." Selene closed her eyes, remembering that far of kingdom she hadn't seen in years. It was before she had arrived in Reim, before she had left the Kou Empire…before she had even entered the Kou Empire actually.
"So, why Reim? Why not live there in your homeland if you love it so much?" Sinbad inquired.
Selene cringed internally at the question. "Unfortunately, things don't always work out the way we want them to. Sometimes we have to leave what we love behind in order to move forward."
Sinbad nodded in understanding. "Well, I hope that one day you can safely return home."
Ja'far turned to Selene, breaking up the moment. "Selene…there was another reason that I brought us here first."
Selene glanced back at him, freezing when she saw his hands wrapped around an arrow like weapon. Her eyes narrowed, her fingers grasping her sword in response. And he had seemed so nice!
"How did you instantly know that Sinbad was a dungeon capturer?"
