Chapter 3

Silence filled the air for only a moment as Jasil stared up at the man in front of her. Men with swords surrounded the prince, as did one very, loud-mouthed man who kept screaming at Jasil as if she were deaf. "Do you understand a word I'm saying? I said bow you wench!" Jasil frowned at him. "I'm not deaf you old man, you don't have to yell everything at me." She mumbled, and the man gasped. "O-Old? I'm not old!"

Jasil looked at the prince, her mind calculating. So this is the prince of this Empire. If I were to get him to talk to me one on one, maybe this could be a great start to changing this place. And then- eventually, we can work together to change the world! Jasil found herself grinning at her idea, which the old man took as arrogance. "Seize her! Throw her in the prison! This disrespect will NOT be tolerated!" He barked, pointing at her.

The soldiers moved towards her, and she only kept eye-contact with the prince. "Hey, do you think we could talk a bit Mister?" She spoke, ignoring the situation and speaking directly to the prince. "H-How dare she! Grab her NOW!" the man barked, and the prince narrowed his eyes, studying Jasil thoroughly. The soldiers charged quickly, reaching and grabbing for her quickly.

But she was faster. She jumped up into the air, pushing the soles of her shoes onto one of the soldiers face and kicking off, staring only at the Prince. "Come on, I only want to talk!" She pleaded with the prince, before landing behind the soldiers, closer to him than before. "I need your help!" Jasil walked closer to him, just as this bull-like creature jumps between them.

The creature charges at her, leaving her no choice but to retreat back between the soldiers and the bull. "What the hell?" Jasil frowned, then tilted her head to the side. "Who're you?" The bull stood on two legs, just like a man, frowning and crossing his arms. "I am Kokuton, household member of Prince Kouen." Jasil looked confused. "Household?" she mumbled.

"Enough talk! Men, seize her for disrespect to the Prince! Now!" Jasil turned behind her as the soldiers charged again, this time, with their swords. "Shit." Jasil frowned, then turned towards Prince Kouen. "Prince! I'll find you later, and you have to talk with me, Okay?" She yelled, before jumping over the soldiers once again, and running from the soldiers who continued chasing her away.

Prince Kouen looked down again, noticing one other person who had not bowed. He seemed to be frozen. "I-I'm so sorry my Prince, I am unable to bow! That magician- she froze me!" he gasped and groaned out through gritted teeth. Froze? Kouen quirked an eyebrow.

Jasil jumped over vendors and past stalls, dodging and running from the soldiers who were so eagerly chasing her. She ran into a dead end, and looked up and around, where the soldiers cornered her. "We've got you now, come quietly and we wont hurt you!" Jasil frowned. Solomon I'm sorry, but this is an emergency! If I get caught now, I'll never be able to protect this world!

Jasil closed her eyes, fishing her staff from her bag. "Hey, keep it down you ingrates!" A voice from above called out. Shocked, Jasil looked up, a man in all black, with long black hair tied into a braid gazed down on them. His eyes were glowing red with annoyance. "You woke me up from my nap." He snapped. "Are you going to leave, or shall I turn you all into dust?" He smiled, menace engraved in his face. The soldiers Bowed respectfully "Judar! W-we apologize but we have been ordered to capture this girl, for disrespect to the Prince." They stuttered.

Judar quirked an eyebrow. "Oh?" He smiled a bit, then sat up on the wall, staring down at Jasil. "How did you manage to do that miss?" Jasil frowned. "I tried to talk to him." she said bluntly. There was a moment of silence before Judar burst into an explosive laughter. "Oh man, are you kidding me? You cant expect to waltz right up to a prince and just talk to him." He snickered. "Oh man you're funny."

Jasil put her hands on her hips, pointing up at him with a finger. "Hey you shut up mister! I've never been here before I didn't know that wasn't allow-" She stopped mid-sentence. She only just now began to realize who- no, what he was. Black Rukh fluttered all around him, her mouth slowly shut as she observed. "Why are they black.." she mumbled, just when the soldiers behind her reached out and grabbed her hair.

She yelped as she was pulled back and fell to her knees. "You're going to learn to start bowing, wench!" One of the soldiers yelled. "Wait." Judar spoke, and the soldiers froze. "What did you just say, miss?" He landed in front of her, crouching down to her level, and staring deep into her eyes. "Can you see? My Rukh, that is." He smiled, but Jasil could tell- this smile.. it wasn't friendly.

"Miss.. only Magi can see Rukh clearly. Are you Scheherazade?" He frowned. "No, she's supposed to be 200years old, you don't look so wrinkly." He smirked and looked at the soldiers. "Leave us." He snapped, they frowned. "B-but sir, our orders a-"

"Well MY orders are to leave us, or shall I turn you to dust, as I said before." He walked behind Jasil, speaking to the soldiers directly, instilling fear into them. "Y-yes sir!" They said, before turning around and running out of the alley. Judar sighed, "Now, where were we?" he turned around, and looked to the ground.

To the spot where Jasil used to be. "You little worm." He grumbled, then sighed. "Well, I always did like playing hide and seek." He smirked, then began his hunt.

Jasil ran to the outskirts of the Empire, panting and sweating. What the hell, why are his Rukh black?! What.. what's going on? She wobbled over to the water well, leaning down and cupping her hands to hold the water, then drinking it. She closed her eyes as she swallowed the water, her once dry painful throat, now moistened. Once she opened her eyes, she headed over to another alley.

Sliding down the wall she frowned. Solomon what do I do, why are his Rukh black, what does that mean? Goddess Jasil, guide me, please. Jasil closed her eyes, trying to reach out to them, but received no answer. "Fuck!" She whispered in frustration, before rubbing her face slowly. "Where are you.." she grimaced, just as she heard a voice. "Aha, Found you!" Jasil snapped open her eyes, ready to fight or run from Judar, when she noticed that it was the child from before.

"Y-you.." she spoke slowly. "M-Miss I'm sorry I just wanted to thank you for what you did back there! But I really should get back now!" Jasil gasped. "Wait! Come here!" She demanded and the boy flinched, not used to her assertiveness. He lowered his head and walked to her, shaking. Jasil observed the boy, watching his body tremble in fear of her, and her chest tightened. You poor boy..

Jasil reached inside her bag and fished out her staff. Instead of making it bigger, she placed it under her pointer finger, and held it there with her thumb. "Do you want to see a magic trick?" She smiled, crouching down to his level. He looked up, his earlier fear replaced with relief. "Y-yeah!" He exclaimed, excited as he stared at her.

She pointed at his chains, and his eyes followed her finger. "Open Sesame." she spoke quietly, but her words were powerful. The chains snapped open and fell from his legs. His eyes widened with bewilderment. "W-what! What happened to them!" Jasil smiled. "You are free now. You can go where you want and do what you want. You don't ever have to be a slave again."

Tears welled in the boys eyes, as he stared at her. "M-miss.." Jasil smiled and hugged the boy. "You are free." she spoke in his ear, and he began sobbing. "Thank you.. thank you so much!"