My birthday is coming up soon so I'd thought that I'd post this so I wouldn't forget to do it on Wednesday! I'm so happy (clap along if you feel like a room without a roof). I'm going to have a party and go to a convention and have fun! So I'll probably not update for a week or so. Sorry! ^.^*
This chapter is a little more serious as we have Sinbad making outrageous promises and trying to come to terms with being a father. Among some murderous plots
"Sin; I understand you're confused right now but we have a meeting with king Ahbmad and deputy King Sahmad."
Sinbad sighed and rubbed his face tiredly. "Oh yeah, those two."
"Yes those two. Now let's go or we'll be late." Ja'far held the hotel door open.
"Fine." Sinbad reluctantly got up and froze. "But what about Sina and Nakht? We can't leave two kids alone especially with Sina's health right now." Sinbad frowned. His son, (and wasn't that an odd thing to think?) was so small and sickly. He couldn't in good conscious leave him alone with no one to watch him.
Ja'far slouched. "Right. We'll um… if we bring the boys before King Ahbmad he'll undoubtedly ask about them. Are you willing to declare Sina as your son so soon?"
Sinbad had an uncommonly serious look on his face as he contemplated for a long moment. "…I hate to say it but no. At least not now with how delicate his health is and with Balbadd's current diplomatic issues with Sindria, I don't trust Ahbmad not to try to use him against me. I really don't like that brat-king."
"Like him or not he's still the king of Balbadd. We'll leave the boys here and return quickly from the meeting."
"Alright." Sinbad relented reluctantly. "Let's go then."
Linelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelinelineline
"King Sinbad, long time no see." The obese king wearily smiled.
"Let's dispense with the greetings." Sinbad was terse with the younger fatter man. "I have but one requirement for you u. You must continue trade with Sindria immediately." His golden eyes sent shivers down the other kings' spine.
"Sorry, but Balbadd is facing urgent internal diplomatic issues." His lisp was irritating and distracting.
After a vague description of the Fog Troupe thieves plaguing Balbadd, Sinbad felt a migraine blossom behind his eyes at the irritating man-child. The Sindrian king absently listened to Ahbmads' incessant whining.
"-The people are such fools." Ahbmad distained as he shoved a pudgy finger up his nose. Sinbad felt himself subtly gag at the filthy habit but he managed to keep his voice steady. "Your reputation is terrible."
"Hey! That's not our fault! The Fog troupe just named a real troublemaker as their leader!" He wailed then not so quietly hissed to himself. "Why did he have to show up now of all time?"
"No!" Deputy king Sahmad gasped and slammed his hands over his brothers' mouth. "Don't bring that up now brother!" he whimpered his voice as timid and airy as ever.
Ahbmad gasped and nodded at his younger brother as he was shushed.
Sinbad felt his interest peak at the obvious and stupid brothers' charade.
Ahbmad gasped and nodded as he was shushed by his brother. Ahbmad tried to cover up his mistake but managed only to make himself appear more incompetent "Well if you want to continue trade you're just going to have to do something about it yourself. Huh?" he laid out a challenge to the foreign king.
"Oh yeah?" Sinbad rose. His eyes were flat and humorless. His dagger glinted brightly as he held it and flashed as he stabbed it in the expensive table before him.
"I vanquish that Fog troupe or whatever they're calling themselves. On my own. Without the military." With that violent declaration Sinbad and his entourage left the palace.
…
"Well that was reckless." Ja'far snarked. The freckled man rolled his eyes at Sinbad's back.
"…" The king of Sindria ignored his vizier's unsubtle scolding.
The trio went back into their hotel room. Masrur settle against the wall while Ja'far and Sinbad each peeked into the bedroom the two boys were in.
Nakht and Sina were cuddled together against the headboard. Both were snuggled in the luxurious blankets and their silver and violet tresses tangled together against the fluffy pillows.
"Aww" Ja'far melted at the adorable sight. Sinbad smirked at the younger man. "You've always had such a weakness for cute things." He teased.
"Shut up! You'll wake them, Idiot!" Ja'far hissed, blushing slightly at being caught.
"Yeah ok, let's let them sleep a bit longer." Sinbad quietly shut the door and the pair retreated back into the sitting room.
"We've agreed to meet Aladdin and Morgiana for lunch in a bit. We'll wake the boys up before then." Ja'far reminded Sinbad.
"Sounds good. But before that I want to lay out exactly what we know about Sina. If he's my son I should know everything about him."
"It's true that as the first prince of Sindria -if you decide to legitimize him- you need to be knowledge about Sina's life however; when you say it like that it just sounds… creepy." Ja'far grimaced.
Sinbad twitched. "Shut up and help me!" He bossed.
"Alright fine. Let's write it all down so we can keep track." Ja'far swiped a sheet of paper and a quill from a nearby then the two started with Masrur standing every diligently nearby.
"Okay," Ja'far started "we know he has a low tolerance for the heat." He began jotting things down on the paper.
"He can't read." Sinbad recalled. "neither can Nakht for that matter."
"Alright, well we can teach them both later; as Prince it is essential that Sina learn to read. I'll teach him myself." Ja'far nodded.
'Sounds good." Sinbad stroked his chin as he began contemplating. "He's seen someone die." He recalled.
"Really?"
"That story he told, 'nearly headless Nick'? it was too detailed for it to be the simple imaging's of a child. He had to have known this 'Nick' before he died or have seen the execution himself."
"How awful." Ja'far looked aghast at the thought of such a young child being exposed to such horrors.
"There's more than that." Sin revealed.
But Masrur's voice cut in. "He was a slave. Nakht too."
Sin turned around to look at the stationary Fanalis while Ja'far went bloodless white on the couch opposite. "How did you know?" Sinbad inquired. Ja'far quickly regained his composer (with only a bit of difficulty) and also looked inquisitive.
"They are very thin, Nakht is very timid and calls everyone 'Mister' in place of 'Master'. And they both have scars on their ankles, wrists, and necks from chains."
"Yes. They were slaves until very recently." Sinbad confirmed, his eyes dark.
"How recently?" Ja'far's voice was soft but had a chilling effect. "Could we find their old 'master'?" the implications of the former assassins' words were clear.
"Nakht's arm and leg, along with his ribs and Sina's wrist are fresh injuries. They said that their former master threw Nakht over a cliff and Sina jumped after him." Sinbad recalled.
"So no more than a few days ago." Ja'far confirmed. "I'll see if any slave merchants were traveling nearby."
"Good… I can't imagine the courage it must have taken for Sina to jump after his friend."
"it's not that hard to imagine. He probably didn't even think about it. He must be a loyal boy; Reckless too. I wonder where he gets that from. "Ja'far sarcastically prodded his king.
"Yeah yeah. I'm not that bad." Sinbad waved him off
"No you're worse." Was Ja'far's quick snip.
Masrur took a step closer, bringing him against the back of Sinbad's' couch and deeper into the conversation. "How long were they slaves, do you know?" he wondered.
"I don't know. I didn't ask. They're very young though and not many Slave traders bother with infants." Sinbad began calculating.
"They are very thin. Like they've been hungry for a few years." Masrur reported his observations.
"Yeah. I noticed that too. But Sina doesn't behave like a typical slave. At least not around me. He's actually pretty bratty." Sinbad smirked.
"He's a strong willed boy, something else he inherited from you no doubt. That's good at least, Nakht seemed to be rather reserved." Ja'far said.
Sinbad laughed. "Not when he's around Sina. Those two are the best of friends. You can tell that in how they depend on one another and how they fight each other."
"I see. Good." Ja'far relaxed a bit against his seat. Then he settled a little more seriously into the conversation. "This is a delicate situation we're in Sin."
"I know." Sinbad ran a hand through his long bangs. "I have a son. The first prince of Sindria."
"The other royals will judge you harshly. Having a child before having a queen is one thing. Having a illegitimate former slave as a prince is another. This will undoubtedly damage the reputation of our country one way or the other. The only thing we can do is minimize the damage." Ja'far's eyes were calculating.
"And how do you suppose we do that?" Sinbad locked eyes with his trusted friend.
"It all depends of Sina and his mother. If necessary, we can concoct a story to explain her absence. Say that you married her in secret or she died in childbirth or something. I can come up with any number of excuses. And it would probably be best if we hid Sina's past as a slave from the nobility."
"They would use it against him." Sinbad acknowledged.
"Without a moment's hesitation." Ja'far confirmed.
Grey eyes absently checked out the nearby window. "It's about time to go. Let's wake the boys up." The young man stood a brushed nonexistent dirt from his robes.
"Alright. Sina's clothes are still drying in the bathing room. Masrur can you grab them?" Sinbad also rose from his seat.
"Sure." The Fanalis disappeared through the nearby ornate door.
The bedroom door squeaked as the trio of men quietly entered. Sinbad looped around the bed to the side Sina was closer to.
The king began gently shaking his shoulders "Sina... Sina wake up." He leaned down to murmur into the boys' ear.
Sina's green eyes fluttered for a moment and then opened sleepily. Green met gold as Sinbad smile charmingly at the little boy.
"Good Morn-ugk!" Sinbad fell back onto his butt, holding his bloody aching nose. Sina pulled his foot back to him and scuttled to the headboard. "What the hell! Creepy old man, don't sneak up on me!" the boy blanched when he discovered he was naked beneath the towel he was bundled in. "Ack! Where are my clothes!? What did you do?! Dirty old Pervert!"
"Hey I'm not a pervert!" Sinbad gasped through his bloody nose.
Ja'far was collapsed in a corner on the floor in not so silent hysterics. It was rare that anyone managed to injure Sinbad and it was a child at that! he was enjoying his king's fall from grace with great satisfaction.
Nakht was quickly woken up in all of the commotion and begun clinging desperately to Sina. "Sina! You're okay!" he sobbed, hanging off the other boy's towel covered shoulders.
Masrur stood back stoned face, holding Sina's dried clothes. He watched the chaos unfold around him calmly.
"Sina!" Nakht squealed happily. His grip tightened around Sina's neck. "Ugh! Nakht let go! Cant… breathe!" Sina wiggled to get free. In his bid for freedom Sina's towel slipped loose and fluttered from his shoulders to his hips. His back and chest were exposed, along with all of his scars.
Ja'far's' giggle cut off with a wheeze. Masrur already still; froze even more. And Sinbad stood slowly from his crouch. His chin dripping with blood as he took in the multitude of silvery scars on the boy's body. His golden eyes were wide with horror at what he saw.
Ja'far broke the deep silence tentatively. "Masrur has your clothes Sina. They got wet when we were cooling you off. We'll step outside while you change alright?"
The boy noticed what was making the adults so skittish and pulled the towel up to cover himself. "Alright."
Masrur left the bundle of cloth on the bed and the three men stepped out.
The moment the chamber door closed Sinbad slammed a fist into the wall. "Damn it!"
"Sin!" Ja'far yelped.
"Did you-? Ja'far did you see!? His back, his shoulders, his chest! Those scars!"
"I'm not blind I saw. "Ja'far snapped and cast his eyes down.
The three stood in silence. Sinbad shaking in repressed rage at whoever hurt his son. His son. Like a surprise blow Sinbad could fully acknowledge to himself- 'I'm a dad.' He was a father. He had a son. A little boy. He had to admit he was a bit bratty and little mouthy, but that only proved even more so that he was Sinbad's' progeny.
He recalled his own father. His resolve, his kindness, his strength of character. He wanted to be such a person. He wanted to be to Sina what his father was to him. A pillar of strength, a mass of warmth to snuggle with, a friend, a confidant, a… well a father.
The king of Sindria thought of his son. His son. A boy who had already been through so much in so little time. A little boy who even now did not truly know that his father was right outside the door. At that thought Sinbad felt a little nauseous. What if Sina rejected him? What if he hated him? What if he demanded to know where Sinbad was all his life? Sinbad felt the blood vanish from his face so quickly he felt lightheaded. A boiling mass of guilt and fear raged in his gut. But he had to deal with first things first.
"After lunch, contact your network. I want those traders found sooner rather than later." He commanded.
His assassin (though he was officially retired Ja'far never really gave up his original trade) immediately knew what his king wanted. "I understand. Do you want them handled quickly or would you rather deal with them yourself?"
"I want to handle them personally; But after the Fog troupe is taken care of. Capture their former master. I don't care about the rest of them. Just the leader. Have him brought to Balbadd and secured discretely. I'll do what needs to be done after we handle Balbadd's issues."
"As you command." Ja'far was very familiar with that the steely look in Sinbad's eyes. It was a rare thing and it never meant well for those it was aimed towards. You don't become a conqueror by being kind after all.
The thick bedroom door eased open. Nakht and Sina were dressed to leave. Although Sina was still fumbling with his turban.
"Here let me help." Sinbad wiped the murderous look in his eyes for a kinder one before the boys could see. He kneeled and twisted the cloth to collect every violet strand of Sina's hair. "Thanks." Sina smirked. "Old man."
Sinbad jerked back and slumped forward depressed at the moniker. "Can't you call me something else? Something cooler? I'm not even old."
"Let's make our way out now." Ja'far amicably smiled at the boys. "We're going to meet your other friends for lunch. We don't want to be late."
"Alright then," Sina couldn't help but huff at all the dramatics Sinbad was showcasing with his sulking. The smaller violet-head (is there an actual term for having purple hair?) nudged the larger man. "Come on old man. Let's go. Act your age… your very advanced age." He couldn't resist that final jab before following the other two men out of the room, leaving Sin behind.
The older man chased after them. "Ja'far! See how he treats me!" Sinbad whined.
"Oh I'm seeing it Sin, And, heh heh. I don't feel sorry for you. Old man."
"Ja'far!"
Chapter done! So happy about how this one turned out too. My doctor says that writing will help with my anxiety and depression so fair it's not not helping. I really liked how Sinbad is slowly coming to grips with being a father and all that wonderful bubby protective instinct coming out.
I wonder how he's going to react when he realizes who Sina's master is? And how Sina is going to react to finding out who is father is (and what he does for a living)? This is going to be fun!