Sinbad, John, Meg, Shang, and Mulan arrived in Syracuse just after midnight. They got rooms at the inn and made a plan to go to the palace in the morning. While everyone else went to bed, Sinbad stayed downstairs for a drink.

After his drink, Sinbad left the inn and headed to the palace. This was going to be the first time he saw Proteus since that night years ago and he did not want it to be under formal circumstances, with guards and John around. He had to do this alone.

Sneaking into the palace had never been difficult. There was a stone wall that separated the garden behind the palace from the woods that was easy enough to scale. And while there were guards patrolling, of course, the palace grounds were just too large for them to guard it properly.

Sinbad walked through the woods until he came to the wall. He stopped when he saw it. He never thought he'd be back here.

Before he could lose nerve, he climbed the wall. He waited on top of it until there were no guards around, then jumped down. It was a dark night, making it easy for him to hide in the shadows and make it to the palace undetected.

Proteus' room was in the far corner. A large weeping willow tree stood next to his balcony. The low hanging leaves kept Sinbad hidden as he climbed it. When he stepped on to the balcony, he was surprised to see Proteus was still awake. A single candle was lit on his bedside table and he was sitting fully clothed on his bed, reading a book. Normally Proteus kept his hair neatly pulled back, but right now it hung loosely around his chiseled face.

Sinbad took a moment to try to calm his suddenly racing heart before quietly tapping on the glass door.

Proteus drew his sword and came to the door to investigate. When he came outside and saw Sinbad, he froze.

"Sinbad?" Proteus' voice came out almost too quiet to hear.

"I have to talk to you."

Proteus nodded. He went back into his room, doused the candle flame, then grabbed his sword sheath and attached it to his waist. When he came back outside, the two of them climbed down the tree and snuck across the garden and over the wall to the woods. When they were far enough into the woods that they could no longer see the palace wall, they stopped.

"I can't believe you're here," Proteus said. "I didn't think I'd ever see you again."

"I never planned on coming back to Syracuse."

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't happy to see you."

"What?" Sinbad hadn't been expecting that. He assumed Proteus had moved on and forgotten all about him.

"I never stopped thinking about you, Sinbad."

"I thought you'd be married by now and I'd be long gone from your memories."

Proteus wrapped his arms around himself and leaned against a tree. "I was married. But, I lost my wife and firstborn during child birth just a month ago."

Sinbad's heart ached at the thought of Proteus going through something that terrible. "I'm sorry."

Proteus nodded. "Thank you. But, I suspect you're not here to talk about that."

"No. But, why I'm here can wait if you want to talk about it."

"Don't do that, Sinbad. I don't deserve any sort of kindness from you; not after what I did to you." Proteus ran his hands over his face. "God, there hasn't been a single day that's past where I haven't regretted what happened. When Marina broke our engagement and left, I wanted so badly to find you and run away like you wanted. But, I just couldn't abandon my father and my kingdom. I've missed you so much, though."

"Proteus..." Sinbad didn't know what to say.

"I really am sorry."

"I was so hurt and angry back then, that I honestly hoped you were miserable. But, I've fallen in love again since then and I've forgiven you and moved on."

"You fell in love again?"

"Only twice and neither of them loved me back. You're the only who loved me."

"I still do," Proteus whispered.

Sinbad took a step backwards. "Proteus, that's not why I'm here."

"I figured. I just needed you to know that."

Sinbad took another step backwards, trying to put enough space between them that he wouldn't be tempted to reach out and touch Proteus. "I need a favor," Sinbad told him. "A pretty big one."

"Whatever it is, I'll do it if I can."

Without going in to too much detail, Sinbad told him about needing his help to get through Atlantis so he could get to Corona.

"You're wanted in Atlantis?" Proteus guessed.

"I'm not, but the people I'm with are."

Proteus sighed. "I will probably regret this, but I'll help you."

"Thank you."

Proteus pressed his lips together. "Since this will likely be the last time we're going to be alone, there's something else I need to tell you. I think you're going to hate me afterwards. But, even if you do, I'll still help you."

Sinbad shook his head. "No. Don't tell me. I don't want to go back to hating you."

A pained look filled Proteus' face. "You hated me?"

"For a while after I left, I hated you and loved you at the same time."

"And now?"

Sinbad took a deep breath and exhaled. "And now I'm going to leave before I hear whatever it is you feel the need to confess to me."

Sinbad tried to walk away, but Proteus grabbed his hand. Sinbad quickly pulled way.

"Sinbad, you have to hear this."

"Why?" Sinbad demanded. "Because you feel guilty about something that probably doesn't even matter anymore, and telling me will make you feel better?"

"No. You're right: I feel guilty. But, this does matter and telling you isn't going to make me feel better. The complete opposite, actually."

Sinbad fought his instinct to leave. "Is it worse than telling me you're engaged?"

Tears filled Proteus' eyes and Sinbad suddenly found it hard to breathe. "Yes."

"Proteus, what you did to me sent me to a dark place that I've only just fought my way out of. I can't go back to that."

A tear rolled down Proteus' cheek. "I'm sorry. But, you need to listen to me."

Sinbad clenched his shaking hands into fists. "All right."

Proteus wiped the tear away. "Right after my wife died, one of the older guards- one I've known my whole life- confronted me. It turned out he was in love with my wife. He yelled at me about how unfair it was that she died giving birth to my son when I didn't even love her." Proteus paused for a while before continuing. "He knew about us, Sinbad."

"How?"

More tears fell down Proteus' face. "That night I told you about Marina, I had already decided I was going to tell you then about the engagement, even before you asked me to run away with you. But, ever since you had told me about your father, I'd been a little afraid of you; not sure if you had his... tendencies. So, I had him- that guard- come with me that night and hide nearby, in case you reacted violently. He heard everything."

Sinbad's heart raced. "What?"

Proteus hurried on. "Like I said, I had known him my whole life. I thought I could trust him. He never told anyone, either. Not until after my wife died. He was so angry with me and I think he also partly hated you, since he suspected I still loved you." Proteus raked his hands through his hair and started pacing. "As it turned out, he was friends with your father and he told him about us and that he might be able to find you in Tortuga. I don't know where your father is now, but I know he's still looking for you and your brother and he may be on his way to Tortuga, if he isn't already there now."

The first thing Sinbad thought of was Phoebus. It was completely illogical to be worried about Phoebus since it was possible he wasn't even on the island anymore. And even if he was, his dad didn't know who he was, so he wasn't in any danger. Still, the idea of Phoebus being anywhere near his father chilled Sinbad's blood.

Sinbad looked at Proteus. Proteus looked so heartbroken and destroyed, it caused conflicting feelings in Sinbad. "You have no idea what you've done."

"I'm so sorry, Sinbad. I didn't know he was friends with your father. I never would have-"

"You're still going to help me?" Sinbad interrupted. Proteus nodded. "We need to leave by mid- morning."

"I'll have your transport ready for you outside the front gate of the palace."

"Thank you."

Sinbad turned and walked away from him. Proteus called after him, but he didn't turn around or even stop. He had too much to think about right now and he couldn't handle seeing Proteus like that on top of everything.

He didn't hate Proteus. He knew Proteus truly didn't know the chain reaction he had set off that night. And, truthfully, Sinbad held some of the blame. If he hadn't convinced Marina to leave with him, Proteus would have married her instead of this other woman and there would never have been cause for the guard's anger and retaliation towards Proteus and Sinbad.

Still, that didn't change the fact that Sinbad and Flynn were in danger. He didn't know where his father was, so he could very well be in Syracuse right now; which meant he needed to leave as soon as possible.

Sinbad found some comfort knowing Flynn was back on The Damned in the Southern Isles. Even if their father was still here, there'd be no way he'd find Flynn there.

Sinbad had to follow through with what Meg wanted from him in order to protect John; but once he was done in Corona, he had to get Flynn the hell out of here.