AMONGST THE YOUNG
by SpelCastrMax
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry this chapter took so long to post. I had midterms, and work and many other excuses. This story is
coming to a close. There's going to be only about two more chapters. Thanks for reading!
CHAPTER TEN: Cenpra
The mountainous island was nothing more than a great ice sculpture on the horizon. Stepping off the ice and onto
the snow covered shore, the crew each turned their heads in different directions.
Bryn tightened her cloak around herself. "I don't think I've ever seen snow before," she commented.
"Very likely," Firouz pointed out, "It normally only occurs in places of higher altitude or where the weather is known
to grow colder, like where Maeve is from."
"Where am I from?" Maeve questioned with interest as she watched her breath form as small clouds in front of her.
"An island in the west called Eire," Firouz answered.
"If it was anything like this, I can't blame you for leaving," Doubar grunted.
Sinbad had nothing to say as he lead the way through the mountain pass. Maeve carried Dermott on her hand and was
the last in the long line of people. Rongar would glance back as often as possible to make sure she didn't vanish like the
last time
In the distance they could see a great building. As they neared it, the earth shook. The wind blew and with the
sound of a roar.
"I don't like the sound of that," Doubar grunted.
Firouz scoffed, "It's probably not what you think. Mountains like these produce many strange sounds. It's more than
likely an echo from a nearby cave."
Sinbad shook his head. "Don't be so sure about that." He unsheathed his sword. The rest of the crew mimicked his
action and Maeve sent Dermott away.
The earth rumbled again. All eyes went to a spot where two giant boulders split. Out stepped a ten foot tall
monster with one eye an a horn coming out of his forehead. He spotted the sailors and roared until it shook the snow from
the trees.
"I was hoping this thing would have died off by now," Sinbad confessed as he shouted for everyone to be ready.
The monster headed towards them with giant, but slow strides. His eye focused on Sinbad and instantly, he slammed
his fist down over the group. They all scattered. Maeve noticed how the monster only paid attention to Sinbad. "Look, he
remembers you," she teasingly cooed.
"Lucky me," the captain replied sarcastically. "Anyone have any ideas?"
"How did you beat him the last time?"
"Landslide. Buried him under a mountain of snow," Sinbad stated, "But there were a lot more people to pull it off
then."
Firouz snapped his fingers. "What about one of my exploding sticks?"
"What?" Maeve and Sinbad asked at the same time.
Firouz produced a stick with a string coming out if it. "Maeve, I need a fireball."
The sorcerer's apprentice seemed uncertain, but formed a sphere of flames in her hands. Firouz held the exploding
stick close to the fireball until it lit. Maeve then threw the flame at the monster as it neared. The Cyclops batted it
away, completely distracted. Firouz had Rongar toss the exploding stick at the hillside. After a blast and a spark, the
earth shook for a second time and snow came cascading down the mountain. The crew ran away, Maeve tripping on her long cloak
and Sinbad trying to hide his own panic. The avalanche was larger than the one he'd produced last time he'd been to that
island. He heard himself shout for everyone to move to higher ground.
Giant's strength and size were no match for the swift snow drifts. Minutes passed and soon he vanished under the
white ice.
Through his pants, Sinbad couldn't help laughing, "Firouz, you're handy to have around."
Firouz wasn't sure how exactly he should respond to a compliant from a fifteen year old. He began to explain how his
invention worked. "Yes...well, you see the compound within the stick reacts to fire when..."
"Firouz, just say 'thank you'," Doubar gruffly told him.
The crew started moving back towards the city, careful not to fall into loosely packed snow banks. Finally their
journey ended at a high wall with a massive gate.
Doubar pounded his fist against the barrier. It was opened a moment later by a row of men in brightly colored
cloaks. They were permitted into acres of indoor garden surrounding a small, yet luxurious castle. Everything was made up
of pinks and oranges. Overhead was a glass ceiling, allowing the sunlight to feed the exotic plant life.
The guards left them standing there staring open mouthed at the white palace covered in open windows and balconies.
Richly dressed people all went to these balconies in order to spy the new guests. The guards returned a moment later with a
man Sinbad instantly knew how to address.
"Your majesty, King Proso, I'm not sure if you remember me, but..."
King Proso stepped forward. He was round and his eyes squinted even in the shadows. "Sinbad? Good gracious, lad!
You look like you haven't aged a day."
Sinbad glanced at his crew as they snickered. Turning his head back to the king he explained, "A little accident.
My men and I were hopping that you would allow us passage through your home so we can use the amulet."
"Of course, of course." The king nodded his head and it made Sinbad wonder if he had even been listening. "Under
the condition that you and your crew stay the night here. Tonight's feast will be in honor of the time you saved us from
that former captain of yours so many years ago."
Giving Maeve an "I told you so" expression, Sinbad conceded to the idea. They were ushered into the palace where a
woman awaited them in the grand hall. She was blonde and in her mid twenties. Instantly she laughed, "Captain Sinbad? It
can't be."
"Lady Shira," he greeted, "Just as beautiful as ever."
"If you like older women," Maeve muttered.
Sinbad guiltily tried to ignore Maeve and paid his attentions to the lady. He kissed the back of her hand and
smiled.
"Still the rogue," she said, "And been reliving your childhood, I see." Lady Shira gave Maeve a venomous stare, but
was careful not to allow Sinbad to see, already a little ashamed of being a twenty-six year old woman jealous of a sixteen
your old with wild red hair. "Well, Sinbad, you should still have a welcoming kiss." With that she placed her lips on his
for several seconds while the men of the crew all chuckled.
When she pulled away, Sinbad turned back to see what Maeve's reaction would be, but both she and Bryn had been swept
away by a servant to prepare them for that evening.
An hour later Sinbad came back out into the grand hall with Doubar in toe. Both men were tugging on the high collars
of the jackets they had been given to wear. Rongar and Firouz had been spared, their outfits being less formal and less
restraining.
A tall, dark haired young man of eighteen stepped out from the banquet hall where the sounds of laughter and dancing
were echoing from. He smiled broadly at Sinbad. "Amazing. You know the last time I remember you, I thought you were the
tallest man I had ever seen. Seems you weren't so tall after all. Pity."
"Prince Cobar," Sinbad greeted with forced politeness, "I see you've grown up." He thought back on the spoiled child
his memory brought forth, a memory that seemed like it had only occurred a year earlier.
"But you haven't obviously," the prince snickered. He glanced over his shoulder back at the room he had just exited
from. "Although, I do have to thank you, captain, for bringing such a treasure into our home."
Firouz pointed as he thought aloud. "Treasure? What treasure?"
Sinbad shrugged his own shoulders and the four men entered the banquet hall. Amongst the linked hands of the dancers
was Maeve dressing a rich violet, her hair had been straightened and put on her head. She seemed to like the attention she
was receiving yet bored with it at the same time. Still she was keeping up appearances for protocol sake.
Doubar laughed with the pride of an older brother. "She always did clean up nicely," he chuckled then slapped his
gaping younger brother on the back.
Bryn went up to them, looking equally radiant in her own gown. She motioned to Maeve and asked in a tone that
suggested that she had a hand in Maeve's transformation, "Do you approve, Captain?"
Prince Cobar answered instead. "I, for one, am grateful for such a change. She is radiant. It is a great
improvement over the wild Celt she resembled before." Obviously he'd been one of the many people watching them when they'd
first arrived.
Sinbad spoke up after that, not wanting to start a fight with the prince, but was angry just the same. "Maeve was
radiant before...I mean..." He felt himself growing more frustrated as Cobar ignored Sinbad and started off towards where
another man had left Maeve. She couldn't help blushing a little when the prince paid her a compliment.
Doubar and Rongar went to watch from the food tables while Firouz tracked down King Proso to question him as to how
the gardens were able to survive within the confines of the little world that had been created. Bryn turned down an offer to
dance in order to fully enjoy the expressions Sinbad made when Maeve accepted Cobar's invitation to dance.
The prince lead Maeve back over to the floor. She glanced over at Sinbad, but did not look directly at him. The
dance was one for individual couples, as opposed to the usual group movements across the floor that normally had no planned
steps. She allowed the prince to hold her hands, touch her waist, and only objected when his hand reached around for what he
told her was the small of her back.
Cobar commented on how she should follow his steps. He'd compliment her, then complement himself, then wonder
things aloud such as, "what is society like in barbarian countries?"
Maeve silently continued to dance, looking bored as ever. As the prince swung her in front of him, twirling and
bowing her about the floor, Maeve listened to his further droning about family standings on the Island. At last, as he
circled her around him once again, Maeve slipped her hand from his and left the room with an annoyed "hmph".
Bryn nudged Sinbad. "What are you still standing here for? There's an easy rescue for you. Save the poor girl from
boredom."
Sinbad rolled his eyes at Bryn and left in the direction the red head had gone. Maeve stood on one of the many
balconies over looking the sleeping garden below. Sinbad approached her slowly, his face serious. "Get tired of trying to
make me jeasous?" he questioned a little sourly.
"I wasn't trying to make you jealous," Maeve replied still staring straight ahead out into the plants. A second of
awkward silence, something that seemed to be happening more and more often, passed them by before she added, "Why? were you
jealous?"
He defensively shot back, "No."
With a sigh she asked, "Why weren't you dancing?
"I didn't see anyone I wanted to dance with..." Sinbad smirked wondering if he could make Maeve blush the way the
prince had, "At least not anybody who didn't already have a partner."
Maeve was careful not to smile or blush as she turned towards him. She simply blinked at him and questioned, "Is
there something you wish to say to me, Captain?"
His smile grew without loosing its arrogance. "Maeve, would you like to dance?"
She stared at him for a moment as if it were a life changing decesion she was making. Finally, with a teasing
sparkle in her eye, she told him, "No." She turned and sauntered away at a slow pace.
Sinbad chased after her. "Maeve, wait a minute." he grabbed her shoulder to be sure she would listen. He wondered
how many times as an adult he'd had to hold still or turn her towards him in order to talk. In all of his young memories he
couldn't think of a time when he had to fight to win a gir's attention.
Maeve watched him impatiantly while he thought, then faked a yawn. Sinbad smiled and asked, "Why don't you ever fall
for my charm?"
She tossed her head. "What charm?"
"All right, I probably deserved that," he responded after coughing a little to hide a wounded ego, "The fact is that
I don't know what will change when we're adults again. We may have all our memories back and they'll probably make us bitter
and lonely and all of those things that adults become, but won't admit to. I just want you to know that, right now..." He
stopped, checking to make certain she was still listening and to that he had enough courage to speak again. Witha sigh as
if confessing a secret, he told her, "I like you, Maeve."
She ducked her head for a second, hoping to hide her smile. "You're a good friend," she told him, hoping the words
did not come out sounding shy.
The young captain imitated her motions in order to meet her eyes. He kept his tone light as he replied, "I wasn't
talking about friendship."
He leaned in, this time determined not to be interrupted, yet still hesitant to cross any boundries. A breeze
rustled the tapestries and curtains framing the windows of the terrace. As the pair moved closer to one another the breeze
became a strong wind. It whipped around them, grabbing at Maeve's skirts and pushing Sinbad backwards.
The wind howled loudly. Sinbad dug his heels into the floor and struggled to walk against the furious gales. Maeve
extended her hand as the wind moved Sinbad closer to the terrace edge. For a moment, her mind brought up an image of a
similar situation, only it was a man's hand reaching out for hers.
In the same instance, Sinbad's young face seemed to age gradually. Her concentration was lost as his hand slipped
through hers and he returned to being a sixteen year old lad who disappeared over the edge of the balcony. Maeve ran to
where he had fallen, but when she searched Sinbad had vanished.