This is written from several points of view so you need to know that:

Prince – Normal writing

Shirin – Italic

Leader – Bold

Zenda and Sarosh – Bold and italic

Yes I will say sorry from now if you find it confusing .

Chapter Five: Cursed

"What is his problem?" asked Shirin. It had been a few days (and long unbearably hot ones at that) since we had left the spot where Shirin and I had woken. She had noticed the Leader constantly peering at her slyly. Shirin hadn't heard the words of the Leader and was unaware of his dislike for her. Then again, the frowns that always came on his darkened angled face proved and stressed his dislike for her. I couldn't say I particularly trusted him with her, I always felt the need to be by her side. Unfortunately, the Leader's lack of fondness for Shirin spread like an uncontrollable fire through the others. No one talked to her, and since I was always with her, few people talked to me. It had quite an effect, I hated it when no one talked to me (I have to admit to you now, I do have a problem of talking to myself when I feel lonely or somewhat fearful). The coldness that the people felt towards us had become quite severe now. I saw people all around me talking and smiling to everyone but Shirin and me. Suddenly a voice made me jump. Someone was now riding beside us, someone I had longed to talk to. It was the mute and her husband. She was wrapped up in white as usual, I could tell she wasn't naturally of a large build though she was heavily pregnant. A lot more of her hair could be seen, it was jet black and quite untidy, maybe she found it hard to tame such a thing so she preferred to hide it. I could see she was a worrier, her nails had been bitten down, this didn't suit her fingers as, like Shirin's, were long and elegant if not somewhat bony. I noticed she didn't wear shoes either, well she did, but they were sandals that were too big for her so they hung away from her heels. Her face was a smooth oval shape, her chin wasn't very pointed and neither was her nose. It wasn't very big but was very straight but curved at the end. She seemed shy, but maybe it was just her eternal silence that made her seem demure. She looked quite tall for a woman, maybe even a little taller than I was. Her eyes were a bright blue, unusual for her black hair. There seemed to be several shades of blue, all harmonising together. The white of her eyes seemed somewhat unnaturally white and pure. Suddenly for some reason, an image of a dove appeared in my head. The dove was innocent, protective and beautiful, this woman had all these aspects. Her husband, who held the reins to the horse, wore black and seemed unaffected from the heat. He looked a lot like me when it came to build but was even taller than his wife was. He had big hands and his nails had grown quite long. He had no covering over his hair, it was shoulder length and was a dark brown. His face was also an oval but he had the beginnings of a black beard on his face to make it more angular-looking. His eyes were a dark grey, almost a black. His nose was big and a bit wide, he looked a few years older than me, so did his wife. It made me wonder what aspects their child would inherit. The man spoke. He would obviously be doing the talking for both of them.

"Hello, my name is Sarosh and this is my wife Zenda. Our leader, Visha, has been talking a lot about you two," he started. Zenda had her arms around his waist for balance.

"Visha? That is his name? Hm, Sarosh and Zenda, if I remember correctly they are Persian name but Visha is an Indian name. Interesting, in these lands you have no qualms about origin. So what has he been saying?" I asked curiously.

"Nothing negative, not about you anyway," Sarosh replied lightly. What he said had quite a meaning, Shirin quickly caught on.

"What about me then?" asked Shirin, quite harshly knowing whatever the outcome it wasn't going to be nice. The Sarosh was hesitant and eventually came up with an excuse.

"We should talk later, we shall be stopping soon, find our tent and then we will talk," he said and made his horse trot forward. I noticed a large dust cloud. The man and everyone around us pulled their coverings across their faces. The Leader had long black hair but this too was covered up. I guessed I would just have to put my head down, Shirin would have to use her bandanna but I didn't see her do anything behind me. She sat annoyed with folded arms, if the Leader had been saying things about her then it probably would annoy her. I knew she didn't like him, maybe it was because he was judging her. The constant judging she got from most people must have been annoying, not even I would be able put up with it.

We watched him disappear as we entered the dust cloud, his face fading away. Yet, it stayed firmly in our minds. Our minds that were so close they were practically connected. We knew he was the one. We didn't know much about him, but we already knew his outcome, he was cursed. He would die.

I did not feel safe emerged in the cloud. I didn't know where she was. That demon, that creature that the Prince had so happily placed his trust in. What a fool! I did not feel comfortable with her in the camp. My beliefs would not change. She was venal, wretch-ful witch, a rodent; a devious creature. I had to rid this camp of her, I had to rid this world of her...for the safety of everyone, and if the Prince intervened...then he was just as corrupt and evil as she was. He too would have to be ridden of...

We didn't stop soon. Night had fallen when we did stop and every living thing within the camp felt weary and tired. We found Sarosh and Zenda's tent, they had a blue sheet laid on the ground, both me and Shirin collapsed on it, finally giving ourselves some rest. Zenda was preparing something to eat. Sarosh was sat shaping something out of wood with a short blade.

"So what did Visha say about me?" asked Shirin sitting up. I rested flat on my black looking at the stars. It always made me wonder what it was like beyond them, if there was something beyond them that is.

"You still want to know?" asked Sarosh peering up briefly from the wood. I sat up, he seemed to have been sharpening it into some sort of teardrop shape with a pointed, sharp tip.

"Yes! No one goes around saying things about me, especially mean things!" declared Shirin. Zenda gave us all a bowl of the same meal we had eaten yesterday but this time the rice tasted different. It was delicious nevertheless and I loved her cooking. It was a Indian meal that she had mastered well for a Persian.

"Well I don't really listen to negative things but Visha isn't particularly fond of you," said Sarosh. He finished off his carving. "Maybe you should take this," he said and passed it to Shirin.

"What is it for?" she asked looking at it, she touched the tip but quickly pulled her finger away with a small cry. It was bleeding.

"Are you alright?" I enquired. She turned her head to me and glared at me.

"You think I have never cut myself before?" she glared defensively almost as if I had been trying to mock her.

"Huh?" I murmured quite confused by her reaction.

"Well being a thief is a tough job and I have been cut plenty of times so go back and stick your head in the clouds and think of Farah," she ordered and turned away from me. I never could understand what it was Shirin wanted. Sometimes she acted like she wanted me to worry and care for her, yet when I did she would snap back at me. I think she mentioned Farah to hurt me, she knew that mentioning Farah always caused a weird pain inside of me. Sarosh looked a little upset with himself. He was probably taking the blame for argument.

"I am sorry, I should have warned you it was sharp. I am sure the Prince was only concerned about your well being," said Sarosh comfortingly to Shirin. Shirin shrugged and wrapped the blade in some loose clothes before placing it in a pocket she had made on a fabric belt that was tied around her waist.

"So where are you two from?" I asked as I started eating the food.

"We are from Persia as you guessed. We lived on the outskirts of Persepolis as children. We have known each other for a long time, so long it is almost as if we have a shared mind, that's why a lot of the time I can speak for Zenda. She is a mute as you probably guessed," explained Sarosh.

"Have you always been mute?" I asked. Zenda nodded attentively. I found it hard to remember she was there.

For the rest of the evening, we didn't talk terribly much about each. The Prince offered to tell them his story about the Sands but they said they had heard of the Sands and knew what they could do. It made me wonder about what else they knew. I really did believe that the woman knew a lot more than she or her husband let on. I hate it when people do that! Anyway, we went back to our tent when everyone was returning to their tents for sleep. The next morning we would have to get up early again. I wasn't too bothered about having to share a tent with the Prince, but we had made a agreement, it had to be head to toe. I couldn't sleep though, it was now the middle of the night but something was niggling away at me. I hadn't stolen anything so I had no reason to feel guilty, I never felt guilty anyway; it was a pointless emotion that was only brought on by yourself. Hm...that Leader, Visha, I really didn't like him at all. He stank as well, I mean, although we were stuck in the middle of the desert he could have washed just a bit. Some people say you turn twisted after losing a love, maybe that is what has happened to Visha, then again, that isn't really true, the Prince is still very spirited though he lost Farah, well, he was gonna get her back soon. I pulled myself up, my hair hid my face. The Prince remained silent in slumber, he looked quite happy unlike he had done a few times before in sleep. I wondered what he was dreaming about, then again, I could guess. I wouldn't wake him, I pulled on my boots and stepped out of the tent. I walked, quietly, through the rows of tents. All around me everyone was asleep. So what kept me awake? It had to be something. I kicked a rock forward, I stopped. I felt somewhat tense, something was not right...but I just could put my finger on it. GASP! What on Earth? Someone had quickly placed their arm tight around my neck! I gasped for the lost but no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't get any oxygen! I couldn't scream no matter how hard I wanted to! Why wasn't the Prince with me? I saw the glint of a scimitar quickly moving up to my neck. Oh God! Did this guy – it was definitely a guy– want to cut my neck too?

"Die demon, die," whispered a voice into my ear. It was Visha! I knew I could never trust this guy! I couldn't think of anything else as I began feeling faint and my eyeballs felt pressured and glazed. Then it suddenly hit me! I knew what I could do, I reached into a pocket and removed the tear-shaped blade. I was worried I would drop it but I didn't. You mess with a thief, you get a piece of wood in your thigh. I stabbed him as hard as I could! He keeled in agony – served him right!

"Your Majesty!" I screamed as I darted to our tent. He sat up immediately and grabbed his scimitar.

"What is going on?" he demanded.

"I'll tell you later but for now we have to get moving. Move already!" I ordered and grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the tent. Good thing he was wearing his boots as he was asleep! I pulled him along but we heard galloping behind us! The Leader had already got a horse and was coming after us.

"Shirin! What have you stolen now?" demanded the Prince.

"I haven't stolen anything! He thinks I'm a demon, the madman!" I screamed back at him, why did he always think I was stealing things? Oh wait, because I'm a thief...hm, makes sense.

"Get us out of here! Teleport somewhere!" he ordered. Good idea! I grabbed him and ran the thoughts of being somewhere else through my head and hoped for the best!

We found ourselves in the same empty lands but somewhere else, not in the camp. Phew...we were safe, for a while anyway. We collapsed on the ground beside each other. Our chests rose and fell repeatedly, both us were out of breath, after all, we had just outrun a horse! We shut our eyes and allowed ourselves to calm down.

"I knew we should have got out of there when he was saying I couldn't trust you," muttered the Prince.

"Huh?" I asked, what was he talking about? He explained. I frowned and hit him hard. "You should have told me!"

"Well...it didn't seem that important at the time...let's just sit here and rest for a bit," muttered the Prince. I opened my eyes and watched the stars. Hm...so what now? We had no horse, no map and no food, we wouldn't last long without these things, but somehow I didn't think this was the end...

Sleep called me, I thought it was time to just give in. Huh...I sat up abruptly after I had heard the noise of a galloping horse. The Prince sat up too. It had been a few hours since we had left the camp. It was Zenda and Sarosh with two horses and several baskets, however, they only rode one horse. The Prince quickly got to his feet and held his sword in attack stance.

"Did Visha send you?" he demanded. Zenda removed herself from the horse.

"No Prince, we need to tell you something. Your Majesty, you have been sentenced by fate a terrible punishment. This has fallen on you because of what you did. We know this Prince, we could see it the moment we first saw you. We are visionaries and have seen things of what are to come. Before what is to come comes to you, please find your love Farah, take this map, this horse and food and go to Amber," said Sarosh. Visionaries...it made me wonder what they had seen but what Zenda did next explained it. She kissed the Prince of the forehead, the kiss of death, he was going to die, and now these people were telling us to find Farah. If they had seen things...then they knew if it was something we had to do. It was. Zenda passed the Prince a map and then returned to Sarosh.

"You weren't sent by Visha. You were sent by fate..." murmured the Prince. Maybe that was true. Maybe it had been destiny for Sarosh and Zenda to meet the Prince and to warn him of his cursed death. They untied a black horse that was by their side, and then they just...left. They turned away and left. I watched the Prince watch the two ride away.

She was smiling at me out of pity, out of sorrow, because she knew what was going to happen to me. Dahaka definitely wanted me dead, they had predicted it, so did that mean I had no choice but not to trust Shirin? I didn't know, but one thing was for sure: I had to find Farah, this possibly could be the last chance, before Dahaka caught up with me.

Okay I know that it is suppose to be an old man that tells the Prince, but this way is a bit more interesting. Now he can get on and get to Amber