The moon had not yet left the sky and the stars still shone brightly when Sahar awoke suddenly. She unclamped her fists and sat up, her heart beating wildly in her chest. Those pale hands. A glint of silver. Yellow eyes, eerie and belonging to a creature of the night. Memories of the dream flashed through her mind and Sahar pushed away the thin blanket that covered her brother Ghazal and herself.

She padded towards the window, the curtains pushed back slightly and fluttering in the breeze. The crisp desert night air filled the room with scents of hibiscus and caused particles of sand to fly into Sahar's face. She looked up at the moon, its glowing orb comforting her beating heart. The stars winked at her playfully and calmness entered her soul. Ghazal moaned slightly and Sahar turned and looked at her brother's sleeping face, illuminated from the moonlight. She felt the fear drain from her heart and content she returned to bed, just as the night sky began to brighten with the coming dawn.

The next morning Sahar was responsible for taking her brother to market and fetching the things they needed for their daily lives. Sahar also knew her parents needed the time to talk alone about her marriage situation. So far Sahar had been very adamant about remaining unmarried, but in her heart she knew she would have to commit sometime, even if for her parents sake. For now however, she was content to remain as stubborn as possible.

Ghazal was excited, as he was every time Sahar took him to market. At thirteen years, Ghazal was just becoming a man. He was trying to achieve that manly image by trying to contain his excitement, but Sahar knew him too well to believe his calm, collected exterior. Within he was still a jumping little boy with too much energy. Ghazal looked over at his sister, no longer needing to look up at her.

"Where are we going today Sahar?" he asked, his voice slightly deeper than it was a year ago. Sahar smiled and looked down at the parchment her mother had handed her before Sahar had gone out the door.

"Well, the usual, bread, flour, salt and pepper, and some fruit." Sahar replied with a shrug as they entered the bustling market center. Her brother, however, was no longer listening. His attention was focused on a piece of parchment that was tacked to the side of the main market tent. Slightly puzzled Sahar went over to her brother and looked at the parchment, and gasped in surprise at what she saw on it.

Bahram sat up slowly as a lanky, dark haired man entered his bed chamber. The servants had assisted him in returning to his bed, his legs too weak to work on their own. Bahram had slept feverishly for most of the day, his dreams filled with images of his missing wife and now missing child. The dark haired man bowed deeply and Bahram waved a hand dismissively and the man stood up quickly.

"Have you any news, Fassad?" he asked his voice quiet and laced with exhaustion and grief. Fassad shook his dark head sadly.

"No, your majesty. It is however, believed that she never made it home." Fassad's voice was full of grief, and another emotion. Bahram tried to listen, but his mind was too full of the recent happenings to try to discern anything from Fassad's voice. "The servants have posted notices in the market place; perhaps someone will have seen her."

"Very well," Bahram responded tiredly, turning his face away from his advisor, trying to hide the tears that threatened to spill onto his cheeks. Fassad nodded his head and retreated from the room, his sly smile hidden from view.

Sahar looked closer at the image that was inked on the parchment. Below the picture read "Missing, Princess Amira was last seen in the marketplace. Any ideas of her whereabouts must be reported to the King's advisor immediately." Sahar gaped. The image was a picture of her best friend, Amira. Princess Amira. Sahar swallowed, half in anger and half in fear for her friend. Amira never said she was a part of the royal family.

Sahar was somewhat famous for her outspokenness concerning the royal family. She watched as people suffered on the streets and children begged for bread while the royal family seemed to live in paradise.

Her anger at Amira for being the princess quickly disappeared as Sahar realized her best friend could be in danger.

Prince Xerxes sat tall on his white Arabian horse, waiting as the rest of his entourage prepared themselves. He brushed away a piece of blonde hair that had fallen in his eyes and looked out upon the city they were about to enter. He and his entourage had traveled great distances to reach Dinar, city of gold. Hailing from Wadi, Prince Xerxes had traveled nearly one hundred kilometers to come court the lovely Princess Amira. His caravan was huge, carrying a great deal of gifts from his own city to present to King Bahram in hopes of winning Princess Amira's hand in marriage.

The gates of the city opened wide and Prince Xerxes rode forward, led by a troupe of dancers who whirled their brightly colored scarves in the air. Following him was the several caravans of jewels, oils, incenses and spices that Xerxes had brought as the gifts.

Soon the parade had reached the main marketplace, and the crowds cleared the way for his majestic entourage. People cheered and applauded him and he smiled to himself, though already thinking of the lovely princess.

As he reached the palace however, the cheers became quieter and less frequent and the gate to the palace was shut. A solitary guard stood overlooking the gate, and obligingly he opened it for Xerxes. Yet entering the palace grounds, Xerxes was surprised by the lack of reception. Surely the news had reached the palace already. An unsteady quiet followed Xerxes's horse's clopping hooves as he made his way to the palace entrance.

He dismounted and one of his servants took the horse from his care, leading the horse to the royal stables. Slowly he entered the palace, dramatically draping his cape over his shoulder. To his surprise the royal hall was empty except for a few lingered servants. Xerxes called one over and waited for the bow before speaking.

"Where is your king? I have come to ask for the Princess's hand in marriage." He raised his voice at the last sentence, trying to sound heroic and princely, as he was supposed to. The servant went pale and looked over at one of the other servants, a look of alarm on his face. The other servant shrugged and he turned back to the prince.

"Right this way, your majesty." the servant bowed again and began to lead Prince Xerxes across the hall. Footsteps echoed from the opposite side as Fassed walked towards the prince with long purposeful strides. He glanced disdainfully at the servant.

"I will take it from here." he said abruptly. The servant bowed slightly and hurried away. Fassed took Xerxes by the shoulders and led him through several rooms, to a doorway that was blocked by a thick purple curtain.

"Now, Prince…" Fassed paused and looked expectantly at Xerxes.

"Xerxes." Xerxes replied quickly, somewhat embarrassed.

"Prince Xerxes." Fassed spat the name out like it was poison. "You should know that King Bahram is in a terrible state. Princess Amira has gone missing as of a day ago."

Xerxes looked at Fassed in alarm. "Missing!" he squawked. Fassed put a finger to his lips.

"Not so loud, you will wake the king." Fassed replied. Xerxes nodded. "It is believed that Princess Amira has been stolen."

Xerxes looked at Fassed curiously, not quite believing his words. What if this was just a ploy to keep Xerxes away from the princess. Xerxes reflected on that possibility. He was handsome, smart, brave and most of all he was a prince. No, there was no way this was a set up.

Xerxes nodded thoughtfully and Fassed looked at him appraisingly. If this prince was like any others, Fassed could easily predict his next words.

"I will find the Princess Amira and I will rescue her from her captors!" Xerxes proclaimed valiantly. Fassed smiled and nodded his approval.

"I will inform the king at once of our new…hero." He paused before the words hero, looking at Xerxes somewhat disdainfully. Xerxes did not notice, as he was already focusing on his task at hand. "Go, the servants will help you prepare for the journey." Xerxes nodded and turned dramatically away, striding down the hall and into one of the rooms. He was quickly guided out by a servant and led to another room.

Fassed smiled cunningly. The princes were all the same. And Fassed sincerely doubted that this prince would be able to find the princess, as she was in a place you could only find if you knew what you were looking for.

And this prince clearly had no idea what he was in for.

So yeah I have introduced a new character. I hope it doesn't seem too sudden. Fassed kind of reminds me of Jafar, in fact, he may have been inspired by Jafar. I was going to wait until I got more reviews, but I decided to be nice, you better review!

My Reviewers:

Metaphorical: well, heres your update.

Glitterpoison: ;-)