The months after Sinbad's scolding were slow. Mari didn't say much of anything and kept to her father's side most days. In fact, she had even attended several of her father's boring meetings. She sat quietly and obediently in the corner, watching her father conduct meeting after meeting with other important men.

Mari glanced over towards the window, towards the rows of new and shiny ships that brought the men from all over. Ships lined with gold paint and crisp, white sails, flying their country's flags.

Mari blinked again, watching the bird swoop around outside.

I wonder how Samu and Mauru are doing

The thought drifted out of her mind as quickly as it had entered. How where her friends?

"Anything particular on your mind, little miss?" Mari glanced up to see Hinahoho looming over her, a bright smile adorning his worn features.

"Nothing particularly interesting, tall sir." Mari leaned up against Hinahoho's side, fully aware that the man was just as uninterested in the meeting as she was. She heard Hinahoho chuckle and she was filled with a sense of ease.

It had truly been a long time, a few months at the most, since Mari had come to this place. Eight months to be exact.

To be honest, she felt that her friendships with her father's generals had grown in such a short time. She truly enjoyed every second she had, talking with Ja'far or watching Masrur and Morg train outside the palace walls. But a lot of her new comforts came from spending time with Hina, Ja'far and Spartos. Hearing them tell stories of old times, adventures.

It was invigorating to hear, really.

She was almost jealous.

"This is pretty boring, isn't it?" Hinahoho whispered, nudging Mari out of her thoughts.

Mari glanced over towards her father, who was now rubbing his temples due to the long and tedious meeting he was having.

Mari nodded slowly.

"How 'bout a little adventure of our own?"

At the very mention of an adventure she began to smile.

"I'll take that as a yes." Hinahoho smiled broadly as well.

"I've never been here before." Mari stared up through the spaces in the trees, blinking under the soft morning light. Hinahoho chuckled and smiled down at her.

"I'm glad you like it." Mari smiled and skipped out in front of Hinahoho.

Ask him if there's any particular reason he brought you out here.

"Hush." Mari shushed the tattered blade. It rattled in her hand before settling down again.

"What was that?" Hinahoho raised an eyebrow.

"Nothing." Mari smiled brightly, "It's just..."

"Hmm?"

"Why did you bring me here?"

It was silent for a while.

"I thought you'd...like it. I mean if you don't..."

"No, no! It's beautiful. Just...wondering." Mari looked down at the shiny metal where Mauru was hiding.

"If you really want to know," he scratched the back of this head, "I thought it would be a good place for you the train."

Mari's eyes lit up at his words.

"I know your dad wouldn't want you training to fight, but..." he pointed towards Samuda rattling in her hand. "What's the point of having a sword like that if you've got no place to use it."

He makes a pretty good point.

"Not sure. Guess I just..." Hinahoho sighed before glancing down at Mari again.

"Ah, nevermind. You wanna climb a tree or something?" Mari stared up at Hinahoho and smiled.

"I thought you'd never ask."

Sinbad groaned. It had been absolute hell meeting Tariq, a king from some far off place Sinbad had never traveled to before. He sighed. The king had spent most of the time talking about his son after seeing Mari sitting in the corner earlier in the morning.

"How old is she now?"

"About nine now I believe."

"Precious. Have one of my own about that age as well. Ten year old boy. Almost eleven now. Already a young man on his way to ruling his own kingdom" The king gave a hoarse chuckle.

Sinbad laughed as well.

It must be nice to have a son, an heir.

Sinbad jerked up, shocked by his own thoughts. How could he even...think that? Mari was his own princess and was more than capable of being an heir, more than capable of being his successor.

To think that he would even bring something like that into his mind was...blasphemous. He shook his head. He had been working for too long.

"Something bothering you, Sin?" Ja'far stepped into the conference room, arms full with various contracts and papers, no doubt for him to sign.

"Nothing interesting. Where's Mari?" Sinbad stood and dusted himself off.

"Hinahoho took her on a small 'adventure'." Ja'far shrugged. "I'm sure they'll be back soon enough."

Sinbad nodded, but didn't say much. Mari had been glued to his side almost every day since he had scolded her. If he was being honest, he felt guilty immediately after yelling at her.

He was just...worried. From what he knew about her, Mari had had quite a difficult life. Having such a horrible seeming mother must have been such a horrible experience for such a young child. And to live on ones own from such an early time must have been hard as well.

He'd heard of the fights, the gladiator rinks that had practically been around since he was young. And just the thought of Mari being in one, fighting in one, even being in the vicinity of one made his blood boil.

How could a mother, even a woman as horrible and god-awful as Shyra let a child fight to the death for money. It was barbaric.

Sinbad clenched his jaw. He could feel heat rising into his chest, as if at any moment he could spit fire.

There was one thing.

One thing.

The one thing Sinbad could never get out of his mind was the fact that he had never been with Shyra. Not while he was sober, at least. And there was absolutely no way he would be with such a venomous woman even if he were intoxicated.

This fact confused Sinbad.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Sinbad looked over towards his advisor and smiled.

"Of course. How cute of you to worry about me, Ja'far." Sinbad joked which immediately put Ja'far in a bad mood. He marched to Sinbad's desk and dropped the paperwork, then promptly left the room mumbling to himself.

Sinbad laughed, completely forgetting his prior thoughts.

Hello Readers, I am truly sorry for the very long hiatus that I have had over the years. I am so happy to see some of you are still interested in the story and hopefully it will be up to your expectation after waiting so long! Thank you so much for the support. Please enjoy the story and I will be posting again soon!