"En-nii-sama, Mei-nii-sama, I hope you had a pleasant trip," Kougyoku greeted her brother, Ren Kouen, bowing with her hands clasped in front of her. The emperor had arrived with his contingent in a flying carpet which landed directly on the garden outside the banquet hall. The princess had rushed out to meet her special guests, ushering them into the hall and asking the servants to prepare their rooms in the palace. "Thank you for taking the time to attend my wedding. I'm really happy you're here,"
"Of course, I wouldn't miss this for the world, little sister," Kouen smiled kindly at the princess. Aside from the fact that the emperor did care for the happiness of his sister, it was also a bonus to see all his good friends who will be attending as well. Also, it wouldn't hurt to bully the famous Merchant King, Alibaba, before the wedding. Making the blonde cry had always been a hoot and a half.
Koumei patted his little sister on the head, "Congratulations on your marriage, little sister. I hope he's everything you'd ever wish for,"
Kougyoku beamed gleefully at her brothers. After the war, the Ren family had become closer than ever. It must have been because of the pressure of the presence of the previous empress that they had grown apart from each other. Now they shared bonds as befitting of real siblings. "Don't worry, nii-sama, he's already more than I could dream of,"
"Emperor Kouen, I see you're still sporting that horrid goatee,"
Kouen glanced over to the smiling pregnant queen, "Ah, Queen Hakuei, you wound my fragile heart. How's the pregnancy going?" the emperor pretended to look hurt before he bent down to kiss the offered hand of his sister.
Hakuei laughed as she took the emperor's hand and placed it on her belly, "Find out for yourself. The baby started kicking when you came near," and indeed, the emperor could feel the little one pushing against his palm.
The emperor smiled, though a corner of his mouth twitched, trying to hide his horror at the thought of another infant peeing in excitement at the mere sight of him. Little Badr had burned him more than once. Speaking of the child…
"I think you'd like to see what I picked up from the docks," and as if on cue, the little boy popped out from behind his shoulder, grinning toothily at his mother who had been more than a little surprised at the sight of him.
"Mommy!" Badr proceeded to make himself comfortable by sitting on the emperor's shoulders, Kouen holding on to his feet to keep the boy from falling over. The little boy had talked him into surprising his mother, latching onto his back as they had landed on the garden. It was amazing he had kept quiet the whole time.
"What are you doing here, Badr?" the queen gasped, wondering how the little boy had gotten into the emperor's hands, "Where is your father?"
"I lost him," the boy pouted, but then he instantly recovered and stated, "But look, I found En-ji!" The boy was so proud of accomplishment, he was radiating sparkles.
Hakuei sighed, moving to sit back down. "Well, I'm glad nothing happened to you," then her features darkened as an ominous aura emanated from her, "I will have a nice talk with your father about this," the queen said, tone laced with veiled irritation.
Kouen and Koumei watched her nervously. Hakuei had said her last statement with a foreboding smile. A normal angry Hakuei was a force to reckon with, but a pregnant angry Hakuei…even Kouen doubted if he stood a chance. And for the king to misplace their son when his wife was especially hormonal and overprotective…the brothers shuddered at the horrors that would befall the High King of the Seven Seas.
The queen turned to Sindria's magician general, and said in a sickeningly sweet voice, "Please call my dear husband and his generals to the palace now." Yamraiha gave her an affirming nod. "Oh, and tell them that if I don't see them all here in 20 minutes, I'd make them swim all the way back to Sindria-," and she added with a sadistic smile, "While pulling the ship,"
Titus and Marga laughed in their seats as Badr stood in front of their pet cat, Maron, eyes wide in wonder as the cat yawned, and then nuzzled the little boy, earning a loud giggle from the boy as he hugged the cat's nose which was just as big as his head. The huge cat had been a gift from Sindria, courtesy of Pisti, for Marga's birthday two years before. It had just been weaned from its mother, and looked every bit like a normal kitten. And then it grew…Sphintus had blamed Titus and Marga for spoiling the cat too much and for his continuous nightmares about the two of them just keeping him around as a reserve in case they run out of sacrifices for their cat's next meal.
"Up you go," Titus held the boy up and placed him on top of the cat then the Magi helped Marga into their pets back again in order to hold Badr. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see an enormous storm brewing over the Sindrian congregation. "Let's go for a walk in the gardens, shall we?" he said, patting the cat. Maron walked forward, much to Badr's glee.
"Wait, Titus. Dunya wants to ride too," Aladdin stood up from his seat with Dunya in his arms, handing her over to Marga waiting arms, who held the little girl with one hand and Badr the other, "Are you alright, Marga?"
Marga nodded happily, "Yes, I'm fine." Just then, she had to get Badr to stop bouncing in anticipation as he pleaded to get going already.
"Alright. But tell me if you're having trouble holding them," Titus smiled at her reassuringly as they walked out into the balmy night air.
Aladdin quietly observed his two friends before bowing out of the little excursion silently, sneaking back to his seat. The night was young and there were lots of fresh hot food being laid out on the tables. The banquet was just starting, but his best friend, the groom was still nowhere to be found. Wondering where his friend might be, Aladdin grabbed a freshly baked biscuit and munched on it as he crossed the room, only to be lifted into the air by Kin Gaku, En's household vessel who had a pig nose. "Eh?" he blinked as he was carried back into the middle of the room.
"Care for some company, Magi?" the emperor smirked as Aladdin was dropped down on the seat across the table from him, sitting properly, albeit looking nervous, all thoughts of looking for his best friend gone from his mind.
Over by the Sindrian delegation, the night had just started.
"You were being careless with our son again!" the queen said, glaring daggers at her beloved husband.
Sinbad laughed sheepishly, hands coming up in surrender, "Come on, honey, he made it back alright. Can't we just forget about this? I promise I won't take my eyes off him again…ever." Their son was really strong, though he had to admit the boy knew squat about protecting himself.
The queen gave him a withering look, "No, you always say that and then it's the same story again. And what was that explosion earlier?"
"There were some fire dancers and Badr knocked over some wine kegs when he was climbing onto the roof…" the queen drew a sharp intake of breath but her husband just went on, "But the point is, aren't we all here already, safe and sound? Isn't that what's important?" Sinbad quirked his eyebrows, trying to look and sound convincing but failing miserably, judging from his wife's deteriorating mood.
Hakuei huffed indignantly, "You never learn," she said, giving up on lecturing her husband, so she just called over her shoulders, "Generals!"
One by one, the six generals who had accompanied the king that afternoon stood up in attention and saluted her, "Yes, Queen Hakuei!" they all said in unison.
Pisti and Yamraiha tried to stop themselves from laughing out loud in their seats from how stiff the men looked as they stood before the queen. Ever since the prince could walk, this had been a normal occurrence with the lot of them. While the two of them always accompanied the queen, the other generals and Sinbad always watched over the little boy and almost, always gets into trouble. It seems the seven of them combined were still having a hard time chasing after Sinbad's progeny. They actually feared that it might kill the men when the next one was added into the mix.
"Tie him up to that pillar over there," Hakuei pointed to a dark corner of the hall, and then she walked back to her seat, "And don't give him anything for tonight." She added as she was helped back to her seat by Seisyun Ri. She ignored the king who followed her to her seat and tried to apologize over and over again.
"Wait, Queen Hakuei!" Jafar stepped forward and bowed his head again, "As vassals, we'd like to ask for your forgiveness on behalf of our king. His actions also reflect our inability to keep watch on our prince and as such, we're liable to accept the same punishment as our lord," the other generals seconded his motion.
"Guys…you…I know I could count on you!" Sinbad was touched by his generals vouching for him, walking back to them with tears in his eyes and his arms spread wide. He was almost certain that Hakuei never punished subordinates though that means he always get the brunt of her fury when he does something unpleasant. But this time might be an exception since it was rare that his generals stuck with him and didn't immediately abandon ship whenever they were coming up against the Sindrian queen. She would most likely end up sparing all of them.
"Fine then, if you really want to get him out of this, you're all banned from alcohol for the entire week." The queen said uncompromisingly as she nursed a cup of tea handed to her by a giggling Pisti.
Silence hung over their side of the hall like sudden death, Sinbad's hopeful smile slowly fading as his generals didn't respond. "Guys?" It seems that the queen was especially unforgiving this time.
"…you said that pillar over there, right?" Jafar asked. Hakuei nodded.
"Eh?" Sinbad blinked as Drakon and HInahoho grabbed his arms.
"Friends?" Sharrkan was unraveling a rope he got seemingly out of nowhere, an unapologetic look in his eyes.
"Comrades?" Masrur was looking at him with a more deadpanned expression than usual. It seems the ex-gladiator was a bit miffed that they forgot to wake him up when he had doze off in one of the tables they had come across. He barely made it in time to the queen's 20-minute window time.
The queen smiled triumphantly as the king was carried away, struggling against his captors.
"You traitors! I'll never forget this!" the king cried as he was dragged to the corner of the hall. "You bastards!"
Aladdin made his way out of the hall near midnight. Kouen had finally decided to retire to his chambers and had let him go. The young Magi was exhausted. Dealing with the emperor had always made him nervous. The man always had questions and wouldn't stop until the Magi had answered all of them, even managing to pry some secrets out of him. He was pretty sure he had divulged enough state secrets of Magnostadt to earn himself a lifetime of incarceration. Aladdin cried in defeat. He just hopes Kouen would never tell anyone about those-things-that-should-never-be-mentioned.
He passed by the dark corner of the hall where some ropes were on the ground next to the pillar. The sight made him crack a smile. No matter how strict Queen Hakuei was with her husband, she really loved him a lot. Barely an hour had passed after he was tied to the pillar and left alone before the queen had casually strolled over to her sulking husband. When Aladdin glanced over their way again, the queen was sitting in the king's lap, feeding him grapes, apparently forgiven. It seems the generals had tied him sitting down on purpose, knowing the queen would cave sooner than later. Aladdin grinned sheepishly. No wonder the king never learns. The two had stayed contentedly in their dark little corner all throughout the banquet, until Badr, who had been entertained by Titus and Marga all night, had come yawning, asking to be put to bed. And thus, the king was freed.
It took another hour after that for Kouen to get tired of him, though it seems the emperor had reserved some more questions, judging from the way he ended the night- by inviting him to his chambers. Aladdin politely refused, much to the emperor's dismay.
He walked by the Yambala gladiators and their master in the corridor, who were returning to their rooms and bid them a good night. Aladdin rubbed his tired muscles as he came into the courtyard, where much to his chagrin, no one had bothered to pick Alibaba from.
"Ah, how lucky. I was just about to come looking for you,"
Aladdin's gaze snapped towards the person stepping out of the shadows, walking towards him, the Magi's body tensing as the figure came closer. "Kouha?" he called, his voice almost coming out in a whisper. He shivered as the prince stopped in front of him, running a hand down his cheek in a light caress. Aladdin looked up at the prince's face, and his breath hitched as Kouha suddenly closed his mouth over his. He winced when the prince bit his lower lip before pulling away, smirking at him and caressing his cheek again. "Since when did you arrive?" the Magi asked, not bothering to get the the prince out of his personal space, it would be useless anyway. The prince was now draped over him, an arm hanging over his shoulder and the other curled around his back.
"Just now. Gyoku had my servants taken to our rooms. She told me to take Baba-kun inside but I don't really feel like it," Kouha tutted, slowly tightening his arms around the Magi.
Aladdin breathed deeply, not sure how he felt about his reaction to the prince's advances. He found himself pressing towards the other man, the warm body a sharp contrast to the cold night air, "I'd take him to his bedroom, then. It would be bad if he gets a cold,"
"Leave him. Gyoku will come back here to check if I really did take him, anyway." Kouha sneered, pulling away from Aladdin.
The Magi hated that he almost missed his warmth. And that Kouha seemed to have noticed, judging by the self-satisfied look in his eyes. The prince took his hand and held it to his own cheek, kissing the Magi's palm as he did so. The prince chuckled as the Magi's cheeks flushed, his other hand crumpling his black robes. He smirked; delighted by the effect he had on the blue-haired Magi, "Stay with me tonight."
Aladdin was captivated by the other man's visage half-shadowed by the moonlight and the only answer he could give was a breathless, "Yes,"
When the footsteps had completely dwindled, Alibaba sat up, rubbing his aching forehead. His body ached from lying on the hard concrete for too long. And he can't believe even his own soldiers and servants had been so heartless as to leave him there all night. They must have grown accustomed to him lying unconscious on the ground, seeing as Kougyoku often drowned him and when he had been with Morgiana, well, he can't do anything about her, the girl was a freaking Fanalis. He had a nagging feeling he had been a masochist all along, judging from his choice of women.
"Kougyoku," he called into a seemingly empty courtyard, but the sound of rustling fabric proved otherwise. Out stepped his fiancé from the shadows of a corridor adjacent to the main one where Kouha and Aladdin had disappeared into. "You're mean. You let me miss the banquet," he complained, though he reached for her to pull her into his lap.
Kougyoku obliged him, and after settling in a comfortable position, pulled out a handkerchief and wiped her fiancé's face. "I figured you might want the night off before my family bullies you until the wedding," she explained herself dutifully, "See? Kouha almost left you outside for the night. You should be thankful I had the mind to check,"
Alibaba grumbled under his breath, "That cheeky bastard…"
The princess smiled as she clapped her hands together, "Though I'm really glad I finally know what's going on with Aladdin and Kouha. They're lovers, right?" she blinked at him expectantly. It was one of the theories she had actually proposed when he and Morgiana were wondering about it. When he had asked when she had gotten that idea, the princess had said she had observed such behavior from another couple. Alibaba had been surprised at who they are; one of them did have a tendency to chase after another man.
Nevertheless, Alibaba wished that Kougyoku was right about the third prince and his Magi, though. But Aladdin's uneasy demeanor around the other man left him wondering, "Lovers, huh?"
I rushed a bit. I want to throw in Hakuryu, Judal and Morgiana to the wedding already! hehe