Chapter 2: Tiny Sorceress
The meal turned out to be a truly exotic treat. Cyra was an excellent cook. There were bowls of rice with roasted meat, lamb, chicken and fish! Even Doubar was take aback by the lavish spread. All the dishes were flavored with saffron, dried limes, cinnamon and parsley. For dessert, Cyra brought out an amazing variety of pomegranates, pears, plums, grapes and melons. She also interspersed the dishes with small bowls of long dates.
"I have eaten these dates only during my voyages and that was nearly ten years ago!",reminiscence Sinbad, fondly. He pushed Maeve to try the truly original dishes of Persia. The others needed no such compulsion. They ate to their heart's content.
"You still didn't tell us the secret to your good fortune,Talia",reminded Doubar, drowning a tall mug of wine.
"Yes, well",replied Talia,in hearty modesty. "I decided to turn moral after our last tryst with the "eye of kratos".. "
Rongar and Firouz immediately shot knowing looks and nodded fervently.
"...and that's when I ran into the Caliph of Mansour. He wanted me to sail the seven seas and rescue his beloved niece from her kidnappers in Persia-"
"Isn't that a long way to take the poor girl just to blackmail her uncle for gold?",asked Firouz. He was torn by feelings of empathy towards Cyra's sufferings. "Perhaps we should not talk of such disturbing memories when the danger is clearly behind us-"
"Yes, I agree",said Talia,stoutly. "With just this one moral quest, I have amassed so much wealth. This doing good business, really pays off,doesn't it?"
Doubar glanced darkly at Sinbad. "We wouldn't know. Sinbad has quite the generous heart that he sometimes requests no payment at all for his daring deeds!"
Sinbad felt cornered. "Oh come on, when did I-"
"Defeating Vincenzo-",said Doubar.
"The mid-air battle in Mirhago",added Firouz.
"Destroying Vatek the Ghoul",retorted Maeve. They laughed at Sinbad's open-mouthed expression for this was one of the rare occasions when the crew managed to get one up on their charming Captain. Rongar smiled and thumped Sinbad on the back that they were only kidding.
Sinbad turned to Cyra,"Talia tells me that you are quite the sailor-"
Cyra instantly choked over her spoonful of rice. Doubar handed her a glass of water in concern. With superb mastery of emotions,Cyra managed to smile through tears to the Captain."Yes.. yes I am", she managed weakly.
"So, how exactly did you plan your rigging to get the best of the wind in the sails?"
Cyra stared blankly at this. "I..I.." She turned innocently to Talia. "What is this rigging?",she asked.
Sinbad shot a disappointed look at Talia. He didn't need further proof than this to know that Cyra knew as much about boats as they knew about Firouz's crazy science. He grew distant at once and signaled for his crew to return to the Nomad. "After all..",he said."Talia still has her mission to complete and we mustn't be in the way-"
"Oh,come on-",argued Talia, realizing full well that Sinbad suspected she was up to her old tricks again. With several protests, she followed Sinbad and the men to the upper deck leaving Maeve alone with Cyra.
"Your Captain Sinbad", remarked Cyra, thoughtfully. "-he has great kindness in his eyes."
Maeve returned a smile and continued feeding pieces of meat to Dermott.
"He is very handsome!", commented Cyra with a laugh. She saw the look on Maeve's face and clarified, "I meant your bird"
"His name is Dermott and he is a hawk"
"Haha.. I too can-",began Cyra, excitedly and then covered her mouth with a start. She looked mildly distressed.
"What's the matter?",asked Maeve.
"Nothing I.. It's nothing..",replied the Persian girl. "I am unfamiliar with your world. I am always afraid that I might speak things I shouldn't" She bustled around the table, hastily stacking dirty plates and vessels in her hands. She made quick trips to the next room to deposit them on the counters. "Captain Talia admonishes me often to speak only the things which she instructs. Perhaps it is my incompetence that makes her nervous-"
"Talia? Nervous? That's a first!", huffed Maeve scornfully. "Listen, don't let her boss you around-"
"Indeed ,I cannot ignore her kindness in rescuing me from my lonely abode. And now that I am surround by so many people, I am at a loss on what to speak or how to behave-"
"May I see your amulet?", requested Maeve. "A family heirloom perhaps to ward off evil spirits?"
"Of course you may see it",replied Cyra, slipping off her chain. "It holds no purpose that I know of. Nothing can really harm me-"
Maeve gently fingered the rustic necklace made with a large blue stone nestled deeply in abstract wisps and swirls of silver surrounding its borders. The blue stone weighed heavily on its silver chain and seemed to contain delicate spires of green and brown that blended into each other like colors when first introduced in a bowl of water. "It's beautiful",whispered the sorceress, captivated by the stone. She padded after Cyra into the next room. "I think it's time Dermott and I joined the others-"
Maeve stopped dead in her tracks.
By the number of crockery that Cyra had carried to the room, the counters should be overflowing with plates and bowls. But there was not a vessel in sight - not even a spoon. And Cyra was disposing them with a flick of her hands. She reeled in surprise to see Maeve behind her. Maeve stepped back and Cyra anxiously stammered, "D..don't panic. I..I can explain.."
Things began to happen fast. Talia came bounding down the stairs and saw the astonishment on Maeve's face.
"You didn't?", snapped Talia at Cyra, who nodded piteously. "Get her out of my sight at once!"
"Don't come near me! I'm warning you!",yelled Maeve, hands outstretched and bracing herself against the counter for her fireball attack. Talia crossed her legs and calmly waited outside for the fiasco to end. After a while, there was silence.
"Maeve is gone?", asked Talia, stepping in to inspect the room. "Good! Now, no more foul-ups. Just let me return you to your Uncle and collect my reward!"
"Yes, Captain", said Cyra, cupping her hands in front of her and sidling away to the stairs. "Only let me say good-bye to the others. They are going to think it extremely strange and rude if I do not give my farewell-"
Cyra ran up the steps and gently opened her hands. Maeve stumbled up to her feet, struggling to keep balance in the wind. She nearly reeled when she saw Cyra's gigantic face looming up before her and her voice, like the sound of thunder in her ears. "I am sorry. I just didn't know what else to do. I couldn't get rid of you really-"
Maeve looked at herself and cried, "You shrunk me! You..you are.."
"A Jiniri..",replied Cyra, partly serious and partly relieved that her secret was finally known."Yes, I am. But you needn't be afraid. I could have sent you to the farthest reaches of the desert sand or to the darkest depths in the sea.. but instead I chose to reduce you in size so that my Captain does not see you. And now I shall return you safety to your friends."
Ignoring Maeve's protests, Cyra cupped her hands once again and approached Sinbad. "Farewell Captain and may good fortune and health follow you in all your voyages-" Sinbad turned to face her and Cyra carefully deposited Maeve on the hilt of Sinbad's sword. "Farewell, Cyra.. I hope you find happiness with your new life in Mansour" "Perhaps one day you will visit me at the Palace.. I am sure the Caliph would be very pleased!"
"Yes, perhaps I will", replied Sinbad, happily. He shook hands with her. "See, you are learning our customs already-" Cyra waved goodbye and the gangplank was drawn back up to her ship. The Black Rose began to sail ahead towards the welcoming waters of Mansour leaving the Nomad behind.
"Dermott, get the amulet". Maeve,clung for dear life to Sinbad's scabbard while communicating telepathically to her winged brother. "Get the amulet, quick!"
The hawk flew swift and sure to the lower deck of the Black Rose. The necklace lay exactly where Maeve had dropped it when she had shrunk in size. Dermott pecked at the chain and gripped it in his beak before flying back once again to the Nomad.
"Curses! The renowned Captain Sinbad and his infallible crew!",screamed the Caliph of Mansour, glaring at his mystical ball in fury."Why is that infernal pirate socializing with that do-gooder when she should be delivering her precious cargo posthaste! That is the reason we prefer pirates to do our dirty work in the first place! Pirates never socialize. They only kill and destroy!"
"This one seems to be the only exception", drawled Fatin from his seat beside the Caliph. "Still, it does not matter. Sinbad's ship is only passing through these waters. He would not come here"
"Perhaps...", admitted the Caliph, wiping the sweat from his forehead. "I suppose you are right." He turned with a look of worry to his Grand Vizier. "You don't think the Caliph of Baghdad has sent him here to snoop around, do you? Because if he did, we are in for it! Sinbad is no easy customer.. I've heard extraordinary tales of his valor, cunning and skill-We would be no match for him!"
"Come come, your Highness..", hushed Fatin, raising his palm and clouding the crystal ball much to the chagrin of the Caliph. "You mustn't let such outlandish thoughts disturb your serenity! Rejoice! Your turbulent wait of many years is finally at an end! Behold! Even as we speak, the key that unlocks the treasures of the powerful Djinn has arrived upon the shores of our fair City!" Fatin's oily, languid speech seemed like soothing music to the Caliph's ears. "Soon, very soon.. your Excellency will become a hundred times richer than the Caliph of Baghdad and Mansour will become the greatest ruling City in all Arabia!"
Sinbad strolled across the deck of his ship, blissfully unaware that his every swinging step, his back leg pushing through and his foot rolling from heel to toe was posing a serious threat to Maeve's precarious perch on his sword's hilt. She locked her arms around the tang and screamed her presence at the top of her lungs. But at the worst of timing,a strong sea breeze drowned out her voice completely.
"You know, Maeve's feminine intuition may be right this time", confessed Sinbad to Doubar. "Talia is definitely up to something-"Maeve grit her teeth. She hated it when Sinbad casually brushed off her insights as feminine intuition.
"Her and her one-man crew!",laughed Doubar, heartily.
"Her one-woman crew",corrected Firouz,equally amused.