When the day had started Sinbad had not imagined himself to be pinned up against a tent pole by a less that happy woman, with two of Generals missing and the distinct feeling he was under the effects of a Djinn. The day was definitely not going well; however, the latter would have to wait until later, if in fact he had a later, considering the look he was currently receiving. It was not for the first time he'd managed to annoy a woman to this extent, and probably wouldn't be the last. With hindsight, naming a certain group of assassins to a potential ex-member without a bit more explaining on his part was probably not the wisest thing he'd ever done, however, this time he didn't feel as though his actions warranted this response, random thoughts aside. During his brief, yet illuminating, conversation with the Princess Safiya, Sinbad had come to the conclusion that she may be related to Ja'far, his Vizier, best friend and ex-assassin, not occurring to him that she may also have a similar disposition when pushed, if his deductions turned out to be true. It was also obvious that, as far as Ja'far was concerned, she did not believe him in the slightest.
"I didn't ask you for lies about my brother; I asked you how you know that name!" Safiya repeated venomously, still only a whisper, eyes narrowing dangerously as her grip tightened on the front of his clothes. She didn't appear to be armed, minus her metal vessel, though he could surmise she probably had more on her than met the eye. Her other hand was resting on her side, her body pushing up against his to help hold him in place with her face inches away from his own, her right knee placed precariously between his legs, leaving Sinbad caught somewhere between fear and arousal.
"We had a... run in a while back, but I assure you Safiya-hime, I am not lying about your brother, Ja'far, I truly believe they're the same person", replied Sinbad calmly, whilst slowly raising his arm to place it around the one gripping his front, being careful to keep eye contact and not make any sudden movements, after all, he liked his arm, and his life.
"You don't simply have a 'run in' with assassins, let alone find out the name of their group. How do I know you weren't sent from them? It has been years since I left but I had a feeling they wouldn't just let that slide", pinning his arm down as she continued, "They don't let those who know about them go so easily".
"Safiya-hime, why would I, the King of Sindria, have been sent here by assassins?" His patience was starting to wear thin; his fake smile no longer plastered on his face, instead an icy stare encroached on his features as his true emotions started to seep through.
"And how do I even know that you are who you say you are? You claim to have come with two of your Generals, but where are they? Conveniently out of the way it would seem, I mean seriously, what kind of an idiot would just jump into a battle with only two men? You expect me to believe that? I don't think it's beyond their capabilities to disguise themselves as someone else, I'm sure Al Tharmen could even create a convincing Djinn equip if they had to".
He had to admit, he had never really put much thought into whether Al Tharmen's magicians could replicate the powers of a Djinn, after all, why bother taking Judal if that was the case. However, he could understand why she might think that way, but the biggest blow was being called an idiot by someone else. Yes, he already knew it, and she was right, thinking back, what kind of an idiot really did just jump in without any idea of the militaristic tactics each side might be employing. Realising he might be losing this particular battle, Sinbad decided to switch to a tactic he rarely used now, complete honesty.
"Yes, I will admit, I can understand why you might think this way, if you'll give me chance I will explain everyth-"
"Safiya-sama, we've found the Knight you were looking for", one of the women she'd sent of previously, he couldn't remember which one, came bounding through the tent opening followed, to his complete relief, by Spartos. He didn't notice when she had moved away, but somewhere during the interruption, Princess Safiya had ended up on the other side of the tent, a perfect smile placed upon her face as if the previous conversation had never happened. It took Sinbad a second to realise that it was only Spartos that was entering.
"Oh, Elaine, thank you"
"Spartos! I'm relieved to see you're ok, is Ja'far with you?"
"I'm afraid not, I'm not sure what happened after the battle, I simply remember waking up in one of these tents".
"Not a problem Safiya-sama, it seems some of our men saw the armour and thought he was one of our own. We have yet to find the other General you mentioned, but we're still looking. I shall leave you and continue the search".
"I see", concern creasing his face as the woman left the tent, but he understood if he was to get any help from Mercia, he would need to clear up the misunderstanding first. "I was just informing Safiya-hime here of how we came to be caught up in the battle, and how it was my fault that both you and Ja'far were put in danger. I am sorry, Spartos, but I'm hoping with the Mercians help that we will locate Ja'far as soon as possible", a tentative look towards Princess Safiya made a cold shudder run down his spine. Plastered across her face was the same smile he so often used to cover up his true emotions, yet some of the anger was clearly visible in her eyes.
"Please don't feel you need to apologise to me, my King", Spartos began whilst bowing in respect, "Whilst you tactic was...unusual, I don't believe you would put us in danger on pur...pose" he trailed off, noticing the look on his Kings face as he faced Princess Safiya. Returning to his upright position as said Princess' attention moved to him, wasn't she the girl Ja'far-dono was so interested in earlier?
"It's nice to meet you; I am Princess Safiya Pendraeg of Mercia, as the one who released my Extreme Magic without fully making sure I was only aiming at Kou, I apologise", she offered a polite bow in his direction. "If you would be so kind, could you please explain how you came to be here?"
Noticing the slight pleading from his King, Spartos continued to explain the events of that day, from the carriage suddenly stopping, to them moving forward into the battle and King Sinbad's reasoning behind the rash decision, and how both he and Ja'far realised too late what was happening, although he kept out the fact the staring, Ja'far-dono probably wouldn't want that known.
"So, King Sinbad, it would appear that you have told me the truth up until now, so are you perhaps suggesting that your other General, Ja'far, is missing? Maybe even with the Kou Empire?" Princess Safiya piped up after the explanation, eerily calmly considering the glint in her eye.
"Ah, yes, it would seem that way, probably...", he trailed off, the fear from earlier starting to creep back as the Princess' smile grew wider, in a scary, maniacal way, she might be scarier than Ja'far, Sinbad thought to himself, calculating the possibility of his death at this current moment.
"So then" still calmly, "you must also be suggesting that you've just lost my brother, who I haven't seen for 16 years and who I believed to be dead, to an enemy that will kill him if they find out who he is!?"
Ahhhh, yep, I'm definitely going to die.
Night had fallen, the only light illuminating the small room came from the moon above, twinkling stars scattering the remainder of the sky with not a cloud in sight. It was a cold night, and the thin Sindrian robes didn't do much to help block out the gentle breeze that came passing through the small window, but he had dealt with much worse than this. In the distance he could pick out the glow of little fires sporadically lighting up the army camp/colony he was currently in, as the men huddled around them for warmth. Even from his cell Ja'far could tell that the mood outside was somewhat sombre, there was no laughter or revelry you would expect from the standard foot soldiers that comprise the majority of an army. They had made it out alive, but they had still lost, and not honourably in battle whilst giving it their all, they had, it would seem, been knocked out by an opponent that, in their eyes at least, hadn't deemed them a big enough threat to completely annihilate, he'd heard some of the younger soldiers complaining about this earlier as they had walked past his miniature prison, debating if their skills really were good enough.
It was this hesitant and unsure attitude that Ja'far planned to use to his advantage. He could be pretty sure that sooner or later one of the Ren siblings (most likely Kouen) would give some encouraging speech to his men and rally up their spirits, all leaders did the same, and with this in mind if he was going to escape it would have to be now. As far as he knew, his blades were still hanging up just past his door, but his captors had failed to really search him. As had become habit, Ja'far kept an arrangement of little blades, small picks and files etc. hidden upon his person, sewn into the hems of his attire should he ever find himself in a situation such as this. He had just started to work on getting a pick out of his sash when he heard footsteps coming closer down the corridor, quickly folding it back into place and feigning sleep as his cell door was opened.
"You, wake up! Come on, quickly, get up!" Damn it! Ja'far thought as he was quite roughly kicked, he could tell by the voice that it was the older guard from earlier.
"Come on, Kouen-sama wants t' see ya. Best not keep 'im waiting". Brilliant he thought this day just keeps getting better and better.
As he was lead down out of his cell and down a corridor he noted that his blades had been removed and were no longer in sight, inwardly cursing himself for not moving faster, he was careful not to let those emotions show on his face. Instead he opted to stay silent throughout his brief journey to where Ren Kouen was situated. It seems as though he was in one of the few buildings completely finished, and as with everything in the Kou Empire, his surroundings were all red. The room itself seemed to be a spacious office, with delicate woodwork screens separating a slightly more private area to the back. Kouen was sat in an intricately carved, high backed, campaign chair at and equally intricate matching desk, crimson hair and eyes just as described. Behind him stood a man holding a feather fan in front of his face, another pair of red eyes and hair a similar hue tied up messily into a ponytail another Ren sibling presumably. From intelligence he had gathered he could pretty much assume that this was Ren Koumei, the second Prince of Kou who possessed a great mind and a similar position to himself, despite his looks apparently Ja'far noted smugly, he always took pride in being an ideally presented ambassador for his country and King.
"Thank you for bringing the prisoner to me, you may now leave", Kouen said, his expression not changing from one of slight boredom. Bowing respectfully, the guards that had brought him before Kouen quickly left, leaving him alone and basically unarmed with two men that possessed metal vessels and would more than likely not hesitate to torture him for information but I'll never betray Sin to them!
"It's a pleasure to make you're acquaintance Ren Kouen-sama, I am-"
"Oh, we know who you are, General from Sindria", Kouen cut in, a slight smile apparent and a malicious glint to his eye.
Shit!