The Snake Princess (Magi Fanfiction)

Chapter seven

Chapter seven

Amirah woke with a pounding head and aching arms. She tried to move them, but they were suspended above her head. Moving her legs was useless as well, they were also cuffed to what she assumed was the wall behind her.

Shaking her head, Amirah opened her eyes. She was in some kind of brick cell, with a closed iron door across the room. There wasn't much of anything in the small room. A metal bed built into the wall to the right. There was a small iron slot in the door, probably big enough to fit a small tray of food. The floor was swaying slightly, suggesting they were on a ship. A room this hefty is on a ship?

Amirah tried to remember how she got here. The last thing she could recall was Zaahira escaping while she was knocked out by a pair of masked strangers. Did Zaahira and Akido escape safely? Sinbad's ship should have been there soon. If Zaahira had gotten to the ship safely, surely Sinbad would send someone to find her. Armakan would be angry. Would he even let Amirah stay in Sindria? Probably not.

Another worry came to mind: her metal vessel. Looking down, Amirah saw she wasn't wearing her normal clothing, but her underwear and a short tanktop. Her naval was completely exposed, and although in vain, she tried to cover it.

"Is it true you Heliohaptians are embarrassed by showing your navals?" A new voice suddenly asked. It was a man, who entered the room and locked the door behind him.

"Who are you?" Amirah asked, her voice shaking.

"Don't worry about that," The man strolled over to Amirah. He ran a hand along her side and over her exposed stomach, making her squirm. "You can call me Lee, if you must."

"L-Lee?" What a strange name... "Where am I?"

"I think it's time I asked a few questions, not you," Lee spoke. "This will go quickly and painlessly if you just cooperate, got it?"

Amirah pressed further, "What do you want with Sindria?"

Lee sighed, "Are you done?"

"Where is Zaahira?"

"You're friend?" Lee assumed. "Sadly, she escaped. Along with your snake."

Amirah let out a relieved sigh. "What do you want?"

"Tell me everything you know about King Sinbad."

"King Sinbad?"

"Yes. And everything you know about Sindria, and the Seven Seas Alliance. Everything." Lee demanded.

"I don't know anything..." Amirah replied. It wasn't a lie. "I've only been in Sindria for a few weeks. Before that I was in Heliohapt."

"Remember what I said about making this quick and easy?" Lee looked at her with raised eyebrows, expecting a reply.

"I'm not lying! I don't know anything about him! He's a good king!"

"Oh, how naive you are..." Lee shook his masked head. He reached into one of his robe's sleeves, pulling out a small knife. He looked up at Amirah, "One more time... Tell me everything."

~

Zaahira ran as fast as she could. She didn't care what she ran into, or that Akido was still angry and hissing. She just kept going, her lungs burning for air.

She ran until she reached the opposite side of the island, where she stopped to catch her breath. Looking around, she could see the ship Amirah's captors had arrived on already sailing away. It was surprisingly fast, already almost too far out for the blonde to see. Even if a Sindrian ship arrived soon for her, they'd never be able to track Amirah. Zaahira sat in the sand and silently apologized to the princess. There was nothing I could do...

~

Several hours later, a ship bearing the Sindrian flag arrived with the generals Pisti and Ja'far on board.

Zaahira ran up to them, tears welling in her eyes. Just as they docked the ship, she called, "Ja'far! Pisti! A-Amirah was-! She- She..." She couldn't get the words out.

"Zaahira, calm down," Ja'far tried to soothe her, he and Pisti running off the ship at her cries. "What happened?"

Zaahira took a deep, shaky, breath. "These strange people came to the island when we got out of the dungeon. We tried to hide from the people but they got Princess Amirah and they were saying stuff about Sindria and- and-!" Her words were rushed and blended in with each other, making her almost impossible to understand.

"Please, Zaahira, calm down," Ja'far placed his hands on her shoulders, keeping his tone even and calm despite the situation. "Where did they take her?"

"On a ship..." Zaahira pointed to where the ship had disappeared from view several hours before. "They... I think they want information on Sindria." She began to relax some. The two generals looked very concerned, but were trying to hide it. "Do you know who would want information on King Sinbad?"

"Of course," Pisti replied. "Lot's of people would."

"We need to get back to Sindria," Ja'far decided.

"If we fly on my birds we'll be much faster," Pisti suggested.

"Then that's what we'll do," Ja'far nodded. He turned back to Zaahira, "Are you alright?"

"Yes...I think I'm okay."

Pisti whistled, beckoning two large, white, birds to land beside her. "Alright, hop on!"

"You can ride with me, Zaahira," Ja'far offered, and the blonde nodded, climbing on to one of the birds behind the white haired male.

~

Amirah cried out in pain as Lee cut deep into her skin. He wasn't listening to her. No matter how many times she said she knew nothing about Sinbad, he kept insisting she did.

"P-Please..." Amirah's voice cracked. The soft skin on the inside of her arms and exposed stomach were covered in cuts ranging in severity. Luckily, none of them would prove fatal, but if things were to continue like they were, they very well could be. "I'm just a-a princess. I have no real power. I-I don't get access to the information you're looking for. Brother Armakan tells me nothing."

"Armakan, eh?" Lee paused his crafting. "Tell me, what's his metal vessel like? What kind of magic does he use?"

"H-His metal vessel?" Amirah echoed. Could the name of her brother's djinn be dangerous to share? Surely not... It was just a name. They couldn't get any other information on his powers just from that. Besides, maybe Lee would spare her for a while... "The djinn's name is Vassago... but I've never seen Brother use him, so I'm not sure of anything else."

"Who else is of significance in your country?" Lee continued to ask, resting the blade against her stomach, but not pressing down hard yet.

"Uhm..." I'm sorry, Brother...Sinbad...but I don't think this is too harmful, right? "There are a few high-ranking families of healers, I couldn't name all of them..." At least it was partly true.

"Name as many as you can."

"Ah... Carmen? The Carmen's are a more well-know family." Amirah recalled.

"Name the family members and their magic types and skills," Lee ordered.

"I don't know all that..." Lee pressed the blade a little harder. "I-I swear! I know they have a son...and a while ago tone of them got kicked out of the Royal Palace, b-but besides that I don't know anything, I swear!"

"What's their magic, then?" Lee lightly dragged the blade around her body, careful not to draw blood.

Amirah cringed. "Most Heliohaptian magicians specialize in Life Magic. Especially healing magic..."

"Good, good. Thank you, princess. Really, you're helping us out a lot!" Lee grunted and dug the knife into her forearm. "Hold onto that for me, will ya? We're almost to shore."

Amirah screamed in pain, squirming although it was useless. "Where are you taking me?!"

"Don't worry about it." Lee said simply, walking from the cell and locking the door behind him.

~