The Snake Princess (Magi Fanfiction)

Chapter forty four

Chapter forty four

"Ah, King Armakan! It's an honor to have you in my country!" King Alexandros greeted the king in the same way he had Amirah, raising his arms and giving Armakan a broad smile.

The king of Heliohapt didn't reply, simply standing with his eyes closed and arms crossed as his assistant, Narmes Titi, stepped forward to speak, "Has Princess Amirah arrived yet?"

"She has!" King Alexandros confirmed. "She and those she came with are off touring the palace with my children. I can request for them to meet us in the courtyard if you'd like? We can talk more properly there." The king looked to Armakan, waiting for his reply.

"Yes, that sounds sufficient," Armakan nodded once, eyes remaining closed. Without moving he addressed his assistant, "Narmes, inform the magicians of our location before meeting us there."

"Of course," Narmes bowed his head momentarily before setting off to the docks where a group of Heliohaptian magicians awaited orders- just in case.

Marianna left shortly after as well, stating she was going to find Amirah and the others and that she'd meet them in the courtyard afterward.

As the two kings walked, Alexandros made conversation, unable to keep the skeptical amusement from his tone, "Did you really need to bring an army, King Armakan? It seems a bit...superfluous."

"Superfluous?" Armakan echoed, peeking one eye at the king. With a huff he said, "Hardly. It's merely a safety precaution. You'd act the same if the wedding was taking place in Heliohapt, wouldn't you?"

"I suppose..." King Alexandros scratched the back of his head with one hand. He looked Armakan over, eyeing the snake coiled around the king's body warily.

"You're not afraid of snakes, are you King Alexandros?" Armakan asked, not needing to open his eyes to know that the king was inspecting him while also keeping a distance.

"Of course not! It's just...a very interesting custom," Alexandros defended himself hurriedly, earning a giggle out of the twins trotting behind him. He cast a look at the pair, putting a finger up to his mouth to silence them.

Shaking the strange moment off, Alexandros gestured to a grand patio complete with a glass table and fancy chairs, offering King Armakan a seat. "Let's just wait here for now. I'm sure Princess Amirah will be here shortly..."

~

Zaahira found herself lost in thought as Cayden rambled on about the paintings hanging on the walls of the hallway they were walking through. Ja'far and Sharrkan were a few paces ahead of her, and even farther ahead was the brown haired assistant. Annalena, Alex, and Amirah had broken off into their own direction shortly after the tour began, Alex claiming he had something special he wanted to show just Amirah. Though she seemed extremely uneasy, Amirah had agreed to go with them.

Just before they had left, Cayden found them, apologizing for being late and blaming it on his seasickness before offering to continue the tour for Zaahira, Ja'far, and Sharrkan. His appearance seemed to surprise Annalena, who opened her mouth to speak only to be cut off by Cayden, who greeted her through gritted teeth, saying it'd been quite a while since they'd seen each other.

Her focus on Cayden's words fading completely, Zaahira frowned. Something wasn't adding up. She'd seen Cayden enter the same carriage as Alex, and he'd been perfectly fine. For that matter, Zaahira suddenly recalled seeing him on-deck of the ship walking around casually without a hint of motion-sickness.

"Hey! What are you doing?!" Sharrkan snapping at her shook Zaahira from her thoughts. She yelped as she butted heads with the general, who'd tripped and stopped walking as Zaahira stepped on the ball-and-chain he wore.