The Guarded Princess

XLV

Two months had passed since their visit to Fiore and days were peaceful, to say the least. With the reading glasses that Lucy had bought for them, work was getting done faster on Sinbad and Ja'far's part - to which the latter was more than thankful - and Yamraiha was advancing on the creation of her magic tools. The Kingdom of Sindria was still in the middle of winter and most of the time, Kouen, Sinbad, and the others were holed up in their chambers, not wishing to take a step out. Lucy and Masrur stayed in the greenhouse under the kotatsu and were often visited by Aladdin, Kouha, and the others once a week. Though, from time to time, they all gathered within the meeting room of the palace just to catch up and see how they were all faring with the cold winter.

But, recently, rumors had been going around and before long, it had reached the ears of Lucy. Rumors of an impending war were rising. 

Lucy and Masrur exchanged anxious glances with one another as Lucy hurriedly asked for her cloak and Masrur draped it over her shoulder as she tied the strings of the cloak together, the white fur lining it bundling up against her neck. Masrur, too, wore his and the two of them hurried out of the greenhouse. Lucy picked up her dress and ran to Sinbad's office and Masrur picked her up in his arms, worried that she would fall onto the snow.

"Thank you, Masrur," she panted.

"No problem," he said. "Picking you up like this would be faster. I'm sure you're just as worried as I am."

Lucy clenched her fist to her chest.

Masrur looked down at her before looking back up, clutching her tight. "Let's hurry."

"Yeah," she nodded her head.

Masrur ran towards the castle and the servants and soldiers all stepped to the side, surprised to see the two in such a hurry. Upon arriving at Sinbad's office, Masrur put Lucy down and she opened the door to the office, her face flushed from the coldness of the winter weather. Sinbad and Ja'far were there, their eyes widened in surprise at seeing her. They saw her hands tremble and shiver and Sinbad immediately stood up as Ja'far quickly went to give the two a blanket.

"Little princess, what b-" Sinbad was stopped short.

"Is it true?" she asked, her eyes holding a slight hint of fear but more than that, they were resolute and unwavering. "Is it true that there's going to be a war?"

Sinbad stared at her before giving a conflicted smile. He sat back down in his seat as Ja'far gestured for Masrur and Lucy to take a seat on the couch situated adjacent to Sinbad's desk. Masrur accepted the blankets and put one over Lucy first before putting one over himself.

"So you've heard, Lucy-sama," Ja'far said, returning back to Sinbad's side.

Lucy waited for Sinbad to answer.

"News travels quite fast, huh?" Sinbad chuckled but soon wiped off that expression off his face, his eyes now serious. "Little princess, even if a war was to come, what do you plan on doing? After all, a war is different from a battle."

Lucy narrowed her eyes. "That all depends on your answer, Sinbad."

Sinbad eyed her with his amber eyes and they held the same exact look as Lucy's. Though they weren't as serene as Lucy's, they were able to see through people and their intentions. But, even as he stared at her, she remained still without the slightest bit of hesitation. She was aware of the situation for a while but had made sure of it just today. After all, he could tell from her eyes that she had made a decision before coming here. The same went for Masrur as well.

He sighed and gave a helpless smile. "I can't win against you, little princess. Ja'far."

Ja'far nodded his head and looked towards the two.