Of Magic and Sand

Chapter 5

"I can't believe it.....I can't believe I was such an idiot....." Zania thought to herself as she once again failed to free herself from the chains locking her to the wall. The guards had been particularly tough this time, not only binding her hands but also her feet as well with thick, heavy chairs. They had also gagged her with a heavy, metal gag that cut into her cheeks. Her neck ached from the weight of the device. She had tried screaming for help and hadn't been able to make anything other than a low hum. So she was stuck here, alone with her thoughts and the impending morning sunrise where she would surely be executed. Two hours ago the guards had come in, unlocked her, and had allowed her to bath and use the bathroom. They had taken her clothes and given her a dark grey itchy dress to wear. She was starting to doubt that they would come in again anytime soon though. Her mind went back to the Prince, how he had called her home beautiful, how he had admired her carved cat, and that smile. That handsome, sexy crooked smile that made her stomach flutter. Her mind fluttered from the scars on his arms to the rumors she heard in the market, to the look in his eyes when he had told her his fiancé to be had died, to the way he seemed to stumble through his sentences barely hanging on to the present as his memories consumed him. She wanted to save him, she wanted to be the one that made him smile again. And now, it seemed like it was too late. The morning was creeping nearer and nearer and so her time was running out.

Meow

Oki's head poked in from one of the high barred windows, a key dangling from her mouth.

Oki quickly saw her, and then made her way down the prison wall. The keys making jingling clinks as she jumped from pillar to pillar. Oki approached her, and then put the key in Ziana's bound hands. It took some maneuvering, but Ziana always fancied herself as somewhat of an escape artist and it wasn't too long before she was completely free. She removed the gag from her mouth and threw it across the room.

"There, that's much better"

Oki meowed loudly.

"Shhhh, come on. Let's get out of here."

She walked quietly towards the prison door, and then stopped short.

"Hey, we are in the palace, right?"

Meow

"Why don't we pay our prince a visit, he sure has some explaining to do."

Meow meow.

"I don't care if you think it's a bad idea. I'm going to go see him. You can come if you want."

After she let herself out of the prison cell, she grabbed a dark blue cloak to hide her face. She quickly and almost too easily made her way through the darkened palace, hiding in the shadows from the guards and servants. It wasn't too hard to find out where the Prince's rooms were, all she had to do was follow the servants dressed in crimson to the door. Ziana knocked twice on the door, hoping that he would answer and let her in.

Prince Jenssin opened the door. He was wearing dark grey linen pajamas and a lighter grey long-sleeved tunic.

"Hi." She said

His eyes widened, "You! You're alive?"

"Uh, I think so. Yeah. I'm alive."

"How did you get here?"

"I escaped from the dungeon, and then I thought I would break into the palace to come to see you. So you're Prince Jennsin?" She said as she looked around his room. It was decorated in a simple, yet elegant motif of dark blues and grey. There was an impressive amount of bookshelves, and books stacked everywhere.