Chapter forty eight
Marianna was pacing the hallway outside of Alex's bedroom door nervously. King Alexandros and Annalena were inside, two Al-Thamen members -which Marianna learned they were called- with them. The other two masked magicians were with Marianna herself, simply watching her in silence as she drove herself insane.
Leonidas and Judar had been gone for almost two weeks now, Alex's condition only worsening in that time.
Marianna stopped pacing suddenly, quite literally putting her foot down as she stomped her feet and threw her hands in the air, "I can't take this anymore! He's not going to survive much longer, you need to heal him! Now!"
"Our Magi has not returned. We cannot act until he and Prince Leonidas are here."
"Please," Marianna begged, clasping her hands together as she turned to the Al-Thamen members. "I'll do anything. Anything! I'll even join your organization if you want, you can do anything with me just- help him."
The Al-Thamen members remained silent, their expressions unreadable behind their masks. After several moments one replied, "Very well, we will heal your son. Our leader will contact you and tell you what you are do to."
Marianna let out a sigh of relief, laughing breathily and thanking them. What was with these people? They always seemed to agree to the weirdest things. Where was the harm in letting Leonidas capture a dungeon with Judar, a great magi? Where was the harm in joining their organization? They didn't seem like completely bad people, although they wore dark clothing and were always eerily silent, and while their magi was extremely rude it just seemed to be his character- nothing more. They had to be good people. This is what Marianna tried to assure herself of.
It wasn't long before Alex was fully healed and resting. It was as simple as that. Marianna couldn't believe it. Just days later, the country seemed to be crawling with Al-Thamen members, which were there to greet Leonidas and Judar when they returned from their dungeon together.
Marianna wasn't the only one unable to believe Alex's fast recovery. King Alexandros had many questions, all of which were brushed aside by his dear wife, who -by order of the Al-Thamen members,- insisted Askal's magicians had healed him, and that the Al-Thamen members weren't needed and would leave immediately.
Although still skeptical, Alexandros decided to let it slide. After all, his son was healthy again! He'd be able to live a full, happy, life now, together with his siblings. He felt like he had all he ever wanted, and that they could move on together now, as a family.
If only life were that easy.
On the day Judar and Leonidas returned from their dungeon, Vual, a high-ranking member of Al-Thamen appeared with them. He had muddy yellow hair and purple eyes almost hidden behind the mask he wore, and claimed to be a representative of Al-Thamen's leader.
"There's no way I could do that," Marianna shook her head in response to the Al-Thamen member's proposal for her. They were in a spare office of the palace, the Al-Thamen member, Ithnan, standing across the dark wood desk from Marianna. Leonidas and Judar were by the door, the latter picking at his nails in boredom already.
Marianna continued, "Askal is a kingdom of peace, those suggestions are awful and inhumane. Alexandros would never agree to this."
"These are our conditions," Ithnan repeated himself in an even tone, slowly growing annoyed at the queen's reluctance. He opened his mouth to say more, when Leonidas stepped forward:
"Let me get this straight. You want us to spy on other countries using any methods necessary -even if it means killing or torturing people,- just to get information on this 'King Sinbad'?" He scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest. "Why's he so important anyway? We're not doing this."
"We've already healed your son and given you the power of a true king, it's time for you to repay us," Ithnan replied.
"Surely there's another way," Marianna persisted, leaning forward with her hands on the desk before her. "Something like that...if we were found out, our reputation would be destroyed. Countries already seem to avoid us...they'd cut off contact entirely if they saw us as a danger to their people." Marianna bit her lip, realizing she was saying too much on her fears of other countries. Leonidas didn't know about anything, and he didn't need to.
"Too bad, Old Hag. This is what you signed up for," Judar shrugged and strolled forward to stand beside Ithnan. Marianna narrowed her eyes at him.
"Judar..." Leonidas lowered his arms and frowned at the magi. "What the hell is wrong with you? We were a team in that dungeon! I almost considered you a friend!"
"I don't see why that has to end," Ithnan spoke for Judar, knowing full well that Judar had no intentions of befriending anyone, never mind the uncooperative prince behind them. "This isn't something that will damage your country's reputation unless you allow it to. As Judar said, this is what you agreed to."
"No..."
"You gave your life to Al-Thamen in exchange for your son to live a full life. What we've asked is hardly a cause for concern, Queen Marianna."
"Y'know what? Screw this," Leonidas decided suddenly. He shook his head, "I'm sick of your uptight and proper bullshit like this is some normal situation. She said no. We're not going to do what you want, so just get out of our country!" He drew his twin silver blades, newly etched with the eight-pointed djinn star, and lunged at Ithnan.
"Leonidas!" Marianna exclaimed, partly in scolding and partly in shock. Her son ignored her, all of his attention on the Al-Thamen members before him.
Leonidas already knew what would happen. He expected Judar to react in somehow, to jump in front of Ithnan or to retaliate using the incredible magic he'd seen in their dungeon days prior. Instead, Judar did nothing but smirk and take a step back, which Leonidas caught a glimpse of in his peripherals as he made contact with Ithnan's borg. What's he doing?
The yellow-tinted magic was like a reflex to magicians; Leonidas had also learned of them with Judar in Vual's dungeon. Despite this, Leonidas hadn't realized that magic was necessary to penetrate a borg. And yet his frustration figured it out for him, causing him to press harder and will his djinn to work with him, "C'mon, Vual!"
Weak flames sputtered from the blades, dispersing against Ithnan's unaffected borg. Marianna rounded the desk, opening her mouth to call Leonidas off finally. There was no need for this. They could-
Then Ithnan's borg vanished.
Leonidas' blades crossed over one another, one missing entirely while the other cut through Ithnan's shoulder and torso with ease. Ink black blood splattered from the magician's body, coating Leonidas and Marianna in the warm substance.
Both royalties leaped backwards, Leonidas stumbling on his landing and falling on his arse painfully. He looked up in fear and awe as Ithnan's severed limbs and torso seemed to glue itself back together seamlessly, even his clothing in tact.
"How the..." Leonidas scrambled to his feet, sheathing his blades subconsciously as he looked to his mother. "Mom! Are you alright?!" He ran over to her, disregarding Ithnan and the smug look on Judar's face.
Marianna's skin had turned dark purple in blotches across her face and hands in the places the black blood had splattered onto her. It wasn't until Leonidas placed a concerned hand on her shoulder that he realized he looked the same. A moment later a wave of pain shot through the pair, both mother and son clutching their heads in agony.
"What the hell did you do?!" Leonidas managed to growl, turning to glare up at Ithnan through his fingers.
Ithnan chuckled, smirking, "The two of you have been infected with my black blood. It will possess your blood vessels, dying your rukh black and forcing you into depravity."
"Depravity...?" Marianna echoed, eyes wide and jaw clenched in pain.
"Yes," Ithnan confirmed, "depravity is what happens when one curses their fate-"
"Curses their fate...?" Leonidas trailed off, his lost gaze landing once again on his mother as she clenched her fists, pushing her pain aside.
"This isn't fair! We never asked for this, Ithnan! This was not a part of our deal-"
"Ah, there you go!" Ithnan applauded, ignoring exactly what she was saying. He continued to egg them on, to direct their hatred at the right target, "Go on, keep hating. Don't fight the curse. This is what your fate has decided for you. Isn't it awful? You wouldn't be in this situation if your son hadn't gotten sick, correct?"
Marianna visibly stiffened. That's right...
Her thoughts drifted out of their rage-filled haze for a moment: Wait...how does he know...?
"Pay attention, Marianna," Ithnan chided, chin raised, looking down on the queen. "Remember your situation, your son's sickness..."
Leonidas had grown tense, teeth grinding in his mouth as he let Ithnan's words and Marianna's reaction to them take him over. "Mother...why did Alex get sick? Did someone make him sick?"
Ithnan grinned, his curse magic had allowed him to enter their minds, feel their inner thoughts and qualms. If Marianna falls, Leonidas will quickly follow suit, no matter the reasoning. He spoke to Marianna again, indirectly answering Leonidas' questions, "You wouldn't be like this now, your family wouldn't have died of illness, none of this would have happened if your country hasn't been cursed by Sinbad, don't you agree?"
"Sinbad..." Marianna growled. Black rukh seemed to swirl around her and Leonidas, the curse thriving and spreading across their entire body. Within moments the pair had fallen into depravity, reborn into their new selves and ready to do anything Ithnan had to say.
"Yes...Sinbad did this. Yes..."
~
Author's Note-
Ayooo~ There's another Hamilton reference in here cause I have zero self control.
Also thank you for 900+ followers~
Lastly, not to sound greedy or something, but in case you haven't heard I have a ko-fi page up if you'd like to support me somehow: https://ko-fi.com/A578J2H (are links clickable in-story?? good question actually......if not, it's an external link on this chapter and if you can't find that (mobile can't sometimes?) there's a link on my page)
Thank you~<3
(I'll be away for the next few days so if I don't reply to comments right away that is why~)