off the couch. Sinbad tried to help
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her up, but she swatted his hand away and began to back up against the wall.
“Guards, guards!” she cried. “Your princess needs help!”
The door slammed open as two guards entered the room.
“Help me, please!” Aella screamed, with tears running down her cheeks. “The outlander attacked me and he was going to rape me!”
The guards looked at Sinbad, who towered over the princess. He raised his arms in defense.
“It’s not what it looks like!” said Sinbad. “You’re being duped. She’s lying!”
“Step away, defiler!” said one of the guards. “Lay not another hand on the princess!” The man’s voice boomed. The two guards vaulted from the doorway.
They were gaunt giants of men, no bigger in girth than Sinbad but several inches taller. Their skin was a darker shade of chartreuse. In their hands, they each carried very heavy swords.
One of them grabbed Sinbad by the throat and slammed him against the wall. The other sentinel helped Aella to her feet and covered her with a blanket.
“Are you all right, your highness?” he asked her. “Did this animal hurt you?”
“He came in here trying to escape,” Aella sobbed, “then he saw me coming out of my bath and threw me down, and got on top of me like a wild animal.”
“Lies! All lies!” Sinbad shouted.
“Silence, you cur!” said his captor, delivering a punch to Sinbad’s stomach. “What do you wish us to do, my princess? Kill him…or worse.” The guard’s sword ran from Sinbad’s chest to all the way to his groin.
Aella held on to the blanket tightly. “No. He shall die in the arena like the dog he is tomorrow by the hands of the Kurwani. Now take him away!”
The guards bowed to her. “At once, your highness,” they both said in unison and dragged Sinbad out of the room.
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As the guards were out of sight, Aella’s tears dried up and a sinister smile appeared on her cruel face.
The loutish guards brought Sinbad back to his cell. The sailor could see Azrak’s face leaning against the door. Sinbad had a lot to talk about with Azrak, concerning Akhdar’s devious plans he had for both the Azurians and the Thulians.
“Azrak?” Sinbad called out.
There was no response.
Sinbad spoke up, “Azrak? How…”
Then he realized something wasn’t right.
Azrak wasn’t reacting to his calls. His face was frozen and his eyes were wide open. He didn’t blink, not even once.
The guards opened the door and something rolled out of the cell. It was the size of a melon, but it was blue and it had something sticking out of the bottom. Sinbad fell to his knees in alarm. His eyes were watery and his complexion was cleansed of all color.
It was Azrak’s head that just rolled past him. Part of his friend’s spinal cord was sticking out of the neck area. Azrak’s head was being held on a pike inside his cell and it was propped up against the door.
Sinbad tried to break the chains with all his might, but it was no use. He got up and tried to get past the guards so he could personally kill Akhdar.
He didn’t care what would happen to him. Already he had lost everything—his home, his ship, and now his one and only friend. He had nothing else to live for.
“Akhdar!” Sinbad cried out in anguish. “Akhdar! Show yourself, you bastard!”
The guards caught Sinbad before he could make through the passageway. They held him down, and one of them took Sinbad at the back of the head.
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“Enough, outlander!” said the guard at his right. The other guard slammed Sinbad’s face to the ground, and the sailor lost consciousness.
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CHAPTER FIVE
HOW TIGHT CAN LIFE BE
WITHOUT THE SPACE OF HOPE
Sinbad awoke hours later in his dark and damp cell, praying to Almighty Allah it was all a nightmare. But to his dismay it wasn’t. He squinted his eyes to adjust to the darkness and used the faint moonbeams to look at the other side of the cell. He could see only the trace of small drops of Azrak’s blood on his cot and on the floor. Sinbad was guilt ridden and he felt truly alone.
Time weighed heavily upon him. Plans were in motion, but there was little for him to do at the present. A long, lonely evening awaited him. He took this opportunity to pray.
“How many an unfortunate, who has no rest,
Comes later to enjoy the pleasant shade.
But as for me, my drudgery grows worse,
And so, remarkably, my burdens now increase.
They live in comfort all their days,
With ease and honor, food and drink.
I’m like the next man and he is like me,
But oh how different are lives we lead!
How different is wine from vinegar.
I do not say this as a calumny;
Allah is All-Wise and His degrees are just.”
He had been in control of his life for as long as he could remember. He was convinced that his life was going to be ending in short order and there was nothing he could do about it.
His passing thoughts of taking revenge were replaced by finding a way to escape the prison. Then they had given way to self-pity and a bleak conviction that even mattered.
“It was my responsibility,” he said out loud. “I should have sided with Akhdar.”
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“That would have made no difference, Sinbad,” said a voice in the darkness. It was the elderly Azurian. His heart was full of sympathy and quail. “Akhdar would have had Azrak killed regardless of your decision, and he would have died a thousand deaths for his belief in the prophecy. You know that.”
Sinbad sighed and decided it was time to
