Shadow Seer [18+]

~ Thirty One ~

The hawk rattled her but all thoughts of it were forgotten once Amir returned to Sanaa's side, having purchased passage for them on the Sand Snake.

It would take them to Hal-Bahsin, the mirroring port in Northern Cotai, the voyage being two full days. From there, Sanaa didn't know where they would go but hoped she would get some direction from her Sight. She knew the young Seer was somewhere in Northern Cotai, just not exactly where. She and Amir had to find him so they could protect him. Sanaa realised the irony of her words in that she was putting him in danger by finding him but she had to seek the child out. She had to know if they were being cared for, were happy and healthy. If they were, then there would be no need for she and Amir to interfere in the boy's life. If he wasn't well looked over, Sanaa knew she couldn't let a fellow Seer navigate this world alone. She owed it to this child and herself to protect him in any way she knew how.

In the same way, that no one had protected her.

Sanaa thought then about her mother and whether or not the woman was still alive. There was no reason to believe she wasn't but a lot could happen in ten years. Would Sephina recognise the daughter she had lost? Would she accept the innocent little girl who had become complicit in the destruction of nations? No matter how much she told herself that she did what she did to survive in Ghassan's world, there would always be a guilt nestled deep within Sanaa that made her feel as though things were ultimately her fault. She'd attempted to lie to Ghassan over the years but in the end, the punishment and humiliation didn't feel worth. She had become complacent in trying to sane, trying to stay alive that she'd condemned thousands to die to save her own skin.

She thought of Archimedes then, her truest friend who she hoped she would see again even if the possibility of that was slim. He had been her rock when her times in Ghassan's palace were hardest and she would be forever grateful. She thought about Miri, the woman she had only begun to know more about and who had been so violently taken from her. She would have wished to have a real burial for her, a real goodbye but there wasn't much they could do outside of Amir's powers and so she would have to be content with that. Both Archimedes and Miri had done their best to protect her in the only ways they knew how and Sanaa would do what she could for this little boy as well.

Sanaa and Amir walked hand in hand back to the ship. Amir had given instruction that their things be collected from the inn and exported to the ship in time for their departure. They walked now up the gangway of the Sand Snake, where they immediately found its captain.

"Greetings, I am Captain Khaled," the large man said. He had kind eyes that crinkled at the corners, telling Sanaa that he smiled widely and often. "You have your passage papers?"

Amir handed over the paper's he'd bought with the entrance master with one hand while the other held Sanaa's tightly. She stepped into his side, feeling safer the closer she was to him. She had foregone her brightly coloured and rich clothing for simple garb in muted browns and creams that matched the desert. Her hair was covered but her face for once remained free though she kept her eyes downcast as any respectable wife surely would in another man's company.

"No return voyage?" Khaled asked and Amir shook his head. "My wife and I wish to start a family away from the city." Sanaa was ashamed at how her face heated with the idea of having Amir's children and him referring to her as his wife. Would they inherit his shadow magic? Would they inherit her power of Sight? The two thoughts had of course never occurred to her and for some reason, she wondered if it ever had to Ghassan. A child born of two powerful magics. Would he separate she and Amir so they wouldn't be the parents of such a powerful child or should he want them together for the exact same reason?

It didn't matter now that they were free of him so she forgot about it as quickly as it came to mind. Captain Khaled beamed at them.

"You have a beautiful wife. May God bless your union and her womb." Both Amir and Sanaa smiled at his blessing before he showed them around the ship and finally to their cabin. Amir had booked them one of the better rooms on the vessel which boasted a bed big enough for two, a writing desk and a sufficient space for their luggage that wouldn't obstruct anything else in the room. Other guests would likely stow their belongings in the cargo but Amir had paid to have theirs close by. He had packed many of his weapons in his trunk and while he was powerful enough with the daggers he possessed, he did not want to use his magic at all. The minute he did, people would know who he was.