Adventures of Sinbad and Layla

If Layla's Parents Ruled Estia (Part II)

Sinbad, Hinahoho and Jafar were finally able to meet the Queen and her husband. The three of them knelt down on one knee in respect as the royals sat on the thrones. Upon seeing the Queen's husband, Sinbad was surprised how similar his eyes were to the girl's who he had seen the day before.

"Thank you for granting us an audience, Your Highness," Sinbad spoke. "My name is Sinbad and these are my loyal comrades. Hinahoho of the Imuchakk Tribe and Jafar of Parthavia. We wish to form an alliance with your nation."
"Wait," Wasim said with a furrow between his brows. "Did you say that you're Sinbad? As in the Dungeon Capturer?"
Sinbad smiled with a nod. "That's right. So, my stories have reached even your beautiful country."
"Well, that's what we thought they were," Wasim said. "Just stories."
"Oh, really?"
The Queen then spoke. "As you probably already know, we don't open our country to the rest of the world. Our people and land have been thriving and we haven't had the need to expand." She smiled politely. "Unfortunately, the fact that dungeons and monsters exist are all fairytales to us."
Sinbad stood up. "I can assure you they are very real."
"Amira, we must tell Layladria," Wasim told her before turning to Sinbad. "Our daughter is obsessed with your book. She's the one who read it to us."
"How sweet." Sinbad placed his hand on his chest and bowed slightly. "If you would permit it, I would be honoured to meet her."
"Of course," Wasim said instantly.

He called one of the guards and ordered him to fetch the princess. Sinbad knew that if he got onto their good side, then it would give him a higher chance to form an alliance. From the look of the Queen and her husband, they seemed quite young and so he expected their daughter to be a child. Luckily, Sinbad was naturally great with kids and he knew it would be easy for him to make her parents happy.

***

Layla lay on her front on the bed whilst reading the book again. It was the only thing that kept her mind off of the wedding. However, a knock at the door disturbed her. With a sigh, she climbed off the bed and opened the door to find a guard.

"Yes?"
He bowed. "Princess, your father is calling you."
She nodded. "Very well."

She left the room and followed the guard down to the throne room. There was a private entrance which led into the room from behind the thrones. When she entered, Sinbad's breath got caught in his throat. It was the woman he saw at the jewellery shop.

Layla hadn't noticed him and went to stand beside her father. "You called for me?"
Wasim smiled. "Yes. Look who's here," he told her, motioning towards Sinbad and his friends.
She looked over at them and gasped in surprise. "It's you!"
Amira became confused. "You know him?"
"Not really... He's the traveller I met at the stall yesterday," she explained before frowning at him, recalling how he tried to flirt with her. "Did you follow me here? I will have you sentenced for stalking."

Her parents were confused by her hostility towards him and even Jafar and Hinahoho were surprised. Jafar growled angrily at Sinbad.

"What the hell did you do?!" he hissed at him.

However, Sinbad only smirked smugly and folded his arms. The Queen looked at her daughter.

"What are you talking about, Layladria?" she asked. "This young man came here to speak to us."
Wasim held his daughter's hand. "Don't you know who he is, dear?" He chuckled, unable to hold back the exciting news any longer. "My, he's the one whose story you read everyday."

Layla's brows knitted together in confusion. Her eyes darted back and forth between her parents and the man while trying to piece together the information.

"Sinbad?" she asked her father.
However, Sinbad was the one to answer with a proud smile. "That's me."
Layla's eyes widened as she gasped, bringing her hands up to her mouth. "Oh, my god..." She was trying her best not to freak out. "Ohmygodohmygodohmygod... Seriously?" she squeaked.
Sinbad chuckled as he bowed to her. "Sinbad is my name, Your Highness. Seriously." Standing up straight, he continued to smile. "I hear that you're a fan of my book."
"Yes," she answered nervously, unable to comprehend that she was speaking to the Sinbad. "So, you're real? You're really real? And everything in the story is real? You really captured the powers of great Djinns' and really fought against great beasts?"
He couldn't stop himself from smiling at her cuteness. "Yes, really."