Fit to be Queen [Sinbad x OC]

part twelve

"Damnit, Sinbad!" Iris shouted with a dramatic groan, carrying paperwork she was supposed to take to the King for him to complete. Rather than filling out the paperwork, he had cornered her, embarrassed her, and made her too flustered and irritated to remember her purpose for being there. She had angrily rushed out in a failed attempt to hide her blushing cheeks, but nothing of that sort could get past the man.

So, now she needed to muster courage and calm her racing heart, wipe the anxious expression from her face, and go back to his office space. She stormed through the door, facing the snickering Sinbad with a scowl.

She slammed the paperwork on his desk and declared, "You are going to sit here, and review these papers, and you cannot touch me until you are finished."

"So, I can touch you once I finish this?" He wiggled his thick brows suggestively, smirking, seeking a response from her.

"That is not what I meant." She huffed.

"But that is what you said."

"Do. The damn. Paperwork." She ordered.

It had been three months since Iris arrived in Sindria, attempted to assassinate the King, become his aid, and the peculiar events of that first week in the country. Clearly, the sensual and private - although not on all occasions - game between she and Sinbad had not even begun to cease. The girl would use the skills she developed as an assassin to sneak up on him and catch him off-guard, even managing to see him blush a few times, but he always managed to out-play her or just make her fall into a trap of humiliating herself in a moot attempt to embarrass him.

Iris had just begun getting to know the notorious man: the High King and "Lady Killer" of the Seven Seas, so she didn't recognize how he had changed in the past ninety-or-so days, but those closest to him for the longest amount of time saw it, and Yamraiha didn't keep her opinions from her.

She had told the darker-haired girl that he had seemed to have a flame of eagerness and excitement in his eye and a sense of intention and purpose as he went through the day. Normally, he was very laid-back and strangely casual, especially as a King - and he still was - but he appeared to be more focused towards something. His charming, yet smug grin never faltered or faded, but he didn't flash it at any and every pretty woman that passed his way. He still laughed and was friendly, but significantly less flirtatious than he had been in the past. Nevertheless, when he drank and the Generals or country was celebrating and festive, he was surrounded by women, yet he wore them more as accessories and didn't seek them for entertainment.

Iris was his entertainment. She was his excitement.

And no matter what she said or how much she claimed he frustrated her - keeping her on her toes, flattering her, teasing her - she couldn't deny herself the truth any longer. Playing the game was fun to her. It would irritated her, and then she would expect a 'next time' and anticipate what would happen, who would win, and how far he would push the boundaries.

As Sinbad flipped through the papers, dutifully completing his tasks, he began a conversation with the girl who had been successful thus far as his aid.

"We are going to go on a business trip tomorrow." He informed nonchalantly.

"A business trip?" At this point, she had been involved in several business-related meetings with him, both financial and political, even helping him make decisions in regard to such things. But they had never gone elsewhere for such purposes.

"Yes. A long one, so pack accordingly. Ja'far will be coming with us, too." For some reason, he avoided meeting her curious silver eyes.

"Huh, okay then."