She stood at the bow of the ship, her fiery hair plastered around her. She was sweltering..a week had passed since they had left for Basra, and every day was hot and humid...but her mind was not on the weather.

The men around her complaining and moaned about the blistering sun and the sails seemed stagnated with no breeze to guide them.

Maura's mind was on the future..wondering what exactly it held for her..and her twin sister. She smiled with the knowledge that Maeve was below...working on a 'surprise' for the whole crew. She had not even told Maura exactly what it is in which she was working on.

Maura looked away from the hatchway and found Sinbad and Firouz staring at her...yet she found herself curiously aware that their stares did not frighten her. They made her slightly unconfortable, yes, but she found no malice or ill intent within their eyes.

She looked back upon the crystalline waters and sighed. The whole crew was like a big family...and she was well aware that her sister held a special place in the hearts of all of them...especially the Captain. While the duo were unable to admit their ever-growing feelings for each other, Maura was happy that Maeve had found someone who matched her in mind, and in spirit.

She sighed as she reiterated the fact to herself that she would never be that lucky...could never allow herself to be loved by such a man. That ever would a man like him fall for her..it was highly unlikely. Especially if he should ever learn about her past..about what she had done...no, no man would ever want her then.

She held back a fresh onslaught of tears which threatened to overwhelm her as she watched Dermott perform arial magic...swooping down to touch the water and then pulling back in a gesture as if to refuse the inviting caress of the cool waves.

******************************************

Sinbad stood at his watch at the tiller--holding the large mass which steered the ship on its present course towards Basra. Brief flickers entered his mind about the last time the had visited the..unusual sultan. Rumina...allah, had that woman caused a stir. He was truly thankful that more than three months had passed and not a spell nor a word from the pesky witch who was determined to make Sinbad her husband.

His smile faded as he watched his love's sister turn her head and he did not miss the fresh sheen of tears which appeared in her brown eyes. If only there were a way for he or any of them to make her feel better--to somehow break through the walls of torment which caused her so much pain..night after night. For her pain was Maeve's pain..and Maeve's pain..was his pain. Firouz found his eyes peeled on Maura..and it was as if he could feel her pain and her self-hatred screaming out into the early morning dusk. "I wish there were something I could do Sinbad...I just hate seeing her so...well, depressed. It's like she's got all this hatred bottled up inside her and I wish there were a way to help her let it out slowly before she explodes."

Sinbad clasped his hand on the inventors shoulder and nodded. "I too was thinking the exact same thing, my friend."

"Perhaps if you asked Maeve about it..you know, get her to open up about Maura. Then we might have the key to find out exactly what we might do."

Sinbad shook his head slowly..for he realized that Maeve would never open up about her twin. He had already tried once in this past week, and Maeve had told him point blank that she would not betray anything her sister told her. Just to trust her..and know that in time, perhaps Maura might open up and become more accepting of him and his whole crew.

"No, my friend. I have already tried. We just have to give Maura time..let her know that she can trust us..let her open up slowly." Sinbad said...shocked at his own...scientific sounding words. Firouz just turned and looked at him and his own eyes twinkled with approval. "Very good, Sinbad."

Sinbad was about to respond when a sudden gust of cold wind drifted across the Nomad. One of the sails fell and nearly topped half the crew overboard when Maura ran from her perch and ran down into the main cabin. Sinbad and Firouz followed short.

*********************************************

"UGH, I almost had it," Maeve shouted, as the others hung onto various parts of the cabin trying to keep their balance. She was situated down in the center of the room in front of a bunch of books and she looked all too frustrated.

"Almost had WHAT?" Sinbad demanded..his voice coming out harsher than he truly intended. He was just frustrated because once again his entire ship had nearly been ripped to shreds by Maeve's often impatient attempts. And this time he had no idea what she was trying to do.

"You don't have to snap at me, Sinbad," Maeve said crossly. She was frustrated herself, after trying for hours, she had little if no luck at all. "I was trying to give you guys some cold air, you know, like cool things off. But I don't seem to be having any luck, and you're negative attitudes are not helping any."

Maura immediately noticed the tension in the room and she sighed. This was not the time for these two to begin their childish bantering..for she knew that something huge lay on the horizon. But for now she would help her sister.

"Maeve...Let me teach you the proper way to use that spell. Everybody else, please clear the cabin and leave us be alone for a while. I promise, no more harm will come to your ship."

The crew nodded their agreement and Sinbad left the cabin without a glance back. He was confused as to why Maeve was mad at him...as she was confused at his attitude too. Only Maura seemed to see the larger truth.

************************************************

"Maeve, your problem is that you rely on these books. You search and search for the answers within these pages, but they are not there. They are within you..you hold the power." Maura sat down beside her twin and closed the book in front of her.

Maeve just looked at Maura in wonder. How was she supposed to do these spells without incantations..without the words..without the guidance and support which these books so temptingly offer.

"Look deep within. Remember what Master Dim-Dim used to say..the power lives within you. You can do this spell without these words, without this book. Just concentrate really hard and think..cold. You can do it, Maeve..think!"

Maeve closed her eyes and sat in he middle of the room. She felt Maura get up and stand behind her and she felt her sisters presence reaching out to her willing her to be strong...be brave..to use the power of her mind to recreate this spell.

Maura stood behind her and her mind flashed back to another place in time when she took it upon herself to teach her sister another magic lesson. One which used the light within and did not require spells or magic...just one's own mind. She heard Dermott's squak and she remembered how her sister had first learned to talk to animals...a place a long time ago in which Dermott was human..and not a hawk.

*************

"You expect me to...talk...to this dog? Have you truly lost your mind sister?" Maeve asked, watching as the small furry friend of Master Dim-Dim's snuggled at her feet. Maura had spent weeks trying to even convince her to try and speak with this dumb animal. But there was no way...what language would he talk to her in anyway? How could she understand...barks and howls...the thought was just too bizarre to comprehend.

"You can do it sister. Trust in yourself. The first trick is to look into his eyes," Maura said gently, holding onto her sisters head and forcing it to turn until Maeve was leaning over making full-on eye contact with the mutt.

"I'm looking, I'm looking." Maeve said, somewhat tersely.

"Now..concentrate on what you see in his eyes...the confusion..the love..the adoration...the questioning.."

"All I see are two black holes staring up at me and him wagging his tail like he really has to go to the bathroom," Maeve mumbled under her voice.

"Concentrate harder," Maura said..trying to stifle the laugh which trembled in her throat.

Maeve followed her sisters orders and spent the next few minutes eye to eye with the mangly mutt until she finally heard a soft masculine voice inside her head. "You're foot is crushing my paw."

"I..I..I heard him!" Maeve shouted and she stood up only to feel the pup winch and howl and then stumble away, to lay down nearby and begin licking its sore paw. She looked over at Maura and they danced around in a circle as Maura held her twin and kept shouting joyfully "I knew you could do it..I knew you could do it.."

**************

"I knew you could do it," Maura said, and then she felt the ship rock beneath her feet.

"I think I did something sister, but I'm not sure what...wait..does it feel, colder to you?" Maeve questioned, her eyes snapping open and looking up at her sister.

Maura grinned happily and grabbed Meave's arm and led her back towards the hatchway. As they threw open the door and looked out..they were shocked.

Snow was coming down hard over the Nomad and the surrounding ocean. It was hard to even see, the snow was falling so hard. "Guess I got a little over-enthusiastic," Maeve giggled and she..who had grown up with snow and other facets of nature, couldn't help the laughter which escaped both her and Maura as they watched the crew almost bat at the snow as it fell down around them in white curtains.

**********************************************

"What's happening?" Sinbad asked three hours later. The snow had calmed and was coming down in soft drizzles, but the majority of the crew was still spending their time shoveling the show out of the large ship.

"I don't know, little brother. But I think that spell of Maeve's went a little overboard." Doubar grabbed ahold of the tiller and watched as Sinbad stumbled through the snowy mess and began walking to find the two women, who were covered in their thick cloaks.

"Might I ask what is going on?" Sinbad questioned, and his resolve softened after seeing the joy and laughter which glistened in both women's eyes. He couldn't have know that they were reliving a childhood memories..that the majority of their good times had been spent in snowball fights with each other, their brother..and Master Dim-Dim.

"Surprise!" Maeve shouted and she surprised Sinbad by throwing a quick snowball at his face. He felt the cold material hit his face and he licked off the moisture which ran across his sensual lips. "I'm going to get you for that," he shouted and he felt himself being hit from behind by a similar snowball and he grabbed a handful of snow to turn around and fine...Firouz, standing with an armful of snow ready to pour it all over the Captain's head. With a quick movement, Sinbad had Firouz dropping the snow down his own shirt but Sinbad's glory was soon dimmed by Maeve dumping an armful of snow from behind him onto his head.

Soon, the crew from the Nomad, all except Doubar, we're involved in a snow war. Nothing stopped them, some even climbed up the riggings and with snowballs stashed in their shirts and bags, threw them down upon the other crewmembers below.

Their fun was soon interrupted by a loud boom and Doubar nearly being thrown backwards from the tiller. "Sinbad, we've hit something," he shouted and they all ran to the bow to look overboard.

"Oh Man...Ice" Sinbad shouted and he realized that Maeve's spell had not only caused snow..but had also frozen the water around them. "Not only that little brother, but it appears from Firouz's magniscope that we are but a mile from land...should we skitter across the ice, we should be able to find some supplies within."

"Fine," Sinbad wearily replied and he watched as everyone began to prepare for a new voyage, one in which none of them, nay the twins, had ever voyaged upon before. They were to enter upon a land of ice..the adventure had truly only just begun.

Continued in Sorcerer's Blood: Part Five

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