The day passed quickly as the group made there way through the dense forest. Over the journey, Sinbad, Doubar and Firouz were told the story of Xaldar and Maeve's first meeting. Dim-Dim had come to Thalderon, at the request of King Andrais, in an attempt to save the life of the Queen, bringing with him his new apprentice, Maeve. As Maeve could hardly do anything to help her master, she remained in the company of the royal heirs, Xaldar and Tayia. They had become good friends during her three week stay on the island, however contact had been lost soon after she and Dim-Dim left for home.
Sinbad's eyes brightened when he heard they had lost contact, but only Doubar noticed. "So you were good friends then?"
Maeve looked away, and Xaldar smiled. "I only knew her for three weeks, but Maeve was my first and only true love."
Doubar groaned quietly as he watched Sinbad's face harden. "Oh..well then it is fortunate indeed that we were to come upon you in our journeys, your highness." Sinbad said, slowly.
Maeve smiled. "Indeed it is. So tell me Xaldar," Maeve and Xaldar fell behind the rest of the group, speaking lowly. "How terribly did you miss me when Master Dim-Dim and I left?"
At the sound of Xaldar's laughter, Sinbad clenched his fists. Doubar looked over to Firouz and rolled his eyes. "Here we go." He moved up to Sinbad's side and clapped him on the back. "There is a bright side, little brother," he said with a smile.
Sinbad glowered, "Oh really? And just what might that be?"
"It is only for a week. In seven days you'll both be back on the Nomad and you can go back to ignoring your feelings for each other."
Sinbad scowled at his brother. "You know something, Doubar? Lately you've been more of a pain than a help."
Doubar laughed loudly, knowing his brother meant him no harm. "I'm glad you noticed little brother. Perhaps someday I'll get through that thick skull of yours."
By nightfall the little group reached the edge of the forest and was moving across rocky terrain. Xaldar stopped as they neared a plain. "We should make camp here tonight. It is too hazardous to attempt a crossing of those rocks without the advantage of the sun's light."
Sinbad nodded. "Fine. Crew, make camp. I'm going to go find wood for a fire." He turned quickly and stormed back into the woods.
Maeve watched Sinbad's tense form dissapear with raised eyebrows. She walked over to Doubar. "Doubar, since when does Sinbad gather firewood?"
Doubar shrugged. "I guess since he began feeling like he was losing something important to him." Maeve furrowed her brows, looking at Doubar oddly. "Don't worry about him, girl. No matter what happen's he'll pull through. After all, he is Sinbad, Master of the seven seas."
Maeve shrugged softly, and went back to help Xaldar. Doubar sighed. "Too bad he also isn't the master of his heart."
* * * * * * * *
As Sinbad strode through the forest absently picking up pieces of kindling, thoughts of Maeve rolled unbidden through his mind. Aside from their endless banter, Sinbad knew something special was happening between them, something he would give up his life to protect.
He smiled. The most fantastic moment he had experienced was after he had rescued Maeve and the others from a creature called the vorgon. As soon as she had been freed, she had come to him freely and kissed him like no other woman could have. His heart had almost burst with joy, until he realized his crew and an entire village was watching them. Sinbad groaned; Doubar had teased him mercilessly since that day. But it had all been worth it; he had wanted that kiss and he had to admit, he craved more kisses from his sorceress. He had put off confronting Maeve with his feelings; he feared that she would either reject him out right, or run in terror.... neither was a pleasant option. Now, however, he wished that he hadn't done so.
Sinbad threw the wood to the ground in a fury. "By the seas I wish we had never come here!"
He looked up, startled by the sound of rustling leaves overhead. Dermott flew through the tree tops and perched on a branch next to Sinbad. The man smiled. "Dermott, my friend, how goes your hunting?" Dermott straightened, making low sounds. Sinbad gently stroked the large bird's chest feathers. "Maeve is well at camp?" Sinbad thought for a moment, and then wrapped his sash around his arm to protect himself from the birds talons. Dermott readily came to perch on his arm; Sinbad smiled as he sat down. "I remember a time, not so long ago in fact, you didn't want me near you, much less her." Dermott squawked and Sinbad paused to look at the hawk. "Do you trust Xaldar, Dermott? Or am I really only just a jealous fool?" Dermott became agitated at the sound of Xaldar's name. "You don't trust him, do you? Does Maeve know this?"
"Does Maeve know what?" Sinbad peered at the bird in surprise for a moment before shaking his head and glancing over his shoulder to see Maeve smiling down at him.
"How long have you been standing there?" he asked slowly.
"Only long enough to hear you ask Dermott if I knew something. So do I know what?"
Sinbad looked away. "It's unimportant. Dermott and I were just chatting."
Maeve raised her eyebrows at the sight of her bird perched on Sinbad's arm. "Have you two been bonding behind my back?"
Sinbad laughed as he raised his arm to allow Dermott to fly to Maeve. The bird perched comfortably on her arm and nestled close to his mistress. "Now Maeve, there's no need to be jealous."
Maeve laughed beautifully. "Jealous? Never. I know that no matter what, Dermott will always come back to me. Isn't that right, my sweet?" The hawk cooed loudly, stretching out for Maeve's caress. "Quickly now, go find yourself some dinner and return to camp." Dermott flew off with a cry of delight.
Maeve moved to sit beside Sinbad. He looked at her fondly. "All is well at camp?"
Maeve nodded quietly. "Sinbad, what's wrong?"
"What do you mean?"
"You can't tell me that something hasn't been bothering you since we landed. You've been so withdrawn. Are you still upset about the lightening bolt?"
Sinbad smiled and shook his head. "Heavens no, Maeve. Without your sorcery to brighten my day, life would be very dull indeed."
"Then what is it? Doubar says..." Maeve's voice trailed off.
Sinbad's head snapped up. "What did Doubar say?" he asked sharply.
"He's worried you fear losing something important, but he won't say what it is."
Sinbad avoided meeting Maeve's eyes. "Doubar spoke without thinking. It is nothing. Why don't you follow Dermott back to camp, and help make sure the prince is settled for the night."
"Xaldar is fine. He and Firouz are discussing some sort of sheilding device for Tayia; believe me, Xaldar will be busy for a long while." Maeve waited a moment to see if Sinbad would speak before taking his arm in frustration. "Sinbad, would you please speak to me!"
Sinbad turned to face her, peering into her facinating eyes. For a moment he considered speaking, and Maeve moved forward, closer to hear what he had to say. Very slowly Sinbad's hand move to touch her cheek. "Maeve?" he whispered.
"Yes?" she said lowly, her breath quickening.
Sinbad moved so that his body was aligned with hers, turning to face her; Maeve's body moved to match his, seemingly of its own free will. "There's only one thing I'm afraid of losing."
"What?" she whispered softly.
His hand moved to the back of her head, gently clasping her neck, drawing her closer to him. His breathing slowed, almost stopping, as Maeve's eyes fluttered closed. His lips moved to softly brush hers, only a whisper of a touch; her hands moved to his back, feeling the strength of his body. Sinbad moved to deepen the kiss, pulling her closer against him, when a crashing sound in the woods brought them back to reality. They looked at each other gulitily before jumping apart and moving to opposite ends of the log.
Xaldar almost immediately burst into their clearing. "Ah, I was wondering where you two had gone off to! Well, I have found you now."
Sinbad shifted on the log and groaned softly. "Too bad you couldn't have waited five minutes."
"What was that?" Xaldar asked curiously.
Sinbad's head shot up. "Nothing, your highness, I suppose I was only thinking aloud."
Xaldar smiled, shrugged, and turned to face Maeve. "Maeve, you look winded. Have you been helping Sinbad collect the wood?"
Maeve's jaw dropped as her hand rised to her cheek. "I.. I'm just a little warm." She muttered quickly.
Xaldar's jaw twitched before he turned back to the captain. "I managed to salvage some of my mens things before we left. The weather on Thalderon can be unpredictable so while you were with your man on the beach, I collected some tarps to build tents from; also I brought along blankets to ward off the cold night. Doubar is making a dinner out of the food we retrieved; he says to hurry back with that wood though. He's not going to get far on the twigs he's using right now."
"We were just heading back." Maeve and Sinbad said in unison. Sinbad gestured to the wood at his feet. "If you want to go on, Maeve and I will catch up in a moment."
Xaldar looked at Maeve for a moment before heading back the way he came.
Sinbad looked at Maeve who still wouldn't meet his eyes. "It wouldn't have gone any farther than your word, Maeve."
Maeve smiled shakily. "A kiss is only a kiss, Sinbad, nothing more."
Doubar caught Sinbad's eye as he and Maeve entered camp together. "I'm just going to give Doubar the wood. Will you talk with me later?"
Maeve raised an eyebrow. "Talk, yes. After dinner. But we should stay near to camp in case the witch Mordred tries to pull something."
Sinbad nodded and walked over to Doubar. His brother smiled. "Well, little brother, is that a hint of red I see in our dear sorceress's cheeks?"
Sinbad smiled back. "I think she's warming up to me, Doubar."
Doubar threw a log onto the fire. "So are you in a better mood now?"
Sinbad looked over to Xaldar. "Not really. I'll be in a better modd once I find out what he's keeping from us and why."
"What have you found out?"
"Only that Dermott trusts him as little as I do."
"Then Maeve understands our position?"
Sinbad peered at Maeve. "No, I think Dermott fears she will not listen to him, so he is keeping quiet."
"Then how do you know this?"
Sinbad shrugged. "Dermott told me."
Doubar groaned. "Don't tell me your talking to the bird now?" Sinbad opened his mouth to reply, but Doubar held up his hand. "Never mind, I don't want to know. Does he sense any danger from our companion?"
"I don't know; I would have asked him, but Maeve showed up, and I got a little distracted."
Sinbad entered his tent to the sound of Doubar's loud laughter. He looked around, wondering if Xaldar had laid any traps for him to fall into. He was drawn outside again by the sound of Dermott's cry, and looked up in time to see the bird fly in with a small dead rabbit.
Xaldar stared at the bird in open shock. "That bird killed a rabbit."
Maeve fondled the hawk lovingly. "Dermott surprises many people."
Xaldar moved to touch the hawk, but Dermott snapped at him visciously. "Dermott!" Maeve scolded; the bird merely looked back at her, before flying into the night. In moments he was gone from sight. "Dermott!!" Maeve sighed. "I wonder what has gotten into him."
Sinbad looked at the sky in the distance. "Perhaps that storm is making him edgy."
Xaldar followed Sinbad's gaze. "That's no storm! That's Mordred's flying castle."
Firouz pulled out his magnascope, hoping to get a look in the last light of the sky. He stared for a moment before turning around to face the crew. "Well, I have good news and bad news."
Sinbad groaned. "What's the bad news?"
"Mordred is moving to the mountains at about the same rate as we are moving, only I doubt she'll have to stop during the nights."
"Wonderful," Sinbad muttered. "And the good news?"
"Her course does not seem to be the same as ours. It appears that she is going around the mountains rather than over them, making her route longer."
Xaldar snapped his fingers. "She probably has no clue as to which city Tayia is in. She'll have to check every city on the north side of the isle. We can still beat her!"
"Aye, but then we'll have to bring the princess back safely." Doubar said with a sigh.
"We'll deal with that when we get there, brother. For now, I suggest we have our dinner and get to sleep. Tomorrow we'll have to cover a lot of ground quickly."
"Aye," said Doubar, heading for the stew pot. And in a few minutes Doubar was handing out bowls of hot stew and pieces of bread to the group, with the exception of Maeve who preferred to dine upon some fruit and berries she had discovered. Sinbad took his stew and bread, and went to sit with Maeve and Dermott, who had only just returned. He took two flasks of water with him. As he settled in beside her, he offered Maeve a flask.
She looked up at him aprehensively. "Are we going to have our talk now?"
Sinbad shook his head. "Later. For now I only want to enjoy your company while we have our dinner."
Maeve laughed tensely. "An impossible task according to many men."
Sinbad touched her leg. "Not according to me." Dermott cried out loudly, peering at Sinbad closely. The sailor merely smiled and fished a large piece of meat out of his stew. He handed it over to the bird. "Go on, Dermott, take it and hush." Dermott snatched the meat away and flew over to perch near Firouz. Sinbad blinked and looked at Maeve. "He's laughing at me, isn't he?"
Maeve glanced away. "He's laughing at both of us, actually. He was spying on us in the woods today."
Sinbad laughed. "I should have known he wouldn't have strayed too far from you."
Maeve looked up. "Or from you. He really is quite fond of you you know."
Sinbad smiled thoughtfully. "That pleases me. Dermott is a special soul."
Maeve smiled. "Aye."
After dinner the group cleaned their bowls in a tiny stream near camp. Upon their return Sinbad offered to take first watch. "I'll be in the tree on the south west point of camp. We'll take three hour watches; first me, then Firouz, then Doubar will watch until first light. Tomorrow night Doubar will take the first watch, then Maeve, and then I will watch until first light. We'll keep to this schedule for the entire trip."
The crew nodded, but Xaldar looked over at Sinbad. "I have no watch Sinbad."
"I realize that, your highness. I would prefer it if you slept through the night in order to be able to direct us through the mountains."
The two men peered at each other for a moment, then everyone moved to their tents. Sinbad watched Maeve dissapear into hers, then climbed into the watch tree.
Continued in Shared Admissions Part Three
