In the sunny gardens of Sand City Castle, Sienna finished her meeting with Odeia within an hour, because she needed to check herself in the bathroom again, naturally. Besides, Odeia was not that interesting to Sienna at all. She was somehow plain, somehow reserved, overly polite, and Sienna noticed that Odeia was talking very carefully. She seemed as if she lacked a personality or was being overly cautious.
"Not a word of sincerity or thanks for giving her a chance to meet her old lost love..."Sienna thought as she thanked Odeia for her explanation and sent her to rest in the guest room.
"Let's not waste my time."Sienna thought as she walked back to her room with Sid. She felt a little weird after this meeting and was happy it's done. She just wanted to rest in her room and draw. She was thinking about Magnus, Odeia, Ramse and Sarcos, and all the thoughts became mixed in her head...as she was immersed in her drawing
That evening, Sarcos came to her quite late, almost at dusk. After he returned from the hunt, he had reports from Sid that Sienna was drawing, so the strong scorpion used his time to do some work in his office and plot with Ramse.
"So how was your day, my love?" Sarcos smiled.
"Interesting," Sienna noted a bit satirically. Sarcos spotted that her mood is a little grumpy. "She must be exhausted on her days. "He thought.
"Would you like to go for a stroll under the moonlight?" he asked gently.
Sienna wiggled a little bit in the bed, looking at the pencil and then at him. He looked so alluring and cute that she smiled unknowingly.
"Yes, I will!"She nodded and stood up slowly, "Wait, I'll get ready, my love. "She called to him on her way to the bathroom.
Sarcos looked at her drawings scattered on the bed. "Mermaids, cushions, dresses, tigers, but no dragons..." he smirked to himself, satisfied."Does she miss Nefari?"He studied the picture of the mermaid in his hand." I see. "He sighed.
Sienna got ready quite quickly. "Walking with Sarcos would be so romantic," she thought. "Hopefully, the Crystal Pincer did not get too strong, yet."
Sienna held Sarcos's hand as they walked together in the moonlit gardens. She felt so happy next to him, the air was fresh, and the moment fell serene...just a pinch in her heart, when she looked into Sarcos's handsome face, did not let her forget about the Crystal Pincer, making her mind flash the illustrations from the cruel book of Legends of the Crystal Emperor.
Suddenly, she felt a tug as Sarcos stopped and pulled her into his embrace.
"What are you thinking about so much?" He asked her, looking into her eyes.
"I ...I miss you so much."Sienna looked at him. It was true. She missed the real him, him with no attachments, no extra souls and wicked minds!
"I'm here, how can you miss me?"Sarcos looked at her curiously.
"I do not know, maybe I'm just scared this moment will not last long enough..."She sighed...She was expecting him to turn into a different person at any moment, and it was making her more anxious...
"Want to be immortal? Then it can last forever..." he smiled.
"I'm not sure, "she shook her head."I will be happy to have a good life with you, our family," She smiled.
"Can I hope to have a family with you one day then?" he asked gently.
"Sure, we are family already, "she smiled.
"Yes, we are," Sarcos nodded."And I will never let you go." he pressed her to his chest and inhaled the scent of her soft hair. It was making him crazy for her; he felt as if bound by the strongest ropes to her, the unbreakable bond.
"Hold me then."Sienna smiled, splattered on his hard chest, blissfully unaware that Sarcos understood it like "yes".
"Sarcos, when are we going to drop Odeia off at Crystal City?"Sienna asked when they returned to her room. She was getting ready for bed, thinking.
" I will be taking her tomorrow. "He noted.
"Oh, I was thinking that we would go together."Sienna furrowed her brows, surprised.
"No need to wait. I want as much time with you as possible."He smiled."You are my obsession."Sarcos said half seriously, half jokingly, but Sienna felt a soft freezing sensation on her back...
"Ok then, but do not forget to tell me everything, ok? I'm quite curious. "She smiled gently as she sat on the bed next to him.
Sienna cuddled with Sarcos the whole night; the next morning, when she awoke, he was already gone.
"Oh," she touched the empty space next to her. The sun was high and she furrowed her brows."Why does no one wake me up? I'm already late for my day with Ramse..." she sighed."I hope he won't be upset about it..." she mumbled to herself.
"Why do you worry about me so suddenly?"The voice sounded softly like melted honey, and Sienna flinched. The presence in her room slipped her dizzy attention... Ramse just sat on the cushions, reading a book and watching her.
"How long have you been here?"She asked worriedly.
"From two hours after dawn, like you asked me..." he noted sweetly.
"But why did you not wake me up then?"She asked, a little worried.
"I like to watch you sleep; you are so innocent..." he grinned, and Sienna blushed. She was touching herself for sure in her sleep to check if she was leaking, and it was a bit humiliating to her." But whatever...it is my reality, can't change it," she decided to act as if nothing happened!
"So, good morning then. I hope you will forgive me for my lateness."She looked at him.
"Sure, want to make pancakes today?"Ramse asked.
"Yes", she smiled.
Get ready then. "He smiled and watched her walk into the bathroom."My day," he felt happy in his mind...he did not want to rush her, just to enjoy being next to her, hold her hand, and maybe get a kiss on the cheek."That will be enough," he dazed, thinking.
Meanwhile, in the desert, Odeia, holding onto the huge eagle, saw the outlines of the Crystal City. The King Sarcos was taking her personally, and she felt quite worried and excited about meeting her lost love again...
Odeia closed her eyes in the strong wind as the past days played in her mind:
"Odeia, wake up..." The soft voices awoke the teacher, who was sleeping on the hard bench in the shabby school. The small hands tapped her gently...Odeia blinked her eyes...
"Teacher, the men came to pick you up..." The little girl looked at her with big eyes..."Maybe you are finally getting a mate..."
"Mate?" Odeia sat up and looked around...The children, her school and all she was working in her best years for life....she looked up and saw the Chief of the Snow Leopard Tribe enter with a few burly warriors...She was not scared; she felt she was already too old for them, but her heart clenched with a little bit of fear."What do they want ?"She managed to stay out of the mating game till now...
"Good morning, welcome to my school."She bowed politely to the men.
"Odeia, pack your things, you will be going to Ape Tribes. King Ramse asked for you personally...."The Chief announced to her bluntly.
"But who will teach the kids...."Odeia whispered, shocked.
"I will appoint one of the females you taught before. We are very grateful for the years of service you provided to our tribe, but it is time to let you go..." he nodded and left...
Odeia stared as her hands fell to her body...she felt lost...her life in the Snow Leopard tribe was not glamorous, but she tried her best to help and be useful. People generally accepted her well, but now she understood that without any mates, she had no one to protect her....and she did not have enough value perceived by the Chief of the tribe...
"Go pack, do not take much, the road is long..."The burly Ape warriors told her. They were quite polite...
Odeia...sighed and packed a small bag with her treasured things. As she went out of her school, she saw a group of young females choosing a mate...
"Did they exchange me?" She thought..."No, probably just bought them...I'm not that expensive..." She chuckled to herself and followed the Ape warriors voluntarily.
The road was really long, the Apes sighed as they had to go slow so she could keep up, so as they left the mountains and grassy fields showed up, they got her a small horse to carry her from a tribe of vegetable farmers of the Blue Rabbit Tribe.
The Apes actually got two horses and one donkey. They loaded them with woven baskets full of vegetables to bring back to Waterfall City.
The men were polite to Odeia, a lot more like when she was young. She was quite surprised that they gave her a share of the food they cooked and wanted nothing from her in exchange. She offered to help, but they shook their heads."You are like a guest," they nodded."We got you for King Ramse."They said.
"But what does he need me for? I'm old already."She shook her head.
"I think he wants to impress the Scorpion Queen." The leader of the warriors noted, "He does a lot of changes now because of her. We will see how it works out, but all the females like our King now..." he said.
"Apart from the Scorpion Queen, "another younger warrior grinned satirically.
"Yes, she is friend-zoning him, because she is scared of his ape..." Another warrior nodded.
"Why does he not find another Queen then?"Odeia asked, surprised that someone would refuse a new Ape King.
"You should know, no? You must have a reason why you did not accept anyone, hm?"The leader of the warriors asked seriously.
"Yes."She nodded quietly.
"So what stopped you then?" The young warrior asked curiously.
"You see, you can't change a heart so easily," Odeia sighed."My heart is very hard-minded," she noted, and warriors chuckled. She was kind of funny!
The King Ramse was polite when she arrived at his new Waterfall City, surprised at the monumentality of it, it was huge... He grinned, satisfied, and they departed the next day for the Sand City. He seemed in a happy rush.
Odeia recalled standing in front of the Queen, kind and beautiful," I was exchanged for one day..." She shook her head, not wanting to understand the games of the rich and powerful. She surely did not have the value of one day of the Queen. But here she was on her way to her long-lost love...
Odeia blinked her eyes. The past was gone, and she was about to start the new chapter in her life..."Will Magnus still want me?"She bit her lips... the idea of him kept her fighting for all these years...
She could not accept anyone else and felt secretly pleased that he was waiting." But will he not be disappointed that I got old..." she was wondering."I'm not so beautiful any more..." she sighed as they landed in the gardens of Tiger Castle.
The burly Scorpion King nodded for her to follow him as they went to the side entrance to meet the Tiger King.
Tyrell came out to welcome him. He stared into Odeia's face with a bit of painful expression." So this is the female Magnus betrayed me for... Let's see if she can change his heart..." he thought.