Make a Wish

The young princess sits in suspense as she suffers through a long car ride to Saraia. Her kingdom disappears in the vast desert as she rides along the long sandy roads. Her heart pounds violently against her chest, making her feel weak.

Unfamiliar scents fill her nose as she steps out of the car into the courtyard of the foreign royal palace. She is led inside a glorious golden hall where a grand staircase leads up to the throne chair. Irritation quickly overcomes her as she sees Ahish sitting in the chair.

He flashes her a condescending smile before extending a hand towards her. “Welcome to my kingdom, Princess. Your parents should be arriving in a few days or so to prepare for the wedding.”

The young princess crosses her arms in disgust, unwilling to answer his formal greetings with her own. “And am I to meet my husband-to-be any time soon?” She questions harshly.

Ahish follows her unwelcoming gestures and crosses his own arms tightly. “He is on his way back as well. When my son returns from his expedition, he won’t want to deal with your nasty attitude.”

She rolls her eyes. “Whatever do you mean, Your Majesty?” She answers sarcastically. “How could I not show the utmost respect to someone as ‘great’ as you?”

Ahish’s nose shrivels up in disgust. “Perhaps a day in the dungeon will change your mind.”

“What!?”

“You can stay there until you decide to become a proper wife for my son.” He raises his hand and shoos her away like she is a fly. “Guards, take her away.”

The two guards standing before the throne chair grab the young princess’ arms and forcibly pull her down from the platform. Too shocked to speak, the young princess watches herself dragged down to the lower floor.

The air grows dense and rotten as the dungeon appears before her. She’s pushed into a cell and locked inside. She backs away from the door and looks around her filthy surroundings. Water drips from the cracked ceiling, causing the ground to mould. A harsh smell of piss comes from the rotten walls which completely destroys the air quality.

“Now what do we have here?” A woman’s voice resonates from within the dungeon. Across from the other side of her cell is another confined room where the voice comes from. “Poor thing. Probably stolen from your home as well, hm?”

“Who’s there?” The princess cautiously approaches the bars of her cell, looking across the room. But the light is so dim, she cannot see who speaks to her from the other side.

She falls silent in a frozen state of fear as radiant, red eyes appear in the cell across from her’s. A strong, deadly aura comes from the dark, unseeable figure. It’s strange, like Zassul’s, but far more deadly.

This creature is dangerous. The young princess realises this immediately and refuses to answer. But trapped inside of this cell, she doesn’t know what she can do.

The creature giggles at her terrified state. “Are you afraid of me, My Dear? I can tell you sense my aura. I am Amrita. There is no need to fear me.” The young princess remains silent, giving this creature more room to speak. “That amulet, it bears a familiar scent, and aura.” The creature humphs unhappily. “You know Zassul.”

Hearing this causes the young princess to grow even more uncomfortable. It’s not a pleasant thought that Zassul has associated with something as dangerous as this thing.

“I’ve known him for a long time.” The demon continues. “Last I heard, he was locked up in a seal. Now it seems he’s become your faithful dog.” She clicks her tongue condescendingly. “Zassul is a boring fool. I am more curious about something else. Why are you down here?”

The young princess shakes her head, unwilling to associate with a demon. “It’s not really any of your business…”

“Perhaps not. But maybe I could help.”

The young princess crosses her arms in disgust. “For what price? I know you are a demon.”

Amrita giggles in response. “Indeed I am. But all I ask is that you…” She falls silent, her red eyes moving to the left side of her dark silhouette. They suddenly disappear like a flame that has been burnt out, and she disappears into her dark cell. Before the young princess can question what is happening, purple light engulfs the room before her.

Zassul appears, dressed in the fancy black garments that the Saraian guards wear.

“Zassul.” The young princess looks up at him in surprise, but still wary after her dealings with this demon.

“I have a way of getting you out of this.” He tells her.

“You do?” She wonders what he could possibly do. She can’t abandon her kingdom and she won’t allow him to kill for her. His solutions won’t solve this problem, it will only lead to violence. Her hopes barely rise from his words and she looks away in disappointment. “I already told you, you can’t help me.”

“Just be patient for a little while longer. I’m not ready to reveal my plan just yet.”

She looks over his new garments and begins to question his new intentions. “That outfit.” She starts warily. “Where did you get it? I hope you didn’t kill anyone to obtain it.”

He brushes off her words. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Zassul.” She glares up at him. “Whatever this plan of yours is, I don’t want you doing bad things to help me. It’ll give me bad karma.”

His tone becomes stern as he answers her. “I said don’t worry about it. I have something more important to discuss with you. The prince is returning in an hour.” Hearing this causes a groan to escape from the young princess. “His arrival back seems to be sooner than everyone expected. So they’re all rushing to get things ready. That means you can leave your cell early. I’ll take you to your sleeping quarters.”

Purple light takes over their surroundings as Zassul teleports the young princess to a fancy bedroom. She looks around for a split second, seeing if she is being watched, before bringing her attention back to Zassul.

“What if they begin to question how I mysteriously disappeared from my cell?”

“I took the place of the guard watching your cell.”

She gasps in horror before angrily expressing her distaste for his ways. “So you did kill on my behalf!”

Zassul’s purple eyes scan the room in disinterest. “He was in my way.” His eyes set back onto the young princess as she grows even more disgusted. “Don’t worry, I disposed of his body.”

“You really think that’s what I care about!?”

He shrugs, still unmoved. “No one will notice one missing guard. That king doesn’t care about his people.”

“Zassul, that was a human being! You could have killed someone’s father, husband! What if people start wondering where he went!?” She places stressed fingers against her forehead. “I’m stressed out enough as it is.”

“You won’t get bad karma.” He tries to reassure her but she refuses to take his efforts of comforting her.

“Along with you murdering someone, what am I going to do about Abdelus? I can barely put up with Ahish. And now I’m going to have to face the man I’m supposed to marry.” A heavy sigh escapes her lips as she wonders why she is even asking Zassul in the first place. There is nothing he can do for her except cause an even bigger problem.

“I told you I have a plan.”

She rolls her eyes. “But what is it!?”

“We kill everybody.”

She exclaims in disgust, massaging her stressed temples. “Zassul, I’m being serious.”

“Just be patient. I know you don’t want my help but I won’t let you get married to him. I just need to tread carefully. There’s something deeper going on here.”

“Like what?”

“I told you I’m not ready to reveal it to you just yet.”

The young princess begins to wonder what’s going through this djinn’s head. And having to tread carefully, she can’t help but think he’s talking about Amrita. It is something to be extremely concerned about. Saraia has a demon locked up in a cell.

Why?

“What is it?” Zassul questions the young princess’ silent state, wondering what she is thinking about.

“Well,” she starts hesitantly. She’s unsure if she really wants to know the history behind this demon and Zassul. Amrita showed clear distaste towards him, but it still does not excuse Zassul’s dark history that got him sealed up in the first place. “There’s this woman down in one of the cells.” The young princess decides to be vague.

“You mean that demon Amrita?”

“So you know her by name? She said you two have a history.”

Zassul’s brow cocks upward unhappily. “Yes, we do.” He admits it with resentment and his eyes begin to glow as he becomes visibly angry from the thought of her. “Let me make myself clear, stay away from her. She is extremely dangerous. Pure Demons are about one of the worst creatures you could ever cross. They are nothing like us. We toy with humans and curse them for being greedy and their desire for power. Demons will wipe out an entire species for no reason. They are known for genocide. They will slowly torture their victims before killing them. They feed off of pain and misery. Without it, they wouldn’t even exist. Demons are formed from pure hatred.”

The surroundings seem to grow darker as Zassul explains her true nature. It causes the young princess’ skin to crawl and she begins to feel trapped and vulnerable.

“Don’t listen to anything she says.” Zassul continues. “And no matter what, don’t make a deal with her. She could turn on you as soon as you take up your end of the bargain. Something is always wrong when they ask you to aid them first before they aid you.”

“It seems she is trapped inside of that cell.” The young princess tells him. “Do you think Ahish is involved with dark magic?”

“Abdelus is.”

The thought is extremely discomforting. Her future husband is involved with the dark arts. “So this is why you are being careful?”

“Yes.”

A bell begins to ring across the kingdom. The young princess swallows a huge block down her throat as she listens to it.

“He’s here.”