This story's official inspirational godmother is xLilim's Empress, because I got lots of my ideas after reading her complex, compelling story about another princess and her alliance to Kou. It's also a Kouen/OC fanfic, so if you haven't already read/heard of it by now, please go check it out! This story will feature similar elements, most notably the politics of royal life.

Because this fic is kinda heavy on the AU-worldbuilding and the OCs, there's been some demand for supplementary material; you'll find a link to a livejournal on my profile, where I'll be posting such stuff.

Prologue

The world was spinning.

"Uygh…hey, crap—"

Thud.

"—Ouch."

And he'd just tripped on his own boots. Sinbad sighed, bringing up a hand to wipe the…what was it this time?

Ah, yes, araq.

He sighed, bringing up a hand to wipe the araq that had just spilled out of a corner of his mouth. He was only semi-drunk. That he knew with absolute certainty, no matter what his generals seemed to think. (Ha!)

…But having sailed and danced and talked with the oh-so-many beauties he'd seen that afternoon, he was pondering just how soft the grass beneath his feet was, thinking if it would at all be good for a quick…nap. Maybe. Passing out in the royal gardens of an as of yet unfamiliar country was definitely a no-no, if he recalled Ja'far correctly.

Well, it was Ja'far who'd told him to go to the event in the first place. They'd just arrived in the hot country that afternoon, after a long and delayed boat ride from the western coasts of Parthevia, and the Ariavatan welcoming party had invited them to join them in their celebration of—of something, well he barely remembered now, not when their araq was too good and too…plentiful…

Sinbad squinted out in front of him, searching for a place his body could nestle comfortably amongst the well-tended greenery.

His eyes picked out something else at the top of a small hill.

He found his legs moving toward that direction. It seemed he was not alone in enjoying the, ah, delights of the royal gardens. Amongst the exotic desert flora, a single hill rose at the back of the gardens, with a solitary tree at its top. A robed figure sat before the tree, head tilted toward the tree branches and the inky night sky.

The moment he placed his booted foot on the first stone step up the hill, he knew it was special. In the moonlight, he could see the rippling grass was too green, too healthy, the fresh air tasted different, and the tree was a cherry tree, of all the things to find growing in those hot and dry lands.

His foot had made a noise, of course. The figure looked down from their perch, and Sinbad was surprised to find it was a woman—she was dressed in an ornate black robe embroidered with sparkling gold birds. Her pursed lips held a firm, pensive set to it, and her brows furrowed as she rose to acknowledge him.

"Forgive me—were you here to see the cherry tree as well?"

He ascended the steps, idly wondering if she would even allow him to be near her (though he really didn't care all too much about that at the moment). She looked like a blue-blood, held herself like a blue-blood—sounded like a blue-blood, almost, with her voice thick with some emotion but still trying in vain to hide it away.

He was fully awake now as he came to gaze at her, and she couldn't have been older than eighteen, nineteen even, almost as old as he was.

"Now that I've gazed upon it, I do believe I've come to see you instead," he said light-heartedly, in a transparent attempt to get her to smile.

However briefly, his attempt worked. Her lips quirked for all but a second before she turned to gaze up at the cherry tree once again.

Silently, he joined her as he reached the top of the hill, watching the pink petals that then fluttered to the ground.

They were sitting a few feet away from each other. Sinbad gazed at her curiously, cradling his chin in the palm of his hand.

"So, are you royalty? A queen, perhaps?"

Her pale green eyes shifted towards him from the cherry tree. "Hm. Close, but not quite." She turned to face him fully, "What brings you to the great kingdom of Ariavat?"

"Trade, but that's unimportant," Undeterred, Sinbad said, "so are you a princess? A nobleman's wife?"

Sinbad watched as she looked away for a moment, and something inexplicably close to melancholy danced in her eyes. He watched as her face twisted before she looked back at him and wryly said, "A combination of those things, maybe."

Silence reigned.

In the back of his head he could hear that faint fluttering of wings—she, seemingly absentminded, lifted her hand and placed it above her heart. Her eyes turned distant again, and suddenly he was struck with the vision of a single black bird drifting out of her chest and into the air, beating its wings and joining the rest of the rukh…

"Ah." He eyed her ornate black robes again. Quietly, gently, he said, "A widow, then."

They spoke.

And somehow he'd ventured closer to her now; if he outstretched his arm, he could brush his thumb over the tear tracks that had probably run their course many a time down her cheeks. Sinbad curiously mused out loud: "You couldn't have been anything more than a child when that…happened."

She noticed his intent gaze. Amusedly, she spoke, "I'm sure you know that when you're born into royalty, there's no such thing as a childhood."

He lifted his arm. What he did was place a hand on her shoulder, and when she lifted her own brow in reply at the gesture, he unexpectedly felt his heart lurch.

Sinbad, sailor of the seven seas, newly crowned ruler of his own equally new kingdom, first class singularity, felt fate wind itself around them. The eye of his mind unclouded, and unbidden, he again glimpsed one tiny fraction of the grand flow of destiny.

Then he grinned at her. With all the certainty in the world, he said: "But life doesn't stop here, does it?"

He waited for her answer. Her forehead wrinkled, and she gave a sudden laugh—harsh, but not cynical, and Sinbad bit his lips at the unexpected happiness he felt when she did so. Her eyes closed as she laughed, but when she opened them again with mirth and the beginnings of acceptance in her eyes, he felt his face split with the size of his grin.

Too many people thought death was the end of everything. But Sinbad knew, perhaps more than anyone, that that was nothing if not the furthest thing from the truth.

"No, I suppose it doesn't."

1

Kou and Jishou

5 years later

Some ways east of Rakushou and off the continent, lay a chain of island nations historically allied to each other. Untouched and undisturbed in the far flung corner of the world that separated the western and eastern continent, the Triangle of nations had had seemingly no reason to involve themselves in the power plays that currently dominated the political landscape outside their dominions.

But the Kou Empire had come to even Jishou at last, with trade deals and diplomatic proposals in abundance. Much of Kou's time had been spent pushing west that when they turned their gaze east, Sayu imagined that they were wary to find Jishou and the Triangle—currently unallied to any major power in the world—still afloat in the vast ocean that parted Reim and Kou. Soon messages were sent, then some minor ambassadors, then the sudden flood of work that came with the official correspondence between two nations. When Kou had started its militaristic expansion, Jishou had largely been left unnoticed—

—and now, Kou's sobering diplomatic overtures were received with equal parts caution and curiosity. A few of the courtiers had even thought, with a nation as rumored to be aggressive as Kou, the foreign empire would abandon all statecraft once Jishou had made it clear that it was pointedly indifferent to the idea of becoming a vassal.

Those expectations had been shattered when the empire instead suggested an alliance. And while the idea had at first been regarded with suspicion, a year into negotiations and Kou's patient but relentless insistence on the matter had made the alliance evolve from being a nebulous thing to a binding agreement whose stipulations would soon be agreed upon in court.

Now they were here, and the day everyone had well anticipated and prepared for had come. A great number of curious matters had reached the political circles Sayu ran, yet none had always excited her more than today, the day of the imperial princes' visit to Jishou.

On this most auspicious morning, guards from both nations lined her sides as finally a man walked down the gangplank from the large Kou ship, a bevy of servants and advisors trailing in his wake.

He was a tall-ish prince, blessed with the red hair of Ren Koutoku. His face, she noticed as he made his way off the ship, was mottled with pimples, and a heart-shaped earring hung on the one ear uncovered by his hair. He seemed old, older than her, even though Sayu knew the opposite was true; Ren Koumei might've been a full year younger than her, his splendid purple robes might've hung off of him a little, and his face might've appeared too sleepy to be seriously polite in the company of fellow royalty, but she knew he was rumored to be just as astute as the most experienced war general.

Though right then he looked so tired, the seaside wind might as well've carried him away right that instant.

Sayu stepped forward to greet him. When she raised her arms, hidden by the billowing sleeves of her favorite plum-colored robe, she stifled an amused grin.

They were wearing matching robes.

The prince came to a stop before her, bowing his head in a sign of respect. She returned the gesture promptly; and while she was expected to give some kind of formal welcome, she instead offered him a simple greeting, smiling as she straightened from her bow: "I bid you welcome, Prince Koumei. I am the eldest and First Princess of Jishou, Sayuri. How was your journey?"

The foreign prince's eyes minutely widened at her name, and seemed thrown off by the informality. He drew a feathered fan from his wide sash as he hesitated on his answer. Its intricate gold handle was eye catching, but even more so was the large ruby that seemed to wink at her with its famed 8 point star. It was one of those metal vessels—one of those great, mysterious objects that the Triangle had only ever heard about.

He gripped it in front of him, and Sayu noted his stiffening stance—she kept her easy expression, privately finding it intriguing that his metal vessel, an object of power, was something as mundane as a fan. His tired eyes discreetly looked her up and down, but soon he cautiously—respectfully—settled with, "Wonderful for the most part, Princess Sayuri. The Jishouan Royal Navy is truly commendable. I had not expected the trip to be so short."

He seemed to not know what to make of her. In response Sayu nodded and clasped her hands, her robes fluttering in the mild sea breeze. Jishou had given the Kou delegation an escort of ships while they made their way across the sea—his remark sounded at least sincere, which pleased her.

Around them the soldiers and attendants began to move in unison, rapidly preparing for the next leg of their journey to the summer palace.

Sayu was happy that he looked to be of the more polite, reserved sort of royalty, if a little drowsy. She watched him as he came to stand a few ways beside her. "It comes with centuries of maritime trade with the Triangle, as you may already know."

She offhandedly gestured at the open-air carriage that awaited them at the far side of the dock, which was wide, comfortable, and meant to be a welcome change after a long boat ride.

"Indeed," Koumei said, gazing all around him. The port city of Tohouku was amongst the jewels in Jishou, and was only a short ride away from the summer palace, up in the mountains.

Sayu smiled, faintly amused at the thinly veiled awe on the prince's face.

It had been a long time since a dignitary from a far away land—or at least a land as far away as Kou anyway—had come to Jishou.

And so there was, of course, a massive banquet held that night at the summer palace. Prince Koumei looked slightly uneasy at the readiness with which the government seemed to welcome him. He looked equally uneasy by his proximity to the royal family and the many foreign foods and cultures that greeted him at the royal banquet table, seated as he was at the right hand of her father, the king, and directly across her mother, the queen.

Delegates from all over the Triangle had come to informally receive him as well, and he was even more flustered with the attention everyone seemed to lavish him with. Sayu had to bite back a laugh; seated all around him were her numerous brothers and sisters, and even her parents, who were alternately engaging themselves and Koumei in rapid, amiable conversation.

All in all, a typical Jishouan welcoming party.

She herself had skirted that particular affair at the banquet table, choosing instead to go mill about the hall and greet the foreign diplomats that had come.

"My princess, isn't it a pity his brother isn't here yet?" Her handmaid, Fuu, asked. The two surreptitiously watched the royal antics from afar, where Sayu's eighteen year old sister—Mameha—was trying to get Koumei to eat something spicy from Ariavat.

"Which one? His step-brother? Or the other two?" Sayu raised a brow at Fuu. The blonde wiggled her finger, smiling slyly.

"The older one," Fuu faux-whispered. "The handsome one. They say he has two djinns at his disposal!"

"I see the grapevine from the servants' network is growing well with the arrival of the attendants from Kou," Sayu commented. "How do you find them?"

Fuu shrugged beside her. "They're a courteous bunch. Very disciplined and polite—no misunderstandings, as of yet." And suddenly her fervor returned, and Fuu looked at her mistress eagerly, "But believe me, my princess! All the maids from Kou talk about how handsome he is. How manly…and his body, oh, you wouldn't believe the things they say about it…"

As Fuu went off into her dreamy mutterings about the crown prince of Kou, Sayu pondered the man's existence as well: she'd heard of Ren Kouen and his many military exploits. He was quite the busy man it seemed, even with Kou's war campaign on hold for the time being. The Kou-Jishou negotiations had been going for a year already, but it was only in the present summer that temporary peace reigned in the empire, and thus two of their most important princes, Koumei and Kouen, would be able to spare the time to come so far east of Rakushou.

The most noticeable, indispensible stipulation in the Kou-Jishou alliance had always been a marriage: Kou had been the one to propose such a thing, and while everyone had balked at it at first, it was an idea that soon gained traction in court. All the more to leverage with, everyone in the palace had decided, and cautiously entered into those negotiations.

(Sayu internally scoffed at that: no one loved a royal wedding more than the Jishouan court. Even if it was a wedding meant to trap the country in an alliance with a rapidly expanding, demanding nation like Kou.)

Despite having suggested and graciously done most of the work crafting such a proposition, no official word had come back from Kou about which of their heirs and heiresses specifically was being offered as a marriage candidate, or even which Jishouan prince or princess they would've preferred for the ceremony. The only thing set in stone was the mutual agreement for this marriage.

Of course Kou would want to be sly like that, she thought. Like all other marriage negotiations, this one would be a protracted affair; that she already knew. It was a good pretext for the Kou delegation—and especially the visiting Kou princes—to have more time to thoroughly survey Jishou. They would be looking through their history, their military, their trade, and their governance as they went about refining the terms of their alliance.

But maybe she was the only one who felt so squeamish about Kou. After all—her royal family seemed to like Koumei, the chief negotiator of this alliance until Kouen arrived, well enough.

Sayu sighed, turning to watch her handmaid reenter into reality. The princess listened again as Fuu excitedly spoke: "Do you think he's the one the Kou emperor seeks a marriage for, princess? Is that the reason for his late arrival? Oh, the suspense!" the handmaid said, swiping a cup of rice wine from a passing attendant. Fuu held it out for her princess to take, and Sayu thanked her with a smile.

"Unlikely," The princess replied, swirling the transparent drink in her hands, "Only preparations for the next campaign have held him down, Prince Koumei told me on the way from the docks. Though, Prince Kouen is too important to tie down with a wife from Jishou, I think. He and his chosen wife will one day inherit the imperial throne, and I don't imagine the current emperor passing over more advantageous alliances from larger countries for an alliance with us…"

But here she smiled. She greeted a passing diplomat, who bowed to her. She returned her eyes to the scene at the royal table. "Nevertheless, I'm sure whichever poor girl they marry to Prince Kouen will be miserable. Too much a warmonger, or so all the trade circles say. It would be unbearable for a wife."

"Prince Koumei isn't too bad himself," Fuu said, tapping her chin. "The acne can go with a little…help. Is he the one?"

"They have a younger pair of siblings as well, you know—children, really. Though we all know mother and father wouldn't stand for a marriage involving someone so young again."

And neither would Sayu.

But Sayu also knew which way the wind was blowing: as it stood, Koumei had the best chances of marrying a Jishouan princess. Not his step-brother and step-sister, not his younger kid siblings either; Koumei was the court's unofficial choice, and thus the princess set up for him was not just any princess too. The only truly marriageable princess as of the moment was 18 year old Mameha. Lively, beautiful Mameha, the second princess of Jishou, her younger sister.

And perfectly, as word had it, Koumei was much more inclined to stay away from the battlefield. Which would create a better situation for a Jishouan princess to politically maneuver in—or at least a better situation compared to a marriage with Kouen.

Mameha's days as a princess of Jishou were practically numbered now, and everyone in the court circuits knew deep in their hearts that it was a matter of time until the two were formally betrothed. Even if Kou liked to keep mum about their plans, the rest of Jishou had firmly already made up their minds.

It looked to be something not so distasteful, as arranged marriages went: Sayu eyed her little sister poking fun at Koumei's disheveled hairstyle, to which the prince responded with a slight reddening of his ears and him self-consciously patting the back of his neck.

Perhaps it would even be amiable, although Sayu knew more than anyone that marriages were never so simple.

Still, I hope they'll be happy together.

Now if Kouen would come to iron out the rest of the negotiations, and the palace could breathe easier with knowing the reason behind Kou's sudden interest in Jishou.

The elder princess took a deep breath, sipping her rice wine.

A racket started in the far end of the banquet hall. When she spotted the telltale throng of aristocrats and servants parting in the middle of the hall and making way, she sprouted a grin. Sayu started towards the upper end of the hall, fully intending to get a good view of the impending spectacle.

"Come, Fuu," Sayu said, downing the rest of the cup of wine in one go. She handed it to a passing servant, who promptly disappeared with it. She felt the air in the hall thicken, as it saturated with the magoi of the multiple magicians that had just entered the premises, "I think the magisters have finally arrived."

My brother and king,

Although I know you would like me to start this missive with a monotonous preliminary report on the journey here, my hand feels too weak to do sO (The last character's ink has blotted)

The royal family is… (another ink blot, though the next few words have been written carefully) very welcoming.

I've been introduced to officials, both foreign and local, many times over, in the course of my stay here thus far. Nearly every night are we slipping into one banquet or another at a merchant or nobleman's mansion. It has been good for diplomacy. Not so good for my sleep, as you may already surmise.

There are many cultural similarities to Kou, and am still surprised to find it so. I am aware of the buried history that long ago, Rakushou and Jishou shared many ties. Perhaps the reasons why their shipwrights seem to be so skilled in producing superior maritime vessels are those same ties. A sea separates Jishou and the eastern continent, but both their ships and navy have somehow managed to expedite the travel. It is one of the many curious things about this country and this region of the world.

(Here the script straightens, and the characters seem more uniform and neatly written)

I regret to say information about the Magisterium remains at large. A few of these "magisters" had come to the banquet the night of my arrival—though our past correspondence with Jishou has them hinting that these "magisters" are nothing more than scholars, they are in fact magicians.

There seems to be an unusual abundance of them here, and perhaps even in the entire Triangle.

(The writer's usual sloppy script returns)

The tales I could tell of what I saw the night of my arrival. You must hurry here, brother. There is much to discover.

Your loyal servant,

Ren Koumei

Notes:

(1) A quick list of ages: Sayu (23), Sinbad (25), Kouen (24), Koumei (22), Kouha (14), Kougyoku (13), Hakuei (17), Hakuryuu (12). So this fic is actually 4 years before the actual events of the series.

(2) Jishou is kinda like Japan, but not really, because (as it goes with the other countries in the series) they're not really supposed to reflect any real countries. But it's always nice to have some kind of reference to point to.

(3) Sinbad will be back, but not until way later. And, well, obviously I've been reading the manga. A lot of things need explaining, but all in due time.

Please write me some reviews, if you feel inclined to. I'm semi-new to worldbuilding and to writing for Magi, so any and all suggestions and constructive reviews are welcome. If you have any questions, any people you'd like to see in this fic, just say so :-) Until the next chapter!