~Zinniah~

Amorelli and I waited. And waited. And waited for the Emperor of China to arrive and set us free. Last time I checked, we have been captive here for about two weeks. They brought us food and water each day, however not as much as we would have wanted. It was less than what we had gotten when we were slaves.

It was late afternoon, I could tell because the sun wasn't directly in the center of the sky, but a little towards the right. I sighed and saw a little weed outside of our cell window. I touched it and it sprouted towards the sun. I smiled lightly to myself, still not accustomed to my abilities. I look over to Amorelli and see she is creating more water and putting it into our cups. I smiled gratefully towards her and started to drink the water slowly. We then heard the door open to the room we were in and we chugged the water and set the cups on the floor so that they wouldn't notice. We didn't look towards the door, expecting to see the rude officers. We then heard a cough to get our attention and when we turned around, we couldn't believe our eyes.

It was the Emperor of China.

He had on a long traditional robe that looked very colorful and very expensive. Both Amorelli and I stood up and bowed in respect.

"What have you two done to be held in my prison?" He asked, even though he looked old, he sounded like a thirty-year-old man.

"We did nothing, your highness. We were traveling to Russia and we came here for a rest. We started a small fire and built a lean-to and were eating edible berries when we heard two officers." Amorelli said while looking over towards him. He nodded and looked to be in thought. He didn't speak up for a few moments.

"That's it?" He asked as if surprised by the fact that we had been arrested for no reason.

"Yep," I said bluntly.

"That's ridiculous but I can understand why the guards did this." He said, looking at us then towards the cell in general.

"Well, we don't understand! Is this because of the princesses that have been kidnapped?" I asked in a bit of a yell.

"Watch your tone, and yes it is. Someone recently took my daughter. They've been taking children for eighteen years." He said sadly, you could see the despair in his eyes and it was heartbreaking.

"We know. We are two of those children." Amorelli walked up towards the cell doors and they all look at us like they had seen a ghost.

"And how am I supposed to know that you two aren't lying?" He asked with pain in his voice.

"Why would we lie about something like this? Zinniah, show him your gift." She looks towards me and my eyes widened but I did as told. I thought about what to show him but I still went up to him, put my hands on his cheeks and looked him in the eyes. I then showed him everything Maya told us. Who we are and where we were. After I showed him he started to cry.

"We have to get you two home!" He says while sobbing.

"No! Not yet! The prophecy, show him that." I nodded and held his hand while looking into his eyes again. I showed him the part where Maya was explaining the prophecy. It took a minute or two but after I was done he looked at me, astonishment in his eyes.

"Oh my god..." He mumbled.

"Oh, wait. There's still one more thing to show you." I put my hands to his face again and looked him in the eyes. I showed him his daughter.

"My baby... My beautiful Mei..." He sobbed. He now knows that we saw her.

"Where is she? Where is my child?" He asks, continuing to cry.

"She is somewhere in India. Where we were all held captive. We were on our way to Russia to find my mate and then we were going to gather every royal and travel to the place where they're all being held. However, if you have magical powers, you can't use them. They have this invisible barrier around them that hides the whole facility and disables powers." Amorelli says in a small rush, also making her way towards the bars of our cell.

"Free them. Now." The kind demanded.

"Thank you, your highness," Amorelli said with gratitude in her voice.

"Please. Call me Chen. I am Emperor Chen." He tells us as he shakes our hands and kisses the tops of them.

"I am Princess Amorelli Agnelli, I come from the seas. This is my best friend Zinniah Watters, Princess of the Amazon." Amorelli introduces us both and we bow before Chen. He nods his head in appreciation.

"I remember you girls now... You both have been missing not too long after your birth. Your parents were constantly worried sick. They never stopped searching. Amorelli, your father caused so many storms across the world because you were gone."

"Really?" Amorelli asked.

"Yes. And Zinniah, your father killed so many for information about you. But when he came up with nothing after a few years, he stopped killing and started becoming more vulnerable. He was showing his weakness to others and it wasn't a good sign. Every royal child that has been stolen, their parents have lost their self-control. They run ramped through the towns. Mr. and Mrs. York especially." He finishes off.

"That's my mate! Well, their son is my mate. Do you know his name?" Amorelli asks with curiosity.

"Mordikai York." He answers simply.

"Mordikai... That's better than I ever imagined." She sighed dreamily and blushed. I scoffed and looked towards Chen.

"Look, Chen, can you get both of us to Russia without any delays?"

"Of course. Let's go. I can notify other rulers that you will be passing through to get to Russia. However, contact between Russia and China isn't too well. Neither is our relationship. So I can not contact them and tell them you are coming."

"Thank you anyways, Chen. First rouge wolves, then centaurs, then this. Vampires. I was not expecting to run into you guys until we hit Germany or something, to be honest." I said, trying my best not to insult him.

"Yeah, when people visit China they don't expect vampires. And Germany is filled with fairies. Pests are what I'd like to call them."

"Are they dangerous?" Amorelli asks.

"If you get on their bad side, yes. They are very impatient and like to trick the people they converse with. Especially outsiders. Unless they are talking to a fellow fairy they won't trick them. They like to speak in riddles. It's horrendous if you ask me." Chen finishes off.

"That does sound awful," I comment.

"It is. Especially when they won't give you direct answers. They almost never answer directly. Always riddles and puzzles you have to do in order to get information." Chen looks agitated just by talking about it.

"Thank you again, Emperor Chen. I'll be sure to fix yours and Russia's relationship. Or at least try to." Amorelli comments.

"Thank you. That would mean a lot to us." Chen says with gratitude and we all bow towards one another. After we said our goodbyes, we made our way out of the prison. I looked behind me towards Chen and the guard and decided to confess something.

"Oh, and by the way, sorry for poisoning your one guard to death with a bite. He was being very rude to us." After I said that I shifted into a hippogriff. Amorelli hopped onto my back and we went off. I looked down to see Chen laughing and the guards looking angry and shocked. I let out a noise towards them that made them roll their eyes and walk inside. We flew onward from Xinjiang China towards Russia.

As we flew for a few hours, it started to become dark. We then landed at a lake called Ulungur Lake, still in China. It was beautiful. There was an amazing view of the lake and the mountains behind it. As we landed, we also saw some cattle eating grass. I landed and as soon as Amorelli got off my back I shifted back and cracked my back. It felt amazing.

"Alright, you know the drill. There aren't any trees from what I see, so we'll have to make do. You're going to have to shift into a wolf to help me get warm. It is freezing!" Amorelli said and I nodded. I shifted into a wolf and stretched as Amorelli created a fire. Once she did that and knew it would last a while, I laid next to the fire and she curled up into me. I made sure she was covered and fell asleep, not thinking about my screaming stomach.