“That’s going to be tough,” Derek said, clapping his hands together. “But, as luck would have it, I enjoy a puzzle. I can look through the records and see how many Gaia’s we had born in that time frame.”
“Thank you.”
He pulled a key from his pocket. It was attached to his jacket by a small chain. The cabinets were filled with boxes, each labeled with a date.
I was dismayed to find they were not in alphabetical order. It was going to take a significant amount of time to go through all the boxes of the months of December and January.
“Can I help?” I asked, standing up. Derek held his hand out to me. “I’m sorry. It’s not permitted. I’ll go through and bring you any of the documents I think might fit.” He pulled a pair of gloves from his pocket and, after pulling them on his hands, started going through the first box. I was forced to sit still, twiddling my thumbs while he sifted through the first batch.
“Just how many people are born in Urbis every day?” I asked, trying to estimate how long it would take to go through the thirty-one days of December and the thirty-one days of January.
“We have hundreds of births registered here every day. Plus, the other registry offices throughout Urbis bring their birth, marriage, and death registrations to us daily. Don’t worry, I’ve been doing this a long time. I know how to sift information quickly.”
He wasn’t wrong. His fingers moved so quickly, sorting through the papers that they were almost a blur. From the first box, he pulled one file, which he let me look at as he moved to the second box.
The document held the name of the parents and the name of the Child. Gaia Louise Middleton. Her parents were Janet and Alfred Middleton from Middle Urbis.
There was no mention of a boy born to the same mother.
“If the baby has a twin, would they share a birth certificate?”
Derek stopped what he was doing and eyed me with surprise. “No, but multiple births are mentioned on each of the babies’ certificates so we can cross-reference. If there is a mention of it, it will be on the top right with a code or codes to match up the certificates. Are you a twin?”
“I don’t know...maybe,” I lied. No point making this more complicated than it already was.
I looked at the top right. No code. This Gaia was an only child. She felt wrong. I didn’t have a middle name. If my birth mother had given me my first name, surely she’d have mentioned a middle name too? Plus, the father was mentioned. Not once in the memory was he brought up at all. He certainly wasn’t at the birth. I had the feeling that he wasn’t in the picture at all.
I put it to one side and waited for the next file. After three hours and one room change, I had a stack of thirty-seven Gaia’s born within the time frame I’d given to Derek. Not one of them showed a code for a multiple birth.
“Is this all of them?” I asked as I handed Derek the last file back for him to file.
“I’ve never once in all the time I’ve been working here failed to find the information requested. Just because you don’t have a birth certificate doesn’t mean clues about your birth aren’t here.”
I didn’t have a birth certificate. It was like I didn’t exist at all.
“What clues could possibly be here?”
“Look around you.” Derek said as we walked back through the huge domed part of the main building. As before, it was a hive of activity with files flying around the room by the thousand. Asher sat on my shoulder for fear of being knocked out of the air. “We use the most sophisticated systems from The Forge to get information quickly. A group of mages works in the lower basement dealing with magical information, and we have staff from all the twelve kingdoms, each an expert on their particular kingdom. For example, over in that room there...” he pointed to a closed door, one of many that circled the large room we were in. “There is a collection of Atlantice shells dating back hundreds of years. And in a temperature-controlled vault, we have the seeds of every known plant in all the kingdoms. We have more seeds than Floris. I think if we have all that, we should be able to find out more about where you came from.”
However impressive his talk was, I was not a seed from Floris, nor a shell from Atlantice. I was a person without a history.
“Thank you, but I have to go home. I’ve been away too long.” I turned to leave, but he put his hand on my shoulder to stop me. “I’ll find something, Your Highness. I’ve not failed yet. I’ll happily post anything I find to the palace in Badalah.”
I gave him a smile. I’d met some of the best and some of the worst people on my trip. As I went to thank him, a thought crossed my mind.
“If you send me something, please put it in a yellow envelope.”
It was a weird request, but with the hundreds of marriage proposals coming via the post every day, a letter would get lost among them. This way, I could ask the palace staff to bring the envelope straight to me.
He didn’t even question me about it. “I sure will. It was a pleasure to help.”
Back outside, I treated myself to a stop at a cafe in the cobbled square in front of the library and sat at one of the outdoor tables. I ordered lunch and a coffee to collect my thoughts. The sun shone brightly in the sky, making me think of home where it was almost always sunny. I made to take my coat off, but the freezing cold that had been bothering me for days made a sudden reappearance. I squinted up at the sun, wondering if a cloud had passed in front of it, but there wasn’t a cloud to be seen. I pulled my coat around myself as a waitress brought my lunch.
Asher circled overhead, stretching his wings as I ate. Hundreds of people walked through the square, each of them dressed immaculately, going about their business as I mulled over the information or lack of information I had. I knew I’d been born in Urbis, and I knew I had a brother out there somewhere, but neither of us existed on paper. As I ate my sandwich, I watched the men go by, wondering if any of them was my brother.
I’d never really put much thought into having siblings, but now that I knew I had one, my heart ached to meet him. What was he like? Did he look like me?
My skin was significantly darker than that of my mother’s, though I’d looked pale at birth too. Now, I looked the same as everyone else in Badalah. All except for my eyes. Somewhere out there, there was a man with eyes like mine.
I was still thinking about him when the cold I’d been feeling turned bitter, like a gust of freezing air that drilled right down to my bones. My magical heat was extinguished inside me. A flash of purple and gold appeared in the corner of my eye, distinctive against the blacks, grays, and blues of the business attire. I turned quickly, feeling a strange pull of cold magic, but when I looked at the crowds of people, nothing seemed out of place. My heart raced with anticipation, but for what? Dropping my sandwich and leaving a few Urbis dollars as a tip, I called for Asher and began the trip back to the train station, eager to get back to the safety of the hotel. Everyone around me was wearing clothes fit for a summer’s day, and yet, the icy temperature had me shivering. This wasn’t normal. There was no doubt in my mind that the cold was made by a magical source, affecting no one but me. As soon as the train came in, I jumped aboard, in a hurry to get back to the hotel. The feeling of magic still gripped me, but it was nothing like the magic of Genie or my own magic. This one was cold and evil and had me shivering, desperate to outrun it. As the train began to pull off, I saw a flash of gold and purple. I spun my head around quickly to the people still on the platform.
My blood ran cold when I saw who it was that had been following me. The man in the purple and gold was my grandfather’s Vizier. The same sorcerer who’d tried to take the throne before my father saved us all.
He was supposed to be dead. No one had seen him in eighteen years, but as I looked into his eyes, cold and hard, I knew it was him. The evil Vizier was back, and he was following me.
7
30th June
I’d spent the night in my room, not daring to come out. The reporters were back and were, in a wa
y, more comforting than the thought of the Vizier. Up here in my room, the coldness had once again receded, but now that I knew where it had come from, the fear of it remained.
I sat on the bed unsure of what to do. The Vizier was back, and it seemed he was after me. He’d not got on the train with me yesterday, but he’d known where I was.
And it was him, I was sure of it. I’d seen photos of him before, shown to me by Genie, who had told me the story about how my father had defeated him so many times it felt as though I’d lived through it myself, despite it happening before I was born.
I’d learned precisely nothing on this trip, and yet, I’d managed to find more danger. I still didn’t know who my mother was, just that she’d never registered my birth. It meant that I’d probably never find out who my brother was either.
“It’s time to go home,” I said to Asher, who peeked out from under his wing and clicked his beak.
I’d set out to make things better, but I’d only made things worse. I missed Genie. I missed home, and however much I hated to admit it, I was scared.
After packing what few things I had, I headed downstairs to the reception desk. Alex gave me a wide smile when he saw me, but his face dropped when he spotted my bag.
“Checking out?”
“Yes, please. I do appreciate all you’ve done for me.”
The flashes from the photographers bounced off his face as they tried to get a shot of me through the glass doors.
“I’ve enjoyed every minute of it!” he said with a grin. “I’m only sorry that I couldn’t get rid of them properly for you. I could try again today.”
I pulled out my purse and gave him enough to cover my nights in the hotel and a hefty tip. He deserved every penny. “I doubt they will fall for it a second time,” I said wistfully. “Did you manage to get up the Urbis Tower?”
“I did! It was bloody marvelous!”
I smiled at his enthusiasm. “I saw the tower yesterday too, but I left before you got there, I think.”
After thanking him, I turned to the photographers and reporters. Their cameras continued to flash even though the pictures would come back with the flash reflected on the windows. I was going to give them what they wanted. What they’d been following me for days to get. I was going to give them an interview. I wasn’t going to be honest with them, but I was going to speak to them, nonetheless. Their presence had been nothing but a nuisance, but with the Vizier out there, it was now a comfort. If I was surrounded by people, no matter how annoying, he wouldn’t be able to get me.
Let the reporters follow me. Let them walk the main street alongside me and take pictures of me stepping onto the Urbis Express. There was no way I was getting out of Urbis without my picture being on the front page of the Urbis newspapers anyway.
“Gentlemen,” I said, stepping out of the front entrance of the hotel, making sure to smile at the cameras. “I’m sure you’d all like to know what I’ve been up to here in Urbis.”
The men, for they were all men, pulled out their pencils and notepads and began to scribble while those with cameras carried on, snapping away.
“I’m here on vacation. I wanted to see the real Urbis, away from the confines of a royal tour. You found me out on my very first day.”
“What have you been doing in Urbis?” one of them asked.
“I visited the shops, and just yesterday, I took a train to see the Urbis Library. It is a place I’ve long wanted to visit alone. I’m sure you know my love of books.”
I only hoped none of them had seen me. I didn’t think so, and I supposed it didn’t matter.
“What about the day before when you visited Outer Urbis?”
I knew they’d ask me and I’d already come up with an answer.
“Outer Urbis was never on the schedule for any of the royal tours, and I wanted to see it for myself. I had a lovely evening looking at the shops there.”
“You threw a fireball at us,” the guy continued. “How did you do that?”
I laughed, hoping it sounded sincere. “A fireball? Let’s not get silly, gentlemen. There was a strange flash of lightning, I grant you, but let’s not make it into something it wasn’t.”
“We saw you conjure it. It came out of your hands. Are you magic?”
I held my hand up to my face. “Of course not. If I was magic, the press of Badalah would have already reported it. If it was a fireball, surely you’d have gotten burned. Are any of you burned, gentlemen?” I looked around them, already knowing their answer. I could have burned them if I’d have chosen to, but I’d thrown them some warning magic with only a hint of heat. The fireball had looked a lot more dangerous than it actually was.
“No, but...”
“Lightning!” I reiterated. “I wish I could do magic. As it is, I can’t.”
The cold I’d been so fearful off began to creep up on me, wrapping tendrils of ice around my heart.
“If you want to follow me, you’ll see I’m heading to the Urbis Express station to make my way home,” I said, trying to step through them.
The guy who’d been asking the questions stopped talking, and I thought I might be allowed to leave, but then another one began.
“What’s your take on what is happening in Badalah at the moment?”
I gritted my teeth and tried to keep the smile on my face. I did not want to have an in-depth discussion on the state of my kingdom. My eyes darted to each side, but the Vizier had yet to make his appearance known. These men couldn’t feel him, but I could. He was close. “I don’t quite know what you mean.”
“Your father has vanished.”
Damn. He knew about that? It meant that outside of Badalah, the people remembered him. It was little comfort. If the press were printing their stories, the mess we were in would spread like wildfire.
“My father is merely doing what I am doing. Taking a break. This is no conspiracy. We are just taking a little time for ourselves. I chose to come here, my father chose to vacation in Badalah.” Ok, it wasn’t exactly a lie. He was in Badalah somewhere. “My mother is perfectly capable of running the kingdom in our absence. Now, if you don’t mind, I have an airship to catch.”
I started to walk through them forcefully, but something stopped me. The cold intensified. I looked over my shoulder. About fifty feet down the alley, the Vizier stepped out from a side street, his purple and gold cloak flapping in the wind. Asher flew down to my shoulder.
“What about the unrest in Badalah?” the reporter asked, obviously unaware of the interloper. “There’s word that your mother is falling apart.”
“Excuse me,” I said, attempting to push through them. If the Vizier was coming, I didn’t want to be here.
A gust of wind hurtled down the narrow alley, blowing Asher from my shoulder and almost knocking me over with its severity. I grabbed hold of the hotel doorhandle as the reporters struggled to stay upright.
My options were limited. I could duck back into the hotel, try to push through the reporters, many of whom had fallen to the ground, or I could try another way.
“Asher!” I yelled as I ran deliberately toward the Vizier before ducking down a side alley. From memory, this whole place was a warren of alleys and passageways twisting and turning, maze-like to goodness only knew where. Ahead of me, Asher flew, pushing me to run faster. Another bolt of wind flew up the narrow passageway sending Asher spiraling through the air and me falling to the ground.
I turned over and pulled myself into a sitting position with the intention of getting up and running, but it was too late, the Vizier was already almost upon me.
“How did you do it, I wonder?” he said, scratching his goatee beard. “You were but a babe in arms.”
“I don’t know what you are talking about,” I spat, trying to sound more defiant than scared.
“Defeated me. I was the most powerful sorcerer in all of Badalah.”
“My father defeated you.”
The vizier narrowed his black eyes at me, then threw his head
back and began to laugh. “Aladdin? Ha. Aladdin was nothing but a street rat. It was only luck that he became Sultan. It should have been me.”
“My father became Sultan because my mother fell in love with him,” I said, finally getting to my feet. Asher hovered over my head, ready to guard me. He wouldn’t be able to, but I knew he’d try. “She fell in love with him because of all the good he did. Badalah has flourished since you left.”
“Not that I’ve seen. Poverty, thievery. It’s still there.”
“Maybe, but at least it’s not being done by those in charge.”
The Vizier’s eyes narrowed. “Aladdin might have done some things for Badalah, but he couldn’t defeat me.”
“Genie helped him.”
“Genie. I’d almost forgotten about him. One click of my fingers, and I’ll have him back in that atrocious lamp where he belongs. He is insignificant. I spent many, many years wondering how the Genie and a street rat defeated me, but it wasn’t them. You did it, or so I’ve been led to believe. I just don’t know how.”
“You are insane. I’ve never met you before.”
“Magic is a wondrous thing,” he said, stepping closer.
I took a step back, trying to eliminate his coldness with my own magic.
“When you and your siblings were born, I lost my magic. I’ve been without it for a long time, but now that it’s back, I’m going to make amends. No one in Badalah remembers your father. It’s about time your mother fell in love again, and this time I won’t let you stop me.”
He pulled back his arm to lob another round of magic at me, but I was ready. I stood my ground, pulling all the heat I had left and hurtled it in his direction. The fireball lit up the alleyway, giving the grey buildings an orange glow. The Vizier’s face also lit up, but with shock. I didn’t stick around to see what he’d do next. Whistling to Asher, I turned on my heel and raced through the alleys until I was back on the main road. From there, it was easy enough to find the Urbis Express station. I bought a ticket for the first airship leaving. It meant stopping in Zhore in Draconis first, but with the coldness looming again, I wasn’t prepared to hang around for the next Kisbu bound flight.
Gaia: Daughter of Aladdin Page 17
