“It wasn’t just him,” I said, picking up a copy of the Floris Buckle with a picture of the royal gardens on the front. All the plants were dead or dying. It was a pitiful sight. “The whole kingdom is a mess. They had a blight on their plants. Everything died.”
Freya screwed up her face and wrote some more.
“This was late Feb, early March.”
Freya nodded. “Next?”
“The next kingdom I noticed to have problems was The Vale. Then it was...” I checked the pile of papers again. “Arboria.”
“And do either of those places have a prince or princess the same age as you?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know. The royals from The Vale had a daughter, but I thought she was older than me. She was married and had a baby. The baby was kidnapped.”
Freya raised an eyebrow. “You think she’s older than you?”
I’d never visited The Vale, but I knew the king and queen had a daughter and a granddaughter. They’d endured so much tragedy. First, the husband of the princess had died when the princess was pregnant, and then, the newborn had been kidnapped. My heart hurt just thinking about it. “I don’t know. I feel way too young to be married with a child.”
“Doesn’t mean she is, though, does it? Do you know her name?”
“Eliana.”
Freya wrote it down. “Have you noticed that all these names run in alphabetical order starting from A? Azia, Blaise, Deon, Eliana. If you tell me that the prince or princess from Arboria is called Fred or Felicity, then this will be something huge.”
“Fallon!” I said, my eyes widening. “And then me.”
“Gaia!” Freya mouthed breathily.
We stared at each other open-mouthed as I tried to consider the implications. There weren’t just five, there were more.
“The last one I was going to tell you about is Princess Kelis of Enchantia, but nothing has happened there as far as I know. The Enchantia Charm is reporting nothing strange.”
Freya picked up a copy of The Charm and read the headline on the cover. It was an article about a mage rescuing a puppy from a burning building.
“Hmmmm. I wonder if the magic hasn’t hit Enchantia yet?” she shrugged and threw the newspaper back on the bed. “It’s hopping from kingdom to kingdom. Maybe this is more widespread than you think. What if it’s happening in all the kingdoms, some of which it hasn’t started in yet?”
“So we are missing the letters C, H, I and J...Maybe L, M, N...” she continued. “We are missing the kingdoms Arcadia, Elder, Oz, The Forge, and Skyla. What do you know about the royal families from those places?”
“My knowledge of Elder is limited. They don’t have a royal family, and they don’t have a newspaper. I know that Skyla is without a royal family too. They kind of live communally, and I’m not even sure who is in charge there.”
“What about Arcadia?”
I sat forward. “Arcadia hasn’t had any problems as far as I’m aware, and the king and queen are childless.”
Freya stood back up. “Maybe we are clutching at straws then, and the names of the royal princes and princesses are just coincidental.”
“Maybe,” I mused. “But I don’t like coincidences. My mother would probably know more about the leaders of Elder and Skyla. I do know the president of the Forge is called Alice. She has two daughters, Ivy and Pearl.”
“There’s your letter I,” Freya pointed out.
I stood up and followed her out onto the terrace. Asher flew over our heads and out over the streets of Kisbu. I envied him sometimes, the freedom he had to go wherever he pleased. I’d fly to Skyla and Arcadia and all the other places and find out what was going on. If Ivy was part of this, did that mean Pearl was too? If so, where were the other letters of the alphabet? I counted the letters from A to K on my fingers. K was the eleventh letter of the alphabet. Was Kelis the last one, or was Pearl? Eleven children in one go was impossible. I didn’t even bother to count to P. Instead of this making sense, it had only thrown more mysteries my way.
I leaned on the balustrade and brought my hand up to my temple. “I feel like my head is spinning.”
Beside me, Freya smirked. “I know what you mean. Maybe we should come back to this later. How did it go with your mother and father last night?. Did they meet and fall in love again?”
I almost laughed. “Not quite. My father came to the restaurant and stole my mother’s purse.”
Freya’s eyes widened. “He did what?”
“I was stupid to think that my plan would work. It feels like no matter what I do, it goes wrong. I feel like I’m making everything worse.”
“Aladdin isn’t a thief. He might have forgotten who he is, but deep down he’s still the same person. He wouldn’t steal.”
I shrugged. “I saw him do it. He might be the same person, but his circumstances have changed. He’s living on the streets. He’s hungry.”
Freya took my hands and turned me to face her. “You were in a restaurant. I’m assuming you paid for his meal. He didn’t steal your mother’s handbag because he was hungry. I think you should go and find him and ask him what he was doing.”
I sighed and headed back inside. Going to find my father was just another job to add to my list.
“I wish I could ask Genie about all this,” I said, indicating the papers still strewn all over my bed.
“Actually, that’s why I came to see you. I feel like we’ve not had a proper talk in ages. What’s happening with you and Genie?”
“I slept with him.”
Freya grinned. “I guessed.”
She quickly moved the newspapers away as I sat back down on the bed. I watched as she stacked them all carefully into one big pile and then placed them by the side of the bed.
She joined me on the bed. “What happened? I thought that he said he was too old for you?”
My heart wrenched as I remembered the way he’d looked at me as I last left his room.
“It was magical, beautiful. I love him.”
Freya pulled me into a hug as I tried to keep the tears at bay. I’d always felt so confident in every aspect of my life, and now, there wasn’t a single part of it that I felt as if I knew what I was doing. My foundations had been pulled out from beneath me.
“Does he not love you back?”
I stood up and headed to my bedroom door. “Sometimes, he does. The last time I saw him, he threw me out of his room because he didn’t even know who I was.”
Comprehension dawned on Freya’s face. “Oh, honey. I’m so sorry.”
“It’s fine. It’s not like I’m not used to it by now. First, my father, then my mother, now Genie.”
I opened the door and headed out into the corridor. Freya followed.
“Go and have some breakfast,” she ordered. “I’ll find Jamal, and we can come up with a plan.”
“A plan for what?” I asked. There were so many things going on. I didn’t know which to prioritize.
Freya smiled. “Everything. We’ll break it all down and tackle one thing at a time.”
My mother looked up as I entered the breakfast room.
“Gaia Darling. I was hoping to see you this morning. First reports are in. The townsfolk are behaving. The out of towners are still bringing in their wares. It seems things are back to some normality.”
I gave her a smile, wishing that were the case. Normality wasn’t going to come back just because we opened the gates. The magic had been coming in waves, ebbing and flowing. She remembered me now, but how long would it last?
“I was thinking of heading into town and seeing if I can find the man who stole your purse yesterday,” I said airily, slathering butter on a pastry.
“The man needs locking up. I don’t want you going to look for him. There’s no telling what he might do to you.”
I poured black coffee into a cup and took a sip. “He’s not dangerous, Mother.”
She pointed a butter knife at me as she talked. “You can’t possibly know that. I ha
ve enough on my plate to deal with without wondering what happened to my daughter if you don’t come home.”
“Oh?” I said, taking a bite from the flaky pastry. “What are your plans?”
Letting my mother do anything without supervision these days was much more dangerous than looking for my father in Kisbu. At some point in the past few weeks, I’d become a mother to a bunch of toddlers, or at least, that’s what it felt like.
“I was thinking of visiting Khoha. I should have gone there yesterday, but of course, I didn’t.”
Ten minutes later, Freya and Jamal showed up. I watched my mother as Jamal took a seat next to her, but her eyes didn’t even flicker toward him. Maybe she was getting better.
“Freya tells me you wanted to speak to me,” Jamal said, filling his plate with meats and cheeses.
I glanced Freya’s way.
“I was thinking about the current situation with the townsfolk.” She turned to my mother. “Your Majesty. I believe you were thinking of visiting Khoha today? The mayor was expecting a visit.”
“Was I?” My mother looked surprised. The blankness had descended over her eyes again. It was as if she’d not just mentioned it to me only moments ago.
“Yes. I was thinking that Jamal and I could go with you and help out. I believe Gaia has things to do here.”
Jamal looked my way and narrowed his eyes. “Something to do with Genie, no doubt....ow!” He looked over at Freya, who smiled innocently at him as he bent down to rub his leg.
“Actually, I was planning to go into Kisbu and see if I can find the thief that stole my mother’s purse.”
Now, Jamal looked confused. Freya obviously hadn’t told him what had happened with my father the previous day. My mother continued to stare blankly at her plate. At least, I wouldn’t have to worry about her stopping me from going out to find my father.
“I’ll tell you all about it later,” Freya said, motioning toward my mother with her eyes. “How about we all meet back here later and have a debrief?”
Despite how Jamal felt about me right now, I was blessed to have him and Freya here at the palace. Without the pair of them, the whole of Badalah would have collapsed long before now.
An hour later and I was out on the streets of Kisbu, dressed in the same clothes I wore in Urbis. Today I wanted to be able to walk through the streets unseen. I found my father exactly where I expected to find him, asleep in the top of the old bell tower.
I nudged him with my toe and waited for him to wake. He snorted, then opened his eyes, and pulled himself back into almost an attack stance. When he saw it was me, he relaxed.
“I’m sorry about yesterday,” he said, pulling something out from under a pile of newspapers. It was my mother’s purse. He held it out at arm’s length as if it would bite him.
I took the purse and looked inside. All the Rubees my mother had taken out with her were still there along with everything else she usually carried with her.
“I didn’t take the money.”
“Why did you steal it?” I asked, sitting on the window ledge.
He licked his lips and sat down. “I don’t want your money. I don’t need it,” he reiterated.
I looked around the messy room where he lived with broken floorboards and old newspapers as a bed. “I beg to differ, but if you weren’t planning on using the money, why steal it in the first place?”
He ran his hands through his filthy hair. I noticed that he was still wearing the shirt and pants I’d brought for him to wear. I couldn’t see his old clothes anywhere.
“The second I saw her, I felt something. I don’t even know what. It sounds crazy. I don’t even know her. I guess it’s because she’s the queen or because she’s so beautiful. I wanted to come and talk to her. It was stupid, but I thought if I took the purse, I could come to the palace and use it as an excuse to speak to her.”
“So, why didn’t you? That’s why I invited you to the restaurant in the first place.”
He raised an eyebrow and narrowed his eyes. I’d forgotten for a second that I’d told him I’d invited him because I wanted to feed him. I’d not even mentioned my mother being there to him.
“I couldn’t. Look at me. I’m a pauper, a nothing. Why would the queen want to speak to someone like me?”
I sighed. “My mother would sit and listen to you talk for hours. There was nothing she liked more than to discuss current affairs with you. She just doesn’t remember it, and neither do you. You love her. You’ve been in love with her from the first moment you laid eyes on her and she with you. I’ve never known any couple more suited to each other than the pair of you. I can’t believe you’ve forgotten everything you had together.”
I was shouting, and I knew it. He stared at me, his eyes wide open.
“She’s in love with me? The Sultana of Badalah is in love with me?”
“Yes!” I replied exasperated. “She needs you, and you need her. Badalah needs both of you, and so do I.”
He closed his eyes and brought his hands up to his temples. “I remember...I remember my childhood. I lived on these streets. How would I know the Sultana?”
I moved from the windowsill and sat next to him on the floor.
“You found a lamp. Many years ago. It contained a genie. The genie helped you meet her. The genie can’t help you anymore, but I can.”
“You can introduce me to the Sultana?”
“Ye...” I remembered what my mother had told me that morning at breakfast. The second my father set foot in the palace, my mother would have him arrested for theft. “If you truly want to meet my mother, I’ll find a way,” I promised him. I kissed his cheek and pulled some Rubees from the purse, which I handed over to him. “Get yourself a haircut and some food. I’ll do the rest. I’ll come back when I’ve figured out how to play this. Don’t go far.”
His eyes drifted to the riches in his hands and then to me in amazement. I’d given him enough money to feed himself for a few days and to get himself cleaned up. To me, it was pennies; to him, it was a great deal of wealth. I wished I could give him more.
Back at the palace, I resisted the urge to go and check on Genie. Instead, I went down to the basement to practice my magic while I waited for Jamal, Freya, and my mother to come back. As the Sultana’s daughter, it should have been me heading to Khoha with my mother, but I trusted Jamal and Freya. They understood the importance of keeping relations with our nearest town outside of Kisbu cordial. When this was all over, I’d make sure that Jamal had a place in the palace for as long as he wanted. He deserved it.
The fire began to build up within me, almost shooting out of my fingertips as my mind wandered to The Vizier. I reigned it in and kept control of the swirling mass of hot magic within me. In the far corner of the cellar, stood a seamstress’s mannequin that had been brought down here when it was no longer needed. Picturing The Vizier’s face on top of the feminine body, I hurled my fire at it, sending it flying into the wall in an inferno. It fell to the floor as flames licked the wall next to it.
I’d started the fire, but could I put it out using magic? I didn’t know. Imagining a magical lasso, I wrapped it around the flames and began to pull back. The flames pulled away from the wall and the smoldering mannequin and floated in mid-air toward me in a long line as though an invisible rope was burning.
“Cool!” I whispered, waving my hand and letting go of the magic. With nothing to burn and no magic tethering it to anything, the flames vanished. All that was left were scorch marks on the wall and the blackened mannequin along with the smell of burning.
Later, Freya and Jamal came to find me. The three of us walked out into the gardens away from the guards.
“How did it go?” Freya and I asked simultaneously.
“Your mother forgot who she was,” Jamal answered. “We had to leave her in the carriage while we spoke to the Mayor of Khoha.”
It broke my heart, but it was no more than I expected, I’d seen the blackness glaze her eyes this morning at br
eakfast. I’d hoped that once she was out of Kisbu, she’d come back, but it wasn’t to be.
“The mayor knows the situation. We told her everything.”
“We told her about Aladdin and The Vizier,” added Freya
I nodded. No point keeping quiet about it. Not to the mayor, at least. However, I wouldn’t like The Vizier’s comeback becoming common knowledge.
“And?” I prompted.
“She doesn’t remember Aladdin or The Vizier,” Jamal said, “but she says that she’s noticed a lot of weird things happening. A lot of the people of Khoha have forgotten her too. I think as long as we keep the taxes low for now, she’ll do her best. It was all we could ask.”
I held my hand out to him. “You did a great job. Thank you.” I glanced across at Freya. Her face had taken a sour turn, and I understood why. I’d reached out for Jamal’s hand without thinking. I held my other hand toward her, and she brightened up immediately.
“My father stole the purse because he wanted to bring it back to the palace to meet my mother. He wants to meet her as much as I want him to. Unfortunately, I don’t think my mother wants to speak to him.”
Freya gave an exaggerated yawn. “Maybe we should solve that problem another day?”
I nodded and walked away. When they thought I’d gone, I turned back, and I saw Freya and Jamal kissing. That’s why she wanted me to go. She wanted to be alone with Jamal. My lips curled up at the corners as I turned and headed for bed.
6
6th July
After another night of tossing and turning, I could stand it no more.
My heart ached for Genie. I needed to see him even if he didn’t know who I was. My heart pounded as I walked down the corridor that would take me to his suite. As I held my hand up to knock on his door, I hesitated, wondering if I’d be strong enough to have him look at me blankly the way my mother did so often these days. My father remembered me perfectly from all the times I’d visited him since he lost his memories in the first place but nothing from before. My mother’s memories flitted in and out, but she seemed to be losing new memories as well as old ones. The magic did not treat people equally. Same with the guards. Some remembered me; some looked at me blankly as I passed them. I was yet to have one try to throw me out because he or she didn’t know who I was, but I knew it could happen. And then, there was Genie. Just like my mother, his memories came and went, and like her, his personality had changed. My mother made bad decisions about what to do with the kingdom. Was Genie making bad decisions about being with me? Was his love for me nothing more than a by-product of the evil magic swirling around all of us? Part of me wanted to think that like too much alcohol, the magic was just bringing out everyone’s true self, and Genie loved me all the time, but it didn’t ring true for my mother. Her decision to increase taxes had almost crippled Kisbu. I was still pondering such things when the door opened.
Gaia: Daughter of Aladdin Page 23
