by Jade
Her feet made almost no sound as she traversed the cool tiles to the entrance hall. Her eyes scanned the floor for the spot where Hasan had fallen.
Where he'd splattered.
Her stomach roiled, but Maram refused to let the nausea rule her. His body had been right there...yet now the tiles were clean of blood and brains and whatever else was supposed to stay inside a man's head when he was alive.
She had not imagined it, Maram told herself. Perhaps that's where the servants were – called to her father's court to bear witness to the body they'd found. She should join them, for she'd seen the blue man kill Hasan with her own eyes.
Not that her father would believe there was such a thing as a giant blue man made of smoke. Maram herself didn't believe it, but if there had been some magic at work, then perhaps such a thing could exist. Such magic was beyond her, though.
She returned to her apartments and dressed carefully, for she had no servants to help her. No matter. She managed, as she always did.
With one final pat to make sure her veil was in place, Maram marched to the gate. She crossed the entrance hall without faltering, maintaining a steady trot as she descended the sunlit stairs into air that seemed distinctly cooler than usual.
Only when she reached the bottom of the stairs did she dare to look up into the street outside the palace gates.
But the street was gone. In its place, endless grassland stretched to the horizon, the straight line broken by a few scrubby trees. This was not the city or the desert she knew – it was somewhere else entirely, a country Maram, even in her extensive travels, had never visited before.
She heard a squeak, which drew her gaze back from the horizon to the gates. Someone's dogs were nosing something in the grass, so she took a step closer to investigate.
One of the dogs heard her, for it lifted its bloodied muzzle and mewed at her. It was the strangest dog she'd ever seen. Why, it sounded almost like...
A loud roar drowned out whatever thought she'd intended to have as a larger creature rose from the grass. This Maram could identify. The lioness was leaner than the ones she'd seen in menageries across the world, but there was no mistaking the deadly intent in her eyes as she stalked. She appeared to be hunting, and the dogs were not dogs at all, but lion cubs, eating the remains of...Hasan.
If she'd had anything in her belly, Maram would have brought it up then and there.
She had no right to feel faint at the thought of someone killing the man, not when she'd been ready to hire an assassin to do the job for her, Maram told herself, but it was no use. Even she would have seen that the man was given a proper burial, not fed to someone's pet lions.
Except...there was something wild about this lioness that made her take another look. No chains or collars bound them. No fence or walls caged them. The lioness and her cubs were free as the air, which meant there was nothing stopping them from...from...
Maram scrambled up the steps, not daring to take her eyes off the lioness. She backed inside the palace, fingers scrabbling at the door so that she might shut it firmly behind her. Were there bars? Something to keep the lioness out?
"You should not leave the palace, Princess. It is not safe."
Maram whirled, pressing her back to the door. "Who is there?"
A figure stepped out of the shadows, then bowed. "I did not mean to frighten you."
The light coming through the windows hit him, and stole Maram's breath in the same moment.
"Are you going to kill me, too, like you killed Hasan?" she demanded of the blue man.
"He commanded me to protect you," the man said. As she watched, he shrank, until he was almost the size of an ordinary man. "Hasan deserved his fate."
She didn't argue. She, more than anyone, knew what Hasan was capable of. Perhaps the blue man was right.
The blue man swallowed. "You look just like her. Only more beautiful. How is that even possible?"
Maram knew only one woman who looked like her. "How do you know my mother?" she demanded, looking him in the eye for the first time. Only then did she falter, for recognition came as a shock. "Wait, Amani?"
He bowed his head. "I am."
"What are you doing here?"
"I am the slave of the lamp, which your betrothed kindly brought back to the city."
"Aladdin?"
Amani smiled faintly. "So that is his name. We were never properly introduced, and the enslavement spell on me is so strong I'm not sure I could call him anything but my master, anyway. He is a good man, a rare thing in these times, though I hope you will not be disappointed to discover that he is not a prince."
Maram wet her lips. "I already know. I met him before he left the city and found...wait, did you say a lamp?" She lifted her gaze to the alcove where Aladdin had placed his lucky lamp, but now the alcove was empty. "Where is it? He will be terribly disappointed that it is gone."
"Gwandoya the magician carries it with him, close to his heart. He is my master now, not Aladdin, though I wish it were otherwise. Gwandoya's desires run darker than Aladdin's simple tastes, and I fear what dark purpose he will use me for."
"Use you?" Maram ran through what Amani had told her, as well as her father, about his punishment for being the queen's lover. "Wait, you are a djinn, the servant of the lamp. No, the slave of the lamp, and your master is...the man who ordered you to kill Hasan."
Amani nodded. "I let him believe Hasan was your husband. I'm not sure he can tell the difference between him and Aladdin. The man is clearly mad."
"Where are we?"
"I am not sure what country this is, but we are many miles south from your home, far from any city."
Maram slumped. "So there is nowhere to escape to, even if the gates were not guarded by lions."
"The only way you will ever go home is if you persuade Gwandoya to order me to transport you or the palace back to your city." Amani smiled sadly. "If you have any of your mother's wiles to match her beauty, then I am sure you know how to make a man do whatever you wish."
Amani had known her as a child, so he had no idea how many men she'd seduced, all for her father's benefit and the good of the kingdom. What was one more, if it meant going home to Aladdin?
It would be a betrayal of Aladdin, and the freedom he had won for her. She had promised herself to him, and to let any other man touch her...Maram shivered. No, she could not even feign pleasure in any man's touch but his. Aladdin was the only man she wanted now, and she would not betray him with another, even if it meant their wedding would be delayed. She would return to him, somehow. There had to be a way. A way that did not involve seducing a madman.
THIRTY
"Have you seen the palace that was here yesterday?" Aladdin asked. "It was here, but now it's gone." When the man shook his head, Aladdin tried another passerby. "Did you see anything here last night?"
People shook their heads and moved away from him, eyeing him suspiciously as they passed on the other side of the road.
Aladdin couldn't really blame them. After all, if he'd been confronted by a desperate man asking if he'd seen his palace, Aladdin might have thought him a madman, too. And it wasn't the palace he cared about as much as Maram. If Hasan had hurt her...he didn't know what he'd do.
He kept his head down as he ambled through the bazaar, not wanting to look at all the things he'd thought about buying for Maram.
"Aladdin? Is it really you?"
It took a moment for the sound of his name being called to penetrate through Aladdin's wretchedness, and it took another long moment before he raised his head to focus on the man calling. "Berk?"
Berk grinned. "We all thought the madman had killed you, like Bugra! Ah, you should have waited, for there was work enough for all of us earlier this week. Some foreign prince came to court one of the Sultan's daughters, and he needed porters to carry his treasures through the city before he made them a gift to the Sultan. Never have you seen such riches! Gold and jewels and all manner of precious things. He paid handsomely, to
o. So handsomely we hope he leaves soon, and needs our help again. That much coin would feed my family for a year."
"Did you see what happened to his palace?" Aladdin asked, hardly daring to hope.
Berk scratched his head, then righted his turban. "Not me. But one of Rasul's boys might have – they watch the place all day, ready to fetch the prince a porter if he needs one."
"All day? What about all night?"
Berk shrugged. "The boys go home for dinner after dark. Now their father can afford it."
Aladdin's heart sank. The boys wouldn't have seen anything if they weren't there.
"Hey, Rasul! Did your boys see anything strange about the prince's palace yesterday?" Berk shouted.
Rasul shrugged. "Ghulam said he saw a big nobleman go in to visit the prince. He challenged him, he said, shouting terrible things. Ghulam came running home, telling us we must help the prince fight the man off, or we would not see the prince again. As if the prince did not have his own guards to deal with such things."
Hasan. It had to be him.
"Did your boy see what happened to the palace?" Aladdin asked eagerly.
Rasul shook his head. "His mother had already made the evening meal. He stayed home to eat, like a good boy." He reflected for a moment, then added, "I hope the prince had guards. He pays better than the noblemen of this city. I would be disappointed if we don't see him again."
Berk clapped Aladdin on the shoulder. "Aladdin's the one we didn't think we'd see again. When he went off with that Gwandoya, we thought he'd be as doomed as the rest of them. Especially after Gwandoya came back without him, trying to get more of us to work for him. Yet here he is, safe and well. What sort of work did that madman want you to do, Aladdin? Was it as dangerous as we thought?"
Aladdin managed a smile. "Treasure hunting in the desert. So dangerous, when I got trapped, he left me for dead. I barely made it back. Whatever you do, don't agree to work for him. I was lucky to make it out alive from that place."
Berk nodded gravely. "I told you not to. None of us is that crazy. Although...I haven't seen him for the last couple of days. Have any of you?" The other men shook their heads. "Huh. Maybe he has a new employee to go treasure hunting for him. Hey, did you find anything?"
If he told the truth, every man here would head out into the desert to their deaths. Aladdin forced out a laugh. "Nothing but an old, tarnished lamp."
"Pity. We could all do with a change in fortune." Berk sighed. "Ah, well. When the prince leaves, make sure you're around. We'll tell him to hire you, too."
Aladdin thanked Berk, farewelled his friends, and headed home.
His mother was waiting for him. "What happened?" she demanded. "I heard some guards arrested you and took you to the palace! I told you, only evil could come of messing with princesses and djinn. Djinn would try to trick the Sultan himself out of his crown, just for the fun of it. Or make his palace invisible. Or..."
That's how Hasan had done it. He'd somehow learned of the djinn that lived in the lamp, and enslaved him to his will. If the servant of the lamp could make a palace appear in a night, then surely he could make it disappear just as easily. He'd probably tried to keep Maram for himself.
Aladdin found his mother staring at him, as though expecting a reply. "You are wiser than I will ever be, Maman," he said warmly. He dug into his purse for his few remaining coins. "How about buying us a meal fit for a sultan tonight? I saw some new, exotic fruits in the bazaar this morning."
She looked slightly mollified. Wrapping her veil around her hair and face, she bade him farewell and headed out.
Aladdin let out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding. "Kaveh, I need your help," he said.
The dejected djinn appeared beside him. "Before you ask, no, I can't bring your palace back, and as long as the other djinn has her, I can't bring your princess back, either. He's far more powerful than me."
Aladdin digested his words for a long moment before he said, "But you know where Maram and the palace are?"
Kaveh nodded. "In Gwandoya's homeland, deep in the savannah."
"Is Maram all right?" If she was, then nothing else mattered.
"I do not know."
"Take me to her," Aladdin said.
Kaveh threw his hands up in the air. "I told you, I am not as powerful as he is! Before he became a djinn, he was a powerful enchanter. One who knew portal magic and all manner of spells I have only heard of. I open doors and make things invisible. Even if I could get you there, what then? I am no match for the servant of the lamp. He will defeat me, and you, and then what will become of your princess?"
"Better to die than to stay here and do nothing. If we cannot reach her by magical means, there must be another way. I have a month to find her and bring her home, or I will die at the hands of the Sultan's executioner. Better to die trying to save her. And if I do, I ask only one more thing of you: deliver my head to the Sultan, with my humblest apologies for my failure."
Kaveh stared at him. "If that is your wish, master."
"It is."
THIRTY-ONE
"Once again, I must remind you, Princess. Your husband is dead, and I am the only man you will ever see again. Will you finally accept me as your new husband?" Gwandoya asked.
Maram shook her head. "I cannot marry as long as I am in mourning. It is not seemly for me to take a new husband so soon."
"Who is there to know, or care? We are alone here!" Gwandoya snapped.
"As long as my late husband's shade haunts me, unable to find peace in the place where he was murdered, I cannot think to replace him."
Gwandoya jumped to his feet. "A pox on your husband's shade. Would that he were still alive, so that I might kill him more slowly, for he is such a thorn in my side that he deserves pain in equal measure!" He gestured for Amani. "I have had enough. Send me back to the city."
Gwandoya departed through the portal, leaving Maram alone with Amani. She sagged against the djinn. "Each time I see him, I dislike him more, and I hated the man on sight. When will he give up?"
Amani shook his head. "He is crazy in ways that few men are. He is not the sort to give up easily, or at all. The question you should be asking is: what will that madman do when he finally loses patience with you? I have no desire to harm you, but I am the slave of the lamp. Should he order me to kill you, I'm not sure I could disobey him. And your mother's shade would never forgive me."
"My mother is not dead."
Amani's mouth dropped open. "Briska lives?"
Maram had never seen a man look as hungry as Amani did now. "She does. All my life, I was told that she'd been executed, as had you, but it turns out my father couldn't bring himself to kill her. He loved her too, you know. She is enslaved to something, just as you are, though I know not what or where. Only that she lives."
"One day, I wish to be free to find her."
Tears filled her eyes. "I hope one day you find her, too. You deserve to be happy."
"Your father would not think so."
"He will when I tell him how you have protected me here. If it weren't for you, I should have gone mad on that first day, or been eaten by a lion. It is four weeks since I arrived here, and you have never allowed me to lose hope that one day I might go home." Maram stared at him fiercely. "When I see my father again, I will demand that he release you from slavery."
Amani's smile seemed pitying. "He cannot, Princess. It takes magic to break a magical binding."
She refused to be put off. "Then I will make him summon an enchanter powerful enough to break it for him. If I have to endure another day here alone – "
"But you are not alone, Princess. Not any more. Open the gates and see."
Maram followed Amani to the entrance hall, where he threw open the doors and pointed. "Look out over the grass," he said.
In the darkness, she could see very little, but there did seem to be a faint glow, growing larger as she watched. Maram squinted. There appeared to be two figures, each carrying a torch. "Who ar
e they?"
Amani's enigmatic smile told her nothing. "Wait and see."
It took an eternity for the two men to cross the flat plain to the gates. Maram didn't dare go out to meet them – in the weeks she'd been here, wild animals had picked Hasan's bones clean, and the bleached bones outside the gate were a warning of what the lions would do to her if she tried to leave.
The night breeze plucked at her veil, chilling Maram, but she simply folded her arms across her breasts and hugged what warmth she had left. If she went back into the palace for a shawl, the visitors might disappear, never to be seen again.
Finally, the figure came close enough for Maram to discern details. One man, not two, and he was cloaked against the cold, carrying a torch to light his way.
"What's that?" a familiar voice asked, lifting his torch to illuminate what remained of Hasan.
Maram's heart leaped for joy. "It was Hasan," she said, stepping forward out of the shadows. "They killed him and gave his body to the lions." She could feel tears threatening to fall. "I closed the doors, but I could still hear the bones cracking while they ate him. I have never been so alone as I am here. Then he comes at night and tries to seduce me – me! After I saw him kill Hasan!"
Aladdin set his torch in the bracket by the gate and ascended the steps. "You are safe now," he said, wrapping his arms around Maram. "I swear it."
Maram couldn't help it. Safe in his arms, she wept. For the senseless slaughter, the frustration of her own captivity, and most of all, for how much she'd missed this man.
"Everything will be all right. Tonight, we shall rest here, and on the morrow, I shall take you home," Aladdin soothed.
Amani cleared his throat. "You may go where you will, but the princess cannot leave."
A sob escaped from Maram, and the tears fell faster. "Please don't leave me, Aladdin. I cannot bear to be alone here again."
"I won't leave without you."
Never had the sensation of someone stroking her hair felt so exquisite.
"My master will return tomorrow night, and if he finds you, he will command me to kill you like Hasan, there," Amani said.
