“Coward is not the word I’d use,” I say softly.
He shrugs and pries the dagger out of the rail. “And now there’s this princess. All my life, I thought she was like the other royals—selfish and spoiled. She’s engaged to Darian, after all, and her father the king is said to be addicted to simmon, wasted away to nothing. Her uncle executed my parents.” He holds up the dagger and stares at his reflection in the blade. “But now she says she’s the Phoenix, that she’s on our side. What am I supposed to do with that?”
“Not everyone is what they seem.”
His eyes turn to me. “Like you?”
I raise a brow. “And what do I seem to be?”
Aladdin studies me, and feeling suddenly shy, I turn away. I pluck a moonflower and pull the petals off one by one, letting them fall into the river.
“You seem sad,” he says at last. “And lonely.”
Letting the flower stem drop, I laugh. “You know nothing about me.”
He shrugs, still watching me closely. “I don’t think you’re the same jinni they sing about at all. I think there’s more to your story. Did you really kill that queen? I don’t think you did.”
A bit startled, I meet his gaze. “I killed her. I am a jinni, Aladdin. Never think I am anything but heartless.”
He looks down, one of his hands moving closer, until the back of one finger comes to rest on my wrist. I stare at it, unable to breathe. My skin warms under that gentle contact. “You saved my life twice already. That doesn’t sound heartless.”
Pulling away quickly, I drop my hands, out of his reach. “You don’t have to say that.”
He frowns, withdrawing his hand. “Maybe I want to. Even a thief may have honor, and even a jinni may have a heart.”
The roaring of the river fills my ears. Avoiding his gaze, I cross to the other side of the bridge, staring north at the dark shadow of Mount Tissia. I struggle to swallow the knot in my throat.
I need a plan. A plan to get inside the palace.
A plan to cool the embers Aladdin’s touch stirred to life.
Turning around, I find him watching me, cautious and curious.
“You should make a wish.”
At once he turns skeptical. “What?”
A part of me hates myself for feeding his obsession. That part wants me to tell him he’s haunted by the dead, that I know how that feels, that I’ve drunk that poison many times. I’m sickened with it even now. But I don’t, because I am a selfish spirit, and looking up at the dying moon, I can almost feel the bond between me and the lamp snapping once and for all.
“The princess,” I say. “She’s the heir to the throne, right? Whoever marries her will be the most powerful man in the kingdom.” I turn and gaze at the statue of Nykora. “He could do whatever he wanted. He would command the vizier, the military, the guards here in the city . . .”
I meet his gaze and find him rigid, his body tense as a drawn bow.
“This is it, don’t you see? You don’t have to kill anyone, but you can still get your revenge. I can help you.”
“What are you saying?” he asks.
I smile and lean in to whisper, “I can get you into the palace. I can give you power, wealth, and titles. I can help you win the princess, and in doing so, win your revenge. What would anger Darian more than seeing his enemy take his bride? What would be sweeter than seeing this vizier forced to bow before you, his prince?”
Aladdin holds his breath, and I can see that he’s caught my meaning. Not for the first time, I feel truly monstrous. I’ve always hated the jinn for being cruel and selfish. Do you remember how I once told you that I wasn’t like them? But I know in the space where I have no heart that I’m no different at all.
I’m a very good jinni, and that’s a very bad thing.
But freedom, Habiba . . . For freedom, I might become anything. It terrifies me to think how far I will go for it. But I’ve never wanted anything so badly before, so I swallow my conscience and nod encouragingly at my master.
“It could work,” he says softly. “Zahra, you’re brilliant.”
I straighten, my hands beginning to tingle. “Then say the words.”
Aladdin pauses, takes a breath, steeling himself. When he speaks, his voice burns with conviction.
“Zahra, I wish to be made a prince.”
Two: The Princess
As they often did in the late afternoon, when the sun was ripe and the day hazy, the Queen and the Jinni walked together in the shade of the Jewel Gardens in the heart of the palace, which the Queen had wished for and the Jinni shaped for her. They spoke of many things, of past wars and rulers, of faraway lands, of gods and jinn. For the Jinni had lived long and seen much, and the Queen, possessing a keen mind, had many questions.
At last the Queen said, “Thou hast become a friend like unto a sister to me. I favor not only thy counsel, but thy company. May I ask thee anything?”