I am filled with horror that Aladdin nearly did the same, without even knowing what he was doing. Well, now he knows the price of my freedom. Now he knows how hopeless it truly is.
The only way I can save us both is by carrying out my deal with Nardukha. I’ll be free, and Aladdin will be alive. Then I’ll go as far from this city as I possibly can, because only a fool would return. Even free from my lamp, I’m not free to love Aladdin. That rule still stands for all jinn. Loving a human is the worst thing I could do, and it’s not a mistake I want to make twice. I’ll go somewhere so distant that no mortal will ever see me again—the far, far north, where the world is white and covered with ice. I’ll be alone, but I’ll be free.
Isn’t that the most important thing?
? ? ?
I spend the rest of the night trying to think of ways to free Zhian, but my thoughts rebel, continually returning to the look in Aladdin’s eyes when I finally told him what my freedom would cost him.
Dawn brings mourning and wailing that echoes eerily through the palace, coupled with the unceasing blast of horns on the outer ramparts, announcing to the city that the king has died. Khavar and Ensi arrive at our door, cloaked and hooded, and I wake Aladdin. The girls have brought trays of hot tea and fruit, bread, and cheese, but most of it goes untouched as they sit with us and tell us they have come at Caspida’s behest.
“The next few days will be crucial,” says Ensi. “Sulifer controls the army and most of the court, and this announcement of Caspida’s engagement to Rahzad will be met with much resistance.”
“We are here to protect you, Prince Rahzad,” says Khavar, stroking her snake.
Aladdin looks a bit skeptically at the two slim girls. “I think I can take care of myself, but thanks for the offer.”
“We’re not going anywhere, so get used to us.”
Ensi leans forward. “We’re going to announce the betrothal immediately following the king’s burial. According to the decree Malek signed before he died, Caspida is to marry Darian tomorrow. Instead, she will marry you.”
I suck in a breath. The king’s burial . . . Darian told me the kings are buried in the hills north of the city. That could be my chance to set Zhian free, safely outside the city gates.
Khavar glares at Aladdin. “Let me make one thing clear. Any one of us would die for Caspida. Any one of us would kill for her.” She raises her arm, and her snake slithers out of her sleeve and raises its head to stare at Aladdin. “You hurt her just once, and it’s the last thing you’ll do. You won’t see us coming. You won’t get a second chance.”
Aladdin swallows and leans back, looking to Ensi. The other girl meets his eyes steadily.
“How fortunate she is,” he says evenly, “to have friends like you.”
The girls seem to accept this and exchange looks before Khavar says, “The funeral procession is leaving soon. We are all expected to be in attendance. We will wait here while you change, and accompany you outside.”
Aladdin nods and looks relieved to get away, disappearing into his bedchamber. Ensi slips a knife from her sleeve and picks at her nails. I clear away the breakfast dishes, listening to the girls’ hushed conversation.
“I like him,” Ensi says.
“I don’t,” Khavar replies.
“You don’t like anyone.”
For a moment, I imagine what it would be like to truly be Aladdin’s servant. To become part of this household, perhaps even join the Watchmaidens in guarding the royal family. But with a shudder, I turn my thoughts away.
I have been among these people too long, and their human problems and drama have ensnared me too deeply. I remind myself how fleeting they are. I blink, and they will be gone. Time has a different meaning for me, and these events that seem so monumental in the moment will one day be nothing more than a line in a scroll. These humans are but letters to be inked into history. A hundred years from now, I will be free. I will have forgotten their names and faces, and the struggles they have will not matter. Time has a way of burying things, shifting like the desert and swallowing entire civilizations, erasing them from map and memory. Always, in the end, everything returns to dust.
There is no point in pretending I am anything other than what I am. It is time to move on.
It is time to claim my freedom.
Chapter Nineteen