Maram saw the boy duck into the bathhouse, and when she entered the cool space, she sent out her magic to search for him. She hid her smile when she found the boy hiding behind the towels. She would lure him out soon enough. First, she wanted her bath.
She let her attendants wash her, for the four of them made faster work of it than she could. Another time, she might have asked one to stay, to read or sing or converse with her while she soaked in the bath, but something about the boy's presence changed her mind, so she sent them away instead. Let them think she was meeting a lover. It would not be the first time.
She bit her lip, tasting blood as she cast a seduction spell on herself. The spell spread out like mist, swirling around the columns until it reached the alcove where her quarry concealed himself. She sensed his resistance, and wondered if he was younger than she'd thought. A child who did not yet know a man's urges would not respond to her spell the way a man would.
She called to him, first with her spell and then with her voice, until the combination of command and threat brought him out of hiding.
She was surprised to find not a boy at all, but a man grown, though a young one who was not much taller than her. Painfully thin, too, as though he did not eat enough. A thought that he confirmed early in their conversation, when his empty belly gave him away.
His gaze kept drifting away from her in a way she'd never seen happen before. No man could take his eyes off her when she cast a seduction spell, especially not when she stood naked before him. Yet he resisted, this Aladdin. A prophetic name for a man met in this place, built by his namesake so many centuries before.
Yasmeen brought the midday meal and Aladdin disappeared back into the alcove, not venturing out until Maram dismissed Yasmeen. In the servant's absence, Maram was forced to serve the food herself, but Aladdin thanked her so profusely for every bite that she found she did not mind.
He ate like a man who had been brought up in court, not some starving spinner's son, as he said. When he had finished, he bowed deeply before her again and said, "You have my gratitude, kind Princess. How may I repay your kindness?"
"Satisfy my curiosity," she said. "Tell me what you know of magic."
"I know nothing, except that it killed my father, and my mother sold everything we owned to prevent it from killing me, too," Aladdin said.
"How?" Maram demanded.
"She paid a witch to cast a spell on me, one that would shield me from magic." Aladdin's lip curled. "I told my mother she was wasting her money, for even if magic did exist, there was no proof that the witch could cast such a spell, or that it would work."
"How long ago was this?" Maram pressed.
"Ten years or more."
She inhaled sharply. "A powerful spell indeed, to last so long and still work."
He did not look convinced.
Maram took a deep breath, bit her lip, and cast a second seduction spell, more powerful than the first. The last time she had done such a thing, it had taken an entire troop of eunuch guardsmen to keep the three men she'd targeted from taking her by force.
Yet all Aladdin did was raise his head to look at her. No, to look at her face, an oddity in itself. "Did you cast a spell?" he asked.
"Yes. Do you feel any different?" she asked. If necessary, her guards would be here in moments, but she didn't think it would come to that.
"Your Highness has treated me with kindness, allowing me to share your meal and see beauty most men only dream about. I feel as though if I were to die today, I would die happy." He frowned. "Though my mother would not be so happy."
"Not as though you wished to...do things to me?" For the first time in years, Maram felt a blush colour her cheeks.
"Your Highness, the moment I saw you, I dreamed of more than any man deserves. What I wish is of less importance than I am, and I am nothing."
His dark eyes told her he spoke the truth as he believed it, impossible though it seemed. How could a man consider himself nothing?
She reached out. "Please, rise."
His hand enveloped hers, but he was too chivalrous to do more than grasp her hand as he rose uncertainly to his feet.
Maram moistened her lips. "Kiss me, Aladdin."
"Your Highness, I am not worthy." He stood as tall as she did, yet he bowed his head.
"What if I told you less worthy men than you have kissed me, when I did not ask them to, nor wish it?"
Now he met her gaze and anger flared in his eyes. "Then I hope your guards cut those men down, as they deserve. As they will no doubt do to me when you are done with me."
"No!" Maram burst out. "I swear they will not touch you. But...but I would like you to touch me." She shrugged out of her robe, so she stood naked before him once more.
Aladdin laughed bitterly. "Your Highness, I have done many things I am not proud of, but I have yet to sell my body, and I will not. I promised my mother when I was a boy that I would not take coin from the brothel keepers, who were very interested in me when I was younger and prettier, and I am a man of my word, even if my word is all I have left."
"Then I am not worthy of you, Aladdin, man of your word. Because I have sold my body countless times to secure concessions for the Sultan, and I have no doubt I will be called upon to do so many times more." Maram fought back tears. With his simple statement, the man had shamed her, yet he had done nothing wrong.
"Princess..."
"Kiss me. Please." Even as the words left her lips, she knew they had no power over him. He was immune to her magic, for all his pretty words.
Aladdin's hand cupped her cheek. The rough skin of a man who worked for a living touched her for the first time, but she relished it. This was real.
His face loomed close and she fought to slow her breathing as her heart fluttered like a bird within her ribcage.
His lips were gentle as they brushed hers, tentative and light like the touch of a bird's wings. His eyes were wide with something like panic, undoubtedly mirroring her own.
He'd never kissed a woman before, Maram realised.
She seized his face in both hands, and pressed her lips against his. He tasted of honey and spiced almond milk, as if the last drop from his cup still lingered on his tongue. She wanted more than a taste. Heavens help her, but kissing this man was like her need for air itself. Her head spun and her heart raced as never before. No man had ever had this effect on her.
And he was not as immune to her spell as she'd thought. His tongue rose to dance with hers, his lips moving with her like music itself. He made a sound of satisfaction, deep in his throat, as his free hand came to rest in the small of her back. Still he kissed her, stealing her breath as he breathed life into her love-starved body.
No man had ever...
"No, Princess. I gave my word." He stepped back from her, peeling her fingers gently from the hem of his tunic.
She'd almost managed to tug it up and over his head. Who was he to resist her?
"But I want you to make love to me," Maram insisted. Making love wasn't what other men had done to her, but with Aladdin it would be different, she was certain.