Gaia: Daughter of Aladdin

by Armitage, J. A.

  Genie had said there was a magical connection between Asher and me. I hadn’t really understood what he meant before now. Asher had flown hundreds of miles and known exactly where I was.

  “Come on, Ash,” I said, getting to my feet. “Let’s go find my birth mother.”

  Asher took off from my shoulder and flew upward, landing on a street sign. Not any old street sign, a street sign saying Maplechase Lane. I’d inadvertently run away from the reporters to exactly the place I needed to be. But this street was wrong. I couldn’t see the white steeple from here, and even though the houses were similar to the ones in the magical memory, none of them were exactly right. Still, if I was on Maplechase Lane, it meant the other Maplechases were nearby. The streets were dimly lit by lamps as the sun continued its journey down in the sky. I walked the streets, following the map as best I could in the dim light. Every time I found a Maplechase, I walked the street slowly, but it wasn’t until I hit Maplechase Drive that everything suddenly fell into place.

  “This is it, Asher,” I whispered. The street was empty, and there was no need for me to whisper, but I felt that if I spoke out loud, I might jinx myself.

  One side of the street had the same multi-story blocks of apartments that I’d come to expect in this area, but the other side had a row of single-story houses. Peeking above them in the distance, the white steeple of the nightclub showed above.

  I’d expected something more interesting, something better than this, but the ramshackle houses were a far cry from the palace I was brought up in. “My mother wanted better for me,” I whispered to Asher as I knocked on the door that looked the closest to the correct area.

  A man in his thirties with a beard and glasses opened the door.

  “Hi,” I said. “I know this is going to sound strange, but I’m looking for someone who used to live on this street about eighteen years ago. Two women, a younger one with long dark hair and an older lady with grey hair in a bun.”

  Even as I spoke, I knew it was a long shot. This guy would have been a kid eighteen years ago, and the description I gave him wasn’t particularly useful.

  “I’ve lived in this house my whole life, and my mother was a blonde before her hair turned gray,” the guy said, dashing my hopes, “but there was an old lady that lived next door. Jean. She died late last year.”

  “Did she have a daughter?”

  The man shrugged. “Not that I know of. I’m sorry I couldn’t be more help.”

  I thanked him, and he closed the door.

  When I knocked on the door of the house next to his, a woman with a toddler on her hip answered. It wasn’t the woman from my dream, but the kitchen behind her looked awfully familiar. My heart sped up as I took in the details of the kitchen. It had been updated a little, but the range cooker was the same as the memory. Somewhere in this building, two babies were born. Myself and my twin.

  “Hi. I’m sorry to intrude, but I think I was born in this house. I’m looking for my birth mother.”

  The woman’s eyes widened, and she gave me a smile. “I just bought this house with my husband a few months ago. There was an elderly lady living here before us. I’m afraid I didn’t know her.”

  “Do you happen to know if she had a daughter?” I asked, feeling ridiculous. “I’ve come a long way to find her.”

  She regarded me with almost pity. “Why don’t you come inside for a cup of tea? You look exhausted. I’ll tell you everything I know about the house. I’m not sure it will be enough to help you.”

  “Any information you have will help,” I said, accepting her offer. The toddler gazed in wonder at Asher as her mother boiled a kettle of water on the stove.

  I sat in the exact place my mother had sat in the memory. The kitchen table and chairs were different, and the kitchen walls had been updated, but I knew this was where I was born. I could feel it. Somewhere in a room upstairs, my mother had pushed myself and my brother into the world. The older woman had died, but if she had been related to me, and I found out her name, I might find out who my mother was. Maybe the old lady was my grandmother or aunt.

  “This place was a bit of a mess when we moved in,” the woman said. “I’m Kate, by the way. This is Elise.” She pointed to the baby who was gazing at Asher with a rapt expression.

  “Gaia. The beauty flying around over our heads is Asher. He’s a phoenix.” It was clear she didn’t recognize me as the princess of Badalah, which made me feel a little better. At least, I wouldn’t have to worry about her rushing to the press the second I left.

  “A rare bird,” Kate smiled.

  “What do you know about the lady that lived here before you? Do you know if she had a daughter?” I asked again.

  Kate took a deep breath then blew on her tea. “I only know what the agent who sold me the house told me. The lady lived on her own. She had no relatives as far as I’m aware. At least, this house wasn’t passed down to any of them. It was taken by the government when no one came forward as a relative. We got the place pretty cheap as it needed a lot of work.”

  “I don’t suppose she left anything behind, did she? Any scrapbooks, newspaper clippings, anything?”

  Kate shook her head. “It was empty when we bought it. Some of the furniture was left behind, but a lot of it was old. We threw most of it away and bought new when we renovated. I’m so sorry that I can’t be of more help to you. What makes you think that you were born here?”

  “It’s a long story,” I said, finishing my tea and standing up. I felt magic in this place. It mingled with my own, but it felt like it was faded like the wallpaper in the memory. “I’m sorry to take up your time.”

  She stood and rifled through a drawer. When she came back, she handed me a photo. My heart thumped as I recognized the old woman. “This is the only thing left behind that I kept,” Kate said. “I was holding on to it in case any of her relatives did come to find out about her. I should have thrown it away months ago. You can keep it.”

  “Thank you,” I said, tucking it into my pocket. I’d already known I was born here, but the photograph was proof.

  Asher flew through the front door when Kate opened it.

  She seemed nice enough, and Elise was a peach, but I’d come a long way for nothing. I thanked her for her time and began the long trek back to the train station.

  The next-door neighbor peeked his head out as I passed.

  “I remembered something that might help you,” he said.

  “Oh?”

  “Jean’s death. It was weird.”

  I walked closer to him, suddenly wondering if I’d not made a mistake in coming here after all.

  “What was weird about it?”

  “It might be nothing. She was old after all, but the day before she died, she was visited by a tall woman wearing a long black and purple cloak.”

  “And?” I prompted, hoping that wasn’t the extent of what he was going to tell me.

  “I saw the woman walk past through my window. She reminded me of a witch. There was something creepy about her.”

  “Maybe it was a friend of Jean’s?”

  “I doubt it. I’d never seen her before. Anyway, about five minutes after she arrived, there was a bit of commotion next door. A bang. Then I saw the tall woman walking past my door again, heading out in the opposite direction. I didn’t think that much of it, but a couple of days later, I saw the police there. They’d found her body.”

  “You think she was murdered?” I asked my heart racing at the thought of it.

  The guy shrugged his shoulders and leaned in closer to me.

  “I can’t say for sure. The police said that she’d died of natural causes, but I hadn’t seen her since that tall woman had visited and she usually walked past my window and waved if she saw me. She must have died around the time that woman was there or not much later.”

  “Did you tell the police?”

  “I did, but they weren’t interested. Nobody cares about people in this part of town. Especially old retired
midwives.”

  “She was a midwife?” Well, that explained why she was at my birth. She wasn’t related to me at all.

  “Until she retired, yes. She retired a few years ago now.”

  “When exactly did she die?”

  The man screwed his face up in concentration. “It was late last year some time...or early this year. It was after the Winter Festival sometime.”

  I thanked him and set back off on my way with Asher flying above me. The train station was almost empty, and the reporters were nowhere to be seen. I hopped on the next train and thought about the tall woman, the witch that the neighbor had spoken of. It didn’t help me find my mother, but it was interesting that Jean had died at around the time of my eighteenth birthday.

  I thought back to the memory. My mother had said she wanted to keep me safe for eighteen years because of her father. Was the witch-like woman that the neighbor spoke of something to do with my own grandfather? If the neighbor was right and she had killed Jean, she’d have no second thoughts about killing me too.

  I’d worried about my safety ever since stepping foot in this part of Urbis, but for the first time, my worries became personal.

  If Jean told the witch where she’d taken me as a baby, did that mean she’d go to Badalah to find me?

  I was glad when the train pulled into the station in Mid Urbis, and I could get to the hotel and sleep. Tomorrow I’d have to find out what exactly was going on.

  6

  29th June

  After my stunt with the fireball the day before, the front of the hotel was swarmed with reporters, all desperate, no doubt to see me conjure fire again. I heard them before I even opened my curtains to look, but as I peeped through the crack in the curtains, I could see that they filled the whole street.

  I’d managed to sneak out of the back door yesterday, but as they’d caught up with me at the station, I had to admit to myself that it was an ineffective solution. I needed a way to get rid of them altogether.

  Downstairs, Alex ran over to me the second he saw me.

  “I’m so sorry!” I said as he ushered me away from the line of sight of the glass doors at the hotel’s entrance.

  “It’s no problem, Your Highness. I was wondering if you would be leaving the hotel today at all?”

  “I was hoping to attend to some business, but the reporters followed me yesterday. I think they must have had someone stationed at your other exit who signaled to the others.”

  “I have a plan.” His eyes widened in glee as he pulled out a garment bag that had been hanging on a hook. He opened it up and held a traditional Badalah dress up in front of me.

  “I’m pretty sure I’ll not manage to sneak past them in that if I couldn’t manage to do it in jeans and a t-shirt,” I mused, looking at the bright yellow garment.

  “It’s not for you. It’s for me.”

  I raised an eyebrow in query.

  “I’m not sure yellow is your color,” I said.

  He smirked. “I put this on. Cover my head with the veil and sneak out the back. As you said, they’ll have someone there waiting to signal the others. I’ll lead them on a merry little dance around town while you do whatever it is you need to do.”

  He looked at me with so much expectation that I had to laugh. I had a feeling he was going to enjoy pretending to be a princess for the day.

  “Thank you.”

  Ten minutes later, I was peeking through the tiniest crack in the office door watching the reporters. Alex had left to sneak out around the back just a minute before, dressed as he said he would be in the yellow dress. Sure enough, the crowd of reporters responded to a signal and began to run off. When they’d all left, I stepped out.

  “You know he was planning this all day yesterday,” the girl on the reception desk said with a grin. “He’s planned to visit all of Urbis’s landmarks and hit the shops.”

  “I feel so terrible.”

  “Don’t,” she laughed. “I’ve been trying to get him to take a day off for months. He’s going to have a whale of a time. Just make sure you do what you have to and get back here before he makes the big reveal.”

  “The big reveal?”

  “He’s planning to climb to the top of the Urbis tower and throw his veil to the wind.”

  I laughed at the image. The Urbis Tower was a landmark I knew well. It was part of the Urbis governmental building, and one of the few parts of the building opened to the public. If he was going there, he’d have to get the train.

  I headed out into the deserted street and whistled for Asher, who’d been waiting on my hotel room balcony for my signal. After pouring over the map last evening, I knew exactly where I needed to go. I also knew I’d have to go to the train station again. I dawdled for half an hour, admiring the fashions in the shop windows before heading to catch a train. The last thing I needed was to bump into any of the reporters who might be still at the station after following Alex.

  The train to central Urbis was much more packed than the train I’d caught the day before. Hundreds of commuters squeezed together on the train. This time there were rows of seats rather than compartments, and as these were already full, I had to stand.

  * * *

  I kept my head down and my hood up, hoping that no one would recognize me. It was a stark contrast to a week or so ago when I’d hoped that the public would recognize me.

  As we pulled into the station at the end of the line, the train car emptied of businessmen and women, who filed out to their executive jobs in the center of Urbis.

  The central district of Urbis never failed to amaze me with its beautiful white buildings. The main capital building was the grandest by far, it’s majestic columned facade dominating the cobbled square right in the very center of the bullseye. As I stood looking at the main doors, the Urbis library stood to my right, and various government buildings that weren’t quite the main building stood to my left. Behind me were apartments in the same style that only the wealthiest of the wealthy could afford, and on a slight hill behind the main government building, the huge Urbis University could be seen. Standing in this square always took my breath away. My father and my mother were the wealthiest people in Badalah, but the combined wealth of the people that lived in a five-mile radius of this square was more than that of all the twelve kingdoms combined. At least that was what I’d been told when I’d last come here for a royal visit. I could believe it. The streets were pristine despite the thousands of feet that walked them daily. I turned to my right and headed to the Library. It was the one place I’d been the most excited to see on my last visit, but we’d been rushed through it by some diplomat eager to talk business with my father. I wasn’t going to be able to go inside now either, but I vowed to take a look after doing what I’d come here for. Behind the library was the records building. I stood in awe of it. In my head, I’d expected a mid-sized nondescript building, but this was equally as impressive as the library that stood in front of it. The words Urbis Central Archives dominated the white stone facade above the double doors. I made to open one of the huge wooden doors, wondering how I’d be able to move such a colossal door, but it yielded at the slightest touch, opening up to the place where the birth and adoption records were. If I was born in Urbis, a record of it would be here.

  The inside was even more impressive as the outside. The circular building with its domed roof was full of boxes of records spanning the whole history of Urbis and its people.

  “Hi,” I said to the receptionist behind a large circular desk. Above me, a bunch of papers clipped to a pulley system flew, almost knocking poor Asher out of the air. The whole place was a hive of activity with papers flying left and right on the pulleys’ wires. People like me sat in booths to give them privacy while workers in blue uniforms rifled through the boxes, pinning the required papers to the right wire to go to the right person. The scope of the place had me in awe, and I wondered why I’d never been shown here on any of my royal visits. “I’d like to see your birth records.” />
  Her smile widened. “Of course. Is there a particular year you’d like to see?”

  I told her the approximate date of my birth and told her a little of my story, keeping out the magic part. She pulled a brass key out from somewhere under her desk.

  “Please follow me.”

  I followed her through the chaos of papers flying about over my head to a room with the year I’d given her engraved on a brass plate on the door.

  “If you don’t know if you were born in January or December the previous year, you might have to change rooms. A junior archivist will be in shortly to help you.”

  I’d expected shelves filled with records, but instead, there was a leather-covered table, two chairs, and wooden cabinets lining the walls.

  I sat on one of the seats and waited. A couple of minutes passed, and a young man in a blue uniform strode into the room. He had an eager expression on his face, and on his lapel, he had a badge bearing the name Derek.

  “I hear you are looking for information about your birth. What do you know?” He opened his arms wide, waiting for me to answer.

  “Not much, I’m afraid. My name is Gaia. I was adopted in Badalah, but I was born here.”

  He licked his lips and suppressed a grin. “You are Princess Gaia, aren’t you? I thought so.”

  I gave him a smile.

  “I’d appreciate it if you could keep my search discrete. The people of Badalah know I’m adopted, but they don’t know that I’m looking for my birth parents. I’m afraid I don’t know the exact date of my birth. It was probably late December, but it could have been early January. I came to my parents in the second week of January.”

  “Came to your parents? Didn’t they adopt you in Badalah? Don’t they have the records?”

  “I’m afraid not,” I said with a rueful grin. “I was kind of left on the doorstep.”

  “And the king and queen took you in?” Derek asked with amazement.

  “It’s not as bad as it sounds. My birth mother dropped me at the palace. Anyway. All I know is that I was born in the outer part of Urbis eighteen years ago. My name is Gaia, which was given to me by my birth mother. She never left a surname.”