“I hear you,” I said through my teeth, rage crackling in my chest at the thought of him laying a hand on anyone I loved.
He released me, turning to the room with his chin held high. “Teach him a lesson boys.”
So many men fell on me I didn't have a moment to fight back as boots, knuckles and nails slammed into my skin. I took every punch and kick with as much dignity as I could. And when they'd had their fill of bruising my flesh and bones, I rose to my knees and glared at Egos with blood dripping from my mouth.
“What?” he growled at my expression.
“More please, asshole.” I tasted the metallic tang on my lips, revelling in the confusion on his face as I forced my mouth to bend into a smile. It felt good pretending I enjoyed the bullshit people had put on me the past few days. I was rather liking my newfound freedom now I didn't have to harness my tongue every five seconds.
His brows lifted and a devilish grin hooked up his lips. “You want more, law dog?”
I nodded, sucking the blood from my teeth and giving him my best impression of a man who had no cares in the world. Which was very much the opposite of how I really felt. But I knew men like Egos. I'd been trained by one of them. And the only way to win was to never give them the satisfaction of letting them know you were beat.
Egos strode toward me at as fierce pace, booting me hard in the face. I hit the floor and stars burst before my eyes. The den leader leaned over me with a sneer on his face, the white of his blind eye glaringly bright. “Last warning. I always make good on my threats, Cassian Lazar. Are you willing to risk the lives of everyone you care about in your worthless life for the sake of defying me?”
Dammit why did I gave him my full name?
I sucked on the inside of my cheek, a large welt growing there from the battering I'd received.
“I'll behave,” I growled. Until I get out of your lunatic funhouse.
Egos nodded stiffly before marching away. His voice called back to the gang as he stepped through a door. “Three days, Aladdin. You've placed your life in that dog's hands. I do hope it pays off for you.”
I can hear the sea.
“Ooh is it whooshy or crumbly today?” Maybe I should have got out some stones to wash them while the waves were here? Nobody liked a dirty stone...
I ran my fingers through my purple hair and willed away the clothes which shrouded my body as I stepped into the pool of tears. It was certainly handy for washing in anyway. Would have been better if it wasn’t so salty though. I summoned some stones into existence and started scrubbing them. It took me a few hours to realise they hadn’t been dirty to begin with and I sighed as I wished them away again.
I clicked my fingers and the sun appeared above me. It was darkest black with wriggling tentacles which reached out to skim my shoulders.
Wrong. So, so wrong, I can’t even bear to look at the mess of it.
I frowned at the sun and realised I was right. The tentacles should have been purple like my hair. Silly. Rookie mistake. I blinked at it and the tentacles turned purple.
“Much better,” I said aloud and my voice bounced back to me but it sounded mocking instead of admiring.
If we can’t kill your body then can’t I die at least? Chop me up, bake me in a pie, set me on fire and dance on the pieces. Just let me not exist anymore!
“Would you like a pie then?” I asked, pouncing on the one thing in that request I might actually be able to give myself.
I clapped and a huge seashell appeared full of pine cones. I frowned. Even I knew that was wrong.
I don’t want a pie or any terrible estimation of one. I want to die. Cut my throat. Set me on fire. Stab, stab, stab me. Feed me to a horse-
“Now who’s being ridiculous? You know horses only eat melons,” I said, rolling my eyes.
That’s dogs.
“Oh yeah. Dogs eat melons and yeast.”
At least you remember something real for once.
I smiled at the almost praise and clasped my hands together as I closed my eyes. If I really concentrated then it almost felt like I was holding someone else’s hand instead of my own. Kind of. If I was remembering it right. Which I probably wasn’t.
I lay back in the pool of tears and let my purple hair grow and grow around me as it absorbed all of the water until I lay on a mound of saturated hair.
I took a deep breath. Then another. Either this lamp wasn’t sealed or I didn’t need to breathe anymore. I must have used up the oxygen ten thousand years ago. Or twenty minutes ago. I was probably just breathing nothing. Maybe there was nothing in here to breathe except sunlight anyway.
Was it night outside? Or day? Sometimes I thought I could see light shimmering through the wall of the lamp but then I’d realise that I couldn’t. The only light in here was the light I created. Orbs of every colour hanging all around the lid which locked me in. Sometimes I turned them off and sat in the dark for a few years.
There were monsters in the dark. Sure, I’d created them myself and even when they ate me I didn’t actually die but they were still terrifying. Sometimes I wondered why I did that. Why did I create things with the sole purpose of scaring myself shitless?
Because fear is the only thing that reminds us we’re still alive after all this time.
“Oh yes. You always did have a better memory than me.”
And you always were a bat shit crazy psycho bitch. It was just that no one noticed until you killed the Emperor.
That was perfectly plausible. Why couldn’t I remember my sister’s eyes but the memory of plunging that knife into his back was just as fresh as if it were yesterday? Maybe it was yesterday. I’d lost count again anyway so it was a definite possibility. But whatever way, even though I’d forgotten most things or muddled them up with my imaginings, I’d never forgotten that.
The sound of his scream when my blade cut into him. The amount of strength I’d had to use to force it between his ribs. How his screams got louder then softer as I stabbed and stabbed and stabbed. Until they were so soft they were whimpers and he was begging. Begging me to stop. But he didn’t stop when he killed my sister. Killed her because she wouldn’t go to his bed willingly. So I went to his bed instead. With a knife and a promise. And I stabbed him while he slept. Before he even knew I was there. And when the guards came it was too late. I was dressed head to toe in an outfit of his blood. Red as the dawn.
I’d expected them to kill me. I hadn’t cared. I’d gotten justice for my sister and I had nothing left to live for without her anyway. But then the sorcerer had given me this curse instead. Genie of the lamp. What did that even mean? I knew once but not anymore.
And now I was all powerful and all nothing. No one. Forgotten. Forever.
“Oh how I miss the rain,” I murmured but as my voice echoed back to me it sounded like a weird question instead of a statement.
Shut up.
I couldn’t just tell me to shut up. It was so rude. I was going to tell me where to stick my lack of manners... but I was kind of afraid of myself... so I just did as I was told and shut my mouth. For a few hours. Or days. Hard to say.
The lights went out. And the monsters returned. I’d stayed quiet but I didn’t care. I wanted to punish me for thinking about that time again. About the murder I’d committed. And about the fact that no matter how long I’d been in here, no matter how much I forgot, I’d never, ever feel bad about what I did. I actually felt pretty damn good about it.
You’re such a psycho. No wonder they locked us in here and forgot about us.
I was a psycho. But I didn’t mind. And at least since I’d lost my mind in here I had someone to talk to. Even if she did hate me. And was suicidal. And insulted me all of the time. That was okay. Because at least I wasn’t alone. I still had myself. Or was that what alone meant? Damn, now words were starting to lose their meaning. What would I be left with then?
A deep growl echoed from the darkness on the far side of the lamp and my heart started pounding as glimmering red eyes
appeared before me. I was right. Fear did make me feel alive.
But I still wished I was dead instead.
“You look dazzling. All the stars in the sky will swoon over you this evening,” Jacinda said as she brushed down the folds of my bright blue gown. She was a short girl with dark curling hair. Her eyes were always wide and made her resemble a rabbit at the end of a hunter's arrow.
“No, blue washes me out,” I said, matter-of-factly. “But it's my favourite colour and Gothel hates it. And as I'm dining with her tonight, I thought it was a good opportunity to piss her off.”
Jacinda gawped at me, frozen. She couldn't deny my words because I was the Princess and so everything I said simply had to be true. But if she didn't deny it, she was essentially confirming what I'd said and agreeing that it washed me out. I watched her grapple with her thoughts for several seconds before placing a hand on her arm.
“Relax, Jacinda. You don't have to shower me in compliments all the time. It's really tiring.” I turned away from her to face Zira with a grin. My favourite attendant, who was more of a friend to me than anyone in the kingdom. Her skin was a heavenly ochre and her eyes penetratingly dark. Her hair was pulled up into its usual bun with a few inky coils trailing free around her neck.
“Is it just you and Gothel tonight?” she asked and I nodded, releasing a heavy sigh.
“She insisted on it. She’s probably planning to try and convince me of how great a match Kahn and I would be. But hell will freeze over before I marry her beastly son.” I balled my hands into fists and Zira frowned.
“You might not have a choice if the Gargoyle wins the pageant,” Zira pointed out.
I giggled at the use of the nickname we'd come up with for Kahn, but my face soon fell as her words sank in. “I'll talk to Father. Maybe he'll give me some say in this at least.”
She nodded, but her eyes dimmed. We both knew the Emperor was beyond granting me any requests of late unless it was for more pretty clothes or jewellery.
“Worth a shot,” she said weakly and I nodded, gripping her hand a moment before pulling down my veil and heading to the door. I hated the thing, I could see out but no one could see in. It was woven from Ageshian silk. Enchanted and so rare it was worth a thousand kuruş an inch.
Two guards awaited me outside my quarters, bowing low before escorting me down the hallways. It was suffocating. I could barely walk two metres outside my quarters without guards hounding around after me. But did they say a single thing to me? Not a peep.
I was led to the veranda where an iron table lay at the heart of it, prepared for our meal. Songbirds were singing their nightly chorus as dusk drew in and set the sky alight in tones of gold and orange. The gardens stretched out below the balcony and the scent of cut grass filled the air.
A guard pulled out my seat for me and I dropped down, eyeing the empty chair opposite. Typical Gothel to make me wait for her. She always did like to act as if she was above me. And with the way my father bowed to her whims, maybe she was. I knew he loved her and I’d tried to respect that once. But Gothel had never found her way to my heart like she had his. There was something just off about her.
“Princess!” a male voice stripped the air from my lungs.
I turned sharply, my heart thundering in my ears as my eyes fell on Kahn. He was impossibly tall, twice the size of any normal man. His face was like an oddly shaped potato with cauliflowers stuck on for ears. My skin prickled and anger rolled through me in waves. I didn't care that he was ugly. I cared that he clearly thought we were engaged already. Something he was proving right now by showing up here without so much as a formal invite.
Screw you Gothel! How could you do this?
Though maybe I should have guessed; she'd proposed this exact thing just yesterday and now here he was, thinking I'd actually summoned him.
“How nice your gown is,” he said earnestly as he stepped closer. “Is that...cotton?”
Dumb as a brick.
My shoulders grew rigid as I held off on answering, vaguely hoping Gothel might show up and usher him back to the pig sty he'd escaped from. When I realised that wasn't going to happen, I came up with a way to spin this situation into an opportunity. If I could turn Kahn off of me, maybe he wouldn't pledge himself as a suitor.
I smiled beneath my veil, resting my hands on the table. “It's crinnaline.” I said and his brow creased, proving he didn't know the word. Which he wouldn't have seeing as I'd made it up.
Although Kahn didn’t have enough brainpower to prove himself as a worthy adversary, his scheming mother sure did. And I was happy to lump him into the same category as Gothel entitled: enemies.
“Oh...of course,” he said with perfect confidence as he moved to take the seat opposite, waving off the guard who tried to pull it out for him.
He dropped down and I swear the legs bent a little beneath his huge weight. He chuckled at the sound then slapped his hard stomach. “I've been eating double my weight for the past week to help pile on muscles for the pag-ant.”
“Pageant,” I corrected then pursed my lips. “And I don't think that's how muscle growth works.”
He ignored my comment, barrelling on. “I ate a horse last week. A whole horse. It dropped dead outside the Four Bears Tavern and the locals dared me to do it.”
I physically recoiled from him with disgust. Ergh, he was such a pig. “You did it because some random people dared you to?”
“Yeah!” He grinned as if it was a great accomplishment. His meaty paw slithered across the table towards me. “I'd eat ten horses to impress you.”
“That is the last thing on earth that would impress me. You're making me feel sick.”
His mouth parted and his eyes dimmed with sadness. “Oh. Shame it was a dead horse then.”
“What?” I hissed. Did Gothel copulate with a boulder to produce this halfwit?
“Well if it was living I wouldn't have been able to catch it,” he said with a shrug.
I shook my head, trying to work out how this man's mind worked. Probably by rubbing together the two brain cells he had until something popped out.
“You look very pretty,” he said, gazing over my veil which covered me head to waist. How could I look pretty when he couldn't even see me? “I like blue.”
Great. This dress had backfired hard.
“I like green too. And yellow,” he mused as if he was saying something poetic. “So are you excited about the pag-ent?”
“Pageant.” An idea struck me and a grin gripped my lips as I prepared to make this hulking gargoyle squirm. “I'm a little nervous actually.”
“Nervous?” he asked, one thick eyebrow lifting.
“Well my husband will see my body for the first time and...I get these rashes. I need a special cream for them. And then there's the ointment for the boils...”
His face skewed in sadness then he stood upright, pulling his huge shirt up and turning around to show me the hundreds of scars which lined his skin.
My mouth fell open.
“I will look after your boils,” he swore, dropping his shirt. “Beauty is nothing to me. My skin is probably more flawed than yours.”
My eyes narrowed and my heart actually softened for half a second. “You don't care what I look like?”
He shook his head mutely, returning to his seat. “I just like you because...because you smell nice and you have a pretty laugh. And even when you get angry with me I don't mind because you actually listen when I speak, Princess. It's very nice to be heard.”
“Oh,” I breathed, feeling slightly ashamed of the way I'd treated him. But I still wasn't happy about marrying him. We didn't exactly have much in common.
His face lifted into a bright smile as if he'd forgotten all about what he'd just said. “I can't wait until our wedding day. Mother says we'll party for a whole week.”
I grimaced, turning up my nose as food was laid on the table before us. An entrée. Which meant this meal was going to be five courses. How was I going to get throu
gh five courses with this moronic buffalo?
I never dined with men, only ever women. And I always asked the guards to leave when I did so that I didn't have to drape my damn veil over the table to eat. There was no way I was going to humiliate myself like that in front of Kahn. So I was going to go hungry.
“You haven't won me yet,” I said as he picked up a dainty fork and skewered the braised meat on his plate before stuffing the whole lot into his mouth.
Kahn released a low guffaw. “I'm twice as strong as any man who'll offer you his hand. I'm going to rip their hearts out before your eyes. Blood and gore and victory!”
“I'm not a fan of violence,” I said dryly. Actually I didn't give two craps about violence. But if it involved this beast beating the other suitors to a pulp, I was definitely against it. Not that I wanted to marry any of them. But he was the last man in the entire kingdom I'd ever choose for myself.
But I don't get to choose, do I?
“Sorry, I forgot that women of your breed aren't used to things like that.” He bowed his head and I glowered at the shiny top of it.
“My breed?” I snarled.
He nodded assuredly, not picking up on my tone. “Like a rare flower. But I'll be gentle with you, don't worry.”
I shuddered, feeling like his hands were on me already. “I'm not a flower, Kahn. And you'd do well to remember it.”
A frown lined his features as the maids came to collect our plates and replace them with large bowls of tomato soup.
He picked up his spoon, scooping up some soup with more grace than I’d expected and supping it with a gleam in his gaze. I watched him, angrily drumming my fingers on the table. I had so much rage inside me, it lived there like a dark creature coiled up in my chest. So many years of being told no. That women couldn’t do this or that. That Princesses didn’t get to inherit thrones. I was expected to marry and birth a son. A child who would be entitled to rule after his father dropped dead. Which I can always hope happens sooner rather than later.
Forbidden Fairytales- The Complete Series Page 8