You've had too much to drink.
“I've been looking for you,” Aladdin said, his eyes sparkling with amusement.
“Did you expect to find me in Jacinda's eyes? Because that's where you've been looking for the past ten minutes,” I taunted, glancing away from him again and spotting Cassian pressing himself back against the far wall. His eyes were fixed somewhere firmly over my head and my heart squeezed as I willed him to look this way.
What are you thinking?!
Aladdin caught my chin again and I jerked my head out of his hands, slightly irritated by the way he was trying to control me.
He pulled me flush against him as he guided me around the room with perfect ease. A flash of vulnerability passed through his eyes and I frowned.
“Have I lost my chance with you now?” he asked and I broke a smile, not answering. He could stew on that worry for a while. If he was happy to toy with my feelings I sure as hell wasn't going to lose sleep over toying with his.
He leant forward, playing with a coil of my hair. “Are we still on for midnight?”
I pursed my lips. Were we? Was I going to let this guy get away with teasing me all night and still let him steal a private moment with me in the gardens?
“No,” I said and his brows pinched together in confusion.
Ha, that feels good.
“No?” he breathed, then released a devilish laugh. “You're going to throw away what we have because I danced with a few of your friends?” He cocked a brow and I bit into my cheek in anger at the way he was trying to spin this.
“You know full well you were trying to make me jealous,” I said, calling him out on his bullshit.
He smirked in that way that made my pulse spike. “And did it work?”
I didn't answer, sliding my hand up the hard muscle of his bicep as he twirled me faster around the room.
He dipped me low and his mouth brushed my throat as I hung in his arms. My skin tingled as he pulled me back upright and he grinned satisfactorily as he took in my flustered expression. “So it did work?”
I rolled my eyes, refusing to answer as the song came to an end. I pushed his hands off of my waist with a teasing smile.
Stepping close, I placed my finger under his chin and his throat bobbed. I lowered my voice to a deadly whisper. “I'm not your plaything, Nazari. You want to meet me at midnight? Give me one good reason to.” I turned away from him, but he snatched my hand and pulled me into his arms. He pushed my hair away from my ear and held me so intimately, it was as if we were entirely alone. But hell if we were.
I could feel a hundred eyes on us as his mouth fell to my ear. “Because you feel this too, love.”
I stood watching all the dancers from the shadows of a corner with a smile on my lips. I wanted to join them but I was worried that it wasn’t okay to dance on my own. I searched the crowd for a sign of Cassian, wondering if he might dance with me again but he’d melted into the mass of bodies and I didn’t know where he was.
Your so-called friends have found other people to talk to. Looks like they aren’t as interested in you as you thought.
I chewed my lip, almost allowing myself to believe that before shaking my head firmly. Cassian and Aladdin did care about me. I knew it. I could feel it firmly in my chest like it was the whole reason I didn’t just float off of the ground and dissolve into nothing. My friendship with them was real. Which made me real. And the more solidly I felt that connection to them the more solid I felt in myself.
It was like I was beginning to regain more of myself than just my flesh. I was regaining my strength of mind too. The whisperings from my more negative self were getting easier to ignore or at least to question. Sometimes the whispers were right but sometimes, like now, I knew they were wrong.
A large figure cut through the crowd and I stilled as I felt his eyes falling on me. He was one of the competitors but I hadn’t paid enough attention to his name and now I wondered if I should have. He was big and brawny, his face weathered beyond his years and he had a fancy dagger strapped to his belt. My gaze snagged on the weapon for a moment and a memory burned in me. It was very like the one I’d used to kill an Emperor ever so long ago.
He’s the Sea Captain one. Don’t trust him.
I nodded in agreement and forced myself not to reply as the Captain came to a standstill before me.
“Has your liege abandoned you, miss?” he asked, his voice rough like the waves he rode.
My eyes slid to my master as he twirled the Princess around the dance floor and I shook my head.
“He’s dancing with the woman he’s going to marry. I haven’t been abandoned.”
The Captain’s jaw ticked like what I’d said had offended him. “I very much doubt that he’ll be the one to win the Princess,” he said dismissively. “It would be remiss of me to leave you all alone here though. Would you care to dance?”
No!
“Yes,” I replied with a smile. I wanted to dance more than anything at the moment.
Not with him though, dumbass!
The Captain offered me his hand and I stared at it. I hadn’t touched anyone who wasn’t my friend since I’d been released from the lamp and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to. But if I was going to dance then I needed a partner.
I drew on my magic, pulling it deep within myself so that he wouldn’t feel any flare of it against his skin before I placed my hand in his.
His palm was rough with calluses that spoke of his life as a man of the sea and I marvelled at the feeling of his skin on mine. It didn’t fill me with pleasure the way holding Aladdin’s hand had but it was still nice in its own warm, scratchy way.
His fingers closed around mine tightly and he pulled me onto the dance floor, holding me so rigidly that I wondered if he had a stick up his ass like Cassian.
The dance was slow and my feet remembered it even though my mind couldn’t quite. I could almost see the swirling of different coloured skirts around my legs, feel the touch of another set of arms around me... but it was gone. The memory just wouldn’t surface.
I sighed and the Captain looked down at me with an eyebrow raised.
“Something not to your liking?” he asked and I didn’t miss the edge of irritation in his tone.
“No. I just... I almost remembered something, but I can’t quite. It’s like the echoes of the moment are still with me but the details are all gone.” Tears prickled the backs of my eyes and I blinked quickly to dislodge them.
He frowned at me, clearly sensing that something was a bit off with me and I hastily stopped talking.
Don’t let him see what you are.
I chewed my lip, letting him steer me on. I spotted Aladdin spinning past us but he didn’t notice me, his gaze locked on the Princess in his arms.
My heart fluttered uneasily as I felt the Captain’s eyes on me but I turned my gaze to my shoes, worrying that he’d notice something strange in me.
This was a bad bad bad idea. I don’t know why I’m surprised as it came from you though.
“Does your liege always act so inappropriately with women?” the Captain’s gruff voice came and I chanced a look up to see him scowling at Aladdin and Rapunzel.
“I don’t think he’s inappropriate. He’s the best man I know,” I blurted before I could consider a more tactful response.
The Captain turned to me swiftly and I recoiled from the anger I saw in his gaze. I stumbled and accidentally stepped on his foot with my stiletto heel. He cried out, shoving me back so hard that I nearly fell.
“You useless half-wit!” he shouted, raising his hand as if he might strike me.
My eyes widened and I backed away further as people turned to look at us. The Captain took a step towards me but before he could close the distance between us, Cassian stepped out of the crowd.
“Apologise to the lady,” he snarled, squaring his shoulders in a way that made him look even bigger than he was. His muscles tensed across his broad frame and his hands slowly closed to fists.
>
I glanced around as people started looking at us, wondering if I should be doing more to stop this escalating.
“Lady?” the Captain snarled. “She’s a servant. And so are you, guard. So move aside before I have my men whip the skin from your flesh for your disrespect.”
“The only one lacking respect here is you,” Cassian said darkly, not moving an inch.
My magic crackled beneath my skin and I slowly straightened my spine. Why was I cowering from this man? Who was he compared to me? I’d killed an Emperor. I’d survived alone in the dark for more years than he would ever live. I’d died and been reborn of magic. I was the genie of the lamp and this man should fear me. Not the other way around.
I moved around Cassian as my confidence grew and I glared at the man who was threatening my friend and I.
Before I could do anything about it, Aladdin appeared to Hariot’s left and snared his attention.
“I suggest you do apologise, mate,” he said in a voice laced with violence that was low enough not to carry beyond the four of us. “Unless you’d like me to gut you in the middle of this fancy party with your own knife?” As he said the words, I realised he’d lifted the ceremonial dagger from the Captain’s belt and was holding it between them threateningly.
The Captain’s eyes widened with surprise as he looked between my master and Cassian, seeming to have forgotten me entirely.
If your powers were your own he’d be soot already.
I totally agreed with that, wondering if Master might unleash me on this man with a wish and hoping that he would.
Psycho. You just want to kill again.
I wasn’t sure if I was right about that or not so I decided to ignore the comment.
The Captain’s gaze landed on Rapunzel who was watching the exchange from a safe distance. Her nose scrunched as she caught eyes with him and it was clear whose side she’d taken in this exchange.
“My apologies, Lady,” the Captain said finally, though his eyes were on the Princess, not me. “Perhaps I need a little air to clear my head of the wine.”
He eyed the blade in Aladdin’s hand but my master hooked it through his own belt, not offering to return it and the Captain stalked away without forcing the issue.
I pursed my lips as the tension fled the room and Rapunzel released a breath of laughter, looking around at the guests whose attention had been snared by the argument.
“They’re so desperate to marry me, they can’t even wait for the bouts to fight over me,” she said playfully and the nobles surrounding us fell into laughter, perfectly willing to follow her lead.
Aladdin looked like he wanted to say something to me but Rapunzel closed in on me before he could and my eyes widened as I realised it was intentional.
“I’m sorry, I don’t know your name?” she inquired politely.
“Kyra,” I replied, remembering to curtsy a moment too late.
“Well, Kyra, would you like to join me in a drink? All of a sudden this dance floor is overflowing with testosterone.”
I smiled widely, nodding my agreement and I fell into step with her as she led the way to the banquet laid out to the left of the huge room.
“Men,” she commented once we’d drawn away from Cassian and Aladdin. “Sometimes it’s like they’re a whole different species. I find the company of women so much easier to enjoy, don’t you?”
“I’m not sure, Lady,” I admitted. “I don’t have any female friends.”
The Princess stopped walking and looked down at me in confusion. “You don’t... are you the only woman in your liege’s household?”
“Yes. And Cassian is the only man. It’s just the three of us.”
“But before that? Before you came to the pageant, the rest of his household must contain more maids and cooks and-”
“Before?” I questioned in confusion. “Before, I was alone in the dark and-”
Shut up!
I widened my eyes, realising what I’d said. “I mean, I mean, I was... I’ve forgotten...”
“You’ve forgotten?” Her brow furrowed in confusion. “Do you mean to say you had a head injury? I’ve heard of that before, people who can’t remember their past after an accident.”
“There are more people like me?” I asked hopefully. Maybe I wasn’t so strange then. Maybe there was a chance for me to be normal yet.
Don’t get your hopes up.
“Perhaps a doctor could help you recover your memories?” she suggested hesitantly. “If you want them back?”
I opened my mouth, ready to respond but unsure of what words would best fill the silence.
It’s better you don’t have them back. Your grief would only be compounded by the memories of those you lost.
Before I could think of something to say, one of the Princess’s serving girls appeared.
“My Lady, it's time for you to retire; it’s almost eleven and if you don’t get your beauty sleep-”
“Thank you, Jacinda,” Rapunzel replied wearily before turning back to me. “I’m sorry, Kyra, but I have to go. Perhaps we could pick this up again some time?”
“I’d like that,” I said truthfully; it would be nice to have another friend.
“So would I,” she agreed before falling into step with her handmaids and exiting the room.
I watched her go with a smile pulling at my lips. I had another friend. And something about that just felt right.
I went to the garden.
Dammit, why did I go the garden?!
I'd waited for my handmaids to leave me for the night then slipped into the secret passage in my quarters and travelled all the way down here on numb feet after removing my shoes. Heels were designed to cripple a woman and I made a note never to wear them again unless I was forced to. I’d had to stick to my usual routine before they’d left, removing my ball gown and dressing for bed. I’d wrapped myself in a nightgown to save my modesty; I didn’t want Aladdin thinking I’d asked him to come here for something improper.
But why am I here?
I stood under the wooden trellis in the hanging gardens. Thick vines wrapped around the grid above me and pink roses dangled down from them, their petals closed up for the night. I'd brought a candle with me but the blustery wind had blown it out so I sat at the small iron table with no one but the moon for company.
I dug my bare toes into the soil and sucked in a breath. Here in the quiet, where no one could see me, I felt almost free.
Maybe that's why I really came here...
I'd snuck out of my room on plenty of occasions. I knew the guards' routines and where they were positioned around the palace. I was an expert at avoiding them. But that only got me so far. If I really wanted to leave, I'd be faced with several men at the gates. Even though they were under my command, they certainly wouldn't have stepped aside to let me onto the streets of the city. The guards were trained to protect me. But in some ways that was like keeping a butterfly in a jar. It might have survived, but what kind of miserable life would it lead?
I gazed up at the stars as the cooler night air brushed across my skin. I tugged the black silken dressing gown closer around me. It was one of the few black items I owned, but something which helped me blend with the shadows more easily. I'd left my room at five to midnight and I'd definitely been here almost half an hour. My heart sank towards the pit of my stomach.
I hugged my knees to my chest, shutting my eyes as I drank in the quiet, accepting that Aladdin wasn't coming.
He's probably in bed with his maid.
Wouldn't blame him either. The girl was stunning and there was something quietly innocent about her that was seriously intriguing. I didn't have any friends who weren't also employees. It would have been nice to get to know her better. But if Aladdin was bedding her, I probably shouldn't have wanted that.
Plenty of men took mistresses and it seemed Aladdin had enough attention to spare for several women at once. But when we were together, he made me feel as though I was the only woman he wanted.
Apart was a whole different story.
Maybe that was the way of Carubai men. His guard could have been a womaniser off-duty for all I knew. He certainly had the brooding intensity for it. A moment in his company had made me feel entirely naked. And that was not good because if Aladdin did win the pageant – please please please don't let it be Kahn – then his whole household would be moving into the palace. Which apparently consisted of only one guard and a maid.
Lowborn. The word echoed in my mind. Aladdin had said it himself. He'd asked me to think on whether I could accept that. But that only proved how little he really knew me. I didn't care about status. In fact, if I had my way and ruled the country, the class divide would be the first thing to go.
Men like Captain Hariot and Prince Gurvine had their mind set on wealth and the continued expansion of that wealth. They might have been fighting for my hand in marriage, but what they were really fighting for was their fine asses to be cushioned by the Osarian throne.
Admittedly, Kahn was different. He was naive, but dangerous in his own way. The flare in his eyes tonight when I'd refused him and the violent reaction he'd had just days ago were red flags that made me want to run for the hills. A man like that was unpredictable. And the mere idea of bedding Gothel's son made me want to tear my hair out.
I stood, giving up on Aladdin with a sigh and trailing deeper into the garden. A hedge maze met with the edge of the hanging gardens and I wondered if it would be a good time to get lost in it.
“Princess?” Aladdin's voice carried to me, a note of a disappointment to his tone.
My heart quickened and my gut spiralled.
He thought I wasn't here. And if I took a few more steps, I could simply vanish into the depths of the maze and let him think I hadn't waited for him. I clasped my arms around myself and stepped forward.
Screw him.
“Wait,” he called and I paused, my lips pursing. I didn't look back, just stood there growing more annoyed by the second.
Forbidden Fairytales- The Complete Series Page 36