“What?” I breathed in confusion. I'd seen the damage Kahn had caused him. If he survived, he'd no doubt be crippled for the rest of his life.
My stomach twisted as I rested a hand on the sheets, needing to see for myself that he was okay.
“For goodness sake, Rapunzel, do stop acting like you care,” Gothel sighed dramatically.
“I do care,” I said through my teeth. I care more than you, you witch.
I reached for the Prince's hand and his skin was frighteningly cold. My heart tripled its pace and I lurched backwards, certain he was dead. I spun toward Gothel whose face was impassive as she stared at me.
“We need to bring the doctor back,” I said, my throat tight. “I think he's...”
“Princess,” a raspy voice made me jump and I turned to find the Prince sitting up in bed.
I squinted through the gloom, finding a great gash knitted together on the side of his head. His eyes trailed across the space then landed on me. His mouth pulled into a creepy grin that chilled my bones.
“Prince Gurvine,” I gasped. “You're alright?”
“Yes...I'm fine,” he swore, his voice still painfully dry.
I reached for his hand again but he pulled it away.
“Some water perhaps?” I offered.
“Stop fussing,” Gothel said. “My attendants will keep him comfortable until he's recovered.” She looked to the Prince. “You may have to stay here for a few weeks, your highness.”
“A few weeks,” he echoed. “Yes, until I've recovered.”
I stood upright, my gut knotting at I gazed at him. “I'm sorry for what happened. Kahn will give you a formal apology and of course you will be compensated.”
“Yes...thank you.”
I frowned, concern niggling at me that the Prince might have brain damage. I bit into my lip as I backed away, wondering what else we could offer him. This was yet another reason I despised the pageant.
And my heart took a dramatic dive as I remembered that Aladdin was going to be facing Kahn tomorrow.
“Did you find Kahn's medicine?” I asked Gothel, my tone sharp. “Because he will not be allowed in the ring again without it.”
“My dear, you do not make that call. But I'm sure it will turn up before he faces the precious Count Bazari tomorrow.”
“Nazari,” I corrected curtly, dipping my head to the Prince as I headed back across the room.
Gothel caught my arm before I could leave, her nails slicing into my skin. I stared at her, trying not to let her see how much she made my pulse quicken and my mouth dry up.
She lowered her voice to a deadly whisper. “Kahn has won already, Princess. Do you really want to see the Count in this condition tomorrow? Perhaps you would be best to convince him to withdraw.”
My heart thumped in my ears as I stared at her. Aladdin was too proud to drop out, even if I did ask him to. But I couldn't. He wanted the palace almost much as I wanted my freedom. So he would fight whether anyone told him to or not.
“You underestimate him,” I hissed, tugging my arm free of her vice-like grip.
I felt her scowl digging into the back of my head as I marched from the room. Outside, I leant back against the wall, taking a steadying breath.
My guards stood around me in a crescent, looking anywhere but at my face as I tried to calm my nerves.
I sucked in a lungful of air then stood upright, hurrying through their ranks and heading in the direction of the training room in the royal quarters. It was meant for Emperors, not for Princesses. But my father hadn't touched any of the weapons in there for years. I was half-tempted to go to him first and tell him what had happened. But he'd asked for a day of rest and I needed to give it to him. Seeing him hobble about the palace in the clutches of his illness was difficult to bear.
My heart twinged with the pain of what he was going through. But the best thing I could offer him now was the time to recover.
As I stepped into the training hall, relief washed over me. This was where I came to feel alive. It was my favourite place in the entire palace. And the huge hall was big enough that the guards didn't make me feel suffocated.
I made my way across the honey-coloured floors, the sunlight streaming in from the arching windows high above. On the walls hung swords, axes, crossbows, daggers – every weapon known to man. We had the best of the best. And I knew each and every one of them by touch alone.
I hurried behind the wooden screen at the end of the hall then took the contract out from where I'd tucked it in the deepest pocket of my dress. I ran my thumb over the blue ribbon around it – how did he know I liked blue?
I tugged it loose then opened the tube and pulled out the contract, just to be sure, just to see it with my own eyes. I unrolled the pages and my eyes fell on his signature at the bottom. My mouth hooked up at the corner. The letters were a mess of swirls, but it was clear enough. Aladdin was granting me my life-long wish. And for that, I would happily let him take my hand I marriage if he won. Holy shit he has to win.
I dragged my dress off and tossed it on the floor, placing the contract back in its container and burying it within the folds of the material.
I picked up the navy fighting clothes I'd had designed for me. Lightweight pants that were loose and stretched to every demand of my body. The silken top wrapped around my chest, tight enough that it was inappropriate by any noble's standards. But in this place, I wasn't a noblewoman. I was an assassin, a slayer, a warrior. I could be anything I'd ever dreamed of inside my head.
It made me feel less powerless. Like I could protect myself if I needed to. And that was something worth more than any gold in the city.
I bound my hair up into a bun, holding it in place with a sharp silver pin. I'd wondered a thousand times what it would have been like to take these clothes and go out into the city in disguise.
Those dreams had kept my spirit alive. They were what meant I didn't die in this beautiful jar I was kept in.
I pulled on the leather plimsolls that were designed with excellent grip and stepped out from behind the screen. The guards promptly turned their backs on me and I fought an eye roll. They didn't have to, but my tight-fitting clothes were deemed too inappropriate for them to look at.
Ridiculous.
I headed to the equipment to one side of the room where ropes hung from a square structure of bars. I climbed the ladders, swung down the ropes, hung from the bars and shimmied along them for as long as my arms could hold out. It was as easy as breathing. I'd been training like this my whole life.
But for what?
The age-old question. The sad truth of it was, I was eighteen now and the games I played here, the wild imaginings of pretending to be a daring assassin were drifting away. In reality, I was just a girl with a hobby. And my skills would no-doubt go unused for the rest of my days.
When I'd warmed up enough, I moved to the nearest wall and took my favourite sword from its rack. It had been my mother's, the silver hilt inlaid with her initials. L.A. Larina Amari.
Miss you Mom.
I moved to the middle of the hall, placing my feet and raising the sword in a fighting stance. I sucked in a breath, my heart steady and my thoughts calm. Then I fell into my favourite dance. Between the twist of my body and the slash of the blade, the feeling of power rode through me on a wave.
I may have been a Princess, a woman to be bought and sold, but the world underestimated me. Aladdin had signed my contract. I was taking my fate into my own hands. And if he won, Gothel wasn't going to know what hit her.
Aladdin climbed down from the stage as the crowd continued to applaud him and the smile on his face lit my heart with joy.
He moved to join us, his gaze skimming over me momentarily before he fixed his attention on Cassian.
“Come on then,” he said with a sigh. “Tell me everything I did wrong and all the ways I brought shame on my fake name.”
Cassian raised an eyebrow at him, folding his arms. “Is that all you ever expect from m
e?” he asked, sounded vaguely disappointed by the idea. “Criticism and complaints?”
“Well...” Aladdin glanced at me like he was looking for back-up and I grinned.
“You can be a bit bossy, Cassian,” I agreed.
“And I guess that makes him the fun one?” he asked me, jerking a thumb at Aladdin who smiled in anticipation of my answer.
“I’d call him... reckless,” I replied honestly. “Besides, I had more fun with you last night than I’ve had in... well ever, I guess. I can’t remember anything else that I’ve enjoyed like that.”
“Up until the point where he killed a teenager, anyway,” Aladdin muttered.
“You were the one caving his head in with a hammer,” Cassian objected, glancing around to make sure no one was listening to us.
“Let’s not get caught up in who had the hammer,” Aladdin said dismissively.
“You’re the one throwing around accusations,” Cassian pointed out.
“Well I don’t know why I’d be surprised to find that your amazingly high moral standards weren’t met when I saved your life. Again.”
“I saved you from Hariot and his men,” Cassian reminded him.
“Let’s give you one point for that one then. But I’ve saved your life what, three times now, four? It’s so many I’ve lost count but don’t go feeling like you need to thank me or anything. I’m just the token scumbag you tricked into coming here. Right?”
My mouth fell open in surprise as Aladdin seemed to grow increasingly irritated. Before Cassian or I could reply to his outburst he released a huff of irritation and turned away from us, stalking off through the gardens. He’d seemed so happy when he won the fight but suddenly it was like there was a darkness hanging over him again.
“Where are you going?” Cassian called. “We need to head back to the library and-”
“You head back to the library. I can’t read, remember?” Aladdin called over his shoulder without bothering to turn back to us. “So why don’t you just go and talk to your la-de-da books without rubbing my face in that fact. I need a bath.”
“I thought he was happy to have won the fight?” I asked with a frown as he turned right beyond a water fountain and disappeared out of sight.
“I think he just woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning,” Cassian muttered.
“Oh no, will his whole day be backwards now?” I asked, my heart leaping at the idea of something so awful happening to him.
And here I was thinking that you could participate in a conversation without my input for once. But oh no, you had to go and embarrass yourself as usual.
“Maybe I should go and talk to him?” Cassian suggested, though his eyes strayed in the other direction and I could tell he didn’t want to waste this opportunity to search for another way to destroy Gothel.
“I can go,” I offered. “He’s my Master after all and making him happy is pretty much the only reason I exist.”
“That’s... you shouldn’t look at your life like that. You may be tied to him but your emotions should be your own,” Cassian said firmly.
He’s right. You should see if Aladdin will wish for them to be yours like he did with your body.
“I can’t ask him to make wishes for my benefit,” I muttered.
“Why not?” Cassian asked, assuming I’d been talking to him. “He might seem like a selfish prick at times... well he might be a selfish prick most of the time. But he wanted you to have control of your own body, I’m sure he’d feel the same about your feelings. What reason would he have to deny you that?”
He’s right. I’m right. The only one who isn’t right is you. Which should come as no surprise. Let’s ask him!
“I’m not sure. He doesn’t seem to be very happy with me at the moment,” I admitted, my gut swirling with the memory of his almost-kiss.
He’d caught me so unaware. I hadn’t really realised what was happening until it was and then my heart had leapt with so much energy that I just became a cloud of nothing at all and before I knew what I’d done, I was standing above him instead of lying beneath him and the brush of his lips had been gone. I didn’t know if I wanted him to kiss me or not. All I knew was that the idea of it had been running round in circles inside my brain ever since and all I could think was that if it had actually happened then maybe I’d know how to feel about it. But as it was, I was left hanging in the moment of anticipation he’d built before he’d closed the distance between us and I wasn’t sure if I’d ever be released from it.
“I’m sure he could use a friend right now,” Cassian reasoned. “Maybe he’s worried about facing Kahn in the next bout? I’m sure I would be.”
My gut twisted at the thought of Aladdin going up against that mountain who wore the flesh of a man. I wasn’t sure if I could bear to watch it. It would hurt him, I was sure of it. And even if my magic could help repair his battered flesh when it was done I couldn’t take away the suffering he’d face while the fight raged.
But Cassian had said the one thing that would make me push past my hesitation to follow Aladdin, despite the fact that he seemed to be displeased with me at the moment. He needed a friend. And I knew that feeling better than anyone in the world.
“Okay. I’ll go and talk to him.” I started to follow Aladdin towards the bathhouse but Cassian called out to stop me.
“Come and find me in the library once Aladdin is in a better mood, okay?” he said and I nodded. “Oh, and Kyra? Make sure you say yes to the bathing robe when they ask you at the bathhouse. I know that Aladdin likes to flaunt his skin as if no one in the world has anything better to do than look at him, but your body is your own, remember? You should only show it to people if you want to.”
Cassian is ever the gentleman. At least when people are watching - he wasn’t complaining too much when you were insisting on going to his bed last night.
“Okay. I’ll see you soon.” I smiled at my friend before heading in the opposite direction to him and following Aladdin to the baths.
It didn’t take me long to find the bathhouse and I headed inside it as the sound of lapping water called out to me from within.
A serving girl looked up as I arrived, smiling politely as her gaze swept over my yellow dress.
“Would you like a bathing robe, my lady?” the girl asked, mistaking me for a noble.
I didn’t correct her. My disguise as Aladdin’s maid was a good idea but I preferred the dresses the noblewomen wore and I had been basing my clothes on theirs. Aladdin never objected to it and I’d begun to relish that little freedom. The choice to dress myself in the way that I was comfortable felt strangely like connecting with my true self. Clothes were a reflection of who we were and every time I created something which caressed my skin and brought a smile of joy to my face I felt more like myself again.
I accepted the pale blue robe with a word of thanks and headed into a chamber filled with hooks to hang clothes on. I quickly removed my dress, enjoying the way it slid across my body so much that I put it back on just so that I could take it off again.
If I’d thought that was good then I was in for an even bigger treat with the robe. The pale blue material was almost silky and felt a little like touching solid oil. I draped it around myself, sighing happily as it skimmed my thighs
I tightened the belt around my waist to secure it in place and ran my hands up and down my body. I noticed the servant girl standing in the doorway with a heap of towels and I flashed her a smile as I dropped my arms.
Great. Now she thinks you’re some kind of sex pervert.
“What’s that?” I muttered as I headed away from her towards the beautiful call of that lapping water. My inner voice deigned not to answer.
I arrived in the extravagant bathhouse and a smile pulled at my lips as scented steam enveloped me in its gentle embrace. I was almost tempted to become smoke and float amongst it for a while, dancing on the water’s surface like some kind of fairy nymph.
Best not.
I sighe
d, agreeing again. My other self might have been more sane than I was but she was a hell of a lot less fun.
I looked around, finding the place abandoned apart from one person. In a darkened alcove to the right of the room, Aladdin sat on a bench, leaning back against the wall with his eyes closed. I wondered if he’d want me to disturb him or not. But I’d promised Cassian that I’d be a good friend to my master and the sadness that seemed to sit on him now needed to be banished. I hated to see him like that and if it was even a little bit possible that I could help then I knew I had to try.
I waded into the water and couldn’t help but moan at the feeling of it against my skin. It was so... so....
Wet. Water is wet. Please stop acting like a mermaid who’s spent a year away from the ocean.
I almost did stop but a memory was tugging at me and I couldn’t deny the urge to explore it. I dunked myself beneath the water and started swimming. I couldn’t remember learning how to do it but it was as natural as breathing to me. A long time ago I’d done this all the time.
Come on water baby, it’s time for dinner!
I gasped, inhaling a mouthful of water and came up coughing.
A hand landed on my back, patting me firmly as I spluttered. I peeked between my hair as I finally stopped coughing and found Aladdin frowning at me as he withdrew his hand. He had opted against the robe as Cassian had thought he would and I resisted the urge to look any lower than his face.
“Are you alright?” he asked, his eyes alight with concern even in the dimly lit room.
“Yes,” I breathed. “But for a moment I thought I heard...”
I chewed my lip, afraid to voice my suspicions.
“What?” he asked. “You know you can tell me.”
“My mother,” I admitted. “There was a lake at the edge of our property and I used to swim in it every day.” The more I focused on it, the more I could remember. There had been a huge weeping willow on its bank and I loved to push my way between its fluttering branches and sit within the shady cocoon they created.
“That’s good,” Aladdin said with a smile. “Right?”
I nodded, waiting for a snarky remark to come from my other self but nothing came. She seemed to be as stunned by the memories as I was. I felt grounded. More like myself than I had in so long that I couldn’t even remember the last time.
Forbidden Fairytales- The Complete Series Page 42