jinni

This is Roshana, the last queen of the Amulen Empire, back when my people ruled all the lands from the east to the west. She is something of a legend among us. Every queen aspires to learn from her mistakes.___er mistakes? Surely you mean her victories.___hat?__ frown at her. __oshana was one of the greatest queens in the world. She ended the Mountain Wars, she routed Sanhezriyah the Mad, she____or a foreign serving girl, you are strangely well versed in Amulen history.___ spent a lot of time in libraries as a girl.___ere you there to dust the scrolls or read them?___urely Roshana__ victories outweigh her errors.___he higher you rise, the farther you fall. For all her wisdom, Roshana was fooled by the jinni, believing it was her friend, and then it destroyed her. Ever since that day, my people have hunted the jinn. There is no creature more vicious and untrustworthy.___his is not the story I heard,_ I say softly. __y people tell it differently. That the jinni truly was a friend to Roshana but was forced to turn against her. That she had no choice.___urely I know how my own ancestress died,_ returns the princess, a bit hotly. __nyway, it was a long time ago, but we Amulens do not forget.

I always knew it would end like this. It always does. There__ no point in fighting it, Aladdin. It is simply the way of things.___ can__ accept that.___ou must.___ow can you just give up? How can you say that?_ His eyes light up, and he takes the lamp from his sash and grips it so tightly his knuckles whiten. __arlier, before you kissed me, I was about to wish for your freedom.__ leap to my feet. __laddin, you must not do that. You must never even think it!___hy is that so bad? You__ be free.___t__ called the Forbidden Wish for a reason!___y whom? Nardukha? Let him come. I have a few things I__ like to say to him.___ forbid it. Aladdin. If anything we have done together means anything to you, please, please trust me now. Don__ make that wish. It is the worst wish you can make. It is__t will break my heart.___hat is it?_ he asks softly. __hat is it you__e not telling me? What happens if I wish for your freedom?__ stand trembling, the words clawing at my throat, until I can hold them back no more.__ike all wishes, the Forbidden Wish comes at a price. My freedom must be bought with a death, a life paid in sacrifice. And I will not let you make that sacrifice, not for me.

I know who you are,_ he says.Something about his tone causes my heart of smoke to flicker in response, and I throw my guard up. __h? And who, O boy of Parthenia, am I?__e nods to himself, his eyes alight. __ou__e her. You__e that jinni. Oh, gods. Oh, great bleeding gods! You__e the one who started the war!___xcuse me?___ou__e the jinni who betrayed that famous queen__hat was her name? Roshana? She was trying to bring peace between the jinn and the humans, but you turned on her and started the Five Hundred Wars.__ turn cold. I want him to stop, but he doesn__.____e heard the stories,_ he says. ____e heard the songs. They call you the Fair Betrayer, who enchanted humans with your . . ._ He pauses to swallow. __our beauty. You promised them everything, and then you ruined them.

Use your wish,_ I whisper to Aladdin, opening my eyes. __lease.___f I do,_ he replies softly, ____l lose you.

Don__ you understand? It__ forbidden, Aladdin! We jinn must abide by many rules, but first among them, most important of all, we must never fall in love with a human!__e catches his breath, swallowing hard. __nd do you always follow the rules?_____ Casting my gaze skyward, I draw a deep breath, searching for words among the stars. __t__ not about that. Do you know what kind of destruction we would cause? Have you not heard the story of your own people, how their city was destroyed, how thousands died? It was not hate that sparked the war between your people and mine, Aladdin. It was love. I held hands with Roshana the Wise and called her sister, and those words set our world on fire!__here it is. My greatest shame, laid bare. The truth lies between us like broken glass. Surely now he sees what I truly am: a betrayer, a monster, an enemy. Aladdin stares at me, his face softening.__hat wasn__ your fault,_ he says. __oving someone is never wrong. And like you said, it__ not a choice. It just happens, and we__e all helpless in its power.___hat doesn__ change the fact that the consequences are disastrous. As the poets say, shake hands with a jinni, and you shake hands with death.

He makes a face and tosses the flower at me. It lands on my cheek, and I pick it up and twirl it between my fingers. I could lie out here all day, not moving an inch, feeling the sun above and the grass below. With a contented sigh, I stretch my arms wide, raking the grass with my fingers__nd find myself brushing Aladdin__ hand with my own. I pull it away quickly, my cheeks warming. He laughs a little.__ometimes,_ he says, __ forget you__e supposed to be four thousand years old. You act as shy as a girl of sixteen.___ do not!_ I sit up and glare at him.He grins and shrugs, sliding his hands under his head. There are bits of grass stuck in his hair, and after a moment__ hesitation, I reach over and flick them away.Aladdin watches me silently, his throat bobbing as he swallows. I drop my gaze.

Your father is waiting, so fly up that mountain and through the alomb. Find Nardukha and tell him I have upheld my end of the bargain. Now it is his turn.__e stares at me, a dangerous light in his eye, and then his gaze travels beyond me, in the direction of the funeral. My hand moves to his muscled forearm, and I squeeze it

And what if you weren__ a jinni? What if you were free from their rules?__ stare at him. His jaw tightens, his eyes steely with determination that frightens me to my core. A cloud drifts across the face of the crescent moon, and the courtyard darkens. Here and there, the grass is still bent where Aladdin and I danced just hours earlier. I drop my gaze and glare at it, shaking from head to toe.__on__ say it, Aladdin. Don__ you even think it._ Dread rises in me like a storm cloud, dark and menacing.Aladdin moves closer. He takes my hands. His skin is warm and crackling with energy, setting me on fire.__ have one wish left,_ he murmurs. __nd this one is for you.___o, Aladdin! Don__ speak it. Don__ make the Forbidden Wish. The cost____amn the cost. Zahra, I wish___ stop him with a kiss.Because it is the first thing I think of to stop the terrible words. Because he fills me with light and hope and deep, deep fear. Because I have been longing to for days.