The Forbidden Wish(81)

I throw my arms around him and kiss him deeply, pouring all the fear, despair, and hope of the last day into that touch. He responds at once, one hand on my back, pressing me to him, the other in my hair. His lips are urgent and intense, and I feel his own fear and relief, the adrenaline coursing through him.

When we break apart, he rests his forehead against mine and laughs hoarsely.

“If I am dead,” he murmurs, “then let them kill me a thousand times, just so I can be greeted like that on the other side.”

“I thought I’d lost you.”

“Thought I’d lost me too. But you came.”

“I had help.” Pulling reluctantly away, I look to Caspida and the Watchmaidens, who are running up the steps.

“Trouble!” Ensi warns, pointing behind us, and we turn to see more soldiers gathering outside the palace.

Caspida curses. “They know we’re here.”

The soldiers are getting closer, their spears flashing in the dawn light. The Watchmaidens brace themselves, looking small and delicate in the wave of men rushing toward them, until a barrage of arrows is suddenly loosed from a row of archers to the left. We retreat down the steps and behind a low stone wall as the arrows clatter on the stair where we’d been standing. The sound of shouting and clanging weapons gets louder as the men draw nearer. Raz leans around the wall, firing arrows and holding the soldiers at bay for a few moments.

“Sulifer has the entire army and the Eristrati under his control,” says Nessa. “We won’t even make it to the doors!”

“Wish for the city,” I say urgently, “and I will deliver it to you! Caspida, you must see that this is the only way!”

“I can’t!” she shouts, her composure cracking as she meets my eyes. “Don’t you understand? If I use jinn magic to fight Sulifer, then I’m no better than he is! Then I’m no queen at all!”

“But we have no army,” says Nessa gently.

“Your Highness,” says Aladdin suddenly, “you don’t need an army.”

She gives him a questioning look, and he turns and waves a hand at the city spread below.

“You have the people. They’ve been waiting for months for the Phoenix to give the signal. They will follow you anywhere!”

Caspida’s eyes brighten a little, but then she shakes her head. “I can’t ask them to fight my battle for me, not against armed and trained men.”

“This isn’t just your battle,” Aladdin replies. “This has been our fight for years. It’s our families Sulifer has been tearing apart, our lives he has crushed. We’ve only been waiting for the right person to lead us, and here you are. They wear your colors, paint your sigil on the walls. Maybe you didn’t set out to create a revolution, but the revolution has been waiting for years for the right spark. Let us fight, and we will all take back our city together.”

Caspida looks around at her girls, and they all nod. To Aladdin, she opens a hand in assent. “Go, then. May Imohel grant you speed.”

His eyes burn with purpose, and he begins slipping away, squeezing my hand before letting go.

“I’ll bring help,” he says. “Hold them off as long as you can.”

And then he’s gone, dashing down the stair and dodging the few arrows fired after him. I stare in disbelief, unable to bear seeing him disappear after only just getting him back. But Caspida still holds the lamp, and I cannot follow.

“I’m out,” says Raz, throwing down her bow and dropping her empty quiver. “They’re coming.”

“Watchmaidens,” says the princess, looking at each of her girls in turn, her gaze finally settling on me. “Are you with me?”

Khavar, her snake coiled tightly on her forearm, draws a short dagger and licks the blade, her eyes glinting with a feral light. “In victory or death, I will be at your side, sister.”

“And I,” the others echo.

“And I,” I murmur, and they glance at me, surprised. I lock gazes with Caspida. “If you won’t wish for the city, then let me fight with you.” Slowly, my silk robes harden into shining battle armor, and twin swords appear behind my shoulders.

Caspida secures the lamp on her belt and nods. She grasps my hand, her pulse pounding through me like a battle drum. “In victory or death, jinni.”

With that, she stands, and we rise behind her.

There are about twenty soldiers marching toward us, all lancers. They are too near us now for the archers to continue firing without hitting their own men.

Caspida leaps onto the low wall and cries out, “Men of Parthenia! I am your true queen! Stand down, or be found guilty of treason!”

The men exchange glances but don’t stop advancing.

With a heavy sigh, the princess twirls her knives, then nods to us. We charge from behind the wall, the Watchmaidens calling out in ululating tones like the wild mountain warriors of old.

Ensi takes the lead, laughing madly, and the Watchmaidens draw their veils over their faces as she slings the first handful of blue powder. It hits three soldiers, blinding them, and they scream and drop their weapons to claw at their eyes. Ensi launches herself off the ground, flipping over their fallen forms to sling more powder at the next row of men.

Then the rest of us clash with the soldiers, steel ringing against steel. I stand back-to-back with Nessa, my ears roaring with the sound of battle. We fall into a rhythm, parrying, slashing, dodging lances. I keep glancing at the steps, hoping to see Aladdin leading in reinforcements, until the soldiers close in on us and I’m forced to focus on fighting.