CHAPTER 19

Mac

LEAVING ALY HAD BEEN THE hardest thing I had ever done. Even more so than when I had first become a genie. I couldn’t have imagined anything else would ever compare.

The moment I’d granted Aly’s wish I’d felt different. Thankfully, my powers came back in a rush allowing me to clothe myself before I started to disappear. I reappeared before the court, which was in full session at that point.

“Prince Mac’voniak you’re back!” one of the older nobles, Roc’ah, cried out. He had been one of my father’s advisers and seemed he still held that position with my cousin.

Roc’ah’s announcement caused an uproar of mixed responses. Some of the others surrounded me, bombarding me with question after question. Ones that I couldn’t even begin to answer. And others looked to my cousin, Ga’nova, who sat on the throne above everyone else.

I’d never liked him. He was too serious. Too focused on duty to ever be of any interest to me. The past me. I reminded myself.

“Silence!” Ga’nova called out, causing the court room to instantly quieten. The attention of the room turned to him as he descended from his throne. The nobles cleared a path for him as he passed by. I stood where I had appeared, not certain if I would be welcomed with a death sentence. He had been the one to try and make me stay with Aly.

I didn’t have anything to fear though. Ga’nova stopped in front of me, his eyes scanning over my form. Then suddenly he clapped me on the shoulders, a broad smile covering his lips as he laughed.

“Welcome back, cousin! I knew you could do it.”

“You did?” I raised a brow. I was under the impression he’d wanted me to fail.

“Of course! Who do you think gave your father the idea?” Ga’nova wrapped an arm around my shoulders and led me out of the crowd, toward the throne. “To be honest, when you took so long to break the spell I doubted you would come back. But you proved me right after all.”

“Yes, I wasn’t sure of myself either,” I answered, still a bit cautious of his acceptance.

“Well, that’s all over now. It’s in the past,” he waved a hand off to the side, “Now, we must get you back to your proper place.”

“And where would that be?” I quirked a brow at him, fully expecting him to throw me in the dungeon or worse. I forced myself not to shudder at the thought of what could be worse in my cousin’s mind.

“On the throne of course,” he frowned for a moment and then motioned to a few servants standing by, “Make sure the king’s old room is prepared for Mac’voniak and start moving my things out of the main chamber. My cousin will be wanting his parents’ room after all.”

“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that,” I held my hands up, “I haven’t been here in so long, I wouldn’t even begin to know what is going on in the kingdom.”

The moment the words came out of my mouth, Ga’nova jumped on them. “Of course, you don’t and why should you? But never fear,” he patted me on the back, “we will get you up to date and to ruling in no time.”

Things were moving all too fast for me. Just moments ago, I’d been thinking about the future I could never have with Aly, and now I was being prepped to take over Tavokia. Sure it was what I always wanted, but things changed. I’d changed. I wasn’t sure I wanted to rule Tavokia anymore. Not if it meant I could never see Aly again.

Not that she’d remember me anyway.

“Ga’nova,” I said, stopping my cousin as he continued to order the servants around, “Can we speak in private?” I looked to the audience of nobles, their eyes focused solely on Ga’nova and me.

“Of course, cousin,” he waved a hand at the nobles to disperse, but I wasn’t about to talk about this here, where anyone could listen in.

“I meant more private than this,” I gestured around the room, “What I have to say isn’t anything you would want others to hear.”

Frowning at me, Ga’nova nodded, “Very well. Let us retire to my office.”

Following after my cousin, my hands became clammy. I didn’t know how I was going to tell him I didn’t want to rule. I just wanted to go back to the human realm. If he was the same man I knew from before he would be delighted to stay in power, but this new version of him had me doubting he hadn’t changed.

“Now, cousin,” Ga’nova said taking a seat behind his desk, which had once been my fathers—a large oak that spanned the width of the room. I remembered playing under it as a child while my father worked. I had always envisioned I’d be the one sitting behind it one day.

“I know,” Ga’nova said, his eyes suddenly sad, “I miss him too sometimes. It was a real tragedy that he wasn’t able to see you break the spell.”

“Yeah,” I agreed, “Too bad.”

“He’d have been proud of you, you know,” my cousin continued, “He always had faith you would find your way back home. Your father had such high hopes for you. Thought if you would just grow up a little, you’d be a great king and I think he was right.”

“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about,” I started before he could keep going on about my father’s praises. If he kept talking I wasn’t sure I would be able to say what I had to say. I might be convinced of my place here and not where my heart was.

I took a deep breath and then said, “I can’t be king.”

Ga’nova looked at me for a moment and then laughed, “Don’t worry, nobody expects you to figure it out right away. Of course, you’ll have to shadow me for a bit to figure out what is happening. You need to be brought up to date on the ogre alliance, and the dragon shifters are making demands again.”

“No, Ga’nova,” I cut him off, “I won’t be king.”

“What do you mean won’t?” his brows furrowed in confusion and then raised in surprise, “This is about that woman isn’t it,” I opened my mouth to answer but he continued, giving me an understanding look, “I know you must have loved her, otherwise you wouldn’t have been able to break the spell, but you do realize she’s human and you are practically immortal. It would never work.”

I shook my head, “I don’t care. I can’t stay here when my heart really lies with her. It wouldn’t be right.”

“But she doesn’t even remember you,” Ga’nova reminded me, “You destroyed any chances of a relationship with her when you granted her last wish.”

“I’ll make her remember,” I insisted, running a hand through my hair, “If not, then I’ll make her fall in love with me again. This time as a man not as a genie.”

“I’m sorry, Mac’voniak. It’s just not possible,” he held his hands out to his sides, “There is no way the council is going to agree to let you go now that you are back. What is worse, they will think I had something to do with it and I can’t have that.”

“Then I will make them understand,” I forced all my determination, all my desperation to get back to Aly into my voice, hoping to make him understand.

Ga’nova nodded, “Very well. It is your decision after all. I can’t force you to take the crown, but you have been gone a long time. There is much to catch up on before you can leave. That is, if the council even lets you leave.”

“Just let them try to stop me.” The venom in my voice surprised even me, but I wasn’t about to let a group of old men keep me from Aly. I’d die first.

It turned out, the council was more than happy to let Ga’nova continue ruling. On the condition that I stayed to oversee the proper ceremonies to officially declare him the rightful ruler and that I was giving up any claim to the throne. I had no problem with any of this, but as the days turned to weeks I became anxious to get back to Aly.

“This is taking too long,” I complained to Ga’nova in his office one day after sitting through a meeting about the trolls.

“You must have patience, cousin. You will get to leave soon. I promise.”

“You’ve been saying that for months now and I’m no closer to leaving than I was before,” I argued and then pointed at the complaint on the desk in front of him, “I’m being forced to stay here for this kind of juvenile crap?”

The trolls were complaining that the water nymphs were flooding their bridges on purpose. The nymph said the trolls were just being big babies. The water had only risen about an inch above the normal and it was usual for the season.

Ridiculous nonsense. I didn’t have time for this kind of trivial complaints. I needed to get back to Aly.

When I wasn’t in meetings, I spent time in the library, scouring every text I could on memory spells. I was determined to find something that would help trigger Aly’s memory. I had finally come up something last week, in a beaten-up old text that was barely legible. But I had deciphered it enough to figure out what I had to do.

The only way to break a memory spell like Aly’s was to trigger the emotion. Whatever she felt for me would break the spell. Whether it be love, or hate. I had to make her feel it again. Then, and only then, would she remember.

It couldn’t be that hard. I’d made her fall for me in a few days. I had no doubt I could do it again. If I could just get to her.

“They might seem silly to you, but these are our people. We can’t just ignore them ‘cause we have something better to do,” Ga’nova explained, “The ceremonies are done. We are just waiting for the council’s final approvals. Then you can flit off to your human.”

“Fine. I will wait,” I crossed my arms over my chest and nodded.

While I had told my cousin I would follow the rules, I had grown tired of waiting. I had a feeling they weren’t going to let me leave anytime soon, and when they did it might be too late. Aly could have moved on and found someone else. Or even worse, died.

No. I couldn’t wait any longer. If I was ever going to get back to her it had to be now. If the council came after me, I’d have to deal with it later.