FOURTEEN
Aladdin was certain he had to be dreaming, for he distinctly heard his mother's voice, and his mother never left the city. Even if Berk had told her where her son had gone, there was no way she would venture out alone to search for him, and she did not have the money to hire men to help her.
So he took his time opening his eyes, for surely he had collapsed in the desert, and the sun above would be drinking the last drops of water from his body before it killed him. At least the last thing he heard would be his mother's voice and not Gwandoya's mad laughter. And dying of thirst was faster, kinder than a slow death by starvation. He almost felt like he was lying on a bed, instead of in the unforgiving sand. Still, the sand at the oasis had been soft...
But someone would find his body, and the ring, and Kaveh would be angry that some corpse robber had him. So Aladdin had to get up, and struggle on, or Kaveh would roll a boulder across him...
Aladdin forced his eyes open and sat up. His head hurt like he'd drunk too much wine again, but he'd grown used to that in Tasnim. He blinked away the blurriness, waiting to see either the desert or the rock walls of Tasnim. What he did not expect to see were the whitewashed walls of his mother's house.
"Maman?" he croaked. If this truly was her house, she must be here, for he'd heard her voice.
He heard something crash to the floor. "Aladdin?" A moment later, she emerged from the gloom.
"How did I get here?" he asked. "And do you have any water?"
"Of course!" She reached down and only now did Aladdin see the jug and cup on the floor beside him. She filled the cup and handed it to him.
Aladdin drained it, then refilled it himself and drank a second cup before his parched throat felt moistened enough to speak. "How did I get here?"
Maman shot a dark glance over her shoulder. "Your friend, Kaveh, carried you in here, half dead from exposure and thirst. He comes every day, bringing food and other things, but he refuses to take any money or thanks for it. And he disappears, like he has done again. It is as though he does not wish to be seen here."
Something tightened around Aladdin's finger, before the pressure eased as quickly as it had come. Kaveh's ring. He was not gone, the pressure reminded him.
"I will settle everything with him, Maman," Aladdin promised. "You don't need to worry about it."
"I do not trust him. Yes, he saved your life, but he has secrets that he does not say." His mother frowned.
"Let the man keep his secrets. He is allowed to them."
"We still must pay him. Did you bring any money back from whatever you were doing? I searched your clothes, but all I found was this thing." She held up the blackened lamp. "Perhaps we can get a coin or two for it. It is heavy brass. If I can polish it well, perhaps enough to pay him back a small amount..."
Before Aladdin could stop her, she spat on the lamp and began to rub at it furiously with a handful of her skirt.
Blue smoke erupted from the spout of the lamp, pouring out until it filled the room from floor to ceiling. Just like with the ring, the smoke took the form of a man, a man so enormous he had to bend double to fit in the room.
"I am the servant of the lamp," the smoky man boomed. "What do you wish of me?"
Maman's eyes widened in terror, and she whimpered as she tried to back away from the djinn, for surely this was another of Kaveh's kind. Then she overbalanced, falling backward and striking her head against the wall.
"Maman! Are you all right?" Aladdin asked, rushing to check. The back of her head was bleeding from where it had hit the wall, but she still drew breath. He carried her to the bed, not sure what else to do.
"I said: what do you wish of me?"
Aladdin whirled to face the djinn. The lamp had fallen to the floor, so he picked it up. "You frightened my mother and now she is hurt. I wish you would fix the mess you have made."
"I cannot undo what has been done, but I can heal her," the djinn said.
Aladdin blinked in surprise. It took him a moment before he had the presence of mind to say, "Then do it."
He watched in fascination as the djinn bent over his mother, holding out his hands. Blue light arced from his hands to her, until her head was enveloped in a blue cloud. Then he waved his hand and the light died. "It is done," the djinn said. "When she wakes, it will be as though she was never injured. What else do you wish of me?"
Aladdin wet his lips. "Answers. What are you?"
"I am the servant of the lamp, and my master is whoever holds it in his hands."
"So you are a djinn?"
"Yes."
"You can perform magic? What sort of magic can you do?"
The djinn swelled to fill half the room. "I can make you the richest man alive. Transport you to the farthest reaches of the Earth and back again in the blink of an eye. Build you a palace so magnificent even the Sultan will beg to see inside."
Aladdin sucked in a breath. He wanted all of those things, but he knew nothing came without a cost. Before he wished for anything, he needed to talk to Kaveh. He knew Kaveh, whereas this djinn was a stranger.
"What would you wish me to do first, master?" the genie rumbled.
Aladdin thought for a moment. His belly rumbled, reminding him that it had been a long time since he'd eaten. Kaveh had provided him with food, and there had been no ill consequences from that. Finally, he said, "I am hungry. Bring me something to eat."
The djinn bowed low, then vanished.
"Show off," Kaveh muttered, emerging like a wraith from the ring. "Mister high and mighty, all powerful master of everything."
"Do you know him?"
Kaveh glared at the lamp. "I have seen him before, yes. Prince Philemon was master of the lamp for a time, before he disappeared, and he had no need for me when he had him. He handed me to one of his servants, who sold me to buy bread after he left the city. To the madman I'd rather not return to."
"Would you rather I'd asked you to fetch my food?"
Kaveh looked affronted. "You had no need to ask him for anything. I gave you the contents of the royal larder! I still have some of it, too. If I can remember where I hid it. Must be here somewhere, the house isn't that big..." He wandered about the room, waving his arms as though he expected to touch something unseen. "Ah, here! You liked the prince's almonds, so I brought two barrels."
"I liked them because they were the only thing that didn't require cooking, or taste so sweet they made me terribly thirsty," Aladdin replied. He'd eaten so many almonds in the last week, he'd happily live the rest of his life without eating another.
"Oh," Kaveh seemed crestfallen, but not for long. "I brought the prince's garden, too. That will impress your princess, you'll see."
"The entire garden?" Aladdin had briefly wandered through what Kaveh had called the harem gardens, a large, high-ceilinged cavern filled with artificial trees made of metal and gemstones. Every jewelled leaf, flower and fruit had been lovingly crafted so each was unique, but under all the dust Aladdin had found it hard to be impressed. It had looked so forlorn, a world that had once glittered with magic but was now brown and dull with dust.
"Just the trees. Most of the shrubs. And all the flowers."
The entire garden, then.
"Where did you put it all?"
Kaveh opened his mouth. "Ah – "
A cloud of blue smoke exploded into the room, then parted to reveal a host of golden dishes bearing a banquet of more food than Aladdin had ever seen in his life. Things that could only have come from the palace kitchen, or one like it.
"Your meal, master," the huge djinn boomed.
Maman screwed up her face, moving restlessly in the bed as though she were about to wake. She would not be happy to see the giant djinn in the house still.
"Now, go hide in the lamp, or wherever it is you go, until I summon you again," Aladdin said.
The djinn set the dishes down and disappeared.
Just in time, for Maman sat up. "What was that thing?"
"Nothing, Maman. I have food for us. What would you like to eat?"
Maman looked around in bewilderment. "Where did you get the money for so much food, or such dishes?"
Kaveh had disappeared again, leaving Aladdin to explain on his own. "I fear you would not believe me, Maman. It is a story for another time. But I did not steal them, and they belong to us now. Of that I am certain. Now, let us eat, and when we are done, perhaps we can sell the dishes to a goldsmith so we can buy you some new clothes."
Maman nodded. "Very well. We can talk after we have eaten."
For the first time in longer than he could remember, Aladdin sat down to a meal with his mother, where they both ate their fill. For once, he'd done something right.