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"I want to free you from your slavery, selling your body for the good of our country," Aladdin replied.
Maram snorted, an unladylike sound that no other man had ever heard from her. "A princess's body is always used for the good of her country. Even the ones who form marriage alliances are brood mares for their husbands, living proof of the alliance between my father's kingdom and their husband's."
"So to free you, I would need to find you a husband who would love you, yet who has a kingdom to rival your father's, so that you could marry the man?" He raised his eyebrows.
Maram laughed. "Wealth to rival my father's, now, I think. He has all the alliances he needs, thanks to me, but he would marry me to a wealthy man if he thought the man's wealth outweighed my value to my father as an ambassador." She shook her head. No such man existed, she was certain. And if he did, he wouldn't love her. He'd want a virgin princess, not a well-used courtesan.
Yet Aladdin's eyes lit up at her words, as if they'd given him hope. "So if I were to amass a fortune, your father might be willing to bestow your hand on me? Then we could both have what we desire. You would be free, and I would be honour-bound to make love to you."
Her mouth was dry. "I wish it could be so."
Aladdin bowed low. "As do I, Princess. But you are a princess, so beautiful you put the sun and moon to shame, and I am a humble spinner's son, with not even the coin to pay you for the meal you have so kindly given me."
Maram waved away his compliments. "It is not necessary. Consider it fair payment for your refreshing conversation and company and...that kiss." She licked her lips, wanting another.
Aladdin seemed to read her thoughts and he backed away, toward the shadows from whence he had come. "My first, Princess, and I am honoured that it pleased you. I fear it will also be my last. Farewell." He disappeared into the darkness, and reluctantly she let him go.
He was just a man, and a lowborn one, at that. So why did she feel so bereft with him gone?
Maram summoned her servants to help her dress, but her thoughts were on Aladdin, the one man who could resist her spell.
FOUR
His thoughts filled with Princess Maram, Aladdin had to force himself to sneak out the back of the bathhouse instead of returning to her, like he wanted to.
She was a princess and he was nothing. He repeated this to himself, hoping that if he said it often enough, he would believe it. Because for that hour he'd spent in her company, he'd dreamed of more. More kisses like the one they'd shared, more such meals, maybe joining her in the bath, and...
No. She was a princess and he was nothing.
A princess who wished to be free. A beautiful caged bird who would soar, if only her father would let her.
"Did you find work today?"
Aladdin glanced up to meet his mother's enquiring gaze. He'd walked home without realising it, he'd been so deep in thought. "No, Maman. I'm sorry."
She sighed. "There must be something for you. Perhaps tomorrow you will have better luck. I have spent all day spinning, so if I take this thread to the tailor's, perhaps I will have enough coin to buy bread for your supper."
His unusually full stomach ached at the thought that he'd eaten, but he hadn't thought to bring anything home for his mother. "I'm not hungry, Maman. Save it for tomorrow, or for yourself. I will just go to bed."
But even lying on his thin straw pallet, Aladdin could not sleep. Maram and her melancholy haunted him. The perfect princess, whose kiss had awoken a longing he'd never known before.
When day dawned, Aladdin was no closer to getting the girl out of his mind. He trudged to the alley where he and the other labourers waited for work that never came. Day after day, he made the journey there, then home, in a dreamy haze that wouldn't lift. Hunger gnawed at his insides, but he ignored it.
"I can make you rich beyond your wildest dreams. The Sultan's daughters will mistake you for a prince, you will be so wealthy, and you may have your pick of them!"
Gwandoya's boasting burst through the haze in Aladdin's mind, as though he heard it for the first time.
Aladdin rose to his feet. Yes, he wanted to pick one of the Sultan's daughters. Because he dreamed of nothing else but Princess Maram.
"What about Bugra? Did you make him rich, so he married some princess?" Berk asked. "Is that why you need someone new?"
Gwandoya shrugged. "The boy made his fortune so quickly, he now has more gold than he can carry. He has no desire to work for me any more. Will you be next?"
Berk spat on the ground at Gwandoya's feet. "Not me. I'm not crazy."
"What about you?" Gwandoya looked Aladdin up and down, no doubt seeing what the other men did – that Aladdin was not strong enough for hard labour. Too many years with too little to eat had seen to that. "You will be able to eat like a king for the rest of your life if you come and work for me."
Aladdin would settle for sharing his meals with Maram. "What would you have me do?"
