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“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. “Oh? And who, O boy of Parthenia, am I?��
He nods to himself, his eyes alight. “You’re her. You’re that jinni. Oh, gods. Oh, great bleeding gods! You’re the one who started the war!��
“Excuse me?��
“You’re the jinni who betrayed that famous queen—what 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.��
I turn cold. I want him to stop, but he doesn’t.
“I’ve heard the stories,�� he says. “I’ve heard the songs. They call you the Fair Betrayer, who enchanted humans with your . . .�� He pauses to swallow. “Your beauty. You promised them everything, and then you ruined them.”
― Jessica Khoury, The Forbidden Wish

“Why do you care what happens to her? I thought we humans were vapors to you, here today and gone tomorrow.��
“Caspida is . . . different. She reminds me of someone, someone I’d give my life for if I could.��
“The queen?�� he asks. “The one who died?��
“Roshana. My dear Ro.�� My voice is soft as a ripple on the water. “She once ruled the Amulens, and Caspida is her descendant. She has Roshana’s strength of spirit, and I cannot look at her without thinking of my old friend. If she were to come to harm on my account . . . I could not bear that through the centuries.�� I already carry a mountain of shame, a constant reminder of that day on Mount Tissia.
Aladdin lifts a hand and brushes the hair back from my face. “You truly are remarkable, Zahra of the Lamp.”
― Jessica Khoury, The Forbidden Wish

“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.��
“Her mistakes? Surely you mean her victories.��
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I frown at her. “Roshana was one of the greatest queens in the world. She ended the Mountain Wars, she routed Sanhezriyah the Mad, she—��
“For a foreign serving girl, you are strangely well versed in Amulen history.��
“I spent a lot of time in libraries as a girl.��
“Were you there to dust the scrolls or read them?��
“Surely Roshana’s victories outweigh her errors.��
“The 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.��
“This is not the story I heard,�� I say softly. “My 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.��
“Surely I know how my own ancestress died,�� returns the princess, a bit hotly. “Anyway, it was a long time ago, but we Amulens do not forget.”
― Jessica Khoury, The Forbidden Wish

“For five hundred years my sisterhood has passed down a sacred vow,�� says Caspida coldly, “to destroy the one who destroyed our queen. You know this, and you speak these words only to deceive me as you deceived her. You would have me believe that you are capable of love.��
“Believe me when I say I wish that I were not!�� Angrily I round on her. “I do not tell you this for myself! Aladdin will die any moment, and the only way to save him is if you make a wish! Please, Caspida—they will kill him at dawn!�� I point at the horizon, where the sun is minutes away from rising. “Let me save him, I beg you!��
I drop to my knees before her, doing what I never thought I could: grovel before a human. My pride unravels into smoke, carried away on the wind. Always I have thought myself above these mortals—I, immortal, powerful, able to shift from this form to that. But I let all of that go now, and I beg as I have never begged before. “Do what you like with me after that, but just let me save him!�� I dig my fingers into the earth, my eyes damp with tears. My voice falls to a cracked whisper. “Please.��
“W���?��
I raise my face, finding her gaze unyielding. “Because it was my idea. Him wishing to be made a prince. Courting you. Lying all these weeks. I manipulated him and used him, and now they will kill him for it.��
“Why would you lead him into the palace knowing that eventually the truth would come out and he would have to pay the price?��
“Because . . .�� I grind my teeth together, wishing the earth would swallow me up. “Because I was trying to win my freedom. Your people had captured the prince of the jinn—Nardukha’s own son. The Shaitan sent me to free him, and in turn, he would free me from my lamp. If I failed, he planned to sink your city into the sea. I had to get into the palace. Aladdin was my only way in.��
“So you don’t deny that you’re a monster. You used him for your own ends.��
I drop my head. “I know what I am. I know nothing can excuse what I did to Roshana, or to Aladdin, or to you. I’ve wronged so many, and there is so much I wish I could take back. I can’t save Roshana. But please—I beg of you—let me save him.��
Caspida lowers to her knees and studies me. I meet her gaze, humbled utterly.
“You want me to believe that you love him,�� she whispers.
“Yes.�� The word is but a breath, a stir of air in my treacherous lungs. “We’re running out of time. I cannot reverse death or the hours. Time is the strongest magic, and no jinni—not even the Shaitan—can rewrite the past. Once Aladdin is gone, he is gone. Let me save him, and I can help you win your city.”
― Jessica Khoury, The Forbidden Wish

“ At last, when the dust settled, the Queen and the Jinni stood on the mountaintop and looked down on the battlefield and the bodies spread like leaves across the desert. The Queen fell to her knees, wearied and wounded, and her sword dropped from her hand. Before her, the doorway to Ambadya burned with fires of every color.
“All I wanted,�� said the Queen, “was peace between our peoples. But I see now that this is not possible, for my people are ruled by a dreamer, and the jinn are ruled by a monster. My only consolation is that thou art by my side, my Jinni. I would die in the company of a friend, and give thee my final breath. For I have one wish remaining, and it is for thy freedom, yea, even at the cost of mine own life.��
At this the Jinni shook her head, replying, “Nay, my queen. The time for wishing is passed. For here is the Shaitan, Lord of all Jinn and King of Ambadya.��
And even as she spoke, the fires in the doorway rose higher, and through them stepped Nardukha the Shaitan, terrible to behold.
“O impudent woman,�� said the Shaitan, looking down at the Queen. “Wouldst thou dare make the Forbidden Wish?��
“I would,�� she replied. “For I fear thee not.��
“Then thou art a fool.��
As the Queen’s heart turned to ashes, realizing her doom was upon her, the Shaitan turned to the Jinni and said, “Dost thou recall the first rule of thy kinsmen, Jinni?��
And the Jinni replied, “Love no human.��
“And hast thou kept this commandment?��
“Lord, I have.�� And up she rose, as the Queen cried out in dismay.
“Are not we like sisters?�� asked the Queen. “Of one heart and one spirit?��
And the Jinni replied, “Nay, for I am a creature of Ambadya, and thus is my nature deceitful and treacherous. My Lord has come at last, and I would do all that he commands.��
The Shaitan, looking on with approval, said to the Jinni, “This human girl is proud and foolish, thinking she could rule both men and jinn. I am well pleased with thee, my servant, who hast brought her to me. Slay the queen and prove thy loyalty to thy king.��
And the Jinni grinned, and in her eyes rose a fire. “With pleasure, my Lord.��
Then, with a wicked laugh, she struck down the good and noble Queen, the mightiest and wisest of all the Amulen monarchs, whose only mistake was that she had dared to love a Jinni. ”
― Jessica Khoury, The Forbidden Wish