Page 29 of Bound By Wishes

“Easy now. There’s plenty for all of you.” I tried to soothe them in a calming voice, but that only seemed to make them more violent. The back of my head collided with the stone wall as one of them shoved me out of the way.Pain exploded in the back of my skull. I forced my way through the mass of children, making my way back onto the safety of the streets. I watched from a distance as the children scattered, not even a crumb of bread or leaf of a vegetable left behind. The desperation of the starving children made me sick to my stomach.

I rubbed the tender spot on my head as I wandered further down the street. That small amount of food was just a bandage over a much bigger problem. But that was why I was here. I’d endure the mind-numbing boredom if it meant helping these people.

I should probably go back inside the palace, but the little touch of freedom was so nice that I hesitated. I could take care of myself. It wasn’t like I was an actual princess. I’d been in places much worse than this before.

The sun beat down on me as morning turned to midday. The scratchy cape I wore clung to my sweaty body, but I couldn’t take it off and reveal the fancy clothes I had on underneath.

I stopped when I reached the center of the busy market. A single well that was crumbling and weathered caught my attention. The stones had shifted and eroded, creating uneven gaps and jagged edges. I walked over to it, peering into the deep hole in the ground. The little water within was murky and stagnant. I shuddered. Anyone who drank from this well would likely end up with dysentery.

A hand clamped down on my arm, squeezing without mercy. “Get away from the well! You have not paid!” I was thrown to the ground, landing with a harsh thud. My hands scraped against the coarse sand, the sharp grains biting into my skin. I caught myself just before my face collided withthe ground. Dust rose around me in a cloud, coating my lips and nostrils.

I glanced back at the guard who had thrown me to the ground. His hand rested on the hilt of his sword, almost daring me to defy him. I blinked up at him, scarcely believing the brutality he inflicted just because I peered into a well. My vision blurred as I tried to blink away the dust that was burning my eyes. That's when I noticed a long line of people with buckets, bowls, jars, and anything else they could use to carry water. Their faces were etched with desperation and weariness, each waiting their turn to draw from the cesspool.

I eased from the ground and backed away from the well before the guard hovering over me decided to use the sword he was threatening me with. I watched from a distance as, one by one, the people paid a man sitting at a rickety table before being allowed to approach the well and dip into its murky depths. A jolt of cold prickled down my spine, rooting me to the spot. My mind struggled to process what I was seeing. These poor people had to pay for that tainted water?

“Back to work!” another guard thundered, drawing my attention away from the injustice of Jalam.

Quickly melding into the crowd, I joined the line of men and women being herded like sheep as they were forced back to work. I didn’t know where we were going or what I was going to do when I got there, but I was determined to see the extent of the mistreatment of the Canaari people. With a powerful genie at my disposal, the thought crossed my mind to wish for him to burn the entire palace to the ground with all the haughty royals and evil guards.

Suspicion crept through me when we reached the gatesthat led outside of the fortress walls. What kind of work could they possibly be doing outside the heavily guarded kingdom? We walked for a while with the insufferable heat beating down on us, each step feeling heavier than the last. The humid breeze that whipped through my hair was far from refreshing, with tiny particles of sand brushing against my skin like sandpaper.

My breath caught when we reached the top of a sand dune and I looked down over a massive dig site. Tents made from tattered canvas and patched-up cloth provided scant shelter from the blazing sun, and the ground was littered with debris, evidence of hurried, careless work. I had to admit, even someone as vile as Mathew took better care of his dig sites and workers.

The workers were dressed in threadbare clothing stained with dirt, blood, and sweat, as they dug tirelessly under the watchful eyes of the guards.

“Get moving,” a guard bellowed and shoved me forward. I quickly fell back in line, and we carefully descended the steep dune. The sand shifted underfoot as we went down. The air was thick with dust, making every breath a struggle and further adding to the misery of the place. The foul stench of human waste hit me full force when we reached the bottom, causing my eyes to water. I glanced over at the overflowing makeshift pots that were being used as latrines. My skin crawled at the unsanitary and dehumanizing conditions.

I froze when I saw children, too young to endure such work, being forced to labor alongside the adults, their small hands sorting through the debris of what looked like a collapsed mine.

This had to be the dig site that the servant mentioned when Razoul was in my room. How many precious lives were buried under the rubble?

A hand snaked out from a tent, clamping off my scream as it banded over my mouth. Panic squeezed my chest without mercy as I was pulled into a dingy tent with gaping holes in the canvas roof.

“It’s me, sayyida. Don’t scream.” Ranen’s deep voice was a balm to my rising panic. He slowly lowered his hand and turned me to face him. “Have you gone mad? What are you doing here?” Anger swirled in his deep irises.

My heart was still galloping like a wild stallion, but I breathed deep, willing it to calm. “You said you wanted to find the dig site, well, I found it,” I said, pulling back the flap of the tent and motioning at the horrid sight.

“I see,” Ranen growled. “But that didn’t mean you were to leave the palace alone in search of it.”

“Does that mean you were worried about me?” I asked, batting my lashes in the manner I knew he hated.

He held up his banded wrists. “I have to, remember?”

I shrugged, too disheartened to continue the banter with him. “We have to do something to help these people. Have you seen the way they’re being treated?” I asked. Ranen opened his mouth to respond, but I continued before he got a chance. “The children sit by the palace gate wailing for food, and do you know that the people are being forced to pay for water?”

Ranen gripped both of my shoulders, turning me to face him. “Which is why we need to find that book. None of this is going to stop as long as Razoul is king.”

I huffed, more than a little defeated by his response. Ididn’t want to waste any more time looking for a book. These people needed help, and they needed it now.

“Can’t I simply wish for all of this to go away?” I asked, a hint of hope in my voice.

Ranen smiled at me genuinely for the first time. “Wishes aren’t miracles, ya amar. My meager genie powers can’t fix something of this magnitude.” He reached up, brushing his fingertips along the curve of my cheek, and my heart flopped in my chest.

I stepped away from his touch as my traitorous legs turned to spaghetti. “Fine, but at least take me back to the well, if nothing else,” I demanded. “I’m determined to make sure they at least have fresh water that won’t kill them.”

Asneer pulled at the corner of my lips, and I tried desperately to hide it from the little vixen in front of me with her arms crossed defiantly over her chest. We were wasting precious time, but by the look in Caleena’s eyes, if I didn’t grant her this one request, she was likely to use another of her wishes to get her way, and I couldn’t risk that.

I held out my hand to her, and she looked at it like it was a spitting cobra. “Are you coming or not?” I growled, my irritation rising with each passing second.

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