Desert Nights (The Complete Series): An Aladdin Retelling by Helena Rookwood & Elm Vince

Author:Helena Rookwood & Elm Vince [Rookwood, Helena]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-12-25T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 59

I stared at the platter on the ground, the sand coating the sticky tarts, the crash of metal still ringing in my ears.

Aliyah disappeared straight after the seller in a cloud of dust and flash of her dark knives.

“Zadie!” Lalana gripped my arm. “We should go after them.”

I frowned at her. “Are you sure you want–”

But my sister had already spun on her heel and flown after Aliyah, her shining hair streaming behind her. Cursing, I hurtled after her.

My slippered feet pounded against the sand and stone streets of the city, and I wished I weren’t still wearing the fine dress I had put on for our visit to the Order of the Scholars earlier. My skirts tangled about my legs, snagging on the corners of stalls.

The winding streets felt chaotic at the best of times, but in the middle of the festival, I could have easily believed we were in the spirit world as I wove in between men juggling swords, storytellers with crowds gathered around their feet, and children racing between them all.

Thick, perfumed smoke filled the alleyways, flames dancing up on almost every corner, and my spine tingled.

Lalana was still ahead of me, visible more by the turn of heads in her direction than my being able to pick her out of the crowd. She twisted in and out of the performers, stallholders, and city dwellers like a dancer.

I was less graceful. Careering into a group gathered around a man cloaked in black, I shouted apologies as I stumbled into the press of bodies, then was forced to leap over a pot of glowing coals in their center.

My skirts trailed beneath me like wings, and I prayed they didn’t catch alight in the heat. My skin tingled as the hot smoke licked my legs.

Convinced this was part of the act, the angry shouts of the crowd turned to cheers. I thudded to the ground, clearing the smoking pot but losing a slipper in the process.

My bare foot scuffed against the ground and I grimaced. I mustn’t think about what I’m standing in. Instead, I focused on my sister, her telltale shining hair whipping out behind her like a flag to follow.

Rounding another corner, I squinted through the colorful smoke billowing out like clouds. She was still a way ahead of me.

Spirits, when did she get so fast?

She turned sharply down a narrow alleyway to our left. So I guessed she hadn’t lost sight of Aliyah and the suspicious street seller.

Skidding around the corner after her, I entered a long, straight alley paved with stone, and suddenly became aware of the sound of drums, the sweet, haunting notes of a flute, the gasps and shrieks of a crowd.

I stumbled to a halt, tilting my head back. My jaw dropped.

Stilt walkers paraded down the streets, their skin painted brilliant shades of reds, purples and blues, long, flowing fabrics disguising their stilts so they looked like djinn floating down the alleyway, their bodies disappearing into wisps of smoke-like skirts beneath them.

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