Gaia: Daughter of Aladdin by Armitage J.A. & Castro R

Author:Armitage, J.A. & Castro, R
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Enchanted Quill Press
Published: 2021-06-16T16:00:00+00:00

Throne of the Phoenix

1

1st July

The kingdom of Badalah shone like a crown in the desert, and Kisbu was the jewel in the center. The sun glinted off the domes of the palace as we came in to land. The giant airship of the Urbis Express lowered slowly in the sky, finally resting with a slight bump on the ground at the station.

All around the station, people were running, fear etched onto their faces.

“What’s happening?” I said to the conductor who merely shrugged. I craned to see what everyone was running away from through the small windows. All I could see were people, all running toward the center of Kisbu. Hesitantly, I stepped down from the airship, and almost immediately, I was swept out into the crowd.

“Go home,” I whispered to Asher. “I’ll see you there.” Asher rose into the sky as I was jostled along, caught up in the tide of fear. It was only as the gates of the palace came into view that it became apparent that these people weren’t running from something but to something. They were crowding the palace, banging on the gates, shouting at the guards who stood at the other side of the gates. I pushed through to the front.

“What’s happening here?” I shouted through to a guard, but he didn’t even acknowledge who I was, let alone respond. Whatever was going on, I wasn’t going to get answers here. Nor was I going to be let into the building. Fortunately for me, I’d been sneaking out of the palace at night for a year. It meant I’d also been sneaking into the palace. Pushing through the swathes of people, I heard them chanting for food. They were hungry, starving even. Young children were among them, the elderly. All the people my parents had sworn to protect were now crammed together in anger. The back of the palace wasn’t as crowded as the front, but there were enough people there that would see if I climbed the vines I normally used to get over the walls. All it would take was one person to see me, and then they’d all follow. The palace would be swarmed with people. Angry people who were currently muttering threats about my mother.

As I continued on around the perimeter, I remembered another way into the grounds. A way my father had taught me not too long ago. He’d crawled through a gap in the wall, invisible to everyone as it was hidden behind a bush. I picked up my speed, keeping my hood up so no one would recognize me. Not that I knew if they would if I walked through them wearing full ceremonial costume and shouting my name, but I wasn’t going to chance it.

When I was sure no one was looking, I dove into the bush and through the gap. Before anyone had the chance to see me, I followed the path my father had shown me down to the underbelly of the palace. From there, it was only a matter of walking into the main cellars and up to the palace.

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