The Stolen Kingdom Series (Box Set) by Bethany Atazadeh

Author:Bethany Atazadeh
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: young adult fantasy, fairytale retelling, aladdin retelling, little mermaid retelling, beauty and the beast retelling, sleeping beauty retelling, jinni, magical world, royalty books, books with magic, collectors edition, box set, fantasy series box set
Publisher: Bethany Atazadeh
Published: 2021-11-01T00:00:00+00:00

EPILOGUE

Arie

WHEN I OPENED MY eyes, they landed on Kadin in the chair beside my bed. His long legs sprawled out and his head tilted back as he snored softly. He’d been there all night.

The early morning rays lightly touched the stubble on his jaw, but he didn’t stir. Exhaustion kept him asleep, while I had slept too much. Even so, sleep tugged at me, begging me to return to it.

I didn’t know how many days had passed like this one. At least a week. Maybe two. Maybe more.

That first day, he’d fought the guards outside my room, yelling at them to let him in. I’d lain in bed, numb, hearing his shouts as if from a mile away. Gideon had rescued him, and the guards allowed him in, though they hovered suspiciously. Their numbers had doubled after the incident. I doubted they knew the details; they certainly didn’t know how useless they were against Jinni magic. Still, they stood faithfully outside, protecting me.

“I don’t blame them,” Kadin had said, lips lifting in what he meant to be a smile as he sat next to me and held up a one-sided conversation. “They’re just concerned for you. Especially now.” He had winced at even this smallest mention of everything that had happened.

I tried to find the energy to nod. Lifting my hand, I touched his, and he scooped it up and held on tight.

After that though, he didn’t bother to get permission to enter. He used the secret entrance to come and go, sleeping in the chair by my bed each night and slipping behind a curtain or door whenever a servant or guard knocked and entered.

Sometimes I woke to find him gone, but always Gideon or Bosh was in his place.

“How are you doing?” he would ask each day.

Sometimes it made me furious and I’d ignore him. How do you think I’m doing? My only family is gone. I am alone. I am broken.

Other times, I’d try to smile back at him and croak, “I’m okay.” I’d let him hold my hand.

Now, after sleeping through most of the morning, I rolled over to find him awake this time.

“I can’t feel it anymore,” I whispered, because any louder and I’d be forced to face it.

Right now, I needed to believe I was wrong, that it wasn’t true. I needed him to argue with me.

“What if my Gift is really gone? Does that mean...” I trailed off, not willing to even whisper the last part. Kadin already knew. When a Gift was severed, it led to death. Its absence was like the loss of a limb or a lung, and without it...

Kadin leaned forward, taking my hands in his and squeezing. This new, heavier fog in my mind, almost like a rain cloud, lifted just slightly and my chest felt a bit lighter.

Kadin stared into my eyes and instead of arguing like I hoped he would, or even addressing my fears, he simply said, “You’re going to be okay.”

I swallowed. The clouds settled back in and the dark weight of them pulled me deeper under the covers.

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