The Sultan's Daughter (Princesses Uncovered #5)

Chapter 3: Good News

Fath barreled in the front door, smiling broadly. “Mother?” He yelled at the top of his lungs.

His mother came running into the little room at the front of the house, eyes wide. “What’s wrong…” Her voice trailed off as she saw his jubilant expression. “Fath… What’s going on?”

He whooped, picking her up and twirling her around. “Mother, I found work!”

She frowned, nodding. “Yes… That’s good. And I’m excited, but don’t you think your reaction is a bit extreme for just finding work, Fath?”

Fath shook his head. “No! The man who hired me is going to pay me enough to make us rich. We won’t ever have to work again.”

His mother laughed. “Fath… It’s not funny to joke around about such things.”

He gazed at her, laughing. “Mother, it’s not a joke!”

Her laughter and smile faded. “Wait… You mean…”

He nodded, setting her back down. “Yes. I have a job, and when I’m done, I’ll have enough money to settle us down near my employer, and we can live like royalty.”

She smiled. “Well, that’s wonderful news, my son. But who is your employer?”

Fath shrugged. “His name’s Hashim. He says he works collecting artifacts others can’t find and then selling them on the market. But the item he’s after this time… He’s keeping it himself. He’s sharing everything he gets from it with me if I help retrieve it.”

His mother frowned. “What is he after?”

“He’s after an oil pot.” Fath grinned, eyes twinkling.

His mother’s frown became confused. “An oil pot?”

He nodded. “But not just any oil pot, Mother. This one has a djinn trapped inside that will grant wishes to the owner.”

His mother’s frown dissipated, and she looked at him wide-eyed. “You can’t be serious. Djinn don’t exist, Fath. You’re staking your money on that?”

He shrugged. “No one else will hire, Mother. So why not? It’s worth the risk, don’t you think. What if it’s true?”

She shook her head. “What if? That’s what you’re going on?”

He took her by the shoulders, looking into her dark brown eyes, so much like his own. “Mother, a what if is better than nothing at this point. Hashim has been very generous in offering me the job. This what if could make us both wealthy and happy for the first time since he left. Wouldn’t you rather take a chance instead of letting it slip through your fingers? Well? Wouldn’t you?”

She sighed. “You’re intent on this, aren’t you?”

He nodded. “Yes… Please, Mother… Give your blessing.”

She shook her head again, looking lost. “Fath… Does it entail anything dangerous?”

He shrugged. “Not so far as Hashim knows. The tunnels that lead to the pot’s place of concealment are just too narrow for Hashim. He’s a big man, Mother. He simply needs someone small and fit to go in and retrieve the object. I can do it. I know I can…” His eyes were pleading with her.

She looked away. “I don’t know…”

He dropped his hands from her shoulders. “Please…”

His mother nodded, sighing. “Fine… You’re a grown man now, Fath. You can do as you like. You have my blessing. Just… Be careful…”

He hugged her. “Thank you, Mother.”

She hugged him back, patting his back. “You’re welcome. Now… It’s only mid-afternoon. Why don’t you go do something outside? Wander around the market stalls… Go find your friends… Whatever it is you do in your free-time.”

Fath didn’t really want to. He normally objected and won the argument, getting to remain up in his room studying a borrowed book or scroll. But today, he didn’t bother to argue. His mother did a lot for him, and she had just given her blessing to his new job. She deserved a little concession to her will. He nodded. “I’ll be back for dinner then.”

“Of course you will.” His mother murmured, heading back to the kitchen where she kept the wash.

He shrugged, heading out the door.

***

Fath didn’t have any friends to spend time with. He usually avoided them. Many of the friends he could’ve made in school had been chased off because of his bad status with Gafar. He was looked upon as a bad example by the teachers because he was always in some sort of scuffle. Or so they thought. Fath never had initiated any fights. Gafar had been the one to do so, but Fath always took the blame for it.

The other children hadn’t wanted to get mixed up in the continual feud between Fath and Gafar, so they avoided him like he had the plague. Most of them even joined Gafar in taunting Fath just to keep Gafar from picking on them.

The few who didn’t were outcasts like Fath, but they never asked him to join them or made any sort of friendly overture towards him in school or otherwise. The girls had avoided his gaze and touch; the boys picked on him or beat him up.

Now, four years later, Fath was on his own. As always. Nothing new. But for some reason, it still bothered him. The hurt and resentment was always there just beneath the surface. Thoughts of his childhood evaporated the fragments of the good mood he’d been enjoying moments ago.

He scuffled down the alleyways in the heat, head bowed, eyes on the ground beneath him. He wanted to escape his past, his thoughts, but he never could. Always his past haunted him, seemed determined to force him to acknowledge all that was wrong with him.

Life was cruel to him. It always had been. Acknowledge that life isn’t your friend, Fath. You’ll be better off. He chided himself.

The capital city was large, but it never seemed large enough for Fath. He always felt suffocated, closed in, by the city. If only he could escape it all. His past. The city. The constant ache within him. The loneliness because he couldn’t seem to connect with anyone.

Lost.

That was the word to describe him.

Well, that or simply lonely.

But Fath felt that lost described it better.

He had no purpose in life that he could cling to. He had no one to love in his life aside from his mother. He had no one to fight for or care for. He had nowhere to go to run from the beast that tried to claw its way out of him. A beast that, no matter how he tried, was always there.

It was his own loneliness and inability to make friends or connect with life that was his inner beast, he knew. But knowing it didn’t help him to fix the problem.

As he walked down the street, lost in thought, someone dashed past, knocking him over and then continuing on. He almost missed the girl as she darted away into the narrow streets. A guard was hot on her tail, and she looked back at him with a pleading look in her wide gold eyes. Her dark lashes around the gold irises drew him somehow.

He jumped to his feet, turning to see that the guard was only a few feet from the alley’s entrance. If he didn’t help the stranger, she would be caught by the guard. He made the decision quickly.

Running to her, he took her hand, dragging her through the alleys that surrounded his home. He alone could help her at the moment, despite not knowing why she was running or who she was. He had no idea where she was trying to go, where she’d come from, or what she needed, but those eyes – so full of pleading and hope – had captured him instantly. There was no question about helping her now.

He could hear her footsteps pounding lightly on the pavement beside his. She was fast, and that was good. Together they ran, quickly, lightly, as though they were the wind itself.