Chapter Two
Marlene stood, arms crossed, waiting. On the other side of the elaborate doors to her master's chambers, she could hear the heavy footsteps of the palace guards coming closer. She could also hear Sirius' protests as the prince tried to talk his way out of his current situation.
A moment later, the doors swung open, revealing Sirius. The prince attempted to retain some dignity as he was unceremoniously shown inside, and the doors slammed shut behind him. Marlene tried not to smile.
“How far did you make it this time?” She asked.
Sirius raised one perfectly arched eyebrow. “I thought I saw a gate they missed,” he said.
He began to pace around his chambers. More library than bedroom, his chambers’ walls were covered in maps, and books lined the shelves and toppled over on tables and chairs. Lush, thick curtains framed tall windows that looked out over the city—his city—below.
Marlene followed behind Sirius, his voice growing gentle. She knew how desperately he longed to see more than the walls of the palace. But she also knew what Sirius did deep down—that Sirius was the prince of Kalale. And as such, his place seemed to be behind the walls.
“Don’t worry, one day you’ll escape,” she said, trying to sound positive.
Sirius let out a sigh. “How can I lead a people I don’t even know?” he asked.
Walking toward a window, he looked out into the courtyard. The trees nearest the window had all been trimmed so that Sirius could not attempt to climb down them (again). A guard stood at attention in the garden below, and the windows lower to the ground had been barred. All reactions to Sirius' frequent attempts to escape.
“No one is asking you to,” Marlene pointed out. “All you have to do is wake up and act like a prince and wait for death.”
“As enticing as that sounds,” He replied, raising an eyebrow at her friend’s poor attempt at humor, “I want more than that. I want to be with the people of Kalale.”
He walked the rest of the way to the window and flopped down on the large window seat. Padfoot, his beloved wolf, padded up and placed his large head in Sirius' lap. Absently, he began to pat the creature’s beautiful head. He had had the black wolf since "Pads" was a cub.
The animal’s large size, huge paws, and sharp teeth were practically unnoticeable to Sirius. All he saw was a friend and companion, one constant in the palace life around him. The other constant? His desire to go beyond the palace walls.
His world was limited—his opulent chambers, thegarden with its plants and animals placed to make it feel as though the environs were natural. But like his happiness in his home, it was all a facade. The garden was nothing more than pretend, and most of the time, Sirius felt that he, too, was pretending. Pretending to love his life, pretending to care about his silly day-to-day tasks. He sighed. No. He wasn’t happy spending her days reading about other people living their lives to the fullest, sultans risking it all for their people. He wanted to be living those things himself, doing them himself.
“Tell me again about the market,” he finally said, gazing over at his handmaiden.
Marlene smiled gently. She loved Sirius like a brother. They were, in many ways, as close as brothers. She had been a part of Sirius' life for as long as the prince could remember. And as such, there were times, even though Sirius was the prince and Marlene the handmaiden, that Marlene wished she could ignore Sirius' requests. Especially when it was the same request he had heard countless times before.
“Remember the time you wanted to see where I live?” Marlene said. Sirius nodded. “Then, when you saw it you screamed, and then you were sad?” she continued.
Sirius frowned and shook his head. That was not how it had happened. Not exactly, at least. There may have been some tears, but he was pretty sure that was just because he stubbed her toe, not because seeing where Marlene lived made him sad.
Ignoring the prince's look, Marlene went on. “The market is exactly like that,” she said. “Why would you want to go there?”
Getting to her feet, Sirius began to walk around his
chambers, her fingers brushing along the myriad of maps that lined the walls. Some were ancient, their edges frayed and their writing faded. Others were newer, marking territory claimed by Kalale during Sirius' twenty years. Old or new, he loved them all. But maps weren’t enough anymore. He wanted to be more than just an observer of his country and his people. He just needed
to convince her father.
“I know these maps better than I know my own city,” he said softly. “Help me sneak out, Mar. If I can prove to Baba that I have the knowledge and experience to lead, he might change his mind. And I’ll never learn any of that stuck in a palace.” His words bounced around the chamber and Sirius could hear the desperation in his own voice.
Marlene shook her head. “If you get caught, I’ll be thrown in the dungeon.”
“You know I’d never let anything happen to you,” Sirius said.
“The dungeon,” Marlene repeated. “That is the thing that would be happening to me.”
It was time to change tactics. Walking over to her, Sirius took his handmaiden’s hands in his own and gave her the most pathetic expression it seemed he could muster. Marlene was a softy deep down. He just needed to pull on the right heartstring.
“Any moment now, I’ll end up married to some puffed-up cousin of mine and I may never get this chance again,” the prince continued. The thought of being shackled to someone he didn’t love did in fact make Sirius heart ache and his eyes water. “Please, Mar?”
Marlene sighed. Then slowly, she began to nod. “I hate that I’m weak and can be talked into anything and can’t say no,” she said, trying not to smile.
But Sirius wasn’t listening. The prince had let out an excited squeal and he threw his arms around her best friend.
“I wish I didn’t love you,” Marlene said.
Sirius just squeezed harder. Wishes weren’t real. But going to see the market? That was finally, really happening.
☆
He nervously pulled at the hem of his cloak, wishing he hadn’t been so quick to brush off Mar's offer to accompany him. It would have been comforting to know where he was going.
But as he made his way deeper into the market, he soon forgot to be nervous, instead growing enchanted by the multitude of new smells, sounds, and sights. He had read so much about his own city and now it was coming to life in front of his very eyes. He wanted to squeal with excitement but quickly thought better of it.
Everything seemed brighter, Sirius thought as he walked through the stalls. The palace was beautiful and opulent, but it was muted. The windows filtered the full strength of the sun, and the thick walls meant to keep out the heat of the day also kept out the smells. Here nothing was muted.
He passed among the stalls, his eyes growing wide as he took in purple eggplants and yellow bananas, green melons and glistening oranges lined up to tantalize passersby. More stalls were filled with spices from around the world, their scents pungent and unfamiliar.
Lifting a hand, Sirius ran a finger over a row of rugs. He smiled as his eyes wandered over an intricate pattern on red-and-yellow fabric, the shot of blue throughout reminding him of Kalale itself and its proximity to the sea. It was no wonder people who came to Kalale were instantly enchanted. He had lived there his whole life and yet felt like he was seeing this city of rainbow colors for the first time. Catching sight of a particularly beautiful piece of pottery, Sirius headed toward the other side of the market. He let out a startled cry as he nearly tripped over a young child hunched on the ground, picking at the meager crumbs of bread that had fallen from a cart.
His eyes welled with tears as he took in the boy’s protruding ribs and the fevered way he shoved morsels of food into his mouth, as though he hadn’t eaten in days. Sirius was so focused on him he didn’t register the handsome man standing nearby, juggling apples and teasing the fruit vendor. Nor did he bother to notice that the vendor, while ignoring the juggling man, was eyeing him warily. Concealed beneath the cloak of his borrowed
servant’s uniform, he only had eyes for the boy and the girl who had joined him, also making a meal from crumbs. Reaching up, Sirius pulled two loaves of bread from the nearby stall and handed them to the children.
“There you go…” he said. The children didn’t hesitate. Grabbing the loaves, they shoved them under their arms and took off.
Suddenly, there was a shout from the next stall. Looking over, he saw that the owner was staring at him angrily. His fists were clenched. “You steal from my brother!” he cried.
Sirius gulped. This was exactly what Marlene had warned him not to do. “Don’t draw any attention to yourself, Prince,” she had said while trying to answer Sirius' endless questions about what to expect beyond the gates. His love of learning extended beyond just maps. Finding out as much as he could about his city before he went out into it felt natural—even if it drove Marlene slightly crazy.
“Keep your head down. Look all you want but do not touch. The last thing you want is someone noticing you.” Unfortunately, someone was definitely noticing him now. Holding up his hands, Sirius tried to placate the vendor.
“Stealing, no sir,” he began. “I don’t know your brother—” He was cut short as the man grabbed him by the arm and pushed back the long sleeve of his cloak. The gold from the bracelet he had forgotten to take off glimmered in the sun.
“Stop!” he said with as much authority as he could muster, struggling in the man’s tightening grip. His heart was pounding against her chest. If he pulled off his cloak, he might discover who Sirius really was. And if that happened, his father would find out and he might not get another chance to see everything that lay beyond the palace walls.
“Take it easy, Jamal, that’s no way to treat a gentleman.” The kind voice startled Sirius and he turned, wrenching his arm free. A young man stood near him, his dark brown eyes curious and calm despite the anger radiating from Jamal. Behind him, Sirius could see several members of the city guard pushing their way through the growing crowd of people.
“Keep your street-rat nose out of it!” Jamal shouted. Clearly, the two knew each other. As Sirius watched, a small monkey scampered up the young man’s arm and made to attack Jamal. But the man pulled the monkey’s tail, shaking his head no.
Then he turned and looked directly at Sirius. For a split second, he forgot to breathe. There was something in his eyes, a kindness and a mysteriousness—and determination. He was a young man, but his eyes were wise with experience.
Coming closer, he lowered his head and whispered into Sirius' ear, “Do you have any money?” When he shook his head, the man's brows furrowed. “Okay,” he finally said. “Do you trust me?”
Sirius looked up, surprised. Trust him? he had only just met him. Yet there really wasn’t much of a choice. If Sirius didn’t take the man's help, he was likely to lose his bracelet—or worse, be found out, and potentially be given more limitations than he already had. He nodded.
Still gazing into his eyes, the young man reached out and slipped the bracelet off Sirius' wrist. Turning, he held it out to Jamal. The man snatched it from him and then raised it to his mouth, biting the gold to make sure it was real.
“It’s what you wanted, right?” the young man asked. Jamal nodded. “Good. And an apple for your troubles?”
The young man handed an apple over. The transaction complete, the young man took Sirius by the arm and began to steer his away from the stall. But not before he plucked up the bracelet, which Jamal had only moments ago put down, and replaced it with one of the apples he’d been juggling.
When they were a few steps away, the young man leaned over and whispered to Sirius so quietly that he almost missed it: “Get ready to run.”
Run? Sirius' eyes grew wider and once again his heart began to race. Was he serious? As if on cue, Jamal, realizing what had really just happened, let out an angry shout. Immediately, the guards, who had slowed their pace when it looked like things had been settled peacefully, broke into a sprint.
“Down that alley!” the young man shouted as Sirius
looked frantically between the guards and him.
“Monkey knows the way.” The small furry creature jumped off his shoulder and onto Sirius'. Then the young man swiftly climbed up onto a table in the market and began to wave his hands in the air. The jewelry he had taken back from Jamal glimmered and shone in the bright sunlight.
Sirius stood, rooted to the dusty ground at his feet, until the young man told him to run once more. He didn’t need to be told again. He took off, hearing the loud, pounding footsteps of the guards behind him. Unfortunately, while he was able to run, he wasn’t sure exactly where he was running to, and the little monkey was now nowhere to be seen. The man hadn’t told Sirius anything but “Down that alley,” and that alley happened to have some twists and turns.
Taking a wild guess, he went right and then left and then, finally, the alley straightened out. After hearing a series of exclamations—“Ow!” “Watch it!”—he wasn’t surprised when, a moment later, the young man—and the monkey— turned the corner and appeared in front of him. He stopped suddenly, and for a long moment, he just stared at Sirius. Then, grabbing his hand, he pulled him back down the alley the way they had come.