Chapter 8

I struggled with leaving the island today. With a sated Raj asleep in my arms, I stared out at the beauty of Mother Nature and sent her a silent prayer of thanks for providing us with such a glorious day. As he slept, I transported us back to his room. The niggling at the back of my neck that something was amiss with the Maharajah had my paranoia running high.

Frolicking? Galivanting?

Raj and I had done that and so much more. Most days I whisked him off to lands far and wide but many days he asked to spend at the island. We made love out in the open, with no fear of prying eyes. Memories Raj and I will never forget in our special places abroad.

But the Maharajah grew impatient with his desire to be the supreme world leader and take what other rulers had from them. He'd even reached out to the foreign leaders in positions of power, only to be denied entrance to their kingdoms. His violent temper and mistreatment of his people was known far and wide, and they wanted nothing to do with him. Their lands were rich, not only in wealth but happiness, too, and for good reason—mutual respect and a desire to see their villages succeed whereas our fearless one couldn't care less unless he benefited from it.

They'd behead him on sight if he showed his face within their gates. A fact I purposely left out of our morning discussions. A bit of my evil surfaced as I silently wished he'd surprise one of them with a visit. An eye for an eye and all that.

The Maharajah was nearly mad, consumed by power and greed. He'd become more demanding, calling me at various times of the day and night. Raj and I had barely made it back before I was summoned for the second time that day. The luxury of having the days and nights to ourselves was no longer there and though Raj hadn't outright said it, I knew he was happiest when we were away from this godforsaken place. As was I.

"Master, to what do I owe this additional summoning?" The sneer in my words wouldn't go unnoticed, though his disheveled appearance spoke of his waning sanity.

"Genie, I need you to transport us to the closest kingdom to ours."

"You need? You know it doesn't work that way, Master." Please make that your final wish then I can leave your sorry ass there.

"You must!" he demanded with my tunic firmly in his grasp.

"Master?" I glared at him with the utmost disdain in my voice. "Resorting to physical violence will only end in your demise." It was unknown to him that I could cause him no harm, a fact I'd purposely glossed over.

"You'll never hurt me. I'll have your head if you do!"

"Master, I cannot die, and you well know that."

"Genie, I demand at once you take me there. Now!" His movements were erratic, his breath and body odor just as foul as his attitude. He'd not bothered to bathe in who knew how long. He was well and truly teetering on the brink of insanity.

"Is that your wish?" I again asked. I'd not do anything without that finality coming.

"Be gone! You're worthless!" He snagged the lamp from the pedestal, arm cocked back. Would he dare throw it? He thought twice and returned it to its place. "I loathe the sight of you. Leave at once."

I wished to go to Raj, but had much to contemplate. Things I didn't want to burden him with and showing my face now would only bring about questions I dared not answer. Our leader had indeed gone mad and must be dealt with before he risked the lives of his family, and this village. But how to go about that?

Whisper things to the guards? They'd never believe me.

Take him out on a stroll through town as he is now, the madness visible to all? No, the likelihood he'd demand the imprisonment or death of innocent people for no reason was too much to risk.

I paced inside the lamp for hours and contemplated scenarios that could never be for a variety of reasons. When I appeared in Raj's room in the dead of night, he was wide awake.

"Genie!" He bolted out of bed and straight into my arms. "I was afraid you were gone."

"I'll always come back to you, my love. I just had a few things to take care of. I'm sorry I worried you." How to say, Oh, no worries, dear boy. I was merely watching the fall of this fine land as a madman is at the helm. Some things were better left unsaid. My boy was a worrier, and rightfully so given his past. "Let's get you back to bed."

Once in my arms, Raj slipped into a deep sleep. It was a good thing I didn't require the same considering I lay there the remainder of the night and well into morning. I'd hit a wall and run out of viable options to bring this madness to an end.

I had just set out Raj's breakfast when he stirred. "Good morning, my love."

"Morning, Genie." A half-asleep Raj tumbled toward me. His feet were stuck in the sheets, and I caught him mid-fall.

Red-faced and now wide awake, he peeked up at me. "Sorry."

"No need to apologize, just be more careful. Daddy doesn't want his boy to get hurt." Now that the word was out in the open, I couldn't be happier and used it every chance I got. "Raj, is there anything of value to you here that, let's say, if we were to leave rather abruptly, you'd miss?"

Raj glanced around the ten-foot-by-ten-foot space and shook his head. "No. Nothing here of value to anyone, including me. Is there something you're trying to tell me?"

My question did exactly what I didn't want it to—invoke fear. "No, my love. Merely thinking ahead." I shouldn't have blurted that out as it entered my mind. "Come, finish eating."

It was only a matter of time before I'd have to hide Raj somewhere new, and non-magical. Fear of what the Maharajah would do to him if he called me forth and Raj appeared at the same time terrified me to no end.

"Genie, something's going on. You're so deep in thought I said your name four times before you heard me. You're scaring me. Please, tell me what's wrong."

The walls were too thin to speak here, and I owed Raj an explanation. The villagers were cunning and ruthless, thanks to our leader, and they'd waste no time turning Raj and myself in if they overheard me speak ill of my master. Me, I'd survive, but what they'd do to Raj was more than I could bear. As soon as we cleaned up, I whisked him off to the lamp. No sooner had we gotten there than I was again summoned by the Maharajah. I panicked and tried my best to transport Raj home, but the magic fought against it and forced him to appear alongside me in the Maharajah's office.

"Genie." Maharajah addressed me while facing the window. When he turned, I couldn't believe I peered into the eyes of the same man I'd served for years. "Who is—? Where did he—? Is that the son of the thieves we beheaded? I should've done away with him then. Guards!"

Footsteps bounded down the hall. I only had moments to rectify this. "Leave him out of it. Why did you summon me?"

"No!" The Maharaja slapped me. His eyes were wild with anger and a hint of fear.

My hatred for the man reached astronomical levels. I knew better than to react even though my fists were clenched, ready to strike. A voice in my mind echoed and reminded he wasn't of sound mind. Not that he ever had been, but now his instability boiled over and those two issues were a deadly combination.

"You'll answer me immediately or I'll have him beheaded and you'll have a front row seat to the execution!" He reached for the lamp as it sat on the pedestal right as the guards entered. With him distracted, ready to bark out orders, Raj chose that moment to make his move and dove for the lamp.

Raj tripped and fell, slamming into the pedestal and knocking it loose. A scuffle ensued and the lamp slipped from their shared grasp and flew through the air toward the open window. Neither had control and I stood there dumbstruck, unable to help. The lamp wasn't mine to possess therefore I couldn't touch it from the outside. My heart stopped as Raj neared the open window, darting after the lamp, but the Maharajah was a step ahead of him. While Raj stopped just shy of jumping, the Maharajah did not.

The Maharajah screamed as he fell to the ground. "Arrest them!" The guards rushed to the window, though neither made another move.

I gathered Raj in my arms and peered out the window at the Maharajah's body as it lay in a pool of blood on the ground below. As soon as the Maharajah drew his last breath, the lamp appeared in my hands. Just as the head of security reached for Raj, we disappeared from the palace and reappeared on our island sanctuary.