Chapter Text
Sitting primly on her bed, Princess Azalea of Sherebad was being informed by her mother that the Sultan would now be inviting princes from other nations to come and court her. She would, of course, have the final verdict on who her future husband would be but only from the pool of contestants already selected for her. Azalea kept her head held high as her mother finished speaking, hands on her lap with her nails digging into her palms. She realized, belatedly, that her mother was waiting for her to respond. There were thousands of thoughts running through her mind that there was only one word she could muster out at that time.
“Why?” She whispered, not trusting herself to not shout should she speak any louder. Only then did she allow her head to fall, if only to avert her eyes from her mother's sympathetic stare.
“My darling,” The Queen said softly as she came to sit on the bed next to her daughter, taking one of Azalea’s hands into hers, “the law says you must be married to a prince before your next birthday”
Gazing out of her window, hearing the familiar muffled sounds of the city fill the quiet room she declared “The law is wrong then“
“My love, it is for your own good.”
“What good does it do for Sherebad to have Achmed on the throne!”
Being the eldest daughter of the Sultan, Azalea had simply assumed she would inherit the throne. Now, it seemed, the future ruler would actually be her arrogant younger brother, who seemed more interested in flashy displays of wealth than actually running the country.
The Queen pursed her lips, gripping her hand firmer than before. “Achmed will learn to be Sultan and you will learn to be a wife”
“How can you not see the injustice of this?” Azalea stood, hand slipping out of her mothers grasp and her shoulders shaking “I will be relegated to being a wife of a foreign prince in his foreign kingdom instead of being the ruler of mine because of a ludicrous archaic law that-”
Her mother held up her hand, silencing her protests.
“Dear daughter how can you not see the benefit of this archaic law? The sooner you are betrothed, the sooner Sherebad gains a new and stronger ally” She paused, hesitating for a moment before sighing “And the less likely it is that you will be coerced into marrying someone far worse than a foreign prince.”
There was another pause. With her blood seemingly pumping in her ears, Azalea could no longer hear the city below as she waited for her mother to continue.
“There are powerful beings beyond our castle walls my dear. Beings of phenomenal cosmic powers bound to a single master, with the single purpose of granting their heart's desire”
“The djinn you mean..” Azalea shook her head “ That is pure legend mother what does this have to do with my betrothal?”
“Not legend darling, completely true. All one must do is find this lamp and become the djinn’s master. It is just our prayer that no one who finds this lamp has the wish to become Sultan of Sherebad by forcing the heir to the throne to fall in love and marry them.”
Azalea scoffed “Could he not just wish us all dead and take the throne?”
“He most likely could” the Queen answered as she stood up “It is just my belief that he would be Sultan for only a day before our citizens and allies come to usurp him. You see my dear, the love of the people is more powerful than any magic. They are loyal to the person, not the crown”
“And if I happen to “marry” this impostor, you believe they would accept him as Sultan?”
“Yes, because you have their love, and their trust ” Pressing her lips to her daughter temple “ Please understand you will keep us all safe, married and in another kingdom, understand that you will be gifting Sherebad a powerful alliance."
Leaning towards her mother, Azalea took a shuddered breath "It is too much expected of me."
"The life of a princess is not an easy one. She guards the hopes of her people, weak and mighty, rich and poor. She must humbly serve her kingdom”
Recognizing the old quotes she had studied as a little girl, Azalea spoke the last piece with her mother " She must make every sacrifice in the name of her country.”
With that, the Queen calmly left her daughter alone to digest her words and to contemplate her next course of action.