“J-Julian,” I said, clamping my hand even more firmly around the vial to conceal it. This was too good to be true. I’d been given another chance. “What are you doing here?”
“My father and I were going to go to a tournament tonight, but he said he had an emergency meeting. I figured I’d meet him right after and we can still catch theend.” Julian pulled the lemur off his shoulder. “Want to pet Jax?”
“Of course.” I let the lemur crawl up my arm to perch on my shoulder and dig through my hair. “They’re still talking,” I said, peering in through the window. As Julian looked through the glass, I discreetly uncorked the vial and slipped the entire elixir into the untouched drink on the table without bothering to measure it. “I’ve never seen the tzar and his wife before.”
“She’s a formidable woman,” Julian said. “Personally, I think she would’ve been a better fit for Zafir rather than Tarquin. They both remind me of vipers. But she came with Termarth’s peace treaty, so the tzar married her for political reasons. They seem happy, though.” He squinted at the woman. “At least as happy as she can be. She always looks a little scary.”
“You’re welcome to sit and wait with me,” I told him, gesturing to the chair. “I wasn’t invited into the meeting.”
“Join the club.” Julian sat.
“You and Jax are welcome to the food and drink,” I told him carelessly, leaning against the wall. “I’m not hungry right now.”
“If you insist,” Julian said cheerfully, picking up a few grapes and handing them to Jax, who greedily snatched them up. “How have you been?”
I swallowed. “Not well, actually.” How much did I dare tell him? I chanced a glance through the window, where Zafir was still watching me closely.
“What’s wrong?” Julian probed. He picked up a pastry but not the drink.
“I…I really want to get back to Brisden. My sister is there and I worry that she’s in trouble.”
Julian’s lips twitched to the side in sympathy. “That mustbe very difficult for you to be here, knowing that and unable to get back.”
“If you could take me—” I began, but Julian cut me off.
“I can’t do that, Alia. I know you want to go, but I simply can’t justify it. It wouldn’t make sense.”
My throat clogged. It felt like dead ends everywhere. “I thought that if you liked me…”
Julian sighed and held out his hand for Jax, who cheerfully hopped back over to his master. “We’re friends,” he finally said.
“Not anything more than friends?” I asked.
Julian gave me a long look before finally saying, “I know when I’m being used for my money.”
I didn’t think I could feel any lower than I already did, but even more shame managed to slither in.
“We had fun teasing Zafir, but that was all,” Julian went on. He spoke kindly, but also very firmly. “Like I said, I’m happy to have you as a friend, but I won’t finance a private voyage to Brisden. Even teasing Zafir isn’t enough temptation for that.”
“Julian…” I began, but he held up a hand.
“It’s fine. You weren’t the first and you won’t be the last. I never got the impression that you were wildly in love with me either.”
I couldn’t give up that easily. If I wasn’t incentive enough, surely a genie would be. “If you could wish for anything…anything at all in the entire world, would you do it?”
Julian picked up the goblet and swirled the drink inside. “I already have everything I want.”
“There’s a genie in Brisden,” I told him in a rush, throwing caution to the wind. “That’s the truth about how I got here. The genie will grant any wish you want—wealth,power, fame, eternal life… but I have to get back there. Please, Julian. You could make a wish too.”
He continued to shake his head, still swirling the liquid inside the goblet, but didn’t drink. “I won’t risk everything for a myth.”
“It’s real, though.” I showed him the genie’s mark on my wrist. “I made a wish and it came true. The genie branded me. If you just take me back…”
“I applaud your creativity, but my answer is still no. I hope you find a way to get back home, and I do wish you the best, but I can’t help. Besides, it technically isn’t even my money. My father gives me a spending allowance each month. Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t finance that sort of voyage.”
I was falling into the vast chasm of space, with nothing to ground me. Everything I had tried had failed.
The door opened and Zafir poked his head out. “Julian, may I have a word?” he asked.
