Alibaba deposited himself on a small boulder not far from the circle wherein his companions settled themselves for a well-deserved rest. No sooner had the last one stilled and fallen silent than the faerie of the mountain appeared at his side.
"Wise of you to keep watch." Aladdin said. "Perhaps a little hurtful, but wise anyway."
He sank gracefully onto the grass beside Alibaba, leaning his weight back against one palm and holding a clay bottle in the other. He tilted his head back to take a swig from the bottle, appraising Alibaba from under half-closed lashes. When he caught the prince's wary expression, he snorted.
"Relax, I mean no harm to any of you! And I take no insult at your cautiousness."
"That's not how it sounded."
"Yes, well," Aladdin waved vaguely with the bottle. "While it's wise not to trust so easily, it remains hurtful to be distrusted."
He drank again, relaxed so he had the appearance of one lounging on an opulent chaise rather than the grassy forest floor. When he adopted a posture so languid and open, Alibaba couldn't help but trace his eyes along the plains of his lean figure. He roamed from the bob of his throat, across his flat torso, down toned thighs to the tips of his toes. Aladdin had loosened his shift at some point, so it hung lazily from shoulder to navel, becoming more a concept of modesty rather than the real thing.
Aladdin's beauty was an understated kind, subtly hidden in the way he held himself and the movement of his skin over his bones. At first, Alibaba thought he could name others he found more lovely than the faerie before him, yet as he tried to conjure their names and faces, he found he could not. Inexplicably, he felt that if he gazed too long upon the faerie, he might be overtaken by urges that any fae learns to swallow long before pubescence.
Maddening and dangerous, the beauty of the faerie. But oh, so enticing.
Aladdin held the bottle out with a cocked brow.
"I think I'll decline." Alibaba said. "On account of that cautiousness."
"Suit yourself." the faerie shrugged, lifting the bottle to his mouth once more. "You don't look like the type who can handle his spirits anyway."
Alibaba had to work hard not to rise to the bait, however obvious it may have been. What citizen of Sidhe was capable of turning down the thinly veiled invitation of a drinking contest? Not even the Ancients could resist something like that.
"Maybe another time we'll drink together, but not today." he said, shaking his head.
"A reasonable proposition, I think I'll accept. You owe me an evening of drinking, then."
"I said maybe. I owe you nothing."
"Not yet."
The sudden weight of Aladdin's gaze sent a shiver down Alibaba's spine. Those eyes of his were old as the earth beneath them and teeming with stars, all glittering strangely beneath a translucent veil. His words, too, had held the same weird eeriness that spoke to an understanding of the universe on a scale Alibaba was unaware of. Alcohol had done nothing to dull Aladdin's awareness, of that he was sure.
Alibaba tilted his head back, baring his face to the sun overhead and basking in the heat on his skin. He had thought they may never escape the endless canopy of green on their trek up the mountain. Shadows suited him ill, and he had yearned to feel the sunlight washing through him like the kindness of an embrace.
His fingers spun in an idle gesture, calling a flame to dance across his fingertips. One fight had hardly tamed the ever-burning inferno inside him, no more than playing with the ember did now.
"I have seen fae far older than you unable to find balance with fire." Aladdin said conversationally. "Few born with that element as master seem able to avoiding being swallowed by it. You handle the flames well."
Alibaba's chest swelled with pride, and the flame dancing over his fingers flared in response. Aladdin smiled behind the rim of his clay bottle.
"We have an understanding, the fire and I." Alibaba said. "So long as I treat it like the living, breathing creature that it is, it won't try to eat me alive. So far, the arrangement's worked for us."
"What a mature perspective."
The prince couldn't help but crack a smile.
"Is that a compliment?"
"Take it how you like." Aladdin replied, rolling his shoulders in the lazy approximation of a shrug.
They fell into a second shared silence bereft of the heavy awkwardness Alibaba had expected. Aladdin drank, sinking back slowly until he was laid flat on the grass with one arm tucked behind his head. The sun trudged placidly across the sky, accompanied by the faintest wisp of clouds, like smoke around its brilliance. Though no breeze broke the calm, a pair of swallows came chirping from the woodland, circling above the grove before darting down to alight on Aladdin's lax body. He peeked one eye open, then shut it again, and smiled.
The mountaintop was peaceful, but not the kind of peaceful meant for fiery princes like Alibaba. In the moment, he was glad for the sense of ease permeating his being, but he knew it wouldn't last. This encapsulated quietness had been designed to suit Aladdin, to cater to his specific desires. Soon enough the stillness would drive Alibaba mad, and probably anyone else foolish enough to remain here for long.
How many others had made it this far, he wondered? Or indeed, how many had Aladdin brought here, willingly draped against him, only to watch with that idle smile as his sanctuary drove them to a sloth-borne insanity? When he looked down at the faerie, Alibaba thought there had probably been a great deal of those fools, and he was lucky not to be one of them.
Just when Alibaba had begun to consider himself the only one awake within the mountaintop grove, Aladdin startled him by speaking.
"The more I think of it, the more I have to question;" he said without opening his eyes. "What is it that you're doing here?"
"You're the one who said not to speak of our business until we had rested."
"No, no, not the whole lot of you. You."
Aladdin opened one eye, which seemed to already be fixed on Alibaba's befuddled expression. The faerie's brow knitted into a frown, which curved his mouth down at the corners in a terrible way that begged to be kissed.
"You are a prince of Seelie, are you not? I can feel the court on you, and you're no mere fae. You possess a great deal of bravery, and as your fire has shown me, wisdom beyond your years."
Alibaba snorted.
"Surely you are the type to command armies and lead great throngs into battle, you carry yourself like a warrior." Aladdin went on, unfazed. "And yet, here you are, bowing to the whims of an UnSeelie Prince."
His inflection was scathing, enough so that it raked against the rest of his sentence as metal against stone. The implication was crude, based off of the eons old divide between their courts, and had it been any other pair, Alibaba was sure that such a comment would have garnered just the reaction Aladdin was seeking. In this case, he would have been better to simply carry on playing to the prince's vanity.
"In the many seasons I have known Hakuryuu, he has never once asked me to bow to him." Alibaba said with a smile. "I follow his lead because I know, were it my war we were fighting, he would follow me just the same."
Both of Aladdin's eyes flickered open, and though his posture didn't change, an air of alertness came about him.
"...I see." he said slowly. "Your bond goes beyond that of allies."
"I've known Hakuryuu since long before I knew even my fire. He and I may not be equals in the eyes of Sidhe, but we are to each other."
This was neither the first, nor likely the last time that a stranger had attempted to drive a wedge between the two princes to gain their own advantage. Since the beginning of their friendship, people of either court had attempted to pry them apart to no avail. They were both terribly stubborn, and incredibly set in the idea that once they were friends, they would be for the rest of their extensive lives. It would take far more than the demeaning words of a faerie break the bond they shared.
Aladdin looked as though he hadn't been expecting to have his fun cut short quite that quickly. He didn't pout, yet irritation formed an unmistakable crease between his brows. Fae weren't known to give up on their mischief easily, however, so it was but a moment before Aladdin found another way to try and tease a reaction out of Alibaba.
"You say that," he said. "But the Prince doesn't seem to have eyes for anyone but that changeling."
At the mention of Hakuryuu's new lover, Alibaba glanced over at the place where the two of them had lain down to rest. They hadn't moved but to tangle themselves together more comfortably, one of Judal's legs tucked over Hakuryuu's hip while the UnSeelie Prince had fitted his arm beneath his lover's head. At a distance, their sleep looked peaceful, but Alibaba knew the tense line of Hakuryuu's back well. If disturbed he could be on his feet, blade drawn, in a heartbeat.
"No, he really doesn't." Alibaba agreed.
"That doesn't bother you?"
"Should it?"
The faerie gave him an exasperated look, which only served to make Alibaba laugh.
"What, you think because I've slept with him I'd feel jealous? Sun and stars, no. Hakuryuu and I may have entertained one another on occasion, but we'd be dreadful lovers."
"And here I thought you were so very close."
"Oh, we are, which is precisely how I know we'd kill each other in a fortnight if we even tried to be more than what we are."
Alibaba shook his head, still chuckling to himself.
"No," he said, looking back at his sleeping friend. "I feel no envy when I see them together. And besides, why would I be jealous of Hakuryuu? He means to lead the next Great War, and I certainly don't envy that position."
"On the subject of the changeling..." Aladdin hummed, as if he hadn't been the one to drag Judal into the conversation in the first place. "Do you know what he is?"
"No, not a clue. None of us know, really, not even Judal. It will be a grand surprise when he finally sheds that mortal shell, I'm sure."
The seemingly benign question gave Alibaba pause, even once he had answered it. Something about it drew his eyes down to Aladdin. For a moment, he swore the faerie had been staring straight at Judal, but when he blinked, his eyes were on him again.
"Why?" Alibaba asked, steadily.
Aladdin blinked his ancient eyes a second time.
"Merely curious."
"You wouldn't happen to know anything about changelings, would you, Aladdin?"
"I may." he said, allowing his eyes to fall shut again. "I may."
Alibaba watched the ghost of a grin grip the edges of Aladdin's mouth and pull them upwards, unable to contain the playful mirth behind his sly answers. He spoke no more, and when it became obvious that he didn't mean to continue their conversation, Alibaba turned his gaze back up to the sky.
Some hours later, Morgiana woke to relieve him of his duty, and he crossed quite gratefully into the circle of stones to rest. When he glanced back, almost unaware of the gesture until his head had turned, he found the faerie sitting upright with his eyes locked onto him. Alibaba avoided his gaze, but felt the faerie's eyes long past the veil of sleep, and into his dreams.
Notes:
At the end of the last chapter ( on ao3 ) I asked people if they would be interested in merch, and if so what kind, and to my absolute astonishment the most highly requested form of merch was a printed copy of the story. I was totally blown away by the amount of people who want a physical version of this story, and I still am!
I've been seriously considering how I would go about making a printed copy of Serendipity a thing, so here are some important things to note:
+ Due to how long this story is, and the way it's set up, it would be printed arc by arc. That means that what would be printed currently would be bChp. 1 - Chp. 23/b, including all the chapters between the main story. So 29 chapters overall in the book.
+ I'd need to find a publisher, since I've never done something like this before, and figure out the cost of everything. The way it would go would be that I would set up pre-orders for the printed copy, which people would order, and I would use that money to get the books printed and shipped out.
+ That being said, editing and reformatting the story might take a little time. If this seriously moves forward, it will definitely become my first priority, so hopefully it would get done relatively quickly. I can't give an exact time-frame right now, obviously, but I will as soon as I'm sure if this is a thing people seriously want me to pursue.
I know a lot of my readers don't always comment, and usually I wouldn't ask you to, but since this is a big undertaking I'd really appreciate it if you would tell me either here or via one of my other social media accounts whether or not you would be interested in a printed copy of Serendipity!