Cultivating Plants

Night gloomed over Sadina. The twilight crept inexorably to bring with itself a nocturnal mantle of stars. Today was a special day, the harvest festival. Sadina, because it was a big and rich city, performed an enormous carnival instead of the small-scale celebrations that the villages would do at the same time. A carnival at the end of Autumn sounded like a reason for joy for the children, a moment of partying and laughter before Winter, but for others...

“No! I don’t wanna go!” There was a girl who wasn’t as thrilled.

“Oh, don’t be like that, Aloe,” Her mother mussed. “You’ll end up having fun and all!”

“No, no I won’t!” Aloe cried as she held to the leg of her bed. “The noise of the drums irks me a lot! They make my stomach tumble!”

“Darling, help me!” The mother sought aid from her husband who was passing by the hallway.

“What’s the problem, Shahrazad?” The man asked as he embraced the diminutive woman by her back, apparently unbeknownst to the groaning of his daughter.

“Aloe does not wish to go on the festival.” Shahrazad sighed as she shifted lovingly into the arms of her husband.

“Hmm, that’s quite the conundrum.” Aloe’s father murmured. “Lemme alone with her for a minute, you just give yourself the finishing touches.”

With another sigh, Shahrazad undid the embrace of her spouse and stood up. “Amuse me, Amid.” And with that, she left the room; not without giving a peek at the man at his cheek.

Amid put his hands on his hips and looked at the girl. Small as her mother, but with his character. Whoever had met her knew the bad luck she had had with her genes, since the opposites would have made her a formidable woman. He kneeled before his daughter and with a finger, he booped her on the nose.

“What’s the matter, Aloe?” Amid said with a smile.

“The noise of the drums unsettles me...” Aloe responded with a pout.

“Aloe.” The man added calmly.

“Yes?” The little girl looked up.

“What have I told you about weakness?”

“That I must not show it?” She expressed doubtfully.

“Exactly,” Her father patted her head. “Would you let yourself be defeated by a dumb drum?”

Aloe’s character made it extremely easy for Amid to predict her since it was his own. When he said those words, the face of the girl suddenly filled with motivation. Competitivity, to be precise.

No more words were needed by either of the two, Aloe followed him cordially the moment he offered her his hand.

The face of the girl shouted one thing alone:

I won’t let some dumb instruments beat me.

---

“I don’t know how you’ve done it, to be honest,” Shahrazad said with a sigh as the family navigated across the crowd.

Though the bazaar was always bursting with life, today was even more notable. There was almost no room to walk.

“An economy trick.” Amid added with a smile.

“I see.” The woman responded without a shred of expressiveness in her visage.

Aloe was at the shoulders of her father, and even on top of the towering Amid, she was unable to see beyond the mob. The lack of light also didn’t make it easy. The sun was long gone, only vague purple streaks on the skies marking its past presence. Even on the hundreds – or maybe even thousands – of torches and streetlamps, it was complicated seeing more than a few meters ahead.

“I see it now!” Aloe pointed at the horizon, her sudden gesture almost making her lose balance. The girl didn’t let the close call faze her. “The emir!”

Even when the lightless realm of the night, the enemy of the sun, made everything hard to see, the emir was a beacon amidst the darkness.

“He’s so bright!” The little girl added excitedly.

Her mother giggled at her uncharacteristic behavior, even if it was to be expected out of a child. “Indeed, the head of Sadina truly shines.”

Shahrazad was literal and figurative in her wording. The emir not only was a dazzling figure but also quite literally emitted light.

“The magic of the imperials.” Light shone on Aloe’s eyes, the display growing bigger and greater than it was on her childish mind. “Does he always shine when he works with you?”

“Not always, no.” Amid explained as he tickled her daughter’s hanging legs, getting an annoyed laugh from her. “But he does that sometimes. I don’t exactly know how it works, but he was one of the most respected cultivators of his age, though that was before when her mother Kyra, the previous Sultanah-“

“Boring! I didn’t ask for a history lesson!” The girl protested lightly kicking her father’s chest.

“But it’s an interesting one!” Amid pleaded.

“Lessons are for school! Today is a free day!” Aloe exclaimed in such a tone that it almost seemed as if she was lecturing her father, and she might as well do that on her mind.

“She’s right,” Shahrazad added with a giggle; the woman was so small Amid almost lost track of her even if she was holding her delicate and soft hand. “You should be ashamed to bring the school here, darling.”

“Not you too!” Amid wailed in faux suffering, only prompting more laughs from her wife.

“Hmm...” Aloe groaned inquisitively on top of him. She always tended to do that. “There are more people on top of the palanquin, not only the emir.”

“When did you learn that complicated word, sweety?” Amid asked as he tiptoed to see what her daughter was talking about.

“On school! And today is no school day!” She shook his head as she protested.

“Yes, yes, I got that. Now please, you are going to scramble my brain.” Aloe did not stop, Amid dedicated a gaze to Shahrazad.

“Aloe, you shouldn’t scramble your father’s brain. He needs that to make money?”

“Money? Where?” Aloe turned her head around to scour for treasure.

“There goes the little money djinn.” Amid snickered.

“I’m no little!” And the girl bonked him in the head.

“You deserved that.” Shahrazad covered her mouth as she laughed.

“So you admit you are a money djinn?” Amid continued, unbothered by the little girl’s punches.

He got another bonk as a result.

“And also that one.” The mother commented. “Amid, dear, you are so hard-headed. And in more than one sense by the looks of it.”

That got a laugh out of little Aloe.

“Oh, I see what Aloe was talking about,” Shahrazad said as she pointed at the palanquin at the head of the parade. “Yes, there are two kids, a boy and a girl, on top of the imperial platform.”

“Really?” Amid said amusedly even if his face had become more serious. “If they are up there, they must be of imperial blood.”

“I recognize the boy. He’s one of the children of the Sultanah.” Shahrazad explained. “Hassan, I think it was.”

“Sultanzade Hassan then, huh.” Amid followed his wife’s steps. Even if she was way shorter than him, she had gotten a good advantage point. “Then the girl must also be a sultanzade.”

“I guess so, but I don’t recognize her.” The woman said doubtfully with a hand on a cheek. “I will ask tomorrow at work, surely Nuha will know something.”

“If she doesn’t, I could ask Tamara.” Amid offered.

“Dear, if Nuha doesn’t know, Tamara won’t. That woman is near omniscient.”

“That woman? Is that how you talk about your friends?”

“I doubt Nuha calls anyone friend, but she’s a reliable workmate.”

“If you say-“

“Boring!” Aloe interrupted the adults’ conversation. “I’m hungry!”

“Hi, hungry. I’m Dad!” Amid instantly responded without thinking twice, getting an equally instantaneous bonk.

Shahrazad just sighed and facepalmed at the image.

“Let’s just go to Jafar’s house. This is just too crowded for my liking, either way.” Shahrazad offered. “I helped Mirah with some of the food and I can assure you they are delicious. All the vegetables and fruits have been recently harvested after all.”

“Yey! Fresh fruit!” Aloe clapped. “I want fruit salad!”

“Dessert comes after the meal, darling.” Her mother lectured her.

“And I will eat it too!” The girl stated proudly.

Shahrazad started walking into the empty alleyways, though she was stopped by Amid’s arm which still grabbed her hand.

“Dear?” Shahrazad asked. “Are you alright?”

“Oh, sorry.” Amid shook his head. “I was a bit distracted. Let’s go to eat, I’m also hungry!”

“Hi, also hungry! I’m Aloe!” It was Amid’s turn to bonk Aloe in the head. “Ouch...”

“Yup, you too deserved that.” Shahrazad giggled.

“Hey...” Aloe whispered in her father’s ear.

“I know...” Amid whispered back.

And then he bonked his wife on the head.

“Ouch!” Shahrazad undid her handhold and grabbed her head with both hands. “Where did that come from?”

“You deserved it!” Father and daughter said at the same time then busted in laughter.

Even as the whole family walked into the empty and dark alleyways to run away from the crowd, Amid still looked back to the palanquin. Something felt off, even if he couldn’t point out why.