He must have slowed outside that window, thinking I wouldn ' t follow, for we fell upon one another, limbs entwined. He smelled of beautiful dry desert sand, and his lips were perfect and cherubic, like some Greek god of yore— he was, simply put, gorgeous. And to my great horror, he nuzzled his impertinent nose against my cheek and said,“ If I knew you had these intentions toward me, I would not have fled from you.”
“ How very dare you!” cried I, as any self-respecting woman ought, and I sat up to slap him, but with one movement of his arm he had overturned me and darted off again!
He ran and leaped out another window. I was hesitant to follow, I must admit, for this jump was a very large gap, and I nearly yielded and took the stairs, but I gathered my courage and followed.
When I landed, I heard voices in a nearby room. I crept towards the door where the thief had gone and there within, the Genie stood before him! The boy seemed quite delighted.
The Genie spoke:“ Abdullah Al-Khāfid, I have returned from my prison once more, that thou may make thy final wish.”
The thief replied,“ I am not Abdullah Al-Khāfid! I am Cyprien Lehman! I am your new master!”
“ In that case,” replied the Genie,“ I needs must slay thee! For all my anger was reserved for Abdullah Al-Khāfid, and if I cannot destroy him, I shall destroy thee!”
“ I am your new master, and you are free from the old tyrant. Now you must obey me!” The Genie hovered towards the boy.“ Now, let me speak!” the thief, Cyprien, called.“ Give me all that was Abdullah Al-Khāfid’ s! If you give all of it to me, you will be revenged, and if you keep me safe from him in any way you can, you will be safe from him as well! We can go far, far away, where he can never plot to take it back!”“ Yes,” it replied, in a sinister voice.“ I hear thee, and obey.”
Just then, the palace began to shake. The Genie began to throw magical chains around the structure! I ran to the window, and to my amazement I saw the foundation pulling away from the ground!
I was not about to have any part in this, so I ran down the steps, out through the great hall, and towards the courtyard. Mr. Longville seemed to have had the opposite thought, and once again, we collided, full sprint, into one another. I grabbed onto him, as from my perspective, the ground was falling away behind the man and he would have been swallowed up. We struggled back inside the palace just as it shifted violently downward. I rolled away as some loose debris, a sofa here and a vase there, slid out the door. Both Percy and myself braced ourselves on opposite sides of the doorway, latched onto a decorative pillar.
Who should I see in the street below me, but Abdullah Al-Khāfid looking up at his departing castle.
" It is the end, Abdullah Al-Khāfid!" boomed the sinister voice of the Genie as it pulled on its magical chains, sending a shudder throughout the building. Huge pieces of the castle began to break off and rain down towards Al-Khāfid. " I shall destroy thee!" " I made no wish!" Al-Khāfid called back. The huge pieces of stone fell around the man, never hitting him. The palace snapped free from the ground entirely, sailing off into the sky away from its owner. The Genie roared in anger within, " No!"
The Djinn, obeying his master, carried the palace far out over the sea.
Percy and I were trapped.