by Raine Hughes
She nodded, acknowledging their mutual longing. “What do you wish to know?”
“Again, Jasmine, this is not a wish. You don’t have to answer.” At her uplifted eyebrows he willingly stated his questions. “What does it mean to be sent here under disfavor? What can you do to change that? How old are you in Djinni terms and in mortal years? What magic are you capable of? What are the things you can’t do? What happens if you fall in love with a mortal or one falls in love with you?” He couldn’t believe he’d voiced that one and rushed on. “Can you speak many languages? What do you do in your urn, locked up in there until someone finds you? What do you do when you’re at home in Mt. Kaf? Why do Djinni’s have to serve mortals at all?” That last one had come out showing the full frustration he felt at what he basically saw as slavery.
Jasmine’s fingers on his lips halted him. “It will take much time to answer all. You have worked hard and are hungry. Then we will talk.” She smiled. “That is a suggestion, not a command or a wish.”
Noah chuckled to acknowledge her grasp of their casual relationship . “Maybe you could whip up another of those wonderful mango-pear pies. It’s now my favorite, you know, or maybe the cranapple one is. I can’t decide. You choose the rest.”
She giggled and he knew that her giddiness had to do with deciding on the menu, another thing she probably wasn’t normally allowed to do. “Pie, along with, say, sumptuous leg of lamb, mint sauce, spring vegetables and red wine?”
“Yeah!” His stomach rumbled in agreement as he grinned. “All of that.”
Half an hour later, Noah smacked his lips as he cleaned his plate. “Shall we retire with our wine to the next room?” He led the way and was only slightly surprised when a fireplace and two rocking chairs appeared.
“I always wanted a fireplace,” he admitted as they sat and enjoyed the heat and the dancing flames. “One day I will build one. Not that this isn’t lovely—”
“—but you want to do it your way.”
They both chuckled and returned to watching the fire. It felt good to have someone tuned to his thoughts. Noah idly wondered if that was due to her supernatural powers or if it was because they were compatible. If only—
“I will try to answer your questions now,” Jasmine said, breaking into his thoughts. They had drained their wine glasses in companionable silence, broken only by the rhythmic sound of two rockers in unison.
“You think that because I can do things magically, that I can control you?” Noah shrugged at her opening statement, glad when she emphatically added, “I can only do things, not control emotions and feelings. You are in charge of yourself.”
He snorted at that. “Apparently not in control sometimes. However, aside from that, I don’t like telling you what to do. I want you to work with me, not for me, Jasmine.”
“Is that the way of a mail order girl?”
“Mail order?”
“Mrs. Doer says people think you deserve better than a foreign mail order girl, even though she disagrees in my case.”
Noah’s jaw dropped. The real gist of Walt Doer’s conversation came back to him. He hadn’t been paying much attention as he heaved bales onto the pick-up. Now the bits and pieces fell into place, as did the why of the subject—catalogue shopping. He remembered discussing the topic further because Jasmine had recognized some of the clothes she saw on the people around her. The lunch room had been crowded and noisy during their brief break at the cafeteria. Eavesdroppers apparently only got part of the conversation about mail order goods.
He couldn’t contradict the gossip. Maybe he should just use it to his best advantage. What must people be thinking? Probably that he’d been so desperate for a wife that he’d resorted to ordering one through the mail, and a foreign one to boot! He groaned at this new twist to things.
“It is bad, this mail order?”
Noah’s groan turned into a chuckle at the turn of events. “A little misinformed gossip can certainly change things in a hurry.” He explained what he surmised had happened and wasn’t surprised when Jasmine started to giggle. Not long ago, she had sent him into fits of laughter over the misunderstandings in her life.
“Seems we’re destined to find the funny side of each other’s ill fate,” he said with wry amusement. “Not all relationships or even engagements end in marriage, and neither do all mail order arrangements. People will accept whatever the outcome and forget about it.” I hope.
He watched the way the flames dancing in the fireplace changed Jasmine’s hair from the color of desert sand to burnished gold. It shimmered with waves of reflective color, including copper. Her skin looked flushed. Was it the effects of the wine or his scrutiny?
* * *
A mail order bride was much the same as an arranged marriage, except that the parents were not involved, from what Jasmine could gather. Noah did not exactly seem pleased, but then he did not seem displeased either. Marriage to a mortal had not been her father’s intent, she was sure, and the Djinni King would be even less enthusiastic. Or would he? There was her mixed blood to consider.
“A good Djinni never lies nor causes harm to a mortal,” Jasmine said into the silence to resume her narrative. “I cannot bring the dead to life nor cast a spell to make someone fall in love.”
“As you previously assured me.” Noah nodded but nevertheless looked relieved all over again.
“I can speak any language or dialect known to your world because I can decipher it instantly. I was not so familiar with how your people have shortened and combined words since it has been many years since I last spoke English but I am learning. You have discovered this?”
Noah bob-shook his head and she took that to mean that he believed she would get better at talking. She went on.
“We spend our time learning worldly things, along with magic and patience. A Djinni must be patient for we may spend decades locked in an urn, waiting for release.”
At his horrified look, she rushed on. “It does not seem long at all. But, patience is a virtue I have always lacked. According to my father it is the mortal part in me that is the cause.” She heaved a long-suffering sigh.
“While in the urn, magic can be performed and perfected without audience. Of greatest value is illusion, like making the urn seem larger and less confining.”
“Like my bathroom. I’d say you did that very well.” As Jasmine acknowledged the compliment, he added, “I like the color of the walls, like the first mixed grasses of spring.”
Jasmine confirmed, “It is like our awakening grass after the season of drought. The walls will grow more vibrant as increasing moisture in the air feeds it.”
“Oh!” was all he said, without smiling. He was uncomfortable with the living fabrics she found so easy to work with for they mimicked a room’s atmosphere so readily.
“As a Djinni I am over three hundred years old. Because we can live to be a thousand or more, I am still young.”
“You were practically a baby when you were in service to that pirate then.”
She shrugged. “It is how it is. Until a common Djinni or even a Djinni of lesser royalty like myself, marries, life is one of service, a way of maintaining or elevating status. My great-grandmother was mortal so myself and some of my siblings are not full-bloods but we have Djinn powers. Unlike a common Djinni, we need only serve three masters. Others of my family, for my father has many wives, are pure Djinni. Only full-blood royals need not serve.”
“But you are still royalty, are you not?”
“In title only, by decree of King Solomon,” Jasmine confirmed, “but because of my mixed blood, I am practically a commoner.”
“There’s nothing wrong with being common,” Noah pointed out with emphasis, causing Jasmine to smile her appreciation before she went on.
“Marriage partners are chosen by mutual agreement of the parents at birth, based on status and expectations. Since my status was lower than my chosen marriage partner, it was to be a rise in favor. If a match is not approved, i
t represents a mark of disfavor.” She sighed.
“It does not matter which parents disapprove. I did not like Prince Rasoul and did not wish to marry him but I would have had no choice; my father had final say. But Rasoul and his parents already viewed my unfavorable record as beyond redemption. It will be difficult to reestablish my worthiness to retain my title.”
“For Prince Rasoul?”
“Prince Rasoul is shallow, arrogant and thinks of no one but himself. Since I came here, to serve you, Master Noah, I do not consider establishing my worthiness for the purpose of finding a Djinni husband. Never would I marry Rasoul or any man like him!”
* * *
The tension in his chest eased at Jasmine’s heated reply. He knew he had no say on who she would marry, but just knowing it wouldn’t be the insufferable man who’d rejected her, eased his mind. Silence descended. He felt no urgency to dispel it.
“Do mortals chose their own mates or do your parents choose a worthy match?” Jasmine extended her wine glass. “Is this mail order better?”
Noah filled their glasses, using the time to collect his thoughts. The fact of her mixed blood made their attraction less frightening. With the magnetism of his feelings towards her not contrived, he didn’t have to worry about fighting off magic love spells. Jasmine had made no mention of the chain of events should mortal and Djinni fall in love. Given her mixed heritage, it sounded like there were possibilities.
“To answer your last question first, mail order marriages are not that common,” he said, “at least not here. In fact ours is the only mail order situation hereabouts, so maybe that uncertainty will be our saving grace, though I’m not certain how.
“Here, couples choose. Parental guidance is often disregarded.” He took a deep breath, his gaze steady with hers. “I made mistakes with my first marriage. I formed a lot of misconceptions, possibly Carol did, too. That is not to say I wouldn’t trust my own, eyes-open judgment now, though the situation may be complex.”
Jasmine nodded as if she understood what he wasn’t saying before she said, “If I cannot remedy my situation, I may be declared permanently lacking and therefore unable to retain my royal Djinni status. I may even be dispossessed.”
“The severity of your punishment is outrageous for such silly injustices while you served your masters!” Noah couldn’t help saying, indignant on her behalf. “None of what happened either time was your fault!”
Jasmine smiled her thanks for his support before declaring, “I will earn my right to remain a royal Djinni. I will do it by serving a master successfully, just to prove that I can.” She shrugged and eyed him sideways before saying, “Of course, there are occasions when a Djinni may actually choose to live with a mortal, in his world.”
Noah’s heart leaped at the admission. Regardless, he must not let Jasmine down as she struggled to hold her status among her people. “Somehow you will regain favor with your peers. I’m sure of that.”
Jasmine acknowledged his firm confidence in her with a thank you smile before going on. “The Djinn originate in many Middle Eastern countries. I am of Arabic ancestry myself.”
“I thought Arabs were a dark race. Is your beautiful pale hair and creamy skin an illusion?”
“You think I am beautiful?”
“No one would dispute that!”
Jasmine looked pleased. “The King of all Djinni may grant the marriage of a non-Djinni with that of Djinn royalty. This is done by special decree. Grandmother was a mortal Nordic royal. She married Prince Sharif and became a Djinni princess even though she had no magic powers. The Nordic features have remained strong in some of us. I was one of those that inherited only a little of the Djinn powers.”
Noah’s heart dropped. He certainly wasn’t from royal blood, mortal or Djinn. Did that mean Jasmine would lose everything if she chose to remain with him?
Provided she wanted to.
If his thoughts were in a jumble before, that was nothing compared to his mixed feelings now.
* * *
In the ensuing silence, Jasmine watched the fire burn down to embers. She was in love with this mortal man who sat equally still in the chair beside her. Obviously he was considering the implications of everything she had told him. Noah loved her, she was sure, but he was fighting it—for her sake. That was Noah, a considerate, compassionate mortal, a mortal not dull, a man better than most Djinn!
She wondered if the Djinni King would grant her the right, when she became a reinstated Djinni that is, to marry a mortal without royal background, and still retain her status. She would have to prove that Noah was a superior mortal. She would have to convince the King that Noah’s love was all she wanted or needed.
But first she had to regain her right to ask! Every magical task she handled successfully was one more to show her capabilities. Her powers had improved dramatically already, ever since Noah had affixed the Mouse Guy timepiece to her wrist. There was no reason why her magic should not continue to improve.
“What do you do for the Christ birth?” she asked to turn her mind to other thoughts. “As with the languages, I am familiar with the event but have not yet experienced your celebrations, other than hearing the Christmas carols on your radio.”
Noah blinked at the change of subject, hopefully relieved as she was to be thinking of Christmas instead of pondering dilemmas. “Usually by late November I have my tree up and the lights on the buildings. I have several Christmas scenes to set lights to as well.” He turned a grin on her. “It takes quite some time and I’m already a couple of weeks behind. I’d welcome your help, but I warn you, this is a task I like to do my way, but there are difficult things I’d be happy to let you work your magic on, how and when you decide, Jasmine. Remember, it is my wish that we work together.”
Jasmine jumped up at the prospect. “You will really let me help? May we start now?”
Noah laughed. “It’s bedtime! Tomorrow we can start on Christmas. I’d love to have you help me, to work with me,” he emphasized once more.
Jasmine liked this arrangement more and more all the time.
Chapter 10
Noah balanced a spruce tree over his shoulder while Jasmine carried the axe and struggled to keep up to him in the deep snow.
“You are sure this will not be too lofty for your house?” Her breath was coming in gasps as she gamely floundered through the deep snow.
“I can always cut a bit more off the bottom,” Noah assured her, slinging his free arm casually across her shoulder once they reached less snowy ground. Today, her dancing eyes were hidden behind the obscurity of a huge pair of sunglasses. They served to heighten his sense of the mysterious. “We’ll decorate it in a few days, once we finish the outside lighting.”
He told her everything that had to be done, pleased to see the rapt expression on her face, the color in her cheeks, and her huge smile. Many adults regarded the holiday as only something to survive. Admittedly, his enjoyment of the festivities had been squelched by his ex-wife who regarded the season as a bore and a scam. Jasmine’s enthusiasm revived Christmas for him. He couldn’t wipe the grin off his face as he cast sideways glances at her beside him. She’d given him a rare gift and she didn’t even know it.
It occurred to him that embarking on his vision of an ark was going to be totally different than he had thought it would be years ago. This special lady’s presence and assistance would make the project more fun as well as boost his expectations for success.
He drew Jasmine closer and unashamedly declared, “Thank you, Jasmine, for brightening my dismal existence.” With that, he swooped over to kiss her, smothering her surprised look. He intended it to be a quick thank you kiss. He made the mistake of drawing them to a halt.
Thoughts of Christmas trees and such fled and there was only Jasmine’s luscious lips perfectly outlined in a red that was intensified by the cold. Her full mouth beckoned when he lifted away all too soon, but he just had to taste her again, especially now that he finally let himself beli
eve the truth in that she wasn’t off limits to innocent kissing. As always she ignited a blazing inferno inside him that fed upon itself, burning hotter with Jasmine’s heady response. There was only so much heat that he could take!
With a reluctant groan he finally broke from the embrace. Noah thought his desire was mirrored in her gaze. “Jasmine, Jasmine,” he whispered as he leaned his forehead against hers. “You know, that wouldn’t have been safe back in the comforts of the house, don’t you?”
“A kiss would not be safe?” She cocked her head, a vision of multiple eyes peering at him due to their closeness.
“Out here the cold conditions stop a number of things from, er… happening.” He quirked one eyebrow suggestively.
“Ah,” Jasmine returned his whisper. “Our gods would not be pleased with us then.”
“No, He… They, wouldn’t,” Noah agreed solemnly, having explained his theory of the waterbed mishap to her and of how some higher power was probably taking a big hand in redirecting their attentions. At this point he wasn’t certain that God and Allah were two entities or one given a different name, considering she actually worshipped both because of the Christian background from her grandmother’s side. Didn’t matter really; they were still being watched. He readjusted the tree over his shoulder and they continued on.
Back home, Noah went up into the side attic under the sloping eaves of the house and began bringing out box after box of Christmas decorations and lights. “It takes me days to get all these lights up,” he warned.
“I can do it in minutes,” Jasmine pointed out.
“Then I’ll let you,” Noah agreed because there was no time left to accomplish the task his way. Besides, she needed to exercise her powers. “I’ll set the lights up on the house so you get the idea then I’ll let you do the barn. Can you direct the task from the ground or do you actually have to do it hands-on? I don’t want you hurt falling off a roof again.”