Djinn

by Laura Catherine

  Chapter Nineteen

  Prince Nathaniel led me by the arm up the grand staircase, and I felt like a princess walking by his side. My head darted back to see what Queen Celeste was doing with my parents, but they had already slipped off into another room.

  "You don't look excited to be here," Nathaniel noted as we turned the corner. His tone had changed from eloquent prince to normal teenager.

  I glanced at him strangely, which made him laugh.

  "You thought I was just the snooty prince, didn't you?"

  "No, I …" I said. All these queens and princes, not acting the way everyone said they did, were doing my head in. Did everyone act differently behind closed doors?

  Nathaniel let go of my arm so we could walk normally. "It's alright. Everyone thinks that's who I am." He gave me a sly look. "It's the way I want them to see me."

  "Because if they see you as a mature leader who speaks with authority, they won't challenge you on anything," I said.

  Nathaniel laughed again. "Spot on," he said and tapped his nose. "Just don't let anyone know I'm really a kid at heart."

  He made me smile and was straightforward about things, not shy of himself. Nathaniel seemed like a person who drew others in.

  "So, what's it like living in the palace?" I asked.

  "You mean, what's it like living with a mother who can read minds and the weight of a royal legacy on your shoulders?"

  "Don't you think it's a little early in our relationship to be getting so deep?" I bantered. "But yes, to both those questions."

  It was strange feeling so at ease with Nathaniel. I wondered if he had some sort of power over people, but I shook off the thought. Nathaniel was just easy to talk to.

  He gave me a genuine smile that I returned. "It's not that bad at all, really," he explained. "Mother doesn't usually pry in my mind, and most Djinn have learned to block her out. No one really likes having their mind invaded."

  "I know," I agreed.

  "She meant nothing by it. She's just curious about you."

  Curious about me … I didn't like people prying because of what Dad, I mean Malcolm, had taught me and now, in this strange new world, I felt my privacy was all I had left.

  "Mother could easily break through anyone's block against her anyway. Her ability is very strong."

  "I learned about that. Not every power is the same in Djinn, even amongst family."

  "That's right," Nathaniel confirmed. "But abilities show themselves in varying degrees as well. Some are really strong and others mild or weak."

  Nathaniel opened door after door as we walked along the corridor, but all the rooms were the same: bedroom, bathroom, drawing room, each filled with hand-carved furniture, marble floors, and handmade Persian rugs.

  "I don't think my ability will be particularly strong," I admitted.

  "Why do you say that?" he asked. He didn't bother opening doors anymore; we just walked, endlessly.

  "Well, shouldn't I have my ability by now? I mean, from what I've learnt, most Djinn start showing their ability when they're about sixteen. I'll be eighteen in a few months."

  "It's true that most of us do develop around sixteen, but there are late bloomers. And, let's not forget that you have been missing for sixteen years. Djinn work on developing their abilities their whole life, but you haven't had the chance to try because you had no idea you even had them."

  What Nathaniel said was completely true. I hadn't tried to use my powers because I didn't know about them.

  "Besides," he continued, "you need the right trainer, too."

  "Trainer?"

  "Yep. Djinn are put in small groups where we're trained by an older Djinn to find and control our abilities."

  "So who will my trainer be?"

  Nathaniel gave me another sly look. "One guess?"

  "You." I pointed at him.

  "Of course, me," he said. "Only the best for you. You'll be joining my training group in a few days."

  My smile rose all the way to my eyes and I resisted the urge to squeal. I was going to learn some sort of awesome superpower, and I couldn't wait to find out what it was.

  "What's your ability?" I asked, as he showed me the dining hall. It looked like the one at home, but ten times longer.

  "I can manipulate fire," he said, pulling the flame from a nearby candle and letting it roll over his hands without fear.

  "Awesome," I said, watching the fire dance on his fingers, then quickly becoming extinguished when he clasped his hand shut.

  We'd walked across both wings of the top floor and were now downstairs, checking out the kitchens and the ballroom, which was spectacular. It was the largest room I'd ever seen; I'm pretty sure it took up one wing of the palace on its own. Nathaniel assured me it looked better when they actually had a party on, but I thought it was stunning, just the way it was, with ivy growing on the inside pillars and windows from floor to roof. It seemed so in touch with nature. It was breathtaking.

  We headed over to the west wing of the palace, which looked like it had been renovated recently.

  "What's at this end of the palace, Nathaniel?" I asked.

  "Call me Nate," he said. "And this is the training centre."

  "You have a training centre in the palace," I said, mouth dropped open.

  "It's a new addition. Mother had it built so there would be a place for Djinn to train properly and in safety."

  Nate opened the door to the training room and, who did I see, but Will, standing sweaty, shirtless and in the middle of hand-to-hand combat with Pyke. I almost died on the spot, watching his muscular arms flex with every jab and punch, the sweat rolling down his finely tanned abs making my jaw drop.

  Mia sat at the back on a balancing beam, watching the boys practice. She wore a black tracksuit, her dark eyes immediately flicking to me as we entered. I noticed her face was back to normal, no sign of the cut I'd given her. Pyke's nose had been healed, too. Will had told me about Djinn with the ability to heal. They were both flawless again.

  "Did I mention the Guardjinn use it to train, too?" Nate added, and I quickly composed myself again. "Mother likes them close, in case anything happens."

  I didn't respond, only stood there like a statue.

  "Nice dress," Mia mocked.

  I self-consciously patted my dress down and looked to Nate. I must have looked so up myself, standing there in a fancy dress with the prince while the Guardjinn practiced in tracksuits.

  "Leave it, Mia," Pyke called. "She looks hot."

  Will swung a punch straight into Pyke's face.

  "What the hell, man!" Pyke yelled, rubbing his cheek.

  "You need to keep your guard up and stop staring at pretty girls," Will replied, his fists still protecting his face.

  "Oh, so you think she's pretty," Mia hissed, jumping off the beam.

  "Of course he does," Pyke replied. "She's a total babe."

  "Can we just focus on training?" Will sighed.

  I felt my cheeks flush at Pyke's comment, and a twist in my gut at Will's lack of opinion. He had said I was pretty, but was that girlfriend-pretty, or sister-pretty?

  "We'll go," Nate said, clearly seeing the awkwardness of the moment. "Just showing Kyra the palace. Return to your training. Sorry for disturbing you."

  "Thank you, Prince Nathaniel." Will bowed. Pyke and Mia followed suit.

  It was strange how Nate commanded so much respect from people like Pyke and Mia, who didn't seem to respect anyone.

  Nate walked me back through the palace. He was chatting on about the history of the place; I think he knew I didn't want to talk, and he was content with talking without needing me to respond.

  It had been so awkward, me in that dress and them in their training gear. Somehow, I'd felt I was betraying them for going along and not objecting. It hurt that they might think I was just like all the other Djinn here, seeing them as servants and not people. I wasn't that person and I wanted them, especially Will, to know that.

  When we entered the fo
yer, Nate stopped rambling.

  "Thanks for the tour," I said with a forced smile.

  "Thank you for getting me out of a boring afternoon of princely duties. Escorting you was much more fun." He beamed at me, and I believed every word he said. Nate was clearly an honest guy, honest and trustworthy.

  "I wonder if my parents are done?" I said.

  "Let's go find out."

  I followed him to the one room I hadn't been shown. "They're in the war room," he explained.

  "War room!" I said, eyes bulging.

  "It's not as bad as it sounds. It's for if there were ever a war. At the moment, it's being used for meetings," he assured me.

  Nate carefully opened the door and pressed his fingers to his lips, to signal me to be quiet. I supposed it would be rude to just barge in on a meeting with the queen.

  We slipped inside and closed the door silently behind us. The room was circular with a U-shaped table in the middle. Queen Celeste sat at the head, surrounded by several other people, including my parents. Nate took my hand and led me off to the side, where we went unnoticed.

  "We're in agreement, then?" Ivan said to Queen Celeste.

  "I think there are a few things that still need to be discussed but, for now, the arrangement will go ahead," she said.

  I had no idea what arrangement they were talking about. I turned to Nate to ask if he did, but the next topic caught my attention.

  "We need to discuss the growing threat from the Blooders," said one man. His hair was a pallet of greys and whites, making him look roguishly handsome. A small woman sat at his side, her head down and hands neatly placed on her lap, like she was trying hard to go unnoticed. They sat close enough to imply they had some sort of relationship.

  "We've talked about it to death, Councilman Baxter," said another. "What do you propose we do?"

  "Attack," Baxter suggested. "Our Guardjinn are trained to fight. Attack first, before they—"

  "And leave the compound unguarded and open for their own attack? Stupidity," scoffed a very skinny woman with long grey hair.

  "Stupidity is waiting for the Blooders to come here and bleed us dry." Baxter slammed his hand on the table, causing me to jump, but Nate's hand on mine eased me.

  "Council members," Celeste soothed, raising her hands to silence everyone in the room. I could see where Nate got his authority from. Celeste dominated the room with a simple flick of her wrist. "I agree that the Blooders are becoming more of a problem than we would like, but at the moment, we are safe from them here. Sending our Guardjinn out would only leave us unprotected and put them in unnecessary danger. We cannot ask them to die for us."

  "No, you would have us die with them," Ivan said. "You would have us fight like dogs."

  "Silence!" Celeste's voice thundered, not just verbally, but in my mind as well. Judging from the way everyone else was wincing, she'd spoken in everyone's head. She was clearly a powerful woman. "I will not have you disrespect me or the Guardjinn, Ivan Greenwood. Know your place."

  I noticed Celeste's eyes glowed like a cat's, but she blinked and they flicked back to their normal golden hue.

  "My apologies, your grace," Ivan replied through gritted teeth.

  I felt a smile creep to my lips, watching Ivan be put in his place. It was nice to know there was someone who was more powerful than him.

  "The meeting is over for today," Celeste announced. "We shall meet again next week, but now my son and Miss Greenwood are waiting patiently in the corner for us to finish. Meeting adjourned."

  Heads turned in our direction, but my thoughts were elsewhere. Blooders? What the hell were they? I remembered Mia had mentioned the word once before, but with everything going on, it must have slipped my mind.

  The council members made their way out of the room, bowing to Nate, and ignoring or staring at me. I must have been the hot topic, the girl who'd returned home after sixteen years. Soon it was only Celeste and my parents left.

  "Come along, Kyra," Ivan said, not even stopping to see if I was following.

  "I guess I'll see you at training," I said to Nate.

  "I look forward to it," he replied in his princely tone again, and headed over to Celeste.

  I looked to the Queen, hoping she might talk to me in my mind and explain things, but she only stared at me, which I took to mean "Go find out yourself".

  I met Ivan and Isabelle in the foyer where they were waiting. Ivan didn't say anything until we were in the car and driving away from the palace.

  "How dare she talk to me that way?" he fumed. "She's ruining the community, with her love of the Guardjinn. If the king were still alive—"

  "He's not," Isabelle said, "and Celeste is doing her best."

  "She's letting her feelings get in, like only a woman can," he hissed. "I know you two were friends, but …"

  Great, I thought. Not only is my father an ass, he's also sexist. Really, it didn't surprise me.

  "You knew Celeste when you were younger?" I asked.

  Isabelle turned in her seat to face me. "Oh yes. We have been close friends since we were teens. Even now—"

  "And she knew her son and Kyra were waiting there," Ivan continued, ignoring the fact that Isabelle was talking to me. "How long were you two listening?" He stared at me through the mirror.

  "Oh, not long," I said meekly, focusing on taking my shoes off instead of looking at Ivan.

  "She's just trying to turn the Prince against me so he won't listen to me when he's king!"

  "Celeste listened to your other idea, dear," Isabelle soothed, stroking his arm.

  "She doesn't agree with it, but she promised. I will hold her to it."

  "What are you talking about?" I asked, leaning forward.

  "Nothing that concerns you," Ivan snapped.

  "Ivan!" Isabelle said, but he ignored us both.

  We spent the rest of the drive in silence. Luckily it was short, and we arrived back home in less than a minute.

  "I'm going for a walk," I announced, jumping from the car the moment it stopped in the driveway.

  "No you're not," Ivan said, but I was already out of the car and walking away before he could stop me.

  Chapter Twenty

  I power-walked the first few blocks, just in case Ivan came after me. Then I slowed my pace to normal, not entirely sure where I was going. I hadn't been outside of the house on my own at all. I'd always been with Will or Isabelle, and they'd led the way. Now it was my turn to lead and all I could think about was getting away, escaping the compound by getting through the lower ring.

  I walked until I reached the ring's dividing fence. I hesitated for a moment, realising I was still wearing the fancy gold dress. At least I wasn't wearing those heels. It was not the way a lady should look at all, but I didn't care. I didn't have a destination in mind, I just needed to walk and clear my head.

  "Kyra?"

  I spun around to see Will, Mia and Pyke walking down the street behind me. They were still in their training gear, carrying gym bags.

  "Hi," I replied. "You finished training?"

  "Yeah. After you left, everyone just got distracted," Pyke said, moving his gym bag to his other shoulder.

  "Only you were distracted," Mia hissed, pushing past him.

  "What are you doing out here?" Will asked.

  I slumped my shoulders and sighed. "Honestly, I needed to get away from Ivan. He's in another angry mood and I can't take it."

  I wanted to scream and rant about how horrible everything felt, then Pyke burst out laughing, like I'd said the funniest thing in the whole world. Tears even welled in his eyes. He shook his head and placed his arm over my shoulders.

  "Honey, no offence, but your dad is the angriest guy I know."

  I actually smiled at that. "Yeah, he is."

  "We're heading to the park to run around. Want to join us?" Pyke asked.

  "I don't think the little princess wants to be slumming it with us Guardjinn," Mia said, arms crossed.

  "Please. Are you sure
you want to be slumming it with me?" I replied.

  Pyke laughed again. Apparently I was hilarious.

  "I take back everything I said about you," he said, leading the way.

  "Wait … what have you been saying about me?" I replied and followed after them, but Pyke and Will only smiled.

  We walked into the lower ring, and I was struck with just how different it was from the palace and my own house. The pavement on the sidewalk was cracked and uneven. Potholes were scattered throughout the road, making it barely drivable. In the middle ring the hedges and trees were trimmed into shape, but here the weeds grew wild. The Guardjinn houses were rundown, brick bases with sheet metal roofs. Anything damaged seemed to be patched up with boards.

  My heart sank.

  We moved through the streets until we came to a large park surrounded by towering trees. It was like a mini-forest with an open space in the centre where tables and drink fountains were scattered about. Everywhere I looked, dogs ran freely, chasing one another and darting in and out of trees. I sat with Will on a picnic table, leaving enough distance between us so we weren't touching. This didn't seem to make a difference to Mia. She still glared at me as she leaned on the opposite side. I moved over slightly to make room for Pyke to sit but he ran right past me and into the bushes.

  "Where is he going?" I asked.

  Mia smirked. "He's shifting," she said.

  "He's what?"

  Will nudged my shoulder. "I told you all Guardjinn can shape-shift into dogs, right?" he said.

  "Yeah, but …" I put the pieces together. "Wait, all these dogs are Guardjinn?" I gasped.

  "See, told you it wasn't your thing," Mia said.

  A black Dobermann came bounding out from the bushes where Pyke had entered. He came right up to me and licked my hand.

  "Pyke," I said, "I know it's you, and licking me is creepy." I pulled my hand away.

  Suddenly the Doberman shifted, growing bigger and bigger until it turned back into Pyke—a naked Pyke.

  "Aww, come on guys," he whined. "You spoiled all my fun."

  "Pyke, put some clothes on or shift back," Will said, averting his eyes.

  "What?" Pyke said, like he didn't understand what all the fuss was about.