Djinn

by Laura Catherine

  One of the Guardjinn moved from Celeste's side to do as she asked. I watched Will disappear from sight, with mixed feelings about what had just transpired between us.

  "Kyra, come with me," Celeste urged, placing her hand on my back to lead me away.

  "I'm really sorry," I said as we walked back down the corridor. I leaned against her shoulder for assistance. It didn't seem like a queenly thing to do, helping someone walk, but Celeste was just the kind of person who did the things no one expected.

  "Nothing to be sorry about," she said. "I hated that painting anyway. The artist didn't do my looks justice."

  She laughed at her own joke. I turned to see the other Guardjinn walking a few steps behind us.

  "Don't worry about him," she assured. "He's only here for my protection."

  "So my ability is telekinesis." It was strange, saying it out loud. "I don't understand though. I was tested and I didn't show any signs."

  "Nothing brings out an ability quite like heightened emotions," Celeste said, glancing at me slyly.

  Nothing got past Celeste. I wasn't sure if it was because of her mind reading ability or because she was a brilliant queen.

  The queen led me into a small meeting room. Her Guardjinn waited outside, and she offered me a seat on a beautiful satin fainting couch.

  The entire room was stunning, all stained wood and silk. A library of books lined the back wall with a large desk in front. Potted ferns scattered the room, giving it a musky, warm feeling, like a rainforest.

  "You heard our fight?" I asked, shrinking back a little.

  "It was quite loud, but luckily my Guardjinn and I were the only ones within earshot at the time."

  "I don't know what you heard, but it wasn't really—"

  Celeste glanced at me, and I stopped my lame attempt at lying. There was no lying to Celeste, mind reader or not.

  "Kyra. It's okay. Your secret is safe with me. We've all had times when we've done things we shouldn't."

  "You?" I gasped.

  "I was younger. Before I was a queen, of course. He was handsome, and I was lovesick and rebellious."

  She sighed. I had a hard time picturing her as rebellious. "What happened?" I asked.

  "We'd meet in secret, but someone saw us, and they told my parents."

  "I bet they were mad."

  Celeste slipped in next to me on the couch. "Oh, they were furious. I'd never seen my father so angry before."

  My thoughts turned to Ivan's face when he saw me with Will. It was like a volcano erupting. "What happened after they found out?"

  Celeste's face fell a little. "I told them they couldn't stop me from seeing him. I loved him, even though he was Guardjinn, and to me it didn't matter. They sent me here the very next day."

  "They sent you away to stop seeing a Guardjinn?" I couldn't believe it. How could parents get rid of their child like that? "Wait, so you're not from this compound?"

  "No, I was born in a remote desert community. Very different from here but, between you and me, I do love the flowers and greenery much better than the dry sands." She lightly touched a nearby fern and smiled.

  "Did you ever see that boy again?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

  "No. But some loves aren't meant to be," she said, as if it had all been a fleeting dream. "Besides, I loved the man I married."

  "The king?" I'd seen pictures of King Julian in my studies with Will. He had been very handsome. Nate had inherited a lot of his good looks.

  "Yes, Julian was an amazing man and I miss him dearly," Celeste continued. "I may have hated my parents for sending me away, but I made the most of what they chose for me."

  "Your parents arranged your marriage," I said.

  "Most royal marriages are arranged as a way to gain power and keep bloodlines strong." Celeste rolled her eyes at the thought. "Old laws die hard, I'm afraid."

  She grabbed my hands in hers, and I noticed how silky and warm they were. Her golden eyes caught mine and held me there, completely entranced.

  "The main thing is that you know what your ability is now," she said. "You should focus on mastering it."

  "And keep my mind off Will," I sighed.

  "Yes, that would probably be best. I understand your feelings, but we live in a time where they are not accepted. One day I hope things will change, but for now you need to think of others and not yourself. Also, your father isn't the most open-minded person."

  "That's an underestimation," I replied.

  "Nevertheless, you should focus on your ability. Not being able to control it can be dangerous to the people around you."

  I nodded in understanding. "Yes, your Majesty."

  "You're a bright girl, Kyra. You'll do well here." She reached to stroke my hair, but let her hand fall before she touched me. "I think it's time you went home. Your parents will be wondering where you are, and I have duties that need my attention. Thank you for letting me have a small break."

  "Thank you," I said, rising from the couch.

  Celeste walked me to the door. All traces of dizziness had passed and, though I still felt weak, at least I could walk on my own.

  "Frank will walk you to the driveway," she said, gesturing to the Guardjinn who had been following us.

  "Your Majesty. I was wondering. When we were in the council meeting the other day and you were yelling at Ivan."

  "A panther," she replied. "You were asking me what animal I shift into. It's a panther."

  "Um, yeah," I said and went with Frank to the door.

  * * *

  The walk home seemed longer than usual, even though I spent most of the time stuck in my head with my own thoughts. My mind was racing. I had finally figured out my ability and, funnily enough, it was the first one I'd been tested on: telekinesis. I was excited about the whole thing, but every time I thought about my new ability I thought about how it came about: Will. He had been so mean to me, said horrible things about using me and not caring.

  I didn't know what to believe anymore. What was truth and what was a lie? Did he care, or was he pretending? He'd promised to never lie to me, but honestly, I couldn't tell what was true anymore. It dawned on me that really, I didn't know Will at all. I'd been here at the Djinn compound for three weeks; what did I really know about him?

  He'd saved me from the man I thought was my father. He'd sneaked into my room at night, but didn't want to have me around during the day where people might see us. It was all too confusing and seemed to lead to him being a complete ass.

  "Maybe he did use me?" I whispered, as I pushed open the front door.

  "Kyra, darling," Isabelle said, entering the foyer from the sitting room. "I was wondering where you were. How was training?"

  I put on a fake smile, knowing Isabelle really wanted to know was how I was doing.

  "It was fine," I said. "Still working on things."

  I didn't want to share that I had figured out my ability yet. There would be too many questions of "How did find out?" and "What were you doing?". I didn't want to answer those yet.

  "I'm feeling tired," I said. "I think I'll just go to my room."

  She nodded, but I could tell she was worried from the shaky look in her eyes. "Okay, Kyra."

  I walked past her and started up the staircase.

  "Kyra," Isabelle called after me.

  I turned. She stood at the bottom of the stairs, her hand on the banister.

  "You know, things will get better," she said. "And you can talk to me … about anything, anything at all."

  "I know," I replied, smiling for her.

  "Good … good." She tapped the banister, eyes darting. I don't think she quite believed me, but I wasn't in the best mood to console her. It wasn't that I didn't trust her; it was just hard, because even though she was my mother, we had still only known each other for a month or so.

  I was grateful, though; out of everyone, she had been the one person to really care. She was scared of Ivan, but she'd stood up to him for me. I wanted to talk to her
, just not yet.

  I went to my room trying to shake the worrying thoughts from my head, but they were stuck like flies in a web. I had a shower, which usually calmed my nerves, but I was paranoid Mia might burst into my room unannounced again. She was one of the last people I wanted to see. It seemed that list of people was growing by the day: Mia, Ivan, Will …

  "Don't think about him," I told myself, turning off the shower. I wrapped a towel around me and stared in the mirror for a while. For once, I hated my golden eyes. I hated what they made me: Djinn. I hated the bond they made me share with a life I didn't understand. I actually wished I were still living with Dad, completely naive to this world and everyone in it. Maybe donating blood to him every once in a while wouldn't have been that bad. My life would have at least been sort of normal, and I wouldn't have to put up with people I didn't like because we could just move away whenever we wanted.

  I shook my head. That was silly. I would always rather know the truth than be lied to. Perhaps it was my fault, for not trying hard enough. I'd never been able to make friends before. It wasn't like I hadn't succeeded. I had Millie and Nate, and even Seth seemed to be opening up. It was the Guardjinn I had issues with—well Mia and Will. Pyke had been nicer to me since going to the dog park and the graveyard.

  I just felt like the bad had far outweighed the good since I'd arrived. There were too many problems I had to deal with. I couldn't run away this time. I had chosen to stay here, so I had to make things work.

  "I'll try harder," I decided. "I have some good friendships growing and, as for the bad ones, well, I just don't need them."

  I gave myself a stern look in the mirror. "Kyra, you don't need Will. He's just some guy, and there will be others. Focus on the good things, like your friends. Forget about Will."

  I repeated the last part over and over, like a chant, until I sort of half-believed it. From now on, I was going to be happy. I was going to put more effort into the things that made me happy, and that was that.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  I sat at the dining room table with Ivan and Isabelle the next morning. Keisuke lay by my legs, chewing on an old lamb bone from last night's dinner.

  For the first time since moving here, I'd had my old nightmares again about being in the car with Malcolm, and the man in the middle of the road, but at least Will hadn't been in them. And, when I'd woken up, I'd stuck with my new outlook on life, and was trying really hard to be happy, instead of letting it get me down.

  "I figured out my ability yesterday," I said, breaking the silence.

  Ivan and Isabelle stared at me, as if not entirely sure I'd spoken.

  "Why didn't you tell us yesterday?" Isabelle asked, and I felt guilty.

  "I really just wanted to keep it to myself, you know? Really take it in." It was a lame excuse, but I couldn't think of anything else to say.

  "Well, congratulations," she said with a smile.

  "Thanks, Mum."

  "What is it?" Ivan asked, folding his paper neatly.

  "Sorry?"

  "What is your ability?"

  "Telekinesis." That was an easy answer.

  "I thought you were already tested on that," he replied.

  "I know. I was going to ask Seth about that today."

  "Wasn't he there when you used it?" Ivan raised an eyebrow, and I realised I'd slipped up.

  "No, he wasn't," I said slowly, trying to think of a good lie. "I was with Celeste."

  "Queen Celeste," Isabelle corrected.

  "Yeah, I was with Queen Celeste. We were talking about my training, and she gave me a few pointers and, well, it worked."

  I felt bad dragging Celeste in on my lie, but she'd promised to keep my secret, and I doubted Ivan would question her about anything.

  "She, uh, said my ability was pretty strong actually."

  Ivan was the happiest I'd ever seen him. He actually smiled at me; it was kind of creepy, really.

  "I'm pleased you've finally figured it out," he said. "I'm proud to have a daughter with such strong abilities."

  I think it was more of a compliment to him than me, like being my father had something to do with it, but I let it slide and spent the rest of breakfast talking to Isabelle about all the different abilities. My announcement had definitely lightened the mood, and things seemed to settle down into their usual awkwardness. At least I was used to that.

  I wanted to spend the rest of the weekend in my room with Keisuke, but Ivan wanted me to have lessons with Mia. I managed to talk him out of it with the help of Isabelle, who suggested I spend some time with Millie getting ready for the ball. It wasn't what I wanted, but Millie was a million times better than Mia, and Ivan wanted me to make a good impression on everyone so he was happy with the excuse.

  I spent a lot of time watching Millie try on dresses and shoes while her mother bought me cookies and milk. I don't think Millie minded so much that I wasn't really interested, but she appreciated me trying to make an effort.

  The weekend ended, and with the new week brought training. I was eager to get to the palace on Monday morning and get started on honing my ability, but when I arrived in the training room only Seth was there. He sat on the balancing beam, reading a book.

  "Hey, Seth." I waved giving him a genuine smile.

  "Hi, Kyra," he replied, lowering his book.

  "Where are Nate and Millie?" I asked, checking the room and the ceiling, in case Millie was floating up there.

  "Nate is busy organising the ball, he sends his apologies," Seth said, flicking his head to move the shaggy hair out of his eyes.

  "And Millie?"

  "She volunteered to help out too."

  "Sounds like her," I said. "You didn't want to help?"

  "I don't like balls," he admitted.

  "You and me both."

  "Anyway, I thought it would be better to help you training. I heard it turned out to be telekinesis."

  I cocked my head at him. "You sound surprised," I noted.

  He shrugged, in his usual Seth fashion. "It's nothing. It's just that I can usually tell what a person's ability is going to be, but none of your tests stood out." He shrugged again. "Doesn't matter. Let's see where your ability is at strength wise."

  Seth brought over a tennis ball and placed it on the ground. I sat on one side of the ball, and Seth on the other.

  "Concentrate on the ball and see if you can make it move. Any amount of movement you can."

  I stared at the tennis ball thinking "Move", but all I seemed to be doing was squinting my eyes. I tried different tactics, like not thinking about the ball moving, and then clearing my mind of thought. Nothing seemed to work. The stupid tennis ball just sat there, taunting me.

  "You're sure telekinesis is your ability," Seth said.

  "Of course it is," I replied, fists clenched. "I threw a guy across the room." I looked up. "Wait, Seth, was that a joke?"

  "People don't usually notice," he replied. "I tend to get ignored."

  "It's just because you're really quiet," I told him. "You don't talk much."

  "I like it that way," he said. "I hear things, secrets. People tend to just keep talking and not notice I'm there."

  I gave him a sly grin. "You do it on purpose so you can spy on people."

  He looked at me through his shaggy hair, and I could have sworn I saw a grin.

  "What kind of things do you hear?" I asked.

  "Lots of things," he replied. "Was there something in particular you wanted to know?"

  I stroked my chin thoughtfully. "Hmmm, I don't know." I was trying to think of a good way to test him. "What do you know about Pyke?" After the whole graveyard thing, I'd be interested to know more about him.

  "He's that Guardjinn who hangs out with Will, isn't he?"

  I flinched slightly at Will's name. "That's not a secret," I said, recovering.

  "True. Did you know that Pyke's father was Guardjinn?"

  "Yeah. Pyke showed me his grave. Pyke said he was a great warrior."

&
nbsp; "He was one of the best Guardjinn we ever had. Pyke's father was the first to be sent after you when you were first kidnapped. He chased down Malcolm and ran him off the road. They fought, but Malcolm killed him with a piece of metal to the head."

  I was stunned, silent. Suddenly, Pyke's anger toward Malcolm when they took me made sense. He wanted revenge for his father's death.

  It must have been why he was acting strange at the graveyard too. How could he even stand to be around me? I was the reason his father had died.

  "Kyra?" Seth asked. "What's wrong? Maybe I shouldn't have said anything about Malcolm—"

  "No," I said, rubbing my sweaty palms on my pants. "It's not that. It's just, when I first arrived here I was having these dreams. I was in a car with Malcolm, and Pyke was standing in the middle of the road, which made us swerve off the road and crash."

  Seth sat up, listening intently. "Have you had dreams like this often?"

  "The car crash, yes, most nights, but it changed a lot after meeting the Guardjinn. At first I couldn't see the figure on the road, but once I'd met Pyke it was him."

  "Hmmm."

  "Seth, what is it?" I asked, slightly worried.

  "I was just thinking that maybe you already had an ability all along and just didn't know it."

  "The dreams? But they're just dreams, right?"

  "Dreams that feature things that happened in real life that you didn't know about," Seth said.

  "What do you mean in real life?"

  "The dream you describe is exactly what happened on the night you were taken, from the reports I read."

  I tensed. Those things really happened? The car crash, the baby in the backseat, the man on the road?

  "I think the dreams are another ability." Seth continued. "Sort of like seeing the past, but it's not very strong. It tries to fill in the gaps with things you experience. Like, you've never met Pyke's father, but you know Pyke, and that was why it was him standing in front of the car. Your mind was filling the gap with Pyke because a part of you knew they were related."

  It sort of made sense, but mostly it seemed unbelievable. "So I have two abilities, like Millie?"