Tiger Thief

by Michaela Clarke

  Something someone had told him was edging at his memory. What was it?

  My riddle’s a doorway, my riddle bears fruit, my riddle will root out the lies from the truth.

  Sharat opened his eyes. Vasuki’s twin heads were still staring hungrily at him.

  My lower seeks earth, my upper seeks light, I dance in the wind and breathe at night.

  He cast his eyes up and caught sight of the luminous roots that still glowed in the domed ceiling of the cavern above.

  I drink with the moon and feed on the sun, within me heaven and earth become one.

  Just then Sharat remembered the Queen in her garden, shadowed by leaves, and suddenly he knew the answer to Vasuki’s riddle.

  He looked over at Aya. Her face was tense, waiting for his answer.

  “It a tree!” he said, his voice shaking. “It must be. Trees have their roots in the earth and their branches reach for the light.”

  “Yes!” said Aya, her voice light with relief. “That’s exactly what I thought. Also, Uma told me she waters her trees at night. It stops them drying up.”

  Vasuki slowly loosened its coils from around Sharat’s body. For a moment of terror Sharat felt sure they were going to eat him. Then, all of a sudden there was a shiver of magic as the snakes disappeared and in their place stood a man and woman.

  Tall and well formed, the couple had a sinuous grace. Neither of them had any hair but they were covered in fine scale-like markings that traced their skin and continued down the tight sheaths that encased their bodies. They would have been a matching pair, but the man was as pale as the moon and the woman was darkest ebony.

  The woman turned her emerald gaze to Sharat.

  “A tree is the correct answer,” she said.

  Sharat felt his shoulders drop and he threw Aya a quick smile, but he knew it wasn’t over yet.

  “How do I find the Prince of Jinnis?” he said, glancing at the man and woman on either side.

  Now that they were in human form they weren’t quite as frightening, but Sharat still shrank back as they seized his hands. Their grasp was cool and muscular.

  “Gaze into the pool and tell it your desire,” the dark woman whispered in his ear. “Only then will you find what you seek.”

  “I knew it was a magic pool!” exclaimed Aya.

  Sharat looked down. The water in the crystal pool was perfectly clear and still. Light shimmered up from the stones below and he could see Aya’s reflection behind him. As he caught her eye she gave him a quick smile of encouragement and he took a deep breath.

  “I’m looking for the Prince of Jinnis,” he said. “Where is he?”

  Just then, the water began to shiver, breaking up the surface into tiny ripples. Then, slowly, all the reflections died down and the pool became still and black, and Sharat peered into the depths. With a thrill of excitement he saw the figure of a boy appear out of the darkness and begin walking towards him.

  “There’s someone coming!” he said, glancing up.

  “Keep watching!” hissed the pale man.

  The figure in the pool strode forward. Then he lifted his head.

  Aya gasped.

  Sharat stared down at the vision in front of him. He was surprised to see that it was just a boy, perhaps only a year or so older than himself, crowned with leaves and robed in white. He leaned closer.

  “Are you the Prince of Jinnis?” he asked.

  As he spoke he could see the boy’s mouth moving.

  “What are you doing?” said Sharat urgently. “Come here! I need your help.”

  Again the boy seemed to be mouthing something.

  Sharat shifted and the boy in the pool shifted, too. It was as if he was playing. Sharat felt himself getting irritated.

  “Why won’t you answer back?” he asked. Impatiently, he reached down towards the pool, but as his fingers touched the water the image shivered and disappeared, and the surface returned to normal.

  He stepped back, frustrated.

  “It didn’t work,” he said. “He’s gone!”

  “Are you sure?” asked the dark woman.

  As Sharat gazed down into the water, the surface shimmered briefly back to life. For a moment the older boy looked back up at him through glowing eyes. Then, as he watched, his own features appeared over the top like a ghostly image, until the two faces were as one.

  Frowning, he looked from the woman to the man, and back again.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” he demanded.

  The dark woman shook her head. “It is not for us to interpret what the pool is showing you,” she said. “You must draw your own conclusions.”

  Sharat stared at her. Then he glanced back down at the water again. The pool was showing him his face, there was no doubt about that, but there was something magical about the image. For a moment a wild thought occurred to him, but no sooner had the thought arisen than his logical mind clamped down in disbelief.

  “It can’t mean I’m the Prince of Jinnis,” he blurted. “I come from the circus.”

  The pale man lifted an eyebrow. “Are you sure?” he asked.

  “Of course I’m sure,” said Sharat. “My father is the circus ringmaster. I’ve lived there all my life.”

  Aya took a sharp breath. “What about your mother?” she said, looking up at him, her eyes wide with excitement.

  Sharat felt his stomach twist. His mother. The mother he had never known. “Can jinnis and humans have children together?” he asked.

  “That depends on what shape the jinni choses,” said the dark woman. “It is not unknown for a jinni to take human form and marry into the world of men.”

  Sharat remembered Uma’s story about his mysterious mother, her connection to Emira and the fact that she’d sent them both out of the city to protect them from the Empire. His heart skipped a beat.

  “I suppose she could have been a jinni,” he said doubtfully.

  “Trussst the crystal pool,” hissed the pale man. “It never lies.”

  Slowly his body began to narrow and he began to sway.

  The dark woman smiled. “Have faith,” she whispered.

  As she spoke, a long tongue flickered between her lips.

  “They’re turning back into snakes!” gasped Aya.

  Sure enough, the two figures before them were beginning to change, their arms shrinking as their shoulders disappeared and they slid gracefully into the crystal pool. Moments later, the twin heads of Vasuki emerged, dripping with water.

  Sharat shivered as he watched the metamorphosis, but he no longer felt afraid. All he could think of now was the vision in the pool. Could it really be true? Was he the Prince of Jinnis?

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  BLESSINGS

  As Vasuki swayed before him, Sharat’s mind was in turmoil. What if he was the Prince of Jinnis? Was this why Lemo had always been so secretive about his mother? Maybe it even explained why Pias hated him so much. And of course there was Emira. All the clues were there. But still he wasn’t sure.

  “I just wish I could find some kind of proof,” he said.

  Aya looked thoughtful. “What about my mother’s rhyme,” she said. “Earthbound, breathled, firefound and watermet, brought to his fate by tiger white… You wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Emira.”

  Sharat felt his heart wrench. Emira. It was true, he wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for her. And the Queen had been quite clear. Emira was his.

  “But what about the rest of the rhyme?” he said.

  Aya looked thoughtful. “Well, we got stuck underground,” she said. “That sounds a bit like earthbound. And then you fell into the pool, which could mean watermet…”

  With a dawning realisation, Sharat remembered the rest of his journey. It was a breath of air that had led him towards this cavern. And he supposed that the light of the roots could count as fire.

  “It does all fit…” he said slowly. “But if I’m the Prince of Jinnis, why didn’t the Queen of the Forest just tell me? Surely sh
e must have known.”

  Vasuki’s heads swayed. “Some magical sssecrets cannot be revealed in words,” said the pale serpent. “In order to awaken your powers, it was necessary for you to journey into this world of magic and discover for yourself.”

  “But I don’t have any powers,” said Sharat.

  The pale head swayed as it let out a long, drawn-out hiss.

  “Patience!” he hissed. “If you are half human, your jinni ssside will not emerge until you come of age.”

  Sharat frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “To use your powers, you must first grow to be a man,” Vasuki told him. “The pool was showing you your future.”

  “My future?” said Sharat in dismay. “But I need to get Emira back now!”

  The serpent’s tongues flickered. Then the dark head swayed forward.

  “It’s not usually our job to offer advice,” she hissed. “However, allow us to remind you that time is cyclical, and ssspace, like sssound and matter, is only a question of vibration.”

  “What are you talking about?” asked Sharat.

  “She means that, given the right circumstances, any magical being can be sssummoned back from the future and forward from the past,” the pale serpent replied.

  Aya interrupted. “Are you saying Sharat can wake his jinni side early?” she said.

  “Exactly,” hissed both heads together.

  “But how?” asked Sharat.

  “In the sssame way that you would sssummon any powerful being,” the pale head told him. “With his name.”

  Aya took a sharp breath. “That’s in my mother’s rhyme as well!” she said. “Called by name from death to life.”

  Sharat frowned. “But people have been calling my name all my life,” he said. “It’s never woken any powers before.”

  “That’s only your human name,” said the pale serpent. “What we’re talking about is your jinni name.”

  “What’s that?” asked Sharat.

  “Every jinni has his true name, given to him by his mother,” explained the snake. “It is this that you must discover if you wish to be able to use your powers.”

  Sharat felt his heart sink. “But my mother is dead,” he pointed out.

  “Then you must ssseek another jinni who knows what it is,” Vasuki told him.

  “But all the jinnis are in the mines,” said Aya.

  Vasuki’s heads swung to look at her. Their eyes glittered. “So it would ssseeem!” they hissed.

  All the excitement Sharat had been feeling was draining out of him. All he wanted to do was find Emira, but it seemed his quest would never end. He looked around. The cavern was gradually darkening. “But how are we going to get to the mines?” he asked.

  “My sssister and I can take you and your friend wherever you want to go,” offered the pale head. “If you prefer, we can even take you back to the circus.”

  At the mention of the circus, Sharat felt a terrible pang of homesickness. He knew he couldn’t give up now, but perhaps he should give Aya a chance. He glanced over at her. “You don’t have to come with me if you don’t want to,” he said.

  Aya had a stubborn look on her face. “I’m not leaving you now,” she said. “I want to make sure you finish off Doctor Rookh.”

  Taking a deep breath, Sharat turned back to Vasuki.

  “All right, then,” he said. “Take us to the mines.”

  With grins of delight the serpents reared up, growing to monstrous size.

  “With pleasure!” they hissed.

  As Sharat and Aya watched in horror, the snakes’ mouths began to open wider and wider… And then they struck.

  In the blink of an eye, Sharat saw the pale head swallow Aya alive, but before he could make a sound, the dark serpent shot towards him and everything went black. Round and round he spun in a dizzying spiral, until finally he was rudely ejected out the other end and Aya was deposited next to him.

  Breathlessly he crawled to his knees as the serpents disappeared through a crack in the rock.

  Mohini was sitting at her dressing table as she watched the scene in the crystal cavern unfold in the mirror before her. With a wave of her hand the image disappeared, but her heart still fluttered with excitement. So, the circus brat was the Prince of Jinnis.

  As she sat back in her chair it all came back to her. The old witch smuggling the child out of the city. And yet Mohini had forgotten that he’d ever been born…

  She couldn’t help feeling admiration. The Queen’s magic was strong. But now the Queen’s spell was broken and he’d found his way here, just as she’d hoped he would.

  A smile of amusement twisted her lips.

  “Brought to his fate by tiger white,” she whispered.

  Pushing back the chair she stood up and threw on her cloak. Everything was going to plan, but there was no time to waste. Quickly she strode towards the door. The Prince of Jinnis would be here soon, and when he arrived she needed to be ready for him.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  MOHINI

  Feeling breathless, Sharat and Aya staggered to their feet.

  Still underground, they were trapped on a narrow stone ledge at the edge of a huge cavern that utterly dwarfed Vasuki’s crystal cave. Lapping at their feet was a murky lake that flickered with flames as bubbles of gas broke the surface. At the centre of the lake was an island of dark rock that rose almost vertically out of the water to tower far above them. Spindly bridges connected the top of the island to the cavern walls.

  Sharat noticed that the walls were pocketed with holes and criss-crossed with pulleys and ladders.

  “Those must be the mines,” he breathed.

  Aya stared out across the water. A bubble of gas broke the surface and burnt out with a flare. An acrid smell hung heavy in the air.

  “Never mind the mines,” she whispered. “Someone’s coming.”

  Trapped on the ledge, they watched helplessly as a golden canoe with a reptilian prow detached itself from the base of the island and cut through the fiery surface of the water towards them. At the helm stood a lady in red, her long black hair hanging down her back. As she brought the canoe to a standstill, the crocodile’s head turned to look at them with winking, ruby eyes.

  Aya gasped, but Sharat didn’t notice. He was staring at the woman, his face fierce with recognition.

  “Mohini!” he said.

  Mohini bowed her head.

  “Sharat,” she replied. Her eyes glittered with triumph. “At last!”

  Then, to Sharat’s surprise, she turned to look at Aya. “Well, well, well,” she said. “Look who else the cat dragged in.”

  Sharat flashed a startled look at Aya. “Do you know her?” he asked.

  “Of course I know her,” said Aya, her face rigid. “She lived with us in the Zenana.”

  “I didn’t just live with you,” said the woman reproachfully. “I used to look after you.”

  Aya’s eyes showed a mixture of anger and pain. “You betrayed my mother,” she said. “If it wasn’t for you she’d still be alive.”

  Mohini reached out to caress the girl’s face. “Dear little Aya,” she murmured. “How can you say that? Your mother was like a sister to me. I did everything I could to help her, but she just wouldn’t listen.”

  Aya pulled away in disgust and turned to Sharat.

  “How do you know her?” she asked.

  There was a scowl on his face. “This is the enchantress I told you about,” he said. “The one that lured the circus to the city and helped steal Emira.”

  Angrily, he turned to Mohini. “Where is she?” he demanded. “What have you done with her?”

  To his surprise Mohini’s eyes filled with tears. “Please, don’t be angry with me, Sharat,” she said. “I had to steal Emira. It was my only way of finding you.”

  Sharat was taken aback. “What are you talking about?” he said. “I was with you at the circus.”

  “Yes,” said Mohini, “but I didn’t know who you were at the circus.�
�

  Sharat began to feel uneasy. “What do you mean, who I am?”

  Mohini smiled. “Surely you must know by now,” she said. “If you’ve made it to the shores of this lake there’s only one person you can be.” She leaned forward. “Earthbound, breathled, firefound and watermet… You’re the Prince of Jinnis.”

  As he caught a waft of her perfume, Sharat’s heart skipped a beat. Mohini knew!

  Just then, Aya broke in.

  “Why would you be looking for the Prince of Jinnis?” she demanded, eyeing Mohini with suspicion.

  A look of triumph crossed Mohini’s face. “That’s easy,” she said. “The Prince of Jinnis is my son.”

  Sharat took a sharp breath. “Your son?” he gasped. He was so shocked that he forgot to keep his secret. “But how can I be your son?” he said, staring up at Mohini in disbelief.

  Mohini’s eyes glittered as she leaned down towards him. “Haven’t you guessed yet?” she said. “I’m a jinni too.”

  Sharat’s head spun as her scent enveloped him. He stepped back. “But I thought my mother was dead,” he said.

  Mohini shook her head. “That’s just what I wanted you to think,” she said. “When I made Uma smuggle you and Emira out of the city, I had to make sure that nobody knew who you were, so that Rookh wouldn’t find you, but I always knew that one day your tiger would lead you home to free us all.”

  As Mohini spoke Sharat felt a strange mixture of emotions. Smuggled out of the city … that was exactly what Uma had told him had happened. Then something occurred to him. “But if you’re my mother, why didn’t Lemo tell me?” he said.

  A smug look crossed Mohini’s face. “Lemo didn’t know,” she said. “They don’t call me the mistress of illusion for nothing.”

  Feeling dizzy, Sharat stared at the enchantress. Everything made sense, but was it really true? Could she really be his mother? As he took in another breath of her perfume he felt a shiver of excitement, but Aya wasn’t convinced.

  “If you’re Sharat’s mother then what’s his jinni name?” she snapped.

  Mohini glanced at her. “I’m afraid I can’t say,” she said. “If I wake Sharat’s jinni side too soon, Rookh will be able to enslave him, just like he enslaved me. Then none of us will ever escape.” She leaned closer. “I’m sure you wouldn’t want that, would you?” she breathed, with a hint of threat in her voice.