‘Good morning, David,’ said Amurru.
Kora didn’t speak, but absently waved her hand towards the empty space next to David. A lounge chair appeared, covered in bright silk cushions. And a little round table with what she had come to know as David’s favourite drink in the centre of it. An icy cold chocolate milkshake, with double malt.
‘You’ve got dark rings under your eyes.’
Kora said nothing, but Amurru nodded. ‘The Empress did not sleep well last night, David,’ he said. ‘As you know, many things worry her.’
‘Has something else happened?’ asked David.
Kora shook her head. ‘We have no news of my father, if that is what you mean. But I know that is not what you came to talk to me about. You wish to know if I have thought any more on how we can discover what happened to your father’s body?’
‘I know this is not a good time for you,’ replied David. ‘But I have to know, Kora. I can’t stop thinking about it.’
She let out a long, sad sigh. ‘My thoughts have been heavily occupied trying to come up with a plan to help my own father.’
‘But even if you could somehow get to Vennum without being harnessed, what could you do?’
‘I know, I know. Genies cannot do anything to a human, or even a filthy half-human like Vennum!’
‘No,’ said David, slowly. ‘Genies can’t hurt a human,’ he turned to meet Amurru’s knowing yellow gaze, and his voice rose excitedly, ‘but another human can!’
Kora stared at him. ‘What are you saying, David? That you would fight Vennum?’ She flung one arm up into the air, bangles jangling loudly. The glow from the soft lamps reflected off the jewels spread across her fingers, sending colourful rainbows dancing across the ceiling of the globe. ‘You have no idea what you would be up against.’
Amurru coughed wheezily. ‘David makes a valid point, Empress.’
Her eyes flashed to Amurru. ‘And that point is?’
‘The point, Empress, is that perhaps the two problems are not mutually exclusive.’
David stared at Amurru. ‘What do you mean?’
Amurru blinked slowly at him. ‘There are two problems to be overcome. The first is how to discover your father’s fate.’
‘Yes.’ David nodded. ‘And the second problem is how to help Kora’s father.’
Kora leapt to her feet and resumed her pacing. ‘I see what you are getting at, Amurru.’
‘What is he getting at?’
Amurru nodded, satisfied. He leaned back in his chair to watch quietly, the hint of a tiny smile touching the edges of his eyes.
‘We’ll need a plan.’ Kora’s voice rose with excitement and hope. ‘Something radical, that he could never suspect.’
‘Who will never suspect?’ asked David.
Kora began to pace faster as her mind whirled with ideas.
David was getting agitated. He leaned forward in his seat and his voice rose. ‘Kora?’ He turned to Amurru, but Amurru simply blinked at him.
Finally, David sprang to his feet. ‘Will somebody please tell me what is going on?’
a window of hope
‘Let me get this straight.’ David stood between Kora and Amurru. ‘You will find out what happened to my dad by some sort of time travel portal thing.’
‘I will attempt,’ interrupted Kora, ‘to open a viewing portal back through time.’
‘Right,’ David nodded slowly. ‘And that amount of power will bring Vennum and then you want me to kill him?’
A slow smile spread across Kora’s face. ‘If you kill him David, then so be it. But I would not ask that of you. All you have to do is make him unconscious.’
David blew out a long breath. ‘And then what?’
‘Rihando can take him to the Slaytians. They can use their mind power to direct his thoughts into unharnessing all the genies and then Rihando will be able to banish Vennum from Genesia.’
‘And the Slaytians would do that?’
‘For a price. But it does not matter now. With Atym harnessed my father will pay what they ask.’
‘What about all the other genies that Vennum has harnessed?’ David asked. ‘Are they just going to stand around and watch while I knock Vennum out?’
Kora shook her head. ‘No, they will not. Some of them are rebels who are on Vennum’s side by choice and Vennum will have wished for the others to protect him.’
David pushed his hand through his long, messy hair. ‘Should be a piece of cake then, huh?’
‘You are right to be worried.’ Amurru spoke quietly. ‘This will not be easy.’
‘And you are sure that a portal back through time is the only way of finding out what happened to my father?’
‘Yes,’ Kora nodded. ‘But it has not been done successfully before.’
‘But even just trying to do it will use enough power to draw Vennum?’
‘Without a doubt!’
‘How much time will we have before he comes?’
‘Normally only a few seconds, but I have been thinking about that.’ Kora began to pace her globe. ‘If I can open the portal, then we may be able to actually step through it. If I close it after us then Vennum will not be able to see it or follow it, but he will be able to sense the use of power and be waiting for us when we get back.’
‘What you suggest, Empress, is extremely dangerous. What if your power is so depleted that you cannot reopen the portal to get back?’ Amurru wheezed. ‘And even if you are successful you may not recover from such a drain on your power. You will certainly be weak and exhausted upon your return.’
Kora’s dark eyes fixed on David. ‘That’s what the human is for. And we should, hopefully, have the element of surprise on our side.’
David took over pacing the globe. ‘So if the portal works, and we don’t get stuck back in time, then we will return to find Vennum waiting for us with his army of harnessed genies?’
‘Yes.’
‘And you will be exhausted and possibly of no help at all?’
‘Yes.’
‘And Vennum will want to kill me so he can harness you?’
‘Yes.’ She couldn’t help but smile this time at the look on his face.
‘And you are sure, really sure, there is no other way of finding out what happened to my dad?’
‘No other way.’
David stopped pacing to stand directly in front of her. ‘Then I guess we have a plan.’
With those few words the heavy weight around her heart began to lift a little. For the first time since she had been sent to Earth she felt she had reason to hope. It may be a long shot and they may not be successful, but at least she was finally going to be doing something. Something that had the chance to free Genesia of Vennum, and that was worth any risk. She thought she noticed a smug smile flit across Amurru’s face but it was gone before he spoke.
‘You must consider this carefully,’ said Amurru. ‘You will only get one chance at getting this right.’
David plonked back down on his chair. ‘I guess you had better tell me everything you can about Vennum.’
‘I can do better than that,’ Kora grinned. She waved her hand and a screen appeared. ‘I’ll show you!’
memories
Amurru shuffled over to sit down right next to David. ‘A genie trick,’ he explained. ‘They can project a memory onto a screen.’
Kora smiled to herself at the look on David’s face. Humans were easy to impress. She quieted her mind. It didn’t take a lot of magic to do it but it did require concentration. Luckily, although she had been only seven at the time, it was one of the most vivid memories from her childhood. It was the day she had performed her first royal duty and seen her first real human. And the memorable day had ended dramatically with the birth of her baby brother.
Her heart sang as an image of her father appeared. He was looking at her with such love in his eyes.
‘Is that your father, Kora?’
Her throat felt tight so she just nodded.
‘It’s strange,’ said David. ‘I can actually see he adores you.’
‘You are seeing a memory,’ explained Amurru. ‘So you are seeing the emotions of that memory as well. Although you are also correct — the Emperor does adore her.’
Kora stared at her father on the screen. How well she remembered that day. It was the first time she had been out on official duty with her father, and she had been so proud. Her father was dressed in his formal red coat with the Genesian royal emblem embossed in gold on the front. Kora had also been wearing the royal emblem that day, embossed into the golden scarf that had held back her long, shiny hair.
It was a Genesian custom that every month her parents would travel together through the streets of the city on the royal flying carpet, waving to the people of Genesia, both to be seen and to see for themselves that all was well in their beloved city. This day her mother, who was heavily pregnant with Atym, had decided not to go, and her father had taken her along instead.
Kora sat on the front of the carpet, then snuggled back against her father’s chest as they took off from the palace. It was an exhilarating way to travel.
Beside her David gasped as he watched the changing images on the screen. From the palace the carpet whizzed up and out over the rooftops. It was hard for her to imagine what it must be like for him, seeing Genesia for the first time. The glittering golden, domed rooftops glinting in the warm sunshine, and the immaculate paved streets below. The slim golden towers of the palace stretched far into the sky, reaching so high that puffy, white clouds were clustered around the tips. On the rooftop of the palace itself were stone figurines of tiny, winged demons that periodically sprang to life, travelling about the roof in fast little bursts shooting flaming arrows into the air.
Formidable stone walls surrounded the palace’s extensive gardens, and sculptures of famous Genesians were carved into each pillar. At the entrance to the palace compound solid gold arches curved majestically over gleaming, polished wooden gates.
The blurring images on the screen slowed a little as the flying carpet soared down and along the city streets, just above the heads of the people. The roads were paved with red and yellow cobblestones, and filled with genies that shimmered in and out of view as they went about their business.
There were buildings lining the streets that drew the crowds, but unlike humans, Genesians had no need to shop. Most of the buildings were meeting places where genies gathered to socialise, eat and be entertained.
They had only zoomed down a few streets when a deafening alarm blared from the screen and genies appeared and disappeared in coloured mist like firecrackers.
‘The city alarm goes off when there is trouble at the gates,’ said Amurru. ‘The Empress is showing you the first time we met Vennum.’
The image on the screen shimmered and dissolved, and in that moment they were no longer hovering in the bustling city streets. ‘We shimmered instantly to the city gates when the alarm sounded,’ said Kora.
Stretching away on either side into the distance were the towering, solid silver walls that protected the city. Kora glanced at David. ‘That wall you can see surrounds the entire city, and is the edge of the Genesian Protection Zone. There is only one set of gates into the city, and this is it.’ She waved her hand at the imposing barred gates that stood closed in front of them, preventing the small family on the other side from entering the city. ‘What you can see beyond those gates is the beginning of the Genesian wilderness.’
A cleared, barren strip of land stretched for several kilometres on the other side of the gates, beyond which the edge of the forest could be seen. Thick, black clouds were gathering in the sky and lay heavily over the forest. They spread darkly from the horizon to the city’s edge where they banked up as if against an invisible barrier. In spite of the storm brewing all around, the vast circle of sky above the city remained a stunning azure blue, and the people in the streets below basked in the warm, golden sunshine.
Hundreds of guards in bright red coats stood in front of the city’s barred gates. David pointed at the family standing outside the gates. ‘Who are they?’
A teenage boy stood close by a tall, dark-haired man. An unconscious woman lay in the man’s arms.
‘The boy is Vennum. He is with his human mother, and his Genesian father, Scarvenn.’
Scarvenn dropped to one knee in front of the Emperor. ‘I beg of you, Emperor, to give permission for the Slaytians to save my dying wife. Their forest medicines are my last and only hope.’
The Emperor’s face looked like it was carved from stone. ‘Already you have been banished from Genesia, and now you dare not only to return, but to also bring a human here. Both are crimes punishable by death.’
‘I have already suffered so much, and my family is all I have left.’ Scarvenn glanced at his son. ‘We cannot live without her.’
‘Her death is inevitable.’ The Emperor’s voice was grave. ‘All human lives are short.’
‘If our friendship ever meant anything to you,’ implored Scarvenn, ‘then you would make this one exception.’
The Emperor stood taller. ‘You dare to speak to me of friendship after you tried to trick the Imperial Empress into marrying you?’
‘Scarvenn wanted to marry Kora’s mother many years ago,’ whispered Amurru. ‘If he had succeeded he would be the Emperor of Genesia now.’
David frowned. ‘So Kora’s mother is the Empress by birthright?’
The memories paused on the screen. ‘She is,’ said Kora. ‘That is why she is called the Imperial Empress. But under Genesian law, once married both the husband and wife rule equally.’
Kora resumed the memory viewing.
Kora’s heavily pregnant mother stepped into view and everyone looked towards her.
‘Imperial Empress,’ said Scarvenn. ‘You have shown me great mercy in the past. I beg this one last request.’
Kora’s mother hesitated, her wild hair shimmering around her as she contemplated the scene in front of her. And then the woman in Scarvenn’s arms coughed. Blood trickled out of the corner of her mouth and her eyes fluttered open. She reached out a grasping hand for Vennum and he went to his mother, a terrified son watching his mother die. She looked weakly from Vennum to his father. ‘I love you both,’ she coughed again. ‘So much.’ She drew a last rasping breath and then fell limply back. The gold bands around Scarvenn’s wrists and ankles that harnessed him to his human wife vanished. She was dead.
‘She was the first human I had ever seen,’ said Kora quietly. ‘And then, still so young, she just died.’
The image on the screen continued. Vennum and his father were both looking down at the dead woman and then Scarvenn lifted his head and David shuddered. Tears streaked Scarvenn’s face, but there was a torturous blaze in his eyes that was fearsome. ‘You have taken from me, denied me, everything I have ever wanted.’ Slowly, purposefully, he looked at the Imperial Empress and then his eyes fell and lingered on Kora. ‘It will be your turn now, Emperor, to know loss and grief.’
Vennum glared resentfully through the gates and reached for his father. He put his arms around him and they both fell back in pain and shock.
Vennum clutched at the blistering purple burn on his arm and his father once again had glowing bands at his wrists and ankles. Everybody was dumbfounded, and then Vennum and his parents simply vanished.
‘A half-human, half-genie cannot harness,’ spoke Rihando, in disbelief.
‘Well, this one can.’ The Emperor raked a hand across his face. ‘Take an army, Rihando.’ The Emperor hesitated for a moment, and looked at his wife and then at Kora. ‘Kill Scarvenn for his treason and banish his half-blood child from Genesia.’
Rihando bowed his head to his Emperor and then he, too, vanished.
The screen went blank and with a wave of Kora’s hand it disappeared.
‘So what happened to Scarvenn?’ asked David. ‘Was he killed?’
‘We do not know. No one has ever reported killing him but he has
never been seen again, either.’ She shrugged. ‘I guess he either died or Vennum wished him unharnessed.’
‘And now Vennum wants the revenge that his father promised,’ said David.
‘It is more than a want.’ Amurru spoke quietly. ‘It has become his life’s obsession to watch all of Genesia suffer the way that he has.’
‘He was just a kid,’ said David. ‘Not much older than us, and now … he is a madman.’
Kora stiffened. ‘He is insane,’ she said. ‘And he becomes more evil with every passing day.’
‘Watching that memory of you with your father, I can see how much he loves you.’ David sighed. ‘And yet he sent you here to Earth.’
‘I know that my parents and the High Council were just trying to protect me, but I would have given anything to stay at home on Genesia.’
‘It is not all bad, Empress,’ wheezed Amurru. ‘And you would have had to come to Earth in two years’ time anyway for your Earth duty.’
David rubbed a hand across his chin. ‘I don’t suppose any genie ever wants to come to Earth.’
‘No, not the royal genies and certainly not the banished ones.’
‘So all royal genies are sent to Earth?’
‘The High Council of Genesia usually sends us in our sixteenth year. They believe that we must first learn how to serve to learn how to rule.’ She sighed. ‘It is a lesson they like to see learnt young and learnt well.’
‘What about the other genies that are banished here?’
‘They are our worst criminals, who have been sentenced to death,’ said Kora, ‘but if the Emperor intervenes to grant them mercy, they can instead be banished to Earth for the remainder of their lives. That is the reason so many genies are described as mean and evil in your old stories and legends.’ She shrugged. ‘They are criminals.’
‘So Scarvenn was a criminal?’
‘Yes. He went to the Slaytians to ask them to use their mind power to influence my mother. It is a most serious crime to negotiate with a Slaytian without royal approval, but to be caught attempting to have a Slaytian influence the thoughts of an Imperial Empress, that is treason.’
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