Her One Wish

by Marie Hall

  Her One Wish

  Copyright 2014 Marie Hall

  Cover Art by Croco

  Formatted by Author’s HQ

  www.MarieHallWrites.blogspot.com

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  This is a work of fiction. All characters, places and events are from the author’s imagination and should not be confused with fact. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, events or places is purely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form, whether by printing, photocopying, scanning or otherwise without the written permission of the publisher, Marie Hall, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in the context of reviews.

  This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this ebook with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. Thank you for respecting the hard work of all people involved with the creation of this ebook.

  Applications should be addressed in the first instance, in writing, to Marie Hall.

  Unauthorized or restricted use in relation to this publication may result in civil proceedings and/or criminal prosecution.

  The author and illustrator have asserted their respective rights under the Copyright Designs and Patent Acts 1988 (as amended) to be identified as the author of this book and illustrator of the artwork.

  Published in 2014 by Marie Hall, Honolulu, Hawaii, United States of America

  Table of Contents

  About this book

  Dedication

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Author Notes

  About Marie Hall

  Marie Hall Books

  Her One Wish

  Nixie is a genie with a problem. She's just killed her master. Kind of a big no-no for her kind, but really, what did the ruling council of genies expect her to do? It's not like she was given a handbook on how to be a "proper genie." She was never even supposed to wind up in Kingdom. She'd been born on Earth, Chicago specifically. Her father also happens to be Tristan Black, which, yeah, kind of an issue. Now they've thrown the book at her, locking her away in the most wild, most hidden part of Kingdom and only the bravest could ever have a hope of saving her from a prison of perpetual darkness.

  Robin Hood is a man on a mission. The tales have gotten this "hero" all wrong. He may not be the altruistic knight of yore; in fact, he might even be attempting a coup of his realm.

  But as we all know, in Kingdom, things are rarely as they seem...

  Dedication

  To Ginger, for helping me figure out the final pesky plot point to this book. To Rayale, for always telling me you’re my biggest fan. Seriously, I’m your fan! To Philip, for not being afraid to be honest, even if you thought it would hurt my feelings. Which it totally didn’t. Pshaw! To Sonaly, you’re a superstar, woman. And to Tamika, you made me dig in deep, girl!

  Also, a great big thank you to you guys. My readers, you’re the only reason why Kingdom still lives on…

  Chapter 1

  “No! You can’t have her. No!” Paz screamed, wrapping her arms around her slim daughter’s shoulders.

  Jinni stepped forward. “Please, if I may.” He held up a hand, glancing between his daughter and the council of genies.

  Standing in silence, Nixie clung to her mother’s arms, unable to believe that this could actually be happening. She’d just turned eighteen. She’d had plans to go to college, to linger in the world of mortals until she died. She’d grown to love Chicago as surely as she loved her family. The fast-paced frenetic lifestyle of a big city appealed to her.

  Kingdom had been nothing more than fairytales to her, fun and beautiful and exciting, but not a place she knew or understood all that well. A place where she and her parents would visit on occasion, but Kingdom had never been a world she’d wanted to call her own. Not if it meant being forced to give up her friends and her family.

  Her mother’s immortality was secured because of her binding vow with her father, who just so happened to be a golem. Which meant he could never age. And since he couldn’t, neither could she. But Mom and Dad were her only family members who couldn’t. Her uncles were mortal and so was she.

  She’d known choosing the mortal world over Kingdom would mean she’d age as any mortal would, and would eventually die, but there was something about the swiftness of life, the unknown of it all that had inspired her. Mortals lived their lives to the fullest always understanding each day might be their last.

  Father had taught her that, and she’d come to accept it as fact. Mom hadn’t been happy with her decision, but she’d understood it at least.

  Nixie’s life had been mapped out, and then she’d gotten the summons—an order that had brought her strong, handsome father almost to his knees.

  “What?” the bushy-haired, dark-eyed council leader asked with the acerbic command of one not used to having his judgment questioned.

  Nixie felt like she was listening to the world underwater, disbelieving what was about to happen to her. All she could do was pat her mother’s back and stare blankly at the faces of three men she’d never met before tonight.

  In fact, she’d never even known a council of genies existed. Or that there was a world comprised of nothing but glittering stardust, from the marble-like floors of the palace, to the star-cloaked dome of the ceiling. Though Dad had told her many tales of Kingdom, he’d never gone into great detail when it came to the place where he’d been born.

  Instinctively she’d always known that topic had been a sore one for him.

  The beauty and majesty of this place both awed and terrified her.

  Jinni stepped forward. “My daughter knows nothing of this world, nothing of magic. We taught her none of it. To summon her thusly, to force her enslavement of—”

  The bushy haired Babak lifted his jewel-encrusted hand and fixed a stern stare on his plump brown face.

  “It is not your decision to make, Jinni. Nor can—” His nostrils flared when her father attempted to interject— “You change the decision of the council, even with the cries of a father’s love.”

  “Then what about a mother’s love?” Paz asked with a tear-stained face. “What then? Will you listen to me? Our daughter was raised a mortal; she’s not been prepared for the life you ask of her. Please, please, I beg you. I will drop to my knees if I must.”

  Jinni laid a hand on Paz’s shoulder and squeezed gently, but his deep brown eyes were full of so much heavy remorse that Nixie knew all hope was lost.

  Babak inhaled deeply, glancing right and then left at the other two genies before quietly saying, “We are not without heart. I can assure you of that. But our laws are strict and when they are broken”—his glance drilled into her father’s face—“the penalty is swift and severe. I promise you that this directive is far preferable to the alternative.”

  Paz swiped at her cheeks. Nixie wished she could feel a tenth of the emotion her parents did. But her insides still felt cold and numb, her brain sluggish to comprehend that she’d been cursed for something she’d had no say in.

  Simply being born.

  “I won’t accept that
. Danika!” Paz shrilled. “Come, fairy godmother.”

  A brilliant surge of blue light pulsed like a wave through the room.

  Babak’s lips thinned, but again his voice sounded more than patient. Almost sad, really. Which made Nixie wonder if he even wanted to do this at all.

  “Your godmother cannot enter here. We mean your daughter no harm. In fact, our terms are more than generous—”

  Paz snorted, glaring hotly at the three stone-faced council members. “Generous.” She spat the word, her hands balled into fists, and she practically vibrated with her anger as she said, “You call fifty years of servitude generous? Her uncles will be dead then. Her friends dead and long gone. That is not generous, that is cruel.”

  Rivet, the youngest of the council with brilliant yellow eyes, nodded his head. “We understand your pain—”

  “You couldn’t,” Paz snapped, taking a step forward, as though meaning to rush them. But Father wrapped his arms around her shoulders and dragged her into his side.

  Rivet nodded. “Believe us when we say we do not do this out of malice. But should your daughter deny her birthright, she would be cursed as Jinni was, and this time, there will be no coming back from it.”

  Apparently the council had been none too happy when Danika had figured out a loophole to ensure her father’s survival from the vanishing curse. A new rule had been penned into the Book of Genies afterward, forever banning the use of golem bodies as a substitute for the unsustainability of their own.

  Nixie clenched her molars, finally feeling the stupor of shock beginning to fade, giving way to the certainty that no matter how much her parents pleaded her case, by the end of the day she’d be a slave as surely as her father had once been.

  “You cannot deny that our terms are more than fair for a half-breed child. Normal servitude lasts a hundred years; we’ve cut the time in half. What more could you ask?” Cyrus—the third head of council—asked. With his long gray beard that trailed past his kneecaps and the brilliant sapphire of his eyes, there could be no mistaking the man for any other.

  Jinni glanced at Nixie and inside them she read something different this time. There was still the unbearable sadness, but there was also a fine thread of determination lancing through it.

  “Then may we haggle terms?”

  “Jinni?” Paz glanced up at her husband, a frown marring her beautiful face. Sounding distressed by her belief that Jinni could give up so easily.

  Kissing her temple, he nodded. “My starflower, you know as well as I that our Nixie must do this. She cannot be made to endure the torment I did. We can do fifty years when the alternative is death.”

  “Mom.” Nixie stepped into the circle of her family’s arms, coming to the very same conclusion her father had. “You know it’s true. We can’t fight this.”

  Paz’s lips wobbled as she framed her daughter’s face with her calloused palm. “Oh, my heart, you know we would never want this for you. Your friends, your family, your life. I’m so sorry, Nix, we didn’t know. I swear to you, we didn’t know.”

  And though Nixie’s heart trembled with fear, she was strong in the face of it. Determined not to let on to her family how devastating this blow was. Eric, her boyfriend, would never know why she’d left. Her parents would probably make up some excuse, but really, anything they said would hurt him. Being gone fifty years, they’d likely tell him she’d died, which, in essence, would be the truth.

  Her mortal life was gone and once her term as genie ended, any desire to go back to Earth would be gone with it. Eric was forever lost to her now.

  Only her uncles would learn the truth of her circumstances, but even they would never see her again. Choking down the tears, she gave her mother a tremulous smile.

  “I’m strong, Mom. And you’re immortal. Fifty years for us is nothing. And now we can all live in Kingdom when my time has ended. Isn’t that what you always wanted?”

  A single tear tracked down the corner of Paz’s left eye. “Not like this, love. Never like this.”

  Kissing her mother’s fingertips that lingered close to her lips, Nixie braced herself and stepped out of the comfort of their arms. Soon she’d need to learn to survive without their support.

  Babak’s voice sounded thick as he spoke. “Jinni, you wish terms. I cannot promise you anything, but I will hear them.”

  With a final loving look at his daughter, Jinni turned toward the council. “Let her be free to decide what should and shouldn’t be followed one month a year, for the next fifty years.”

  “No.” Rivet’s brows rose. “That is not the genie way and well you know it. A genie’s will is to serve his or her master always.”

  Cyrus patted the younger man’s shoulder. “And yet the poor child was not raised for this life, Rivet. Nixie was born and raised amongst a different breed of people, taught that their will is their own and no one else’s. To be a proper genie she must still feel a sense of self-worth. We cannot honor a month a year, Jinni, but I believe that we can all agree that one day a year can be her own.”

  Nixie gasped, grabbing her chest. Trying and failing not to show her mother how shattering that blow was. One day out of an entire year to feel like a free person, her own person. To not be told what to do, to not be bartered and sold over and over and over, to do and say things that would fly in the face of her own personal convictions because she could not control herself…

  She bit her tongue hard enough to make herself bleed.

  A mother’s intuition was such that even though she made no noise, though she did not move or bat an eyelash, Paz was once again by Nixie’s side and pulling her in for a tight hug.

  “I love you daughter, I love you,” she whispered in her ear, patting her back gently.

  Rivet’s lips were thinned, but Babak was nodding thoughtfully. “It is most peculiar,” he muttered, “to be sure. But”—his brown eyes found Nixie’s—“not against our rules. We have not many half-breeds to call our own, in a case such as these, rules are meant to be bent, just a little.”

  Tapping his fingers on the sparkling bench of starlight, Rivet finally sighed. “This is not how we do things. We run the council with truth and laws that have been handed down to us from immemorial to eternity...” His full lips thinned. “And yet, Cyrus is right, it would not be fair to thrust you like a lamb to the slaughter into your new life. I agree then, one day a year your will is your own.”

  Jinni turned to Nixie and gave her a short smile. One that spoke volumes. That said he’d tried, and he hoped it would be enough for her. That he loved her. And that he was so sorry.

  Nixie closed her eyes. She could not go home to try and set things right. They’d all known in the early hours of the morning when the missive had arrived by falling star on their kitchen table that their lives would be forever changed.

  She could only hope that Eric would eventually forgive her. And that, hopefully, someday he’d be happy again. All dreams of a wedding and blond-headed children died within her. It could never be now.

  Taking a deep breath she turned toward her parents and held out her arms. “Then I guess this is goodbye.”

  Paz threw herself into Nix’s arms and planted tons of kisses upon her daughter’s face. “I love you, Nixie. I do, I love you. Your father and I will begin our preparations to move to Kingdom and—”

  “Mom.” She grabbed her mother’s shoulders, gently pushing her back into the arms of her father. “You know you can’t. My uncles will not come and you cannot leave them. We both know that they’ll need someone to watch over them someday and it has to be you.” She swallowed hard, steeling herself to say the next words. “When they are…” She stuttered and had to clear her throat. “Gone”—she swallowed hard—“then you come. But family comes first.”

  “Nixie, you are my family.” Her mother rested her head against her father’s broad chest.

  Jinni looked absolutely destroyed. His eyes were rimmed in red and a heavy beard shaded his jaw. His fingers dug into Paz’s
right shoulder, but it seemed to Nixie he didn’t do it to hold her mother up, but rather himself.

  She’d never seen her parents so distressed before. Realizing there was something she could do for them, even if it was only a very small thing, she squared her shoulders and gave them a bright smile.

  She would not allow them to see her go away sad. Their last memory of her would be happy. It was the only gift she had left to give them.

  Plastering on a bright, cheery smile she said, “Mama, yo te quiero con todo mi corazon.” She spoke the words of love in Spanish, her mother’s native tongue. “But it is time to go. You guys take care of each other, and I will see you in fifty years.”

  Paz shuddered.

  Nixie knew as well as her mother that fifty Kingdom years was several centuries, possibly even thousands of years, on Earth. She’d never been good at math, but it was a long, long time.

  Taking one final deep breath of free air, she turned toward the council and held out her wrists. “I am ready.”

  Cyrus, the kindest of the three, stood. His snow-white robe and beard against his dark skin made him seem more like a wizard than a genie. She felt a little like laughing at her absurd thought.

  But she kept her amusement in check because she knew her parents would fear she’d gone over the deep end if she didn’t. Clearly she was still in shock.

  To go from eating breakfast and thinking about which classes she’d be taking in college next semester to the next second being told for the next fifty years her life would be one of bondage and servitude, a lesser person might have already snapped by now.

  “I am sorry, child. But you were born of a great line, and though your father was cast out for his misdeeds, it does not exempt the child from her responsibilities to her people. We all carry the heavy burden of who we are.” He flipped his wrists, revealing his own set of golden cuffs.