by Joshua Khan
Lily shook her head. “I’m not suicidal. I don’t travel well. Spent most of this journey being seasick.”
But when she was in the Twilight, she did sometimes catch glimpses of deeper kingdoms, and their inhabitants. More than once she felt—no, she knew—she was being watched.
She finished her third cup of sherbert and paused to examine the empty vessel. The bronze was engraved with minute stars, the rim inlaid with tissue-thin silver. She had nothing like this back in Castle Gloom.
She looked at her tiara, now resting on the table. It was the most extravagant piece of jewelry she had, yet it paled in comparison with the other treasures littering the room.
Lily cleared her throat. She wasn’t here to appraise K’leef’s wealth. “I’m sorry about your father. Mine always spoke highly of him. Said he was a man of honor, and that was rare nowadays.”
K’leef twisted one of his many rings. “He taught me all I know.”
Lily sat down next to him. “What happened? Your letters didn’t mention him being ill.”
K’leef became grim. “The war with Lumina, it was too much for him. He was old, Lily; he shouldn’t have gone out on campaign. But he was proud. I think he wanted one last glorious day.”
“And that he got. He defeated the duke. I heard he burned the Silver City to the ground.”
“Exaggeration, Lily. You shouldn’t believe all the tales.” He looked at her. “I don’t.”
“What’s that mean?”
K’leef’s dark eyes narrowed, and Lily shifted, suddenly uncomfortable under the gaze of her friend.
“I was the first one who showed you how to use magic, remember? In the Shadow Library.”
“Of course I remember,” Lily replied. She, K’leef, and Thorn had snuck down to the library in Castle Gloom. She hadn’t believed, not truly, that she had any sorcery in her blood, but on her initial attempt, she’d summoned a ghost: her recently deceased puppy, Custard.
That was her magic: control of the darkness.
“I owe you everything, K’leef.”
“Now look at you,” he said. “The witch queen. The one everyone is afraid of. But there’s no reason to be, is there?”
She didn’t like the way he was peering at her so intently. It was as if he was afraid. But of what? Everyone had a little darkness in them.
She got up and inspected the book with the metal pages. The letters, ancient Djinnic, were inlaid silver and gold, but her eyes were drawn to the jeweled bird with outspread wings on the cover. “This is the Agni Kitab, isn’t it?”
K’leef grinned. “Trust you to know that.”
“It’s powerful magic. You’ve come a long way yourself since you were in Gehenna.”
He blushed and flames flickered around his ears. “I’m working at it. Sa’if’s helping. But I’ll never be as good as him, or any of my brothers.”
“Come on, K’leef. The Agni Kitab isn’t for beginners. You’ve got a lot going for you. You’re a sorcerer, a prince, and my best friend.”
“Best friend? Really?” K’leef smirked. “Shall I tell Thorn, or will you?”
“One of them,” Lily corrected, “and Thorn is one of yours, so we’re all equal best friends.”
K’leef was so like her. He and she came from the same world. He had magic in his blood, as she did, and so they understood each other. They were well versed in the houses, who the enemies were, and who could be an ally. They knew that the Six Princes had made the world the way it was and that they, as their descendants, were duty-bound to look after it.
Thorn was her other best friend because he was none of those things. His knowledge of his family tree went as far back as his grandpa and no further. He didn’t care about the past, nor much about the future beyond what was for dinner, and he laughed and mocked and acted as though he didn’t have a care in the world. He didn’t have much respect for—or fear of—the great families, magic, or the Six Princes. It was refreshing.
She frowned, annoyed at herself for comparing K’leef to Thorn. There was no need to, and yet she couldn’t help herself. Why?
She picked up the sherbert jug, wanting to think about something else, something safer. “This is Luminean, isn’t it? Booty from the war?”
“We came back with a hundred wagons of treasure, some of it magical. The duke gave them to us in exchange for not destroying the Prism Palace. A pile of treasure and a few…noble guests.”
“Hostages, you mean?” That was the usual deal. Nothing was more effective in making nobles behave than holding a few of their kin. “Anyone I know?”
K’leef’s eyes brightened. “Oh, yes.”
“You have to be joking. Him?”
“He’s engaged to one of my sisters, Nargis.”
Lily laughed. “That’s his third engagement in a year.”
“Third?” asked K’leef. “So it’s true he was betrothed to a troll?”
“Dott, daughter of the troll king, so an actual princess. The wedding was all set and moving along nicely until the king accidently ate one of the heralds. Thought he was one of the appetizers. We should have realized what was about to happen when he poured gravy over the poor man’s head.” She couldn’t help smiling at the memory. “It was quite funny.”
K’leef looked more queasy than amused. “You’re House Shadow. Your sense of ‘funny’ is different from most.”
“You had to be there.” Lily snapped her fingers and reached into her pocket. “Almost forgot. I have a gift for your brother. I probably won’t get a chance to see him till after the coronation, so can I give it to you?” She held out a small, gem-encrusted book.
“What is it?”
“A Djinnic spell book, The Thoughts of Niran. How it ended up in the Shadow Library, I’ll never know. It has a spell that allows you to create waterproof fire. Useful when trying to get a campfire going in the rain, I suppose.”
“One of Niran’s books? A rare treasure.” He took it gingerly. “Should I wear gloves to handle this?”
Lily laughed. “Beware of Shadows bearing gifts?”
“The story of your great-aunt Gorgon Shadow has spread all the way south. Who was it—her fiancé?”
“Ex-fiancé. She was in love with Sir Ebon, a famous sorcerer, but he ended up marrying some golden-haired girl from House Solar. Lady Gorgon gave him a spell book as a wedding gift, to show there were no hard feelings. The book was old, the pages stuck together, so Ebon had to lick his fingers to turn each page. Started reading it that night, and was dead by morning.”
“Killed by the poisonous ink,” added K’leef. He drummed his fingers on the small book. “Your family has a particular reputation, hasn’t it?”
“We’re no worse than any other noble house. Better in many ways, actually. We have to be. It’s tough to get away with murder when the victim can come back from the grave and hunt down his killer.”
K’leef tucked the book away in his robe and stood up. “I have something—someone—to show you.” He walked over to a brazier. Coals hissed within a tall bronze tripod; weak flames flickered across the surface. K’leef tapped it. “Paz, wake up. We have a guest. You know, the one I told you about.”
The hissing grew louder. K’leef banged harder. “Paz! She’s here!”
The coals shook as Lily watched. They rolled together and…stood up.
Smoke thickened around the black bundle, and the hiss became a voice. “I’m up. What isss it?”
“Just say hello and then you can go back to sleep.”
The coals collected into a roughly humanoid shape, just a foot high. Its eyes were two glowing holes, and smoke puffed out of its mouth each time it spoke. “Sssleep? No chance of that now, isss there? You have no ressspect for your eldersss. I should ssspeak with Faisssal. He knowsss how to treat me.”
“Great-Uncle Faisal’s been ash for seventy years, Paz.”
Flames jumped from the creature’s head. “Dead?” It sighed, smoke billowing from every crack. “You mortalsss. What’sss the p
oint? Here one minute, gone the next. Like a…a…”
“Candle?” Lily suggested.
The creature’s flames grew. “She’sss got a sssmart mouth, thisss one. Friend of yoursss?”
K’leef smiled proudly. “Yes. This is Lilith Shadow, of Gehenna. Lily, this is Pazuzu.”
Lily came closer. Not too much, because Pazuzu burned. “I didn’t know House Djinn still had any efreet.”
Efreet were fire spirits, beings of the Shardlands. In the past, House Djinn had commanded thousands of them—not small imps like this, but towering giants of fire. During the Battle of the Boiling Sea, a battalion had destroyed the entire fleet of Captain Hammerhead. She smiled at Pazuzu. “A pleasure to meet you.”
“Isss it? Maybe for you,” said the efreet. “Ssso you’re Lilith Shadow? The boy won’t shut up about you. Each time he getsss one of your letters, he readsss it to me. Keepsss them tied up with a pretty little ribbon—”
K’leef jumped between them. “Enough, Paz. Lily doesn’t want to hear about my filing system.”
“Oh, I think I do. So, Paz, where does K’leef keep my letters, exactly?”
The doors burst open, and the room was flooded with silk, jewelry, and dozens of yelling girls. Paz winked out and vanished in a thick puff of smoke.
K’leef groaned. “Oh no…”
The girls swirled around her, all talking at once. They spoke in Djinnic, in Gehennish, and a dozen other languages. Lily’s head spun as she tried to follow just half the chatter. They gasped, giggled, and pushed and pulled at each other, fighting to be the first to speak to K’leef’s guest.
Word had gotten out that the witch queen was here.
“Welcome, Lilith Shadow!”
“My name’s Sami! You can stay in my quarters! I’ve had the walls painted black!”
“No! Stay with me! I’ve got skulls in mine!”
“She’s not living over the latrines! She’ll live with me! I have a view of the moon! She’ll like that!”
“I do not live over the latrines! That stink’s your perfume!”
“Lady Shadow, my cat died! Can you bring it back? Please?”
“Ow! Stop pulling my hair!”
One of the princesses pushed through the throng. “She is staying in her own quarters, and you all know it!” The girl heaved one of her sisters aside to get next to Lily, and then she glared back at the others. “Stop it! All of you! Now!”
There were mutters, quiet swears, and a few awkward shuffles, but they obeyed.
The one in charge gave her hair an imperial flick. “That’s better. Behave yourselves. You are princesses of House Djinn, not a bunch of water-brained nymphs, and Lady Shadow is our guest.” She turned to Lily and curtsied. “I’m Ameera. It is a pleasure to meet you, great queen.”
“Ameera? K’leef’s twin sister?”
She smiled, surprised, and slipped her hand through Lily’s. “K’leef told you about me?”
“Of course,” said Lily. “He said you’ve been bossing him around since the crib.”
Ameera laughed. “True! It’s my job to keep him honest, Lily. Can I call you Lily?”
Lily nodded and scanned the crowd for the liveliest—K’leef’s favorite. “You’re Samira—”
The girl jumped with glee. “But you can call me Sami! All my sisters do!”
“You’re Nargis.” She bowed her head toward the older girl. “K’leef tells me you just got engaged. Congratulations.”
Nargis giggled behind her hands.
Ameera slipped her arm through the crook of Lily’s. “Your Djinnic is most excellent, by the way. Who taught you?”
Lily’s smile grew stiff. “My uncle. He spent a few years here, using it as a base when he was exploring the Shardlands.”
“Your uncle, Pandemonium Shadow? You exiled him, yes?”
“Yes. He…broke the law.”
What Lily wanted to say was He killed my parents and brother and tried to murder me, too. Everyone else in Castle Gloom had wanted his head on top of a spike on Lamentation Hill, so I’d been merciful with mere exile. Yet the pain lingered. Pan had been her hero once upon a time. He’d been the brilliant swordsman and brave explorer who returned from exciting adventures laden with wild tales and gifts galore. Nothing like her parents, who rarely stepped foot outside Gehenna, all because of duty.
Ameera squeezed her arm. “I’m sorry. It was thoughtless of me to bring that up.”
Lily spoke to each princess in turn, pulling out relevant details and anecdotes as she did so. Naturally she had studied up on every member of K’leef’s family on the way here. What else had there been to do? Besides trying to teach Thorn his letters. And being sick over the railings.
But there was one girl she didn’t recognize. She lurked at the back, dressed more like a servant than a princess, in dull, bland hues. “I’m sorry, but you are…?”
The girl bowed. “Kali, Lady Shadow.”
Kali? But wasn’t that the name of—
“The executioner?”
The girl smiled. “I’m flattered you know of me.”
Lily didn’t miss the mocking tone. “You have quite a reputation for one so young.”
“The same could be said about you.”
Some people are born enemies. Lily recognized Kali as one of hers.
Kali came from the far south, from one of the kingdoms that paid tribute to the Sultanate. Her skin was as shiny and black as oil at midnight. Skull tattoos encircled her slim neck, and there was coldness in her eyes, despite the smile. The only bright color was on her nails, which were painted a rich blood-red.
“Oh, ignore Kali,” declared Ameera. “She has no manners.” Ameera reached over and drew her bejeweled fingers through Lily’s white hair. “You are very beautiful, Lily. K’leef didn’t tell me that.”
Lily laughed. “He did tell me about you.”
Ameera was gorgeous. She had large and intense dark eyes, dusky skin, and glossy hair blacker than a raven’s, but all the sisters had those features. They were all equally wealthy, too, and similarly bedecked with gold and gems. Ameera wore earrings that dangled down to her shoulders, and a large ruby stud pierced her nostril. She had golden collars and necklaces, and her sleeveless arms were sheathed from wrist to shoulder with gem-encrusted gold and silver bands. The string of rubies in her hair made Lily’s black diamonds seem dull in comparison. Lily pulled at her own cuffs. Next to this Djinnic princess, she felt as shabby as a farm girl.
Ameera’s beauty was beyond the mere physical, though. She had a strange, indefinable quality, a presence that was impossible to ignore. Even when surrounded by her sisters, it was she who attracted the eye.
K’leef had written to Lily with tales of his sister. Of how great nobles had courted her, and how four brothers had dueled over her, wiping out half a generation in one family. Yet, as far as she knew, Ameera had refused to be betrothed to anyone. Lily had assumed these stories were fanciful exaggerations, but now, facing her, she could easily believe that men would die for the likes of Ameera.
What had Mother once told her? A woman’s smile can destroy kingdoms.
“I had heard the Djinnic princesses are the most beautiful in all the New Kingdoms,” Lily went on, “and I now see how true that is.”
Ameera fanned herself. “We shall be the very best of sisters, I’m sure! Now, we have prepared your quarters. Come with me. Did you bring any servants?”
“Just a few zombies,” said Lily.
The room fell silent. Lily remembered, too late, that not everyone felt the same way about zombies as she did. “But they’re under strict instructions not to eat any brains while here.”
“So it’s all fine, then,” said Ameera. She clapped to jolt her sisters out of their fearful stupor. “Not that they’d find many brains among this bunch.”
Lily looked over to her friend, who’d been pushed to the back of the crowd. “All right with you, K’leef?”
“I cannot defy my slightly older sister,” he s
aid, hands raised in surrender to Ameera’s will. “I’ll go check on Thorn. Get some rest, Lily. Tomorrow is a very special day.”
Of course. Why else was she here?
Tomorrow they crowned the new sultan.
FOUR
“How many did he eat?” asked Thorn.
Hades did not look happy. He lay on his back, wings curved around his swollen belly. He didn’t smell good at the best of times, but right now, the air around him was especially foul, what with noxious clouds coming out of both ends.
“Six sheep and a camel. All the way up to the hump.” The stable boy leaned on his bloodied mop. “He made a mess of it, too.”
Hades burped and spat out a hoof.
The stable boy sighed. “What shall we do?”
“First thing is to open a few windows and let some air in. He’s got a lot of digesting to do, and the smell’s only going to get—”
Hades groaned and another cloud erupted. The hay around him shriveled.
“—worse.”
K’leef appeared at the stable door. “I’ve been looking—What in the name of the Six is that smell?”
“He’s two hundred years old, K’leef. His bowels don’t work the way they used to.”
It wasn’t a good idea to linger. Even Thorn felt a bit queasy.
They left the boy to deal with Hades and hurried away from the stables. They didn’t escape the noxious vapors until they were halfway across the courtyard.
“Poor Hades,” said Thorn. “He’s not used to foreign food like camel.”
“Imagine how distressed he would be if he ate an elephant,” said K’leef.
“You heard about that?”
“Everyone heard about it. Do you know who was riding that elephant? The ones who got thrown in the sea?”
“Not sure I care.” He was used to upsetting nobles back in Gehenna. Why should it be any different here?
K’leef just shook his head. “You never change.”
Thorn filled his lungs with the cool, fresh night air. “That bat’s going to be useless for a week.”
“You were planning on going somewhere?”