“I suppose the arthritis is obvious, but how did you know I suffer indigestion?”
Kiran shrugged.
“Just a guess. You have a lot of mint.”
And how do you know about herbs, young sprite?”
“I learned about them. In a book.”
“Hm.” Mother Paduri took a cautious sip. Then a bigger one. “Not bad for a beginner. Go a bit easier on the ginger next time.”
Next time? How long did she think we were staying? I interrupted her tea-drinking impatiently.
“We need a map to get to the tower on the other side of the mountains,” I started. “We have to find Al… you know who.”
“Al Uddin?” Her sharp eyes bored into mine. “I’m not afraid to say his name, child. I practically raised that boy. He doesn’t scare me.”
“Well, he should.” Dhav sat down next to me. “He controls earth, and the ghuls that live in it. If he thinks you’re plotting against him, he could send a landslide right down that mountain and crush your cottage.”
Mother Paduri laughed.
“You think so? I’d be long gone before that happened, my lad. And the cottage with me.”
“How do you know him?” I asked curiously. “Kiran says you used to live there?”
“Yes.” She paused, and her eyes sparkled greenly. “I had a special job. One that I liked, at first. But when I realised how much pain and suffering it was causing, I put a stop to it.”
“What do you mean? What job?”
“I looked after something for him. Used my magic to shield it from those who would steal it. Protected it.”
“What?” I asked. “What did you protect?”
But Mother Paduri leaned back in her chair.
“All in good time, djinn. It must be long past lunchtime. Sprite, can you get us some bowls and serve us all some soup?”
“Soup?” I couldn’t believe my ears. “Really? Soup?”
“We would love some soup,” said Dhav quickly, intervening before I lost my temper. “Where is it?”
“Where do you think? In the cauldron. Bowls are in the cupboard, sprite. Step to it. And make sure I get the head. There’s good eating on a head.”
I ground my teeth in frustration as Kiran obediently ladled out the soup. Mother Paduri slurped hers straight from the bowl. Every so often, the chicken head would bob beak-first to the surface.
Dhav gingerly took a mouthful. Only his innate courtesy prevented him from spitting it out again.
“It’s very, um, tasty,” he said, picking a bone from his teeth.
“No,” I said firmly as Kiran offered me a spoon. “I’m not hungry. Enough games, Mother Paduri. I want to know what it was you were protecting for Al Uddin.”
The witch put her bowl down and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.
“Something I managed to look after for decades, you impatient djinn, and which you so carelessly lost in one night.” She leaned forward to look me in the eye. “I was the Keeper of the Ring.”
Chapter Twenty One
“The ring? My ring?”
My heart was beating like a drum. Mother Paduri snorted.
“Not your ring,” she said scornfully. “Amal’s ring. Your grandmother. The Genie of the Ring.”
So it was true. My gran was the genie. I’d known it, deep inside, but to have it confirmed like that… Suddenly it was difficult for me to breathe. Dhav laid a hand on my shoulder.
“Tell us about her,” he commanded.
“She was a fire mage, bound to the ring by a ritual and made a thousand times more powerful. She was just one of several genies Al Uddin created. His first totem was a lamp. That was his favourite, everyone’s heard of that one. But he also had a glass bottle and a silver urn. Through their magic he won an empire, married a princess, and amassed a fortune big enough to last several lifetimes.”
“We heard rumours that he may have been a djinn himself,” said Dhav. Mother Paduri nodded.
“And that is why he is a monster. He made his own kin into slaves. Subjugated their will. Turned them into tools.”
“What happened to the other genies?” asked Kiran.
“Luckily for them, he fell in love. Jaswinder was a sweet soul. She tempered him, made him kinder. She persuaded him to free the other djinn. One by one, he let them go, until only the Genie of the Ring remained.”
“Why didn’t he free her?” I asked.
“Jaswinder passed away in childbirth, and her baby with her. He went insane. Turned bitter. Cruel. He kept your grandmother and used her to take revenge on his enemies. Turned them into animals. Or exiled them from the kingdom.” Her sharp eyes turned to Dhav. “Like your people.”
“So what happened?” I asked through frozen lips. “How did my gran escape?”
“Well, one day, a hundred years ago, a thief came in through the window. He’d got past the palace guards, and he was intent on stealing the ring. My job was to blast him to smithereens.” She leaned across to Kiran. “That’s a very useful spell, remind me to teach it to you.”
“The thief?” I pressed her.
“Dhav’s ancestor, of course. A rascal and a scoundrel. You remind me of him, my lad. Great grandfather, was it?”
“Great, great grandfather,” he automatically corrected.
He looked a bit shell-shocked. And well he might; all that time he’d been mocking me as a thief, it turned out burglary ran in his family too.
Mother Paduri smiled in reminiscence.
“He was a scallywag. Handsome as hell. Good kisser, too. What? No need to look at me like that. I wasn’t always this old, you know.” She nodded towards Dhav. “Probably something else you have in common, eh? What do you say, djinn? Does he smooch well?”
She cackled as my face slowly turned beet red. I couldn’t bring myself to look at Dhav.
“Look, can we get back to the story?” I said hotly. “What happened then?”
“I realised the only way to break the cycle was to let the last djinn go. So I gave the ring to the thief with strict instructions. Three wishes only. Grant his people wealth. Trap Al Uddin forever. And free the genie.”
“Three wishes,” I murmured. “Like the story books. But if you had magic too, why didn’t you just free my gran yourself?”
“My witch magic wasn’t strong enough to break the ritual. All I could do was limit the wishes she could grant.”
“Why didn’t my ancestor just wish for Al Uddin’s death?” asked Dhav. “That would have solved all our problems.”
Mother Paduri looked at Kiran.
“Do you know the answer to that, sprite? Did you run across genie lore in your books too?”
Kiran frowned, trying to remember.
“I think… I think there are some things you can’t wish for,” she said uncertainly. “Things that are beyond even a genie’s power.”
“That’s right,” said the witch approvingly. “What are they? Come on, come on. You’re young, your memory should be better than mine.”
“Um, you can’t wish for more wishes. You can’t make someone fall in love with you. And you can’t wish for someone to die.”
“Good. Amal’s rescuer couldn’t wish for Al Uddin’s death. So he did the next best thing. Trapped him in the tower forever. But now the monster has the ring back, thanks to you two. And if he can trap another djinn, he can wish himself free.”
“We’re trying to make it right,” I said. “We’re trying to get the ring back. Will you help us?”
“You’ve done enough damage. He wouldn’t even have the ring if it wasn’t for you.” She waved her hand at us dismissively. “Go away. I’m not helping you.”
“It wasn’t my fault,” I said. “I had no idea my gran was a genie. Trust me, I would have stayed far away from this part of the world otherwise.”
“Nevertheless, he has the ring. And now you want to go to the tower to get it back. It’s a foolish quest. If he captures you, he’ll make you into a weapon.”
�
��It’s not just about the ring,” said Dhav quietly. “His ghuls poisoned my brother. I need the antidote.”
“So you think he’ll hand over the cure, and when his back’s turned you’ll just grab the ring and run?” The witch’s voice dripped with derision. “You are deluded, young man. If he creates a new Genie of the Ring, all our lives will be in danger.”
“He won’t be able to. Show her the amulet, Samira.”
I held up the failsafe on my wrist, but the witch barely looked at it.
“Yes, yes, I saw that earlier. You think you have it in you to use that thing, young man?”
“If I have to.”
“You’re a fool. And I’m done with you. Go home.”
“We’re not asking for much,” I said desperately. All we need is a map.”
“Forget it. Go away.”
“We can pay,” said Dhav suddenly.
Her eyes sharpened.
“Pay?”
“We have valuables.” He leaned forward intently. “More than you could dream of.”
“My dreams are pretty big, young man. Don’t let these humble surroundings fool you. You’ll pay what I ask?”
“Yes,” I said eagerly. “Anything.”
She ruminated for a moment.
“Sprite, fetch me the Seeing Eye on the shelf there. Yes, that globe thing. Bring it here.”
I groaned inwardly as Kiran went to fetch the object. What the hell was this? A crystal ball? Really?
The witch settled it in front of her. She peered into it, squinting. Nothing happened. Nobody said anything for a long time.
I rolled my head, trying to ease the crick in my neck. The ball stayed stubbornly opaque. A quick glance at Dhav’s face confirmed he was seeing the same thing as me. Absolutely nothing.
But then I looked at Kiran, and she was frowning curiously, her head on one side.
“Can you actually see something?” I asked her.
“Yes, but it keeps changing.”
“That’s because there are many possible outcomes,” said the witch. “You don’t have the experience to sort through the probabilities. But I can see the pattern.”
“Really? So what are you looking at?” I didn’t bother disguising my scepticism.
“Your future. Your fate. Wondering if you’re strong enough to do what’s needed.” The green eyes pinned me to my chair for a moment, and a chill crawled down my back. “Wondering if you both are.”
“Why? What do you see?” asked Dhav. The green eyes turned his way.
“Your death.”
There was an uncomfortable silence. My chest felt constricted, as if a large weight was pressing down on it. Dhav was pale, but his voice, when he spoke, was steady,
“But does my brother live?”
The witch tilted her head to one side.
“Interesting response. Hm. Maybe I can help you after all. But it will cost you.”
“I can make you extremely wealthy. Here.”
Dhav brought out the bag of diamonds and tipped them onto the table. The glittering stones lay there incongruously among the soup bowls and chicken remains. Mother Paduri picked one up and peered at it. Then she tossed it aside disdainfully.
“Hey!” I went scrambling after it, picking it out of a pile of what looked suspiciously like rat shit. “We worked hard to get these.”
“Shouldn’t have bothered,” she sniffed. “You had what I wanted long before that poker game.”
Dhav’s eyes widened.
“How did you know about…”
“For the last time. Witch. All-seeing. All-knowing. But a bit wobbly on my legs. So what I want isn’t diamonds, young man. It’s an assistant.” Mother Paduri turned to Kiran. “I want her.”
“Now just a minute…”
Dhav and I spoke together, outraged. After all she’d told us about freeing genies, now she wanted a slave of her own? It was unacceptable.
Kiran’s quiet voice cut through our raised ones.
“It’s okay. I want to stay.”
“You do?” I looked at her in astonishment. “Here? In the middle of the scary forest? With…” I’d been about to say ‘a wicked old witch’ but managed to change it to “…her?”
“It’s not scary to me. It’s wonderful. And what else am I going to do? Mother Paduri can teach me about magic. It’s not as if I’ll be a prisoner.” She turned to the witch. “Will it?”
“Prisoner? No. Apprentice, yes. Food, lodgings, and one day off a week. I won’t tolerate slackness, mark you. But you show promise with herbs, young sprite. If you do well, maybe you’ll get your own familiar.”
I shook my head in disbelief. We couldn’t leave Kiran here. Not when she’d just found her family again.
Then Dhav leaned towards me and murmured in my ear.
“Look at her face.”
I looked, and I saw what he was trying to tell me. Kiran was happy. Really happy. Grudgingly, I began to realise that this was where she needed to be.
Mother Paduri could be a mentor to her. Someone who would let her be herself and teach her about magic. Someone who would take care of her and give her a place in the world.
Like gran had done for me.
Reluctantly, I gave in.
“Okay. If that’s your price, we’ll pay it. Kiran can stay, if she wants. Now the map?”
“Not so fast. There’s one more thing I want.”
“What? You want Dhav too?” I asked acidly.
“Hm. Tempting. But no. I want your hair.”
“No,” said Dhav immediately. “You can’t ask for something as personal as that. Take the diamonds, and I promise I’ll double them when I return to Ashfahaan.”
“You’re saying you’d pay two bags of diamonds to save something that will grow back in a year or two?” said the witch inquisitively. “That’s very gallant. What do you say, djinn? Is your hair worth a king’s ransom?”
“Why do you want it?” I asked uncertainly.
“I can make new and powerful potions using the hair of a djinn. Your people are all but gone. The only ones I know are you and Al Uddin. And he’s probably torn his hair out by now.”
The old woman cackled, amused by her own wit.
“She is not giving you her hair. Come on, Samira. This is lunacy.” Dhav stormed to his feet, but I stayed rooted to my chair. His eyebrows rose. “Don’t tell me you’re actually considering this request?”
I couldn’t let Raj stay in that half-dead sleep. Not for the sake of my hair. What kind of person would put their looks over someone else’s life?
Besides, I had to get my ring back from that madman. I wouldn’t be able to rest until gran’s ruby was back on my finger. I took a breath and nodded before I changed my mind.
“Fine. Take it.”
From nowhere, the witch produced a pair of scissors.
“Thought you’d say that. Don’t worry, I won’t take it all. Come on, come on, kneel down so I can reach.”
I crouched at her feet, my back to her. I felt her take hold of the thick braid of hair in one hand. She sheared it off at base of my neck.
I heard Kiran gasp as she held it up. Trying to hold back tears, I felt the back of my head. My hair now barely reached my shoulders.
“You have what you want.” Dhav’s voice was trembling with rage. “Now give us a map.”
“I’ll give you something better,” she said calmly. “A guide.”
She tottered to her feet, using the cane to steady herself, and walked to the front door. Flinging it open, she put two fingers to her mouth and let out a piercing whistle.
Something heavy flapped outside. Gusts of wind swept through the open door as if by something large. I caught a glimpse of a monstrous shadow, and then something thudded into the clearing next to the cottage.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” snapped Mother Paduri, glaring up at whatever was in front of her. I strained to see over her shoulder but all I glimpsed was shadows.“You know you can’t fit inside the cottage like that.
Change into something more suitable. And be quick about it.”
There was a moment’s silence; then a squishy organic sound, like mincemeat being squeezed into a patty. Mother Paduri looked down and nodded approvingly.
“Better. Come on in then.”
She stood aside dramatically, and the creature strolled in. It was a cat.
It was a bit of an anti-climax, to be honest. I’d been expecting a dragon or a manticore, or some other legendary creature. At the very least, a large bat. What I got was a run-of-the-mill small black cat with white paws and blue eyes. It sat on the floor and stared at us.
“This is Balthazar,” said Mother Paduri. It seemed rather a grand name for a kitty. “He’ll take you to the tower.”
“Sorry, the cat will take us to the tower?” I asked. It was getting more surreal by the minute.
“He’s not an ordinary cat. He’s my familiar. And he’s very good at directions.”
“Oh. Good,” I said faintly.
“He’ll be ready to leave tomorrow. I’ll tell him to pick you up from the inn. That’s where you’re staying, isn’t it?”
“Yes. I expect he knows the way there too, does he?”
“Of course he does,” said the witch, as if that had been a stupid question. “And he’ll protect you.”
We looked at the cat. It started to wash its fur.
“Samira, let’s go.” Dhav had clearly lost patience. He scooped up the bag of diamonds and glanced at Kiran. “You are sure you want to stay, little one?”
Kiran smiled back.
“Absolutely. Thank you for everything. Both of you.” She hugged me, then Dhav tightly. “I’ll see you again soon, I know it. Maybe I can watch you in the crystal ball, when I get the hang of it. Will you tell my cousins where I am?”
“We will. And we’ll tell them to check on you in a day or two.” Dhav eyed the witch sternly. “To make sure you are safe.”
“No need to give me that look, young man. I’m training her, not kidnapping her. And that reminds me, I have a gift for you.”
“I do not require another gift. The, er, cat is enough.”
“Trust me, you’ll want this.” The witch hobbled to a closet and leaned in, moving things aside as she reached into the darkness. “No, not that. Or that. Is that the mirror? I haven’t seen that for ages. Oh, the chalice, I wondered where that had got to.”
Mark of the Djinn: A Young Adult Urban Fantasy Romance Page 14