The Blind Wish

by Amber Lough

  “We have to get you ready for the Bonding,” Saam said. He exchanged a knowing look with Taja.

  I set my hands on my waist. “Is there a secret ritual? Or do we just clasp hands?”

  “There’s a little more to it than clasping hands,” Taja said. She tugged on my arm. “Come. First you need to see what a Dyad can do, compared to all those other soldiers out there,” she said, nodding at the line of Shaitan throwing fireballs at the columns. They continued to pop louder than I liked, but I wasn’t blinking anymore.

  Saam and Taja took us to the line of Shaitan and asked one of the soldiers, a woman in her thirties, if they could take her place. She stepped back and shrugged. Then Saam pointed at the ground. “Arzada, show Zayele what a single Shaitan can do.”

  Arzada widened his stance, narrowed his eyes on the column, and took in a sharp breath with his nose. Then he threw his hands forward and hissed, “Narush.”

  A blood-red ball of flame erupted from his palms and shot forward, slamming into the column. I winced and covered my ears while the fire wrapped around the column, leaving behind a charcoal-colored mark in the marble.

  “Impressive,” I said. I might have been more interested if I hadn’t just seen every other jinni on the line do the same thing.

  Arzada raised his brows at Saam. “Let’s see what you can do, oh mighty Dyad.”

  When Taja and Saam had lined up, Atish leaned close to my ear. “We’ll do better, when our time comes.” I hoped he was right.

  They stood shoulder to shoulder and nodded once at each other. Saam let loose a chain of fireballs that spiraled around the column like a thorny weed of fire. Then Taja shouted a word that sounded like a rock cracking open.

  And the column did crack. A line crawled up through the column like a bolt of lightning, and then the marble crumbled into a pile of dust and newborn gravel.

  I was about to clap when Taja smirked at me and pointed one finger at the column. With her eyes on me, she whispered something, and the air stilled around the fallen rock. Then it wound around in the opposite direction from which it had come, swirling and spinning until every last grain of dust settled back into the column, leaving it pristine and unscarred.

  They turned as one. “I dare you to try that,” Saam said.

  I was gaping. “I…don’t even know how to make the sound you just made, much less do something with it.”

  “That’s what we’re here for,” Taja said. She was smiling at me in a way that spoke of friendship. I wasn’t sure what to do about it.

  FIRUZ SPUN AWAY from me the moment we returned to the Cavern, but before he turned, I noticed his brows were drawn together in confusion. I shook the strange sensation of transporting out of my head and thought, What’s wrong?

  I will let go of your mind now, Najwa. You did well.

  “Firuz, what did you see?”

  He stopped and rubbed his chin with one hand, lost in thought. Until then, the round hall that housed the Lamp had been empty, but Delia and several other members of the Corps came trotting into the room.

  “What happened?” she asked me.

  “There’s something going on in the palace,” Firuz said, suddenly alert. “More than the prince and his friends are aware of.”

  Delia’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”

  “I think it has something to do with the Mongols,” I said. “Did we ever find out more about that man Ibrahim hired, Toqto’a?”

  Delia nodded and we followed her back down the hall to the room with the Eye. One of the panels held the image I’d captured of Muntasir Arafat.

  “Tell us what you heard, Mind Reader,” one of the officers said.

  “There are jinn working with the Mongols, and they are in communication with someone who was in our meeting.”

  The officer whistled and looked at the other members of the Corps. “Mysterious jinn working with the unstoppable Mongols?”

  Firuz bristled. “So it seems. And, unfortunately, the humans are more inclined to continue the war now than they were a few hours ago.”

  My face flushed in shame. “It is true. I offended them somehow. They were speaking of reparations, and I mentioned the losses the Shaitan have faced, and the meeting erupted.”

  Delia shook her head. “I do not think you could have changed their minds in either direction, Najwa. The caliph’s army is set on the war. They were looking to find fault with you. What concerns me is what Firuz has discovered.” She leaned forward on the table and sighed, dropping her head between her shoulders. “Firuz, the thoughts you were able to glean—was there anything identifiable about the jinni and his relationship with the Mongols?”

  “Jinn. There is more than one. But I did not get anything more than I’ve told you. Just a whispering of a thought.”

  “But who would betray the caliph? Who would harbor positive thoughts regarding another group of jinn?” Delia asked. She rapped her fingertips against the table.

  I scanned through my recent memory of the House of Wisdom. Someone there had not been completely honest. Badr al-Din had not wanted any peace between us, but his whole life had been wrapped up in the caliph’s army, and any conflict between them and the Mongols would be devastating. It didn’t make sense for him to be the traitor. The same could be said for Zakariyya Hadrami. They were Ibrahim’s men.

  Jafar al-Jabr didn’t have a dishonest hair in his beard. Kamal would certainly not betray his father or the caliphate. That left Ya’Qub Ghamdi and Muntasir Arafat. I could not imagine Ya’Qub offending a flea, much less daring to communicate with the infamous Mongol army.

  I pointed at the image of Arafat. “It’s him,” I said, watching everyone turn to look up at the Eye. They squinted in the brightness coming off the wall. “He is the only one who would even think of working with another army. He didn’t seem to be afraid of us.”

  “Najwa is right,” Firuz said, surprising me. “Arafat’s thoughts regarding us were uncommonly comfortable. I thought it meant he was keeping an open mind about the negotiations, but perhaps he is used to speaking with jinn.”

  Delia stepped closer to the Eye and studied the image of Arafat. “I need you both to go back. But do not let yourselves be discovered. Find out more about this man, and his dealings with the Mongols. If they are nearby, this does not bode well for us—humans or jinn.”

  “Delia?” I asked. “Who would these jinn be?”

  She was about to speak, but Firuz answered first. “They must be descendants of the Forgotten.”

  No one had run across them in hundreds of years. Why would we meet up with them now?

  “Could it really be the Forgotten?” I asked Firuz.

  “Unless the dark angel turned another tribe of humans into jinn on some other corner of the earth, then it must be.”

  The mutterings within the Corps stilled, and we all avoided each other’s gaze, not ready yet to acknowledge the weight of Firuz’s words. If the Mongols were working with the lost jinn, and if they were preying on the caliph’s army, the result would be catastrophic.

  I TOLD TAJA that I wanted to see Yashar again, and she surprised me by pointing me across the training field. He was sitting straight-backed against a statue, with his face turned toward the Shaitan, as though he were watching their exercises. As though he planned on learning from their technique.

  “He’s here?” I asked her. How had I not noticed him earlier? He stood out in the midst of the soldiers, the lone, thin boy dressed in black.

  “Melchior has been teaching him to control his response to what he sees, so this must be a test.” She shrugged. “I think he just got here, though.”

  “I can’t believe Melchior is testing him already. He’s a child.” Gritting my teeth, I marched over to where he sat. When I was close enough that I could hear him sigh, he turned his head toward me.

  “Zayele,” he said, and the sigh was gone. “How are you?”

  He sounded normal, and I looked closer to make sure it was really him. How could he act
as though nothing had happened? “Good. And…you?”

  He was still smiling. “They’re training me.”

  “To be a Shaitan?”

  “No,” he said, laughing. “They’re teaching me how to use my sight.”

  “What do you mean, ‘use’ your sight? What can you do with it?”

  I took a few more steps, stopping when I was just out of arm’s reach. He blinked and rubbed his mouth.

  “The shadows I see? When I really focus on one of the swirls of smoke, I can get a feeling. It’s like…it’s like a dream. I can see it, but not clearly, and after I look away, I know what it is. Each one is a fear.”

  “You see fears?” I couldn’t have given him the ability to see fear. It was impossible. It was horrifying.

  “There’s one twisting around you now, around your throat,” he said. He was watching me out of the corner of his milky-white eye, and I stared back, watching his useless lashes move up and down while he blinked. “What are you afraid of?”

  “The same things as anyone,” I muttered, and I sank to the low wall he was sitting on. It dug into the back of my thighs, but at the moment, I didn’t care.

  “Melchior said most people are afraid of not being wanted. Or they’re afraid of getting hurt by something, like a spider or a snake.”

  “Do you know what my fears are just by looking at them?”

  “No, but I think I will be able to do that soon.” He said it so simply, so earnestly. “I am trying to make a chart in my mind so that when I see a shadow, and I ask the jinni what they’re afraid of, I can learn what that shadow means. Like another language or a code.”

  “What good is it to know someone’s fears? What is Melchior planning to use you for?” I wasn’t expecting him to answer, and he shrugged.

  “Melchior said that in a fight like that,” he said, pointing at two women sparring, “I could change what happens. I just have to tell him what one person is afraid of, and he’ll make that fear happen, somehow.”

  Why would Yashar want to help Melchior that way? “So if that woman is afraid of, say, snakes, and I make one appear in front of her, she’ll get distracted and lose the fight?” I asked.

  “We haven’t tried it yet. Melchior said he’s coming back this afternoon to work with me on it.”

  I had never seen him so full before. His cheeks were stretched from smiling, and his forehead was easy and smooth. He tapped his fingers gently against his thigh while he looked over the field, and then back to me. “You seem happy,” I said.

  “I’ve never been useful before. They like having me around. And no one is afraid of my eyes. I can tell.”

  My eyes were starting to water, and I needed to get away before they overflowed. I stood up quickly and brushed the dirt off the back of my legs. “I’m glad they’re taking care of you. But promise me something.”

  “What?”

  “If you ever want to leave, tell me. I can get you out of here. All you have to do is let me know.”

  He chuckled. “Stop worrying so much.” Then his laughter stopped and he grew serious. “I don’t want to go home.”

  “If you want this to be your home, then that’s fine. But remember, you’re not a jinni. You’re human, and they’ll never forget it.”

  “Being human doesn’t mean I’m weak. Just like being blind didn’t mean I couldn’t do anything.”

  “What do you mean?”

  He shifted on the wall. “Zayele, you always wanted to fix me, but I was fine. I wasn’t excited to lose my eyesight, but I was managing. Sometimes, being in the dark lets us notice other things. It makes us listen. You should try it sometime.”

  This was making my stomach turn over on itself. I thought I’d been listening to him, but my worries might have been louder than him. “I’m sorry I wasn’t paying attention, Yashar.” Tentatively, I reached over and squeezed the back of his hand. “And I’m sorry I’ve forced you to see fear all around you, instead of light.”

  “I think I’d always sensed other people’s fear before. But it’s clearer now.”

  He was probably lying for my benefit, but I allowed it, and told him I’d see him soon. I left him there on the low wall, sitting as still as a lizard in full sun. My chest was twisting and burning, and I ran from the Shaitan headquarters, flashing a frown at the soldier at the entrance. I scrambled along the crystals poking out along the wall, and found the shard Atish had shown me. When I climbed up, I found him already there, leaning back against a roll of blankets, clear eyes blinking with no surprise.

  Without a word, he drew me into his arms and held me tight. I burrowed into his neck and breathed in the smell of his skin, the fire in his blood, and the metallic tang of the wide necklace he wore.

  For a moment, before I could thrust the thought away, I wondered what fears Yashar would see circling Atish. Was he afraid of failure too, or was he afraid of not being wanted? He never said a word about Yashar, and for that, I kissed him.

  THIS TIME, I was wary of loose diamonds and anything else that could betray me. I had stripped away all jewels, I was barefoot, and I made sure not a strand of hair could fall onto the palace floor. Firuz was accompanying me and was dressed as plainly as a jinni could be. For him, this meant he only had to take off his sandals. Our mission: monitor Badr al-Din and Prince Ibrahim, as well as report any possible threats to the Cavern.

  Because Firuz was coming with me and could not transport directly into the palace, we transported through the Lamp. We were lucky no one was near it when we emerged on the other side, because we could not transport invisibly.

  Morning light streamed through a line of windows, catching stilled dust in the air. I took a quick breath, and whispered, “Shahtabi.”

  A second later, Firuz said the same wish and we stood still, allowing the beam of light to pass through us.

  Where should we go first? Firuz’s question felt like someone had poured icy water inside my mind, and I shivered, suddenly alert. Did he mean to let me make the decisions this time?

  Yes, came his reply.

  I wish there was a way to block some of my thoughts.

  There is, but we don’t have time to teach you that right now. Trust that I am trying to filter out only the most important ones. I do not wish to be weighed down by everything you notice. So where do we go?

  Ibrahim’s room. I have a feeling that’s where we should go.

  Actually, you feel as though you should head to Kamal’s room.

  I blushed and was glad he couldn’t see me then. Let’s go to Ibrahim’s room.

  We found Ibrahim’s room not long before he entered it, followed by four men. It was identical to Kamal’s room, except for a wall of hooks upon which every sort of weapon imaginable was hung. Even though our shahtabi wishes were at full strength, we hid in the garden behind a folding screen. I was grateful for the screen, because even with Firuz beside me, I didn’t feel safe around Ibrahim. The solid, dark barrier would slow Ibrahim down should he happen to notice me.

  Badr al-Din and Zakariyya Hadrami were two of the men who had entered behind Ibrahim. Another man, carrying the helmet of the army beneath his arm, sat down on a divan beside Badr al-Din. He dropped the helmet on the table before them and leaned back against the wall, scowling. The fourth man was Toqto’a, the mercenary from the east.

  Ibrahim did not sit. He paced, traveling from the door to the screen and back. His brows were unusually calm, and his jaw was tight.

  “You asked us to come here,” said the man with the helmet. “What is this about?”

  Ibrahim paused. “Is the army still on the road north?”

  “Yes,” answered the soldier. “They should arrive by tomorrow evening.”

  “Good,” said Ibrahim. He resumed pacing, coming a little too close to the screen. “Zakariyya, when will the reeds arrive?”

  “They are already there, being held downstream,” said Zakariyya.

  I tapped Firuz on his wrist. What are the reeds for?

  They have ma
de bridges.

  How can a reed hold the weight of a man?

  I have a feeling we will find out soon.

  Badr turned to the soldier. “Saif, I must congratulate you on the design. It’s unprecedented.”

  Saif, the soldier, nodded. “It is not my design. It is Kamal’s. Although, as usual, we aren’t using it as he intended.”

  “My brother has his uses,” Ibrahim said with a smirk. “Although I’m not sure of his intentions now. How did the meeting with the jinni go?”

  Badr and Zakariyya exchanged glances. Then Badr cleared his throat. “The girl insulted the army, Kamal was so flustered he couldn’t speak, and Jafar knocked over his tea.”

  Ibrahim smiled. “So it went well, then.” A flush spread up the back of my neck and across my cheeks. I gritted my teeth and forced my hands to stay calm, because the last thing I needed was for the screen to fall.

  Ibrahim and his friends had planned for the meeting to fail. They had used me. Why hadn’t Firuz noticed? Or had he? He had been very quiet after we’d returned, and had gone straight to the House of the Law. Something had troubled him, but he had not stopped to explain it to me.

  I had felt a strange presence. It didn’t fit with the men who were with us.

  “We leave this afternoon. Saif, have our horses ready. We will catch up with the army by nightfall.” Ibrahim slapped his hands together and nodded at the men. “We have surprise and technology on our side. This will be no Basra. The jinni guards in Samarra have never been many in number, and with Kamal’s ‘help,’ it’ll be over by noon.”

  We have to warn them, I said, and I tugged on Firuz’s sleeve.

  He pulled it out of my grasp. Wait. There is something more.

  Saif picked up his helmet. “Yes, sir. The tunnel of Samarra will fall in two days’ time.”

  Zakariyya tugged on the end of his beard. “I will stay and keep your brother…preoccupied.”

  Toqto’a stirred on his cushion. I was about to look away when something about him caught my eye. His braid had fallen forward and settled on his shoulder, and the tip was dipped in silver, curved and sharp as a talon. It was odd to see a jinni hairstyle on a human.