by Kailin Gow
“Yet here you all are destroying Arcadia. If you were so intent on ensuring I had a good life, a promising future, why ruin it now?”
“A promising future? Did you not receive an unpleasant surprise when you read your Life’s Plan? Your mother said you were distraught beyond consoling.”
“All right,” I said with a conceding nod. “Maybe my promising future was bruised by the Committee, but it would still have been better than the impossible living conditions outside Arcadia. I know the hardships and suffering that greet those who leave here. Friends of mine have lived it firsthand. They returned to Arcadia – snuck back in – and were barely recognizable. They were skeletons.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“And what about all the other young adult Arcadians who are now ready to set out on their lives; those who received the Life’s Plan they expected? Arcadia is being destroyed beyond repair and so are their lives.”
“Would you prefer the illusion of Arcadia’s perfection continue? And at what cost? There are Magical Ones who are being kept here against their will. Their lives aren’t much better than what your friends met outside Arcadia. It may all look neat and clean and pleasant, but they’re empty. They’re living shells. Yes, there are some Rogue Magical Ones who’ve abused their roles in Arcadia, but most are prisoners of their own powers. Most live sad and hopeless lives as they try to keep up with the constant demands of their enslavers. Is that what you want?”
“No,” I said softly, casting my gaze to the floor. “Of course not.”
“You have to trust, Kama, that we have no desire to destroy Arcadia nor the citizens who’ve been led to believe in the illusion that was created for them. We understand they are innocent in all this. Our only desire is to free all the enslaved djinns and to let Arcadia go on in a more sane, healthy and viable way. Is that unreasonable?”
“No. It makes perfect sense. I’m sorry if I sounded ungrateful or lacking in compassion for the plight of the djinns.”
“I know your only intention is to save your friends; I know you care very much for Liam, Pim’s son, and I know you want to save the many innocent citizens of Arcadia. That is our mission in addition to freeing djinns, and we believe it can all be done. We believe we can make Arcadia a truly ideal place… for everyone… equally.”
“You know about Liam?”
“He may be the son of my rival, my nemesis, if you will, but I know Liam to be a fine young man; a young man who loves you very much.”
“He is, he does and I want to do what I can to help him, and the others.” I glanced up at him, feeling like a small child in light of his wisdom and power. “What can I do to help?”
Before General Adar could answer, a new wave of shouting began from another group.
I turned to see Rowan arrive with Matthew and Jocelyn. Having been imprisoned in one of the cells in the Coliseum for a while, they were emaciated, their eyes sunk in and the skin on their cheekbones pulled taunt. Thrilled to see them again, I ran to them and pulled their thin and fragile bodies into my arms, kissing their cheeks. “I can’t believe they were able to find you.”
“And just in time, too,” Rowan said.
I heard the dread in his voice and knew that not all was well. He’d found these two friends, but…
“What about Torrid?” I said, my eyes boring through his, daring him to tell me he’d found him safe and sound.
Rowan shifted his gaze to General Adar with momentary uncertainty then turned his resigned glance to me. “The Catchers got him,” he said in a blunt, matter of fact and official tone. “You haven’t heard from him because they caught him just as he was attempting to come save you.”
I wanted to scream at him and slap the formal military stance out of him, but I just stared in disbelief. “What do we do now?” I mumbled, the urge to cry forcing its way up my throat and making it painful to talk.
“We get him out,” Rowan said with the same military stance and firm conviction. “We simply go in and get him out.”
Chapter 2
General Adar straightened his shoulders, put on his best commanding face, and gave one final sweeping glance at the Coliseum. “We’ll have to start bringing the freed prisoners to our camp. Make sure they have plenty of food and water. See what you can do about getting them some warm clothing as well.”
“Yes, General,” Rowan said.
“And take good care of Kama’s friends. They’ve been through enough hardship for ones so young.”
“Yes, Sir. I’ll get on it right away.” Rowan turned away and instantly started giving out orders to the soldiers around him. Without question and without hesitation the soldiers moved quickly to carry out every order.
Rowan came to my side and put a gentle hand to my shoulder. “I’ve put my best men on the task of caring for your friends and giving them the best treatment.”
“Thanks. That’s one less thing to worry about.” I turned to Matthew and Jocelyn. “Everything will be fine from now on. I’ll find you guys again once things calm down.”
“Good luck, Kama,” Jocelyn said. “I hope you find both Torrid and Liam, and I hope you find them well.”
“Thank you.”
Nodding as they were escorted away, they both smiled, though weakly.
In quick order the Coliseum was emptied of its innocent prisoners, leaving only the Rogue Magical Ones to battle with djinn soldiers. Around them the Coliseum walls began to give way.
The balcony beneath our feet shook, promising its eminent crash to the arena floor
“You’d better hurry, Rowan,” General Adar said as he inspected the thickening cracks in the walls around them. “We may have underestimated Kama’s magic. The Coliseum isn’t merely breaking open from the roof to let us in. It’s completely falling apart.”
“What do you mean, my magic? I didn’t do this,” I argued.
“But you did, dear daughter. Your desire to stop this insanity, to destroy the Coliseum made it happen. I can see you underestimate your capabilities, but your magical powers are much stronger than you think. I hope you’ll realize that now.”
I looked around me through new eyes, seeing the destruction I’d brought on this arena of blood and death. “I didn’t even really consciously think of…”
“Destroying it? It just as well that you did. By opening the roof you gave us access to something we never could have entered otherwise. And by going so far as to destroy the entire Coliseum, well, I don’t think anyone will miss it.”
I let out a small snort of amusement. “I never would have thought…”
“Well, you better think now,” General Adar said with pride. “I always imagined my daughter would have a degree of power, a certain capacity to do a little magic, and when I set out to have you shatter the field, I knew you’d succeed, but you’ve surpassed all my expectations, and I’m ecstatic.”
“Does that mean that by merely desiring something, I can make it happen?” It seemed like a dangerous power to have.
General Adar pointed to the large cement blocks that were falling from all around the Coliseum. Columns collapsed and the floors over the underbelly broke apart. “That is the result of your desire, Kama. It’s also the level of passion you felt for your desire. The more you have, the more power you give it.”
“Then can I desire to have Torrid by my side, safe and sound, and he’ll appear.”
Rowan and General Adar both looked at me, the answer clear in their regretful gazes.
“I wish the power you have was that consistent and that predictable. Sometimes things are beyond our control, like my inability to enter the Coliseum despite my great powers. Evil can often be a formidable foe, and our greatest wishes simply can’t overcome it.”
“Does that mean Torrid is doomed?”
“No,” Rowan was quick to say. “It simply means that our magic has been curtailed. Catchers have the ability to paralyze our magic for a moment to capture us. There are limits to our magic, and unfortunately, Pi
m Seer and his Catchers and Magical Ones know how to block it, defend against it.”
“Our reunion must come to an end, daughter,” General Adar said with sudden urgency. “The structure is about to yield under our feet.”
Indeed it felt like the world itself was crumbling.
“Rowan, I put my daughter’s life and wellbeing in your hands. Take her away from here. Bring her to the encampment and make sure her every need is tended to.”
“Absolutely, sir.”
General Adar turned to me. “My daughter, Kama, it’s unfortunate that our first encounter had to be surrounded by ugliness and destruction. With much afterthought, perhaps it would have been preferable to introduce myself when I was your drugstore clerk or school janitor, but, alas, I am just a man; a man with the quest to make the woman he loves happy, and my secrecy was what your mother wanted.”
“I understand that now. I understand her need to protect me.”
Pleased, he nodded. “I can only hope our next meeting will be under more pleasant circumstances.”
“Somehow, I feel certain it will,” I said with assurance.
He chuckled and cupped my cheek. “Good. I must leave you now. I’m needed south of here. Sanz is already gathering more Rogue djinns. He’s also trying to persuade honest Magical Ones to go Rogue and follow him. While I detest the man immensely, I have to give credit where credit is due. He is a very powerful and influential, if not manipulating little man. His tongue is his most powerful tool, always with a promise of better things to come for those who follow his lead.”
“So I’ve noticed.”
“I must stop him before too many good Magical Ones are turned.” He gave Rowan a final nod and warning. “Take good care of her.”
“I’ll keep her at my side at all times, General.”
General Adar soared away and was soon little more than a speck of gold in the darkening sky.
“Let’s get you out of here,” Rowan said as he slipped his arms around me. We soared through the air while the earth thundered under the crumbling Coliseum.
Cries of the dying faded away, and the crashing concrete and shattering glass was soon a gentle but constant rumbling.
When Rowan set me down in the same fields where Torrid had taught me lessons in magic, I looked at him, grateful, but longing more than ever to see Torrid again. Rowan was a painful reminder of Torrid. They looked so much alike, though Rowan was older by a few years. They both were incredibly handsome with that thick bluish-black hair and intense blue eyes that were bright enough to shine like sapphires. Torrid was powerfully built with strong muscular arms and a chiseled body, while Rowan was slightly taller and leaner. He was the Crowned Prince, unlike Torrid, the Warrior Prince, and his bearing was more formal than Torrid’s. However, when Rowan smiled into my eyes with reassurance, his grin was wide and his eyes gentle, I instantly felt comfortable with him. “Wherever Torrid is, he would be glad you are finally safe and out of that hellhole of a place…the Coliseum.”
“But I’m worried about him. If the Catchers have him…what would they do to him? He’s a Prince, like you, and a close friend of General Adar, their biggest enemy.”
“Don’t worry,” Rowan said. “I know your thoughts must be with Torrid, but he’ll be fine. I’m certain of that.”
“Thanks for the reassuring words, but I’ll only feel better when I can actually see him with my own eyes; touch him with my fingers.” My voice was husky with emotion as I thought about how much I longed to touch him again.
“You must care for him very much,” Rowan said with a touch of envy. His eyes darkened a little, revealing his attraction to me.
“He’s come to mean a lot to me,” I admitted.
He licked his lips and said, “You wouldn’t happen to have an older sister who’s just as beautiful as you; a girl just as sweet and captivating that you could introduce me to?”
I laughed. “I hardly think you need an introduction to any girl. They’re probably lined up eager for a chance to talk to you.”
A slow smile lit up his face. “You’d be surprised. While Torrid has his natural charm to get him by and a little more leeway, I’m a little more restricted.”
“Because you're the Crown Prince?”
“Pretty much. Funny, isn’t it? I’m, in a sense, a Prince Charming, yet I’m a man who doesn’t have time or the opportunity to charm a woman into a romantic relationship. Torrid, on the other hand has much more freedom.” He winked at me. “I know he’s been enjoying his time in Arcadia.”
Smiling, I looked at him, wishing him a woman who could love and appreciate him just as I did Torrid. “I like to think he enjoyed his time in Arcadia. He certainly seemed to have a good time when he was giving me lessons in magic. Even more so when I no longer really needed the lessons.”
“Are you telling me he used these magic lessons as a premise to spend more time with you?” He said with a mocking grin. “He must really like you.”
I certainly hope so, I wanted to say. Instead I opted for the cowardly maneuver of changing the subject. “You're very much the charmer Torrid is. I guess charm runs in your family.”
“Social manners are a big thing among royal djinns. I guess a certain degree of charm just naturally follows. In Torrid’s case, however, well, let’s say he got a larger piece of the charm pie than I did. Even as a kid he could talk his way out of anything. Any time he got himself into trouble, all he had to do was grin and look at my mom or dad with those big doe eyes and he’d get a pat on the head. On top of that, more often than not, I’d be the one who paid the price.”
Torrid’s warm smile and penetrating gaze instantly came to mind, filling me with a strong physical ache for him.
“One time,” Rowan went on, “when he was nine, he decided to play hide and seek with my parents’ crowns… right before an important royal ceremony. My parents were incensed by the missing crowns and the entire household staff was put in search of them. They searched every room, every cupboard, every drawer and every box. Only after the ceremony, however, did they find the two crowns; one in my bedroom closet in a box that otherwise housed a play warrior helmet, and the other in the kitchen pantry.” He chuckled with wry amusement. “Can you imagine? A crown glistening with the finest jewels amidst bags of flour, wheels of cheese and jars of pickles?”
“I imagine your parents weren’t too happy about that,” I said, imagining a naughty young Torrid.
“Not at all. And guess who paid the price.” With mock anger he pointed to his chest. “Older brother and heir to the throne Rowan.”
“Were you punished?” I said, holding back an amused snort.
“Of course. My parents couldn’t let a thing like that go by unpunished. I was banned from the next three royal ceremonies, the thought being I needed to find greater respect for these occasions.”
“How horrible for you,” I said, aghast at the punishment he had to endure for Torrid’s naughty deeds.
But Rowan’s mischievous grin told me there was more.
“Actually, those royal ceremonies were a real bore. I mean, they’d go on and on. A lot of formalities. A lot of small talk. A lot of kissing up to people I didn’t even know. Think about it; I was, what, fourteen? I had better things to do with my time than chat up a bunch of blue-haired bores.”
“What an awful thing to say,” I said with an understanding chuckle.
“Well, I’ve grown out of that disdain for idle chatter and endless formalities, and have come to be quite a distinguished prince when it comes to royal ceremonies.”
“And has Torrid grown to be more respectful of them?”
“Hardly.”
Though I managed to smile at him, the longing to see Torrid increased, almost to the point of incapacitating me. I sat on a small wooden chair set up before the larger of the tents and stared down at my feet. The blood that had trickled from the bite wound on my ankle was dried and caked on my sock, but I didn’t feel an ounce of that pain. All I felt was the emp
tiness in my heart.
Rowan grunted and came to face me, taking my hands in his. His touch was firm, yet gentle. “I’m sorry. Please forgive my nonsensical ramblings. Here I am going on and on about my childhood with Torrid while you're obviously aching, both physically and emotionally. My reminiscing must make missing him all the worse.”
“Don’t apologize, Rowan. I enjoyed your story very much. To tell you the truth, with or without that story, I miss Torrid.”
“And your ankle. I’ll go get a Healer.”
“I’m fine, really Rowan. The bleeding has stopped and I feel no pain.”
“You don’t understand. You're part djinn. You need to see a Healer. You’ve been locked up in that place for too long and probably haven’t had anything decent to eat. You have to get better before we set out to find Torrid.”
“So we are going to get Torrid back,” I said, filled with sudden hope.
“Yes, but you need to see a djinn healer now to get better in minutes. I need you to be in top shape for what we’re about to do.”
Chapter 3
Prodding and probing, the healer checked for broken bones, abrasions and any hidden lacerations. He was thorough, almost too thorough. After placing his hands over the area where the feral dog bit me and using magic to heal the wound, washing out any infections from the bite, he gave me a canister filled with refreshing water.
“I’m impressed,” the djinn healer said. “Most humans show more fragility than this. Despite what you’ve been through, you're remarkably healthy and well…a bit dehydrated, but other than that, you will be fine in no time.”
“I told you she was part djinn,” Rowan said beside me.
“Yes, yes,” he said, almost absentmindedly. “So you say.” He peered into my ears. “But her sturdy build, though one wouldn’t guess it by looking at her delicate features, are not simply explained by the fact that she’s part djinn.”
