The Witch and the Bottle of Djinn (The Seaforth Chronicles Book 4)

by B. J. Smash

  Thinking that I was making fun of his name, he turned to glare at me. He growled, moved his deer forward and bit the apple. When it was thrown into the fire, it bounced a few times and then burst into flames. This seemed to amuse the queen and she giggled.

  Drumm offered his opinion on what this apple signified.

  “He’s definitely an angry leprechaun full of rage. Dangerous…ready to explode,” he said, but I already knew this. It wouldn’t take an Einstein to figure that out.

  More people passed, and they all signed the paper and bit the apple. And now it was our turn. Drumm whistled for Solstice and he came trotting out of the woods. Hefty thumping noises pounded the ground with each step. We all three, walked up to the podium.

  “Oh. It’s you two,” Egbert said with disgust.

  The queen noticed his displeasure right away. “What problem do you have with Izadora’s crew? They are likely to never make it to the bottle anyway. And they have even less of chance of making it out of here alive.” She gave me a fake smile.

  “It’s not that, my lady. I am just angry. They set my pixies free. My life’s work!” he pouted.

  I couldn’t help but look at him smugly. I was proud of what we’d done. He would just have to find another occupation. But the queen’s face lit up and her lips slowly curved up into a big, wide grin. Her eyes opened wider and they seemed to sparkle.

  “I see. Well then, I think we must penalize them. Indeed.” The queen stepped down from her podium, never taking her eyes from mine. She was much shorter than any Fae I’d ever seen, and it occurred to me that she could possibly have some human in her. Perhaps, her great-great grandmother had been human?

  I had thought that we’d be given some small setback as punishment. Maybe a later start than everyone else, or maybe we’d have to leave behind one of our bags. But what happened next, was totally unexpected, and it blew my mind.

  “The two of you must be punished. You both cannot race. One must stay behind.” She pursed her lips, trying not to smile. I could almost picture fire burning where her soul was supposed to be. The vibe she gave me was pure evil.

  My stomach sank, and my legs felt weak. This punishment would be the worst possible thing imaginable. I could not race without Drumm. And I could not let him race without me.

  “What? You cannot do that,” Drumm’s temper brewed.

  “I can do whatever I please. This is my town,” the queen said. “It was in my jurisdiction when it disappeared…WITH ME IN IT! I have to live here, and I make the rules.”

  Drumm and I looked at each other, and I knew exactly what he was thinking. He wanted to be the one to go on alone. “Ivy. It should be me. It’s too dangerous in there,” he whispered.

  I exhaled and rubbed my temples. I suppose this would be the best option. He was faster than me; although not by much. He definitely was stronger than me. I agreed and nodded my head.

  “I’ll do it then. I’ll race alone,” Drumm said to the queen.

  The queen lifted her chin and laughed so loudly, that Solstice jerked his head back and whinnied. Everyone else watched on with enthusiasm. A few gave us pity stares; including Tom and William. The rest were just enjoying the show.

  “Oh my dear. It is not as easy as that. You do not decide. We shall let fate decide.” She chuckled some more and held her hand up in front of us. She closed her hand, as if she were doing some sort of parlor trick, and all of a sudden there were several twigs sprouting out from the top of her fist. “You shall draw one of these. Whoever gets the shortest stick – shall race.”

  “Let us see the sticks,” Drumm said firmly.

  She opened her hand to show that the sticks were all different lengths. Clasping her hand, she held them back up. “Draw,” she said to Drumm.

  He took his time, but reached forward and picked one from her hand. We couldn’t tell if he’d picked the shortest, but it was pretty short. I took a deep breath and stepped forward and took one. When we held them side by side, the queen burst out into laughter. Darvon couldn’t contain his joy and actually clapped his hands. A few people gasped, and some just shook their heads. Drumm swore beneath his breath, “Dammit.”

  I had drawn the shortest stick.

  I…would be racing alone.

  I felt nauseous, and wanted to puke. Could I do this on my own? The queen saw my displeasure, and said, “I’ll give you some time to think it over. Just head to the back of the line. Perhaps, you shouldn’t race at all,” and she walked back to her podium.

  Drumm tugged at my hand, “You don’t have to do this, Ivy. We can just go home. It is not likely that anyone here will make it to the djinn bottle anyway.”

  “And tell Izadora what? That I backed out? That I couldn’t handle this task on my own?” I argued. But inside, I wanted to walk away. I was beginning to chicken out. I almost did tell Drumm that I wasn’t going to race. Yet, something inside me wouldn’t let me say it.

  I had to race.

  Instead, I kissed him on the cheek and said, “Wish me luck.” I walked to the end of the line with Solstice and waited for my turn to enter.

  ***

  Their laughter was cut short when the ground began to tremble, and the queen shifted. She almost lost her balance, but Darvon was there to catch “her highness” and steady her. “What on earth was that?” she asked. No one had a clue what had caused it, but I looked over to the tree line to find that Izaill leaned on a birch tree. He flicked his cigarette into the woods and motioned for me to come over.

  “Who is that?” the queen spat.

  “Izaill,” Darvon said with a snobbish air.

  A look of realization swept across her face. Everyone knew Izaill by name, even if they didn’t recognize his old man appearance. He might look frail; but no. Izaill was far from being frail. He was a badass with extremely low tolerance.

  “What do you want? Do you wish to race?” the queen called out.

  Taking his time, Izaill strode forward. His hair was disheveled beneath his bowler’s cap, and he clearly looked insane. “I need to speak with Ivy.”

  No one would dare to say, “no” to Izaill, including this queen. Reluctantly, she agreed to let us speak for a moment.

  He touched my arm and it was hotter than hellfire. I pulled back. He leaned in and said one thing to me. “Get the bean first.” Without making eye contact, he turned and walked into the forest.

  “But why?” I asked.

  He didn’t answer, and disappeared from view. The earth rumbled and shook, and Izaill had departed just as quickly as he had arrived.

  Of all the things he could have said, I didn’t expect this. He was being selfish, and he probably didn’t think I’d ever get the djinn bottle, but he wanted to make sure that I got the stupid bean for him. I definitely would not get the bean first. He had to be nuts.

  Two more people went through. I was too distracted to hear their names. It was only when the next person walked toward the podium that I paid attention.

  It was the girl cloaked in black – from the night before. Apparently she had returned; or maybe she never left? It occurred to me that she could have been cloaking herself the entire morning, staying out of sight. If she knew of a cloaking spell that good, she had to know her share of the magic arts. She now had a horse that I had not seen before, and as they walked to the podium, I watched her intently. Something seemed vaguely familiar about the way she walked – the sway of her hips. I’d seen this walk before.

  She pulled back her hood, and vibrant red hair spilled over her shoulders. A series of swear words escaped Drumm’s mouth. The young woman standing before the crowd, was none other than my conceited cousin…Elecampane Seaforth.

  “As if the day couldn’t get any worse,” Drumm said.

  I was so shocked to see her here that my eye began to twitch. No good was going to come out of Ella racing amongst us.

  “I am here to represent, the great and powerful sea witch, Magella,” Ella said.

  A hushed silence came o
ver the crowd, and even the queens lips were shut firmly. Magella had been serving a punishment, and she currently lived on a lake in a crannog. Her mother, Aggie, had taken her ship away, and forced her to live inland. Her punishment was to be one year out of the ocean, and so far she had only served around half of that sentence. She was extremely bitter with everyone, and it didn’t surprise me that she was sending someone in to race for her. She’d love to get her hands on the djinn bottle, but I had no idea how Ella had found Magella.

  I was the only one to speak. “I don’t know about the great and powerful part,” I said sarcastically. “Maybe she’s a great pain in the arse, but that’s about it.” This caused a rumble of laughter from the group of Fae. Not even they, cared for Magella. Her petty knowledge of magic was beneath them.

  Ella’s vivid blue eyes fell upon me. “It is better to work for Magella than to work for the old biddy that lives in a tree.”

  “Hmmmph,” Drumm snorted.

  She signed the paper, walked through, and bit into the apple. The queen tossed it into the fire. It burned quickly till the core was black as coal.

  ***

  Egbert wrote my name in the book. “Ivy Seaforth shall be riding for Izadora, witch of the air.”

  Most of the crowd booed, and I received plenty of harsh complaints from the townspeople themselves. “Get out! We don’t want you here!” “Izadora! We hate you, and your apprentice!”

  Reluctantly, I strode forward. My head was down, and I couldn’t believe I was about to join the racers. Did I have a death wish? I must have. This was clearly insane. But if I didn’t get this bottle for Izadora then who would?

  I observed the apple that the queen held in her hand. She had carved an intricate design, like that of a crop circle or something, with intricate details. How had she carved it so quickly? It would have taken a regular person hours to do such a thing. Upon looking closer it reminded me of the snowflake decorations that Gran liked to knit every Christmas. When I took a bite from the apple, the queen flung it in the fire with great force. The apple landed in the center of the flames, but it did not burn. She sucked in breath and shifted from foot to foot. Darvon pretended that he didn’t notice, but I saw his Adams’s apple move as he swallowed hard. I had no idea what this meant. The fact that the apple didn’t burn made me nervous. I had a feeling they were going to single me out even more. Make things as hard as possible for me.

  Glancing at Drumm, I noticed he was smirking. He gave me the thumbs up signal. Somehow, my apple meant something positive. Hmmm.

  As I turned to walk Solstice away, the queen said, “Not so fast. The horse is elven. He needs a shot in the buttocks.”

  I jumped to the hindquarters of Solstice and held out my hands to stop the queen. “What did you say?”

  She sighed, “Move it girl. He’s an elven horse. Elven horses can fly…that’s common knowledge. If we let him pass without the shot, he can fly you through the forest. That would be cheating. He must take the shot.” She whipped something out of a bag that she had stored on her horse. Walking toward us, I could see that the needle of that thing was six inches long. I forced my knees from knocking together. I hated needles, but I didn’t want to let the queen know that. She’d probably insist that I needed a shot, too.

  She stepped up to the backside of Solstice, and I looked to Drumm for help. He shrugged his shoulders, and there was nothing he could do. If we denied the shot, she would send us packing.

  “I promise I won’t let him fly.” I tried to sway her. However, if Solstice had it in his mind that he was going to fly then there was no stopping him. The queen must have suspected as much, and she rolled her eyes, and batted her smoky covered eyelashes at me, and lifted the needle up to the muscular part of his butt. I bit down on my lip, scrunched my eyes up, and watched. Solstice didn’t seem to care what was going on behind him, and he bent his head down to munch on some grass.

  “Wait! I’ll hold the reigns.” I tried to stall her.

  There was nothing I could do. She acted as if she were about to put the needle in, and then stopped, and pushed the syringe so that the contents squirted out all over the horse. It was the weirdest thing. What shot out of the needle was orange and pink fog.

  The fog crept over Solstice, starting from the back and moving all the way up to his head, and all the while he continued to eat grass. Soon, he was encased with this funny colored cloud, and he let out a single whinny. The fog then made its way back down to Solstices hindquarters and back into the syringe.

  “There. That should last for seven days. At the end of the seven days…and if you are alive…he’ll be back to normal.” She stuck her nose in the air, and walked to the Dark Elf’s horse, and repeated the process. He didn’t seem to care, and if he did, he never showed any signs of caring. He’d probably mastered his emotions, but I bet deep down inside of him…he cared whether his horse could fly or not. Taking flight away from an elven horse was like taking the wings from a bird. They loved to fly.

  The queen walked back over to her podium—toe first, then rolled through to the heel—one foot right after the other. She held her head high, pushed her shoulders down, and thrust out her chest. I could tell by the way she carried herself that she demanded respect from her subjects.

  I scanned the crowd, and saw that Ella observed the queen closely. If I was a betting woman, and I had someone to bet with, I’d bet right now that Ella would soon be trying to walk like the queen. I held back a snicker.

  It was time to enter, and leave Drumm behind. Turning to go, I gave him one last glance. His turquoise eyes were watching me, and he appeared thoughtful. Suddenly, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the magic cigarettes that Izadora had given us.

  “Ivy! Don’t forget your smokes,” he said and tossed them to me.

  This didn’t go unnoticed by anyone, and a man from the crowd yelled, “She smokes cigarettes? She’s more of a rebel than I thought.” A few of the man laughed.

  I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs, “Smoking is bad for you! You numb nuts!” But I held my tongue. I had to pretend they were like gold to me.

  My cousin Ella couldn’t be fooled. She snorted and shook her head back and forth to signify that the crowd were a bunch of idiots. She knew that I’d never smoke cigarettes. And yet, she didn’t say a word to anyone. She had to know they were magical somehow, and she would probably try to steal them for herself. I would definitely have to keep an eye on her. Heck, I would have to watch my own back around everyone. No one wanted me here. No one liked Izadora. At this very moment, Ish was snarling at me. He’d be the one I’d have to stay away from.

  I could protect myself if I had to. I’d take him out with a single kick to the skull, but I imagine he had some magic up his little Santa Claus sleeves. It was a good thing Drumm had made me bring my bow and arrows.

  As I walked by Ish McTish to get in line, he spat at me. Solstice raised his head and snorted. I could hear Drumm complaining, but I kept walking. I gagged when I looked down and saw his spit on my arm. It was a snot colored yellow. I bent down and wiped it on the grass.

  I jumped up on Solstice’s back and held my head in the air. They could treat me like crap if the wanted to. But I vowed then and there – I would get that dang bottle if it killed me.

  Chapter Ten

  Drumm acted like a nervous ball of energy, and couldn’t stand in one place. He paced and paced the edge of the town. I knew he was trying to think of some way to come along before the town closed up. The veil to enter would close any minute now.

  However, there was one more surprise in store for us all. Just as we were about to leave Drumm behind, a whistle came from the woods. Someone was causing a commotion as they ran toward the town line. I couldn’t see who it was till he was right upon us. Hope rose in me like a balloon.

  Lucian ran toward us, “Wait! Wait!”

  Egbert had no idea who he was, and neither did the queen. They exchanged a few words, as Lucian walked by Drumm punching him
in the arm. “What’s up bro?” Lucian said. Drumm didn’t reply but just watched as Lucian stopped in front of Egbert, and leaned on the podium as he caught his breath.

  “Whew. That was a killer of a run,” Lucian said. He then stood tall and said, “I’m here to enter.”

  “You? Who are you?” Egbert adjusted his spectacles. It was then that he recognized him.

  “I am here, Mr. Winemaker…to race for Ian…” Lucian said. “Ian Trismegistus.”

  Laughter bubbled up inside me. Somehow I knew that Ian would not, and could not be left out of the race. He had found a way to send Lucian in, and he used the title from his most favorite philosopher, Hermes Trismegistus. Well, The Great Wizard Maximus was Ian’s favorite, but he couldn’t very well call himself The Great Wizard Ian. I knew that Ian idolized Hermes, and only used his title out of great respect for the man. It cracked me right up, and I laughed out loud.

  “Who?” Egbert squealed.

  “You heard me. Ian Trismegistus,” Lucian looked up at me and winked.

  “Oh…Ian McCallister…er…Trismegistus,” Egbert said as it dawned on him who Lucian was talking about. “Well…what do you say, my lady?”

  The queen appeared thoughtful and squinted her eyes. I think she was about to deny his entry. But Egbert, stuck up for him. I think he felt that the punishment the queen had given me had been a bit too dramatic. He probably thought I’d never make it on my own, and that Izadora would wring his neck. “I think, my lady that we should let the boy enter. After all, Ian does own these woods. It might insult him if…”

  “He can enter,” the queen said. “The more the merrier. But, where is his mount?”

  Lucian didn’t bother to answer, instead he shifted to hell hound form. His body contorted and his face expanded. Things cracked and moaned, and white hair grew over his entire body. The last thing to change were his ears, which sprouted up and turned red. He could normally change now, within seconds, but I know that he was putting on a show for the queen.