She fell asleep in his arms when her passion was sated and
he held her and watched her. He wasn’t sure why she fascinated him so, but she
did. Everything about her drew him.
It was like a drug, watching her sleep. The way her lashes
flittered just so, the way her lips twitched. The peaceful rise and fall of her
chest as she lolled in the arms of Morpheus. She was lovely in her release and
he envied her.
Sleep was a pleasure he remembered though had not enjoyed
for centuries.
He tenderly tracked the line of her lips and then, because he
could not resist, the slender column of her neck. The simple touch soothed him.
There was something about Aimalee that did that, relieved
his tension, fed him, spoke to his soul. She was generous and kind and
compassionate. She was a woman who deserved love, the very best of it. But
there was something more in her. A warmth. An affinity. A familiarity.
And she deserved to be treated with respect.
She deserved better than being sentenced to this hell with
him.
She deserved better than being ensnared by a cheap and
tawdry trick like the passion incantation.
Keeshan rested his head on her shoulder. He shouldn’t use it
on her. He knew he shouldn’t. And fortunately, up until now—with the exception
of the first desperate time—he hadn’t had to. But he knew a time would come
when he would need to. When the magic of the lamp would ensnare him and ride
him and he would ache to his toes with desire for her—and she would refuse him.
Could he resist temptation then?
The pain was excruciating and grew like a roiling sandstorm
when he didn’t touch her. When that happened, could he maintain the control to
simply say no? To refrain from using the spell that would release him from his
torment?
Now, with her tucked into his embrace, he imagined he could
be strong.
Experience taught him differently.
Experience taught him that at his core, he was weak. He
hated that about himself. Hated that the spell could ride him, control him.
But if he could do it, if he could resist using the
incantation, it could be his little rebellion against the Dark Djinn. If he
could bear it.
And he vowed that he would. Vowed that he could.
But somewhere deep inside, a little devil laughed.
Because he had never been able to resist before.
He cupped her cheek, stroked her with his thumb. Like a
kitten, she nuzzled into his embrace.
Damn it all. He was going to hate it when she left.
But in the meantime, no matter what it took he would not use
the incantation.
He would not.
Unless he absolutely had to.
He knew immediately when she began to stir. Her breathing
changed, her body tightened, her presence…returned.
“Are you hungry?” he murmured into her hair.
She nodded. “A little.”
He sat up and waved a hand. A platter of fruit and bread and
cheese appeared before them.
Aimalee laughed, wrapping herself in the blanket he had
conjured as their bed. “That’s a useful little trick.”
“It’s a long walk back up the hill.”
“Mmm.” She plucked a grape and popped it into her mouth. He
watched with a hunger of his own. She stared out at the sea, tapping her lip.
“You said you were a student of the Dark Djinn?”
“Yes. But he wasn’t the Dark Djinn then.”
“What did he teach you? Magic?”
Keeshan nodded. “Of a sort. But looking back, the spells
were little more than cheap tricks to bend space and time. Nothing really
astounding.”
“I find the ability to conjure up food out of thin air
rather astounding.”
“Yes, but it is nothing you could not do on your own with a
little more effort. This kind of magic is little more than shortcuts.”
“Still… It’s impressive.”
“I am so gratified that you are impressed.” Truly, his power
was so insignificant in the scheme of things it was barely worth mentioning.
“Is the Dark Djinn so much more powerful than you?”
“He was much more powerful than I two thousand years ago.
Surely now that he has had all this time to hone his craft, he is even
stronger.”
She shrugged. “No one is invincible. Everyone has their
weakness. You simply need to discover his.”
Keeshan laughed. He had to. She was so naive.
But she made him feel special and he would always remember her
for that. Even after she was gone. He pulled her into his arms and held her
tight.
“Keeshan?”
“Mmm?”
“There’s something I would like to ask you.”
“Anything.”
“The other day when you were watching the mirror…”
“Yes?”
She tipped her head so she could peer up at him. “Who was
she?”
His heart lurched. “She?”
“The woman in the scene. You said the mirror clouds the
vision when your emotion overflows. So obviously you cared about her. Who was
she? What made you so emotional?”
The pulse at his temple began to throb. He glanced away. “It
was nothing.”
“It was hardly nothing. Who was that girl?”
“It doesn’t matter. She died a long time ago.”
“Who was she, Keeshan?” Aimalee set her hand on his broad
shoulder. His muscles rippled at her touch. “Was she the woman you loved?”
Her words gored him through the gut because he caught the
thread of jealousy, the tinge of pain in her voice.
He swallowed the thick lump in his throat. “She was my
sister. Lisette.”
“You have a sister?”
“Had.” One word. So difficult to choke out.
“How-how did she die?”
Keeshan scrubbed his eyes with the heel of his palm. He
didn’t want to talk about this. He didn’t want to
think
about this. “I
don’t know.”
“Oh, Keeshan.”
“I have never been able to get that far. I always lose the
vision when she screams.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“No matter. That was long ago. Centuries past. Even if I
wasn’t a prisoner here, there is nothing I could do to save her.”
“But it would help you, give you peace to know what happened
to her. Wouldn’t it?”
It would. It would help immeasurably. One tiny shard of
peace in an endless torment.
“I have tried, Aimalee. So many times.” The memory of that
anguish, of disappointment upon disappointment, weighed so heavily on him, his
shoulders slumped.
“What if
I
asked?”
His heart lurched. “W-what?”
“It worked when I wanted to see Carter.” Her lip curled as
she spoke of the man she had loved, the man who had betrayed her. “We can sit
together on the chair and I can hold you the way you held me. And I can ask.
Maybe we will be able to see more. Just a little more. That’s all you need,
isn’t it?”
He swallowed the lump in his throat. She was right. It had
worked before. But it was almost more than he was willing to hope.
She punched him gently on the shoulder with a tiny fist.
“Come on. It wouldn’t hurt to try.”
She was wrong. It could hurt. But he could not pass up the
chance. He had no idea how long Aimalee would be with him. If they were going
to do this, there was no time to waste. “Now? Can we do it now?”
She laughed and the sound was a balm to his soul. Then she
stood and reached out to him, which nearly made him laugh as well. She was such
a tiny thing and here she was offering to help him stand. Funny thing was, he
suspected she had the strength to do just that. And perhaps more.
He suspected she had the strength to salvage what was left
of his soul.
And he wanted to let her.
And for some reason, the thought no longer frightened him.
He took her hand in his and stood. Together they made their
way back up the stone steps, up the hill and back to his prison where the
truth, a secret held far too long, waited to be revealed.
* * * * *
“Are you comfortable?” They sat on the throne in the mirror
room, side by side. Aimalee had her legs draped over his lap and her arms
wrapped around his chest. He was so broad, her hands didn’t meet.
“No.” His face was a mask. His lips were pale. A pulse
throbbed at his temple.
“Don’t worry, Keeshan. I’m here.”
He kissed her forehead. “Thank you, Aimalee. No matter what
happens. Thank you.”
She let herself drown in his gaze but only for a moment. The
tiny tremors shivering through him told her he needed an answer. And he needed
it now.
She cleared her throat. “Mirror. Show me Lisette, please.”
To her surprise, Keeshan chuckled.
“What’s so funny?”
“I never say please.”
She grinned. “Shame on you. Such bad manners. No wonder the
mirror never shows you anything.”
But all conversation stalled, all banter halted. Keeshan
stiffened as the scene, the so familiar scene coalesced on the screen.
A girl. Lovely, spirited and carefree. Now that she knew,
Aimalee could see why she had seemed so familiar before. She had Keeshan’s
features. His long, slender nose, his high cheekbones, his eyes. She was so
like him, yet so lovely.
Smiling at some secret thought, she plucked berries from a
bountiful bush, popping them into her mouth, staining her lips an even richer
red. She turned to speak to a friend, a sultry, husky voice, and then she
laughed at the response, tossing her head back with elegant abandon. And then…
A thundering sound shook the sylvan scene. The girl glanced
over her shoulder and her expression clouded. A hint of fear blossomed. Her
eyes widened as she saw
something
approach.
And then she screamed. She wheeled away and began to flee,
dropping her basket. Plump, juicy berries tumbled to the ground and were
crushed to red pulps beneath her feet.
Keeshan was so tense his entire body quivered. Aimalee could
tell he was trying so hard to control his emotion. This was the point where the
scene had always cut off. She stroked his cheek. “It’s okay,” she whispered.
“Relax.”
He did relax a bit but his attention was riveted on the
screen.
Because the scene continued.
A man on a large horse rode into sight. He was dark and
large and looming. He wore an odd, ancient form of black armor scrolled with
myriad inscriptions, his face covered by the visor of his helmet. And he
followed the girl, Lisette, as she attempted to escape.
She didn’t escape.
The dark knight scooped her up onto his lap and threw back
his head and laughed.
Keeshan stilled. “All the gods,” he whispered.
“Do you know him?” Aimalee asked, even as the enormous horse
wheeled about and, trampling the basket and the berries, pounded off into the
distance.
“Yes.” He hissed the response through his teeth. “The
bastard.”
The scene changed again. The girl again, frightened,
vulnerable. She stood in the center of an austere chamber with a large stone
throne on a dais flanked by two slavering hounds. There was little light but
that flickering from two flaming urns. The knight who had snatched her stood
before her, watching her tremble. A sinister smirk played on his lips.
Then he lifted off his helmet, revealing a horrifying,
handsome visage. It was horrifying because those perfect features were twisted
into something awful. Pure, unadulterated hate. His entire body pulsed with it.
His mouth was nothing more than a disdainful slash. “You are
mine now, Lisette. You are mine forever.”
“No!” Keeshan leapt from the chair and paced the room like a
tethered beast, dragging his fingers through his hair and gnashing his teeth.
The instant he wrenched away from Aimalee, the image in the mirror vanished.
“Who was that man?” Aimalee followed him though she could
barely keep up, aching to soothe him, somehow alleviate this new panic. She
would never have offered to find Lisette had she known her fate would disturb
him so.
Keeshan swung on her, his countenance a mask of rage
and…helplessness. “That man,” he spat, “is none other than the Dark Djinn. And
when he said he had my sister forever, he meant forever.” He slammed his fist
into the wall. The entire room shuddered. “All this time. All this time! He’s
had her. All this time he’s been tormenting her. All this time she’s been alive
with him…and suffering!”
“You don’t know she is suffering.”
“I’ll kill him. I swear. I will rip him limb from limb.”
Aimalee’s heart stuttered. “But he’s so much stronger than
you.”
“He is still a man. I may not be as powerful but I can
certainly do him damage. He will pay.”
“Keeshan. Calm down.” Panic fluttered in her breast. If
anything happened to Keeshan, would she be stuck here forever? She didn’t want
to be stuck here forever.
Then again, she rather desperately didn’t want anything to
happen to her Keeshan.
Though he wasn’t
her
Keeshan. At least not
technically.
“I must confront him.” Still he paced, smashing his bloodied
fist into his palm. “I must rescue her.”
“First you have to calm down. Get control of your emotions.”
He swung around and stared at her as though she had just
appeared from thin air. “You don’t understand. Every second, every second I
delay, she remains in his clutches.”
“As she has for two thousand years. A bit longer, while you
collect yourself, will do no harm. If you confront the Djinn like this, he’ll
win. I couldn’t bear it if he…”
Keeshan stilled. “If he…what?”
She blinked several times in succession and it wasn’t to
fight back the tears. It wasn’t. “If he hurt you.”
“He won’t hurt me.”
“You are still a man.”
Oh. He didn’t like it when she used his own argument against
him. He glowered something fierce. “I know I am not invulnerable. But I do have
some tricks up my sleeve. Stand back now. I must go.”
She threw herself against him and wrapped her arms around
his neck, levering herself up for a kiss. His lips were unyielding at first but
she worked at them until they molded against hers. “Be careful,” she whispered.
“Be safe.”