Chapter 9
Iglared at Zafir. I wouldn’t be able to escape him until he removed the charm, and he wouldn’t do so until I submitted to his little interrogation. All I needed to do was play along until the right opportunity presented itself.
“Okay, sorcerer, explain the rules of…this thing.” I jangled the chain between us.
“I’m a vizier, not a sorcerer,” Zafir told me placidly.
“If you’re casting spells, I say sorcerer. When can the charm be lifted?”
“Once we both agree that we don’t want to be bound together anymore,” Zafir said. “It’s a simple charm, but very powerful. A few minutes of questioning and you’re free to go. I wouldn’t have cast it if you hadn’t kept trying to run away and hurt me, so it’s your own fault you’re in this position.”
I tilted my head, considering. “What if you only lift the charm for yourself?”
“I can’t when we’re linked together like this.
I had to make sure you couldn’t run away.
But I assure you, it’s just for the questioning, and you won’t be harmed in the process.
I’ll be bound by the same rules as you will.
So it’s just a few minutes of talking, and as long as we are in agreement at the end, we can disconnect and go our separate ways, never to see each other again. ”
“And you said I can’t hurt you?”
“Nor I you,” Zafir explained, marching back toward his study. The chain went taut and I was forced to follow. “At least not without suffering the same pain ourselves. While bound, you cannot harm me or anyone else.”
I clenched my fists as I crossed the threshold. “And as long as we’re linked together, you can’t hurt me either?”
“Correct.”
“Will I be prevented from planning to harm others? Or merely acting on it?”
Zafir studied me closely. When he answered, each word was carefully measured. “You can still plan, but you cannot carry out any plans.”
“Will I be prevented from trying, or are there consequences if I try?”
“Like I said, if you try to injure or harm anyone, you will cause yourself immediate, equal pain. That is meant to be a warning. But if you so much as try to kill anyone, you die immediately and cease to exist.”
“That seems extreme for a simple questioning.”
“Only if you try to kill someone. Were you planning on doing that within the next few minutes?”
“Apparently, I can plan as much as I want; I just can’t act on it. Ask away so we can get this over with quickly.”
Zafir wasted no time once the door was closed. “Where’s the genie you control?” he asked, his black eyes alive with eager anticipation.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
He looked hungrily at the swirling mark encircling my wrist. “You’ve been marked by a genie. Unless I miss my guess, you made a wish and a genie granted it. Am I right?”
I screwed up my face, trying to remember exactly what had occurred right before the mark had appeared. I had been with Rahil, he stabbed me, and I wanted to get away, then I appeared in Pyren. “I think so. It’s hard to remember.”
“Describe exactly what happened that led up to your making a wish. Did you see a genie rise from a vessel? It would have been a personage or spirit of some form.”
“No.”
“Did you make a wish to the ring? Genies are often contained in rings but the one you had on your person didn’t contain a genie.”
“That was the only ring I had on,” I said clearly. “Rahil and I were in a room he tried to keep hidden from me, but it was just some paintings and a lamp on a pillar in there, and I wished, then I vanished.”
Zafir leaned forward, his eyes alive with greed. “A lamp? What did it look like? Was it old?”
“Yes. And it just looked like an old, golden oil lamp. It has some symbols engraved on the sides, but as I was stabbed soon after, I didn’t really take any time to examine it in depth.
I was rather preoccupied with trying not to die, you see.
Oh, and there were some jewels on the pillar around it. There was a diamond and a ruby and—”
“I don’t care about gems. Tell me more about the lamp. Genies can use other vessels besides rings. You touched this lamp? You actually held it in your bare hands?” His tone had become reverent.
“Yeah, I picked it up.”
“Did you rub it?”
“I…I can’t remember. I know I held it.”
The greed was uncontrolled in his eyes. “Simply touching it should’ve been sufficient. Then you made a wish?”
“There were a few things going on at the time, but for simplicity’s sake, yes, I made a wish.”
“What was your exact wish? Think!”
“To be on the other side of the world.”
Zafir leaned back, dumbfounded. “You could have wished for anything—anything, and you wished for that?”
I scowled. “Look, I just said the first thing that popped into my head. Believe it or not, when a person is in the middle of being murdered, their thoughts aren’t particularly logical or eloquent.
I was sort of preoccupied with staying alive, and it’s not like I thought the wish would actually come true. ”
It looked like Zafir was chewing on his tongue. “But you didn’t see a spirit…did you perhaps see smoke or vapor after you wished?”
I thought back. “Yes. Right after I made the wish, there was a lot of some kind of navy or purplish smoke, then I appeared on the street here. I don’t recall anything else.”
His expression cleared. “Ah, so perhaps a juvenile spirit. Very good. Where is this lamp, exactly?”
“Back in Brisden, I suppose.” A shrewd idea slunk into the back of my head and I flashed a winning smile at Zafir. “I’d be willing to take you there and show you if you kill my husband for me.”
He looked wholly uninterested. “No. I’m not an assassin; I’m a vizier, and as much as I understand the appeal of revenge, I have no interest in going anywhere with you.”
“You don’t have to kill him then. I simply want him brought to justice. He’s killing women and he has to be stopped. My sister could be in danger right now; she was planning to go to him.”
Something dark flickered in Zafir’s eyes, hardening his expression until he lifted his brow and stated flatly, “An unfortunate situation. You’re welcome to borrow paper and ink to write to the officials in Brisden, but I can’t change those circumstances.
Now, back to the lamp, it belongs to your husband?
I expect that he kept it locked away? Perhaps in a vault or similar location for safekeeping? ”
I sighed. “Yes. There was a locked room. It seemed like the oil lamp was his most prized possession. He even kept the key to the room hidden and locked away.”
“Rightly so; I would do the same. And I assume he’s wealthy? Famous? Well-known?”
“I suppose he is. What, you think he used a genie to wish for all that?”
“I would assume so. Do you know where his riches came from? Is he titled? Was his family fabulously wealthy, or perhaps he runs multiple successful businesses?”
“He said he had a sizeable inheritance, and I think he runs a business,” I answered slowly.
I’d been so fixated on my own suspicions and exploring the house that I’d never once stopped to question his story or inquire as to what sort of business he ran.
“And I’d be willing to help you if you help me in return. ”
“No. You already suggested your little murder plot and I immediately declined. My mind won’t change.” Zafir’s cold eyes drilled into mine. “I saved your life, and now you owe me all the information I want.”
“I don’t even know if there is a genie or not. I never saw anything other than an old lamp and some smoke. You’re making a lot of assumptions.”
“Do you have another way to explain how you magically appeared thousands of miles away in an instant? Only a genie is powerful enough for feats of that magnitude. Not even dragons have that sort of ability.”
“I don’t have an answer. If you want to find out, then run off to Brisden and find out.
I’ll even guide you there myself.” I needed to find Nadia and make sure she was safe, then I’d find some way to get revenge on old Bluebeard.
He wouldn’t get away with this, and I would not let him continue his scheme now that I knew what he was up to.
My gaze snuck over to where my confiscated belongings rested on Zafir’s desk.
Before I ran again, I’d have to get my mirror back.
“You have the mark of a genie.” He turned my arm over so he could look at the tattoo that encircled my wrist. “Do you have any other explanation for it?”
I pulled my wrist away. “No, I don’t have any other explanation. So, how do we get back to Brisden? You can have the lamp as long as I can make sure my husband is brought to justice.”
Zafir stared off into the distance. His face was so sharp and angular that he almost looked like a statue.
“Hello?” I snapped my fingers in front of his face. “I said I’ll take you to Brisden and you can get the lamp of your dreams.”
He frowned in annoyance. “It isn’t that simple. Without a genie to make me instantly vanish and reappear somewhere else, financing a voyage like that would require a hefty sum of money. I won’t pay for you to go on a vacation.”
“It’s hardly a vacation to try to get back home, and you could ask your government. I’m sure the Parliament people you advise would love to get their hands onto a magic lamp with an all-powerful genie inside.”
“I’m not fool enough to shout about knowing where a genie is. That’s how people get killed. Or”—he nodded at my bandaged shoulder—“stabbed when they aren’t careful.”
“What, so you’re just planning to leave me here?
” A horrible, creeping realization stole over me.
Without any money, I would be stuck in Pyren forever.
What was I going to do? Even if I managed to find employment, it would take years, if not a lifetime, for me to save up enough to go back.
My thieving skills were sufficient to keep me fed, but not to accrue a massive amount of wealth in a short period of time.
Nadia needed me. At this very moment, she was probably trying to find me, and Rahil might find her first. He could already have captured her, forced her back to prison, or even married her.
I’d been stupid to wish I was so far away from my husband.
Why hadn’t I simply wished that he was dead?
That would have been the much better choice.
“Write down your husband’s name and exact location on this piece of paper,” Zafir said, pulling out a slip of parchment and shoving it toward me.
I shoved it back. “I refuse.”
Zafir frowned. “I’m a vizier. You have to obey me.”
“No, I don’t. You have no authority over me. I’m not a Pyrenese citizen, and as such, I’m not bound by your laws.”
He blinked and his frown deepened. “But I command it.”
“You can’t make me.” The childish retort slipped off my tongue before I could stop it.
I might have been embarrassed, but the look of stunned disbelief on Zafir’s face was satisfactory enough to make up for it.
“If you want to go get the lamp, you’ll have to take me along. Otherwise, you won’t know where to go.”
Zafir narrowed his eyes at me, then stood. “No matter; I can find him without your assistance. There can’t be many impossibly wealthy men in Brisden. Rumors spread quickly.”
I stayed sitting, jaw locked. I would not, could not, let Zafir win.
“Hold out your arm and I’ll release you,” Zafir said, leaning over the chain.
“No.”
“What?”
“I don’t repeat myself,” I said with a smirk.
Zafir tried to cast the spell to release the vow bond anyway, but the chain held. “What have you done?” he demanded.
“I do not agree to break our bond.”
Zafir’s jaw dropped. “Why not? I can assure you that I’m in no way good company.”
“True, but I’m smart enough to see an advantage when it presents itself. I’m only willing to break the bond once you help me figure out a way to get what I want.”
“You’re impossible,” Zafir said. He made as if to storm away, but once he got halfway to the door, the chain pulled him back. He turned, livid, and flames leapt from his eyes.
I grinned. “You wanted me to be chained to you. Congratulations, you got your wish. Now you get to live with the consequences.”
Zafir wrenched the chain so it almost dislocated my arm, but the moment I gave a grunt of pain, he let out a gasp of pain and clutched at his own shoulder.
“Now, what did you say the rules of this charm were, again?” I tapped my chain. “Oh yes, you can’t do anything to hurt anyone without causing yourself pain, which includes me, and you can’t break the enchantment without my agreement. I really like this charm. How considerate of you to cast it.”
“What do you want from me?” he spat.
“I already told you my price.”
“I can’t kill anyone with this on,” Zafir said, shaking the chain binding us together. “It would kill me if I tried, and I only have legal power in Pyren, not in Brisden. Any petition I filed there would be useless.”
“Then you can help me plan, and I’ll release you right before I put my plans into action—after we get back to Brisden.”
Zafir chewed his tongue, seething.
“You need me,” I told him, praying my gamble would pay off.
“I can help you get the magic lamp you’re after, and there’s no way my husband will ever let you get close.
You need my information. I know where the lamp is and how to access it, but I don’t work for free.
If this lamp is truly as valuable as you say, then what’s a while longer with me taking up a little space? ”
He rolled his eyes and gave a half-sigh, half-growl of frustration. “Fine.”