Chapter 25 #2
It is a common misconception that genies refrain from harming their masters out of obedience or loyalty.
In truth, they refrain out of self-preservation.
A genie’s life force is bound to that of its master, and should the master perish, the genie’s own essence collapses shortly thereafter, severed from the mortal anchor that sustains its power.
So odds were that the genie would’ve gladly killed Rahil once I became its master, but instead I’d wished to be far removed. Stupid, stupid me. I read on.
Additionally, a genie is bound to its vessel. If one is destroyed, the other will be as well. For this reason, genies will frequently persuade or tempt their masters to wish for reinforcement on their vessels as a protection and safeguard.
The lamp had certainly been well protected.
Of course I hadn’t been able to break it when I’d tried.
If I did manage to get back and destroy the lamp somehow, Rahil would lose his source of wishes.
Was there a limit to the number of wishes a genie would grant its master?
I scanned the book again, flipping through the pages until I found my answer.
It has long been observed that the strength of a genie is directly proportional to the number of wishes it may grant to each successive master.
Genies of lesser age or power, sometimes referred to as juvenile spirits, are capable of bestowing only a limited number, often no more than three wishes.
Such restrictions are not merely arbitrary but seem to reflect the incomplete development of their metaphysical nature.
I scrunched my eyes shut. Zafir would be able to explain this in easy-to-understand words. Why did academic textbooks have to be so dull and dry? I opened my eyes and squinted at the page, trying to bully my brain into cooperating.
Conversely, elder genies, whose existence can span centuries or millennia as they serve many masters, possess correspondingly greater reservoirs of power. These entities may endow their masters with dozens or hundreds of wishes, though precise numbers remain difficult to establish.
I ran a hand through my hair. If Rahil had been getting many wishes for years, he must possess one of the older, more powerful genies.
Why couldn’t he have taken possession of an infantile genie who could only grant three wishes?
At least then, he would have eventually run out and another master could take over.
But also…Zafir had hypothesized that if the genie could only appear as vapor or smoke, it would be a juvenile spirit.
So which did Rahil have? It was all so confusing. I sighed and continued to read.
Reliable data is scarce, as genies are notoriously secretive, and few who have commanded them survive long enough to record their experiences in full, and even fewer are willing to share such knowledge.
Nevertheless, fragmentary accounts suggest that the most formidable genies can dispense wishes of such scale and frequency that they have earned the epithet “world-breakers” among certain scholars.
It should be noted that the true upper limit of a genie’s wish-granting capacity remains a subject of considerable debate.
Some traditions assert that the number is finite yet vast, while others claim it is tied less to the creature’s intrinsic age and more to the durability of its vessel.
Regardless, it is generally agreed that the quantity of wishes granted is the most reliable metric by which to measure a genie’s strength and maturity.
“What are you reading?” Zafir appeared in the doorway, tousle-haired and stifling a yawn.
I jumped slightly. “Just one of your books about genies. I couldn’t sleep.”
“Find anything informative?”
I shrugged. “Not really. I think that lamp’s genie must be incredibly old and powerful. I don’t know what Rahil wished for, but I assume he made many wishes, unless he somehow bundled multiple wishes into one. Can a genie’s master wish for multiple things with one wish?”
Zafir slowly nodded his head. “Yes, but I also think it would be very risky and unwise to do so. Genies are notoriously manipulative, so adding multiple stipulations or addendums to one wish might give the genie more loopholes to exploit.”
“What do you plan to wish for?”
Zafir looked up at me. “What?”
“You’ve said you want to find this genie. What do you want to wish for once we eventually get there? I’m sure you’ve given it a great deal of thought.”
“I have.”
“And?”
Zafir worked his jaw back and forth for a moment. “It’s complicated.”
“How?”
He tapped the page I’d been reading. “I don’t even know how many wishes I would get, and genies will twist whatever you say.”
“You must have some idea.”
Zafir paused before finally answering. He spoke clearly and articulately, as if he had repeated it often over a long period of time.
“My first wish would be to wish that by making this wish and any subsequent wishes and possessing that power and exercising it, that I and those I care for, or those I may come to care for, are never subjected to retaliation, consequence, revenge, punishment, debt, enslavement, binding, death, or harm by any being, including but not limited to genies, spirits, or mortals, for the mere fact of making or benefiting from wishes.”
I blinked. “I’m impressed. So your first wish…”
“Would be to eliminate the genie’s ability to manipulate my wishes into something that would cause me or anyone else harm. I think it is well worth one of at least three wishes to have that sort of protection. Two wishes fulfilled the way I want is superior to multiple ill-fated wishes.”
“Very smart. What else would you wish for?”
Zafir gently took the book I’d been reading and looked at it. “Knowledge.”
“What, no carefully crafted wish this time?”
“It amounts to the same thing.”
“I want to hear it anyway.” I squinted at him. “I know you’ve practiced, so spit it out.”
The corner of his mouth twitched. "I would wish to gain the intrinsic, permanent, and uncorrupted ability to heal any injury, illness, poison, curse, or affliction in any living creature, including myself, by my own will and touch, without cost, consequence, or harm to myself, the recipient, or any other person, place, or object, and without diminishing the duration, quality, or natural span of their life. Such knowledge would be perfect, comprehensive, and unchanging knowledge of the human body, mind, and soul, as well as of all creatures natural and supernatural. Additionally, this knowledge would always be clear, accessible, and correct in my memory, without cost or madness.”
“That was a lot of words,” I told him with a smile, then tilted my head to the side. “So you’re going to all this effort of procuring a genie because you want to heal people?”
He turned his back to me and went to his desk. “I wouldn’t have spent years closeted in this study if I didn’t. Otherwise I would take beautiful women to fire carnivals and win their affection like Julian does.”
An unpleasant sensation lurched in my abdomen. “Zafir, about last night…”
“I don’t want to discuss it,” Zafir stated flatly. He sat at his desk, rigid at first, but then he softened. “I’m sorry. I know you were doing your part of the plan and I sabotaged you.”
I watched him scribbling away for some time. He had done so much for the plan, but it was becoming less and less likely to succeed, and if it failed, I didn’t know what else to do.
A knock came at the door and Zafir got up to answer it. I looked over his shoulder, wondering if Julian had come, but it was merely a messenger.
The messenger shot a nervous look at me, then lowered his voice to whisper with Zafir, keeping his hand up to his mouth and avoiding eye contact. Disjointed words like “suspicions” and “liability” floated over to me and my heart rate increased.
Zafir’s low voice answered the messenger, and they went back and forth for several minutes. I kept my ears strained to hear but wasn’t rewarded with any more tidbits.
It felt like a long time before the messenger finally left and Zafir closed the door, his brow knitted together in worry.
“What was that about?” I asked, unable to stop myself.
“Parliament received communication back from Brisden,” he answered tonelessly.
It felt like the bottom dropped out of my stomach. “So soon? It hasn’t been long.”
“It seems you aren’t the only one with a two-way mirror. There will be a meeting this evening with the tzar, some of the members of Parliament, and a few other officials. They’re trying to decide what to do, and they asked me to come give testimony.”
All of the air was vanishing from the room and my chest constricted. “So they know I’m not a duchess.”
“They have strong suspicions, yes.”
My jaw locked and I found it impossible to look at Zafir.
Once my facade crumbled, Zafir would take the fall with me.
I couldn’t let him risk his position. He’d worked too hard and for far too long to let it slip away.
I was going to go to prison for the rest of my life.
They would take away my mirror—my only link to my sister. I’d never escape.
“You know, the tzar’s wife, Azora, reminds me of you a little,” Zafir said.
“She’ll be there tonight.” He went on to tell me about how she was part of the peace treaty that ended the war between Pyren and Termarth, but I stopped listening.
How long did I have until guards here hunted me down, just as they were hunting down Nadia back in Brisden?
If I was going to escape, it had to be now.
“Alia? Can you hear me?”
“I’m ready to take off the vow bond,” I told him quietly.
“What?”
I raised my hand tethered to the chain. “You can release me. I won’t stop you now.”
Zafir froze. The only movement was in his eyes, which darted back and forth between mine, as if waiting to catch one in a lie.
“What will you do if we take it off?”
“I’m not going to hurt you if that’s what you’re worried about.”
His eyes narrowed. “You’re planning to leave, aren’t you?”
“I don’t know. Maybe.”
He tensed. “Then no.”
“No…what?”
“No, I won’t release you. I refuse to break the charm.”
“Zafir! I—” I broke off. I wanted to rage and scream but also break down and sob all at once, and my voice came back choked. “We failed. I failed.” My shoulders sagged. “There’s no way we can get back to Brisden.”
“You can’t give up. We’ll find a way.”
“How? I haven’t had any success in charming Julian, and we knew that was a weak plan at best. We don’t have tens of thousands of dinars to hire a dragon to fly us to Brisden.
At that meeting tonight, they’ll find me guilty because I am.
I’m stuck here unless I stow away on a ship.
I’ll sell my wedding ring or try to bribe my way on board.
You don’t even need to take me to the docks. I’ll find my own way.”
“No. We need to analyze the situation and determine the best—”
“Stop.” I couldn’t bear to see him so calm.
He looked at me, confused. The sight of his cool, calculated gaze was like a dagger to my heart. “What’s wrong? We can still work this out.”
Tears welled in my eyes. “Don’t take the Stillheart again. Please.”
Emotions battled back and forth within his dark eyes.
“Please,” I begged again, even more quietly. “I want you to feel.”
“That’s why I take it. I feel too much.” His long fingers grazed my arms. “Last night… I knew the plan was for you to seduce Julian. I knew that. I just don’t…I don’t want that to be the plan anymore. I couldn’t let it happen.”
“But now we have no plan. You need to let me go.”
His eyes fell. “I can’t. I need to bring you to the meeting tonight, and I know you’ll leave if I release you.”
The air suddenly turned cold. I’d hoped that Zafir was developing genuine feelings for me, but it wasn’t enough. I had wanted so badly for him to love me, but he would rather see me imprisoned than free.
My initial feelings had been correct all along. Love didn’t exist.