Chapter 28 #2
But what Khayzur was saying went deeper. I myself had been transformed. Changed by magic — that slippery, despised thing in my heart—in ways that could not be undone. In ways that might not become clear until all
this was over, if I even survived.
What did that make me?
The word “Transgression” didn’t inspire hope. Had I somehow stained my soul? Violated a law of Creation I hadn’t known existed?
Being able to punch Raksh in the face was indeed agreeable, and my new strength might aid me in fighting Falco. And yet...
You are as God made you. You are the nakhudha. You are a mother and a friend. And right now your people need you to stop fretting
and deal with this. Save them—with any blessing you are granted.
A bit more determined if not entirely at peace, I turned back to Khayzur. “How do I convince the court to let me go?”
“Do you have a plan for defeating the human named Falco?”
No . “I am... letting some options brew in my mind.”
“Then I may be able to convince them that the opportunity to get rid of the Moon of Saba is worth letting a lesser Transgression,
namely you, slip away. I was already preparing to depart; carrying you along can hardly be called interfering.” He nodded
at my cup. “Would you like some more tea?”
I diplomatically demurred; I was not consuming another damn thing on this island. “No, but thank you... and thank you for
saving my life earlier,” I added with an embarrassed flush. “I apologize for the knife.”
“You need not apologize.” Khayzur snapped his fingers and the tea supplies disappeared. “My only hope is that I can do so
again.”
He led me through an opening in the branches, along snaking tunnels of gleaming hardwood and beneath canopies of icy clouds.
The air was fresher than the sweetest breeze, the wind whistling like music and darting about my waist as though it were an
eager, happy pet. I tried to find some wonder in it, reminding myself to appreciate God’s marvels, even if my heart was heavy
with apprehension.
Raksh’s arguing voice could be heard long before we reached the court.
“You have no right to decide anything for me!” he roared as we entered the chamber. My husband was leaping around like a frantic
gazelle, bouncing from misty patch to misty patch as they dissolved beneath his feet, and angry peris squawked and dived overhead.
“Your concept of order is a lie ! I was created to be chaos! To disrupt and inspire and spin and weave such legends you could never—”
Khayzur loudly cleared his throat.
A thousand pairs of eyes turned to regard us.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake.” It was the dove peri who said that.
All right, she did not say those exact words, but trust that whatever came warbling out of her mouth at the sight of Khayzur and me was the peri equivalent—I can recognize such a tone in any language.
“Khayzur,” she continued in Arabic (Why?
How? One of the many mysteries I’ve yet to unravel).
“I believe we made clear you were no longer welcome. Why in the Creator’s Judgment are you not only still here but in the company of a human meant to be removed? ”
Holding my arm in a courtly manner, though probably more to catch me should the floor vanish again, Khayzur strolled before
the assembled peris. “I would think you glad for my tardiness. Should I not have delayed, I wouldn’t have been able to stop
such a grave crime! Really, murdering an innocent human in front of your own court? Before hundreds of witnesses?”
“It was not murder,” the dove peri snapped. “The magic that governs our realm can be unpredictable, as is the floor. If she
had not been here, she would not have fallen.”
The audacity, truly. “You dragged me here in a cyclone!” I accused.
The dove peri ignored me, glaring at Khayzur with her beady eyes. “This mortal’s fate is not your concern, Khayzur.” The dispassion she had shown me earlier was gone, replaced by true fury. “You should have never interfered
by saving her in the first place!”
The rest of the winged creatures grew silent, uncertain tension filling the air.
Khayzur was just as firm. “Is it interfering if the Maker has placed us where we’re needed? Are we not told to look for signs
and act accordingly?” When the dove peri clacked her beak like she wanted to bite his head off, he swiftly clarified. “You
have made your opinions on our differing beliefs clear. I will not press my ‘radicalism’ in your court any further. But this
is no grand theological debate, it’s a single human life. Let me take Amina to Socotra on my way home. I will not interfere
beyond that, I swear.”
The dove peri was already squawking her disagreement. “It is too late. The human has dwelled here long enough for the island’s magic to change her. She is a Transgression herself.”
“But not of her own accord!” Khayzur persisted. “A few days in our realm aren’t enough to transform her into a threat anywhere
near that presented by a human criminal obtaining control of the Moon of Saba. She may be just the person to destroy it! We’ve
been fretting about these Transgressions for centuries. Why not allow Amina to deal with one?”
“ Deal with it? Is that what you think she would do, a human who’s attracted a spirit of discord to her side? She is just as likely
to take the Moon of Saba for herself!”
“I will not,” I said resolutely. “I swear upon God, would place my hand on the Holy Quran. Indeed, I promise to destroy it
before Khayzur’s eyes if that would put your worries at ease.”
My offer was met with a shuffling of taloned feet, the audience of peris appearing disquieted.
The peri elder pursed her thin lips. “There is no precedent. It would be one thing if the human used her new abilities only
to dispose of the Moon of Saba, but we cannot undo what has been done to her.”
I was weary of being spoken over. “Then I shall retire . Believe me, if I manage to defeat Falco and hand over this cursed chamber pot, I would be content to spend the rest of my
days fishing and puttering at home with my family.” I even meant it. Yes, I had hungered for adventure, for riches, but such
desires had led me utterly astray and risked everyone I loved. All I wanted to do was save my crew, rescue Dunya, absolutely
murder Falco, and return to Marjana.
The dove peri looked at me without emotion. “We do not work on trust.”
Her condemnation hung in the air for a long moment—until Raksh let out the most obnoxious, world-exhausted sigh I had ever
heard.
“My God...” he complained, his voice dripping with contempt. “Do you hear yourselves? Is it not obvious the solution to your petty haranguing?”
We all turned to look at him.
I was immediately suspicious. There was an expression of pure boredom on Raksh’s face—but not in his eyes. No, his eyes had brightened, the
fire in their depths mesmerizing. Or at least it would have been mesmerizing had I not known exactly what that look meant.
That was the look Raksh got when scenting ambition.
But the peris must not have had much experience with beings like him, for they didn’t seem to notice. “Speak clearly, fiend,”
the dove peri sniffed instead.
“Send the human after more of them,” Raksh urged. “You have been given a tool. Why wouldn’t you use it to your fullest advantage?”
“Excuse me,” I cut in, affronted. “A tool ?”
Raksh ignored my protest, strolling closer to the peris. “You wish to hunt down and destroy Transgressions? Then this woman
was qualified to help you even before your island wrought these so-called transformations upon her. She is one of the most
talented sea captains in her world and has a crew equally talented at sussing out treasures and stealing them away. She is
exactly the human to assist you. But why stop at the Moon of Saba when you could send her after more?”
Khayzur appeared to consider Raksh’s suggestion, a fleeting glimpse of hope in his colorless eyes. “That is an idea.” But
then he glanced at me and whatever he saw in my face must have struck him. “Though what it would imply for Amina...”
Yes, what would it imply for Amina? I glared at Raksh. “You suggest because I passed two nights on their island, I spend the
rest of my life in service to creatures who tried to kill me?”
Raksh shrugged. “Can you see another solution?”
I had offered another solution! I destroy the Moon of Saba and we’d be even. And if Raksh hadn’t opened his damn mouth, I
might have continued trying to convince the dove peri of the validity of my word.
But no, it was at Raksh’s proposal that several other peris joined the dove one. They huddled together in a feathery cluster, chirping in fervent whispers. Khayzur was watching me with a mixture of worry and uncertainty. Raksh was examining a fingernail like this was barely of interest to him.
I swayed on my feet. This was all happening too fast. I was desperate enough to do almost anything to stop Falco, but what
sort of fate was I dooming myself to? I had accidentally gotten involved with the supernatural once, the drunken wedding that
tied me to Raksh and cost Asif his soul. Now I was to sign my life over to a bunch of squabbling bird-people who referred
to mass human slaughter as within acceptable parameters of violence? Would I even be allowed to see my family again?
The dove peri and her cronies abruptly unhuddled. “We have spoken amongst ourselves. The human will be permitted to leave
for a lifetime of—”
“No,” I said shakily.
Raksh whirled on me. “Have you lost your mind?” he hissed. “This is how we stop Falco. You promised to save me!”
I had certainly not promised the latter, but nevertheless. “I will not enslave myself to these creatures,” I said, trying to sound more confident
than I felt. “They desire my service? Then our deal will be on my terms.”
The dove peri let out a chittering, condescending sound. “This is no deal . We are simply discussing the various possibilities that you yourself may choose of your own free will—”