The Fire Wish Read online

If this was what the members of the Eyes of Iblis Corps did the first time they came here, then so be it. I held out my hand and she took it in one of hers. Then she took one of her pointed strands of hair and pierced the tip of my finger. I bit my lip and watched her collect the drop of blood onto a small circle of copper and then cover it with a sliver of clear glass. Then she let go of my hand.

  I brought my finger to my lips while she punched a hole in the copper circle, made a mark on the back, and hung it on a board behind her. I had noticed the board when we came in, shimmery with dozens of copper circles, but I’d thought it was just decoration. Now I looked closer and saw that each of the circles had a dark stain on the surface, pressed beneath a thin circle of glass.

  “What is that for?” I asked.

  “It’s to keep track of everyone who can enter the Command of Iblis,” the woman said.

  “But why the blood?”

  Faisal wrapped an arm around my shoulders. “Just in case.”

  That was the end of it. I could tell they would say no more, and I rubbed the sore spot on my finger, hoping that soon I would find an answer.

  We left the entrance and entered the main hall. It was a circular room with walls of red and gold divided equally by four arched doorways, and in the center stood a lamp on a pedestal. It was the twin to one in the palace. Together, they had been the passage between the worlds, allowing jinn to transport without wishes and letting humans serve as ambassadors in the Cavern. The Lamp was made of pure gold and shone as though someone polished it every day. It stood, all alone, beneath a domed indigo ceiling. A sparkling, purposeful pattern spread across the ceiling.

  “That’s our chart of the stars,” Faisal said. I had almost forgotten he was with me.

  “Those are stars?” I whispered.

  “No,” he said, chuckling, “those are diamonds. We had them set in the same pattern as the stars in the sky.”

  “That’s what the night sky looks like?” I said.

  “Yes. And someday, you’ll see it for yourself.” Then he pulled me away to the doorway straight ahead, and we went around the Lamp and into a corridor. We passed two closed doors, both dark, and then stopped at one that was painted in the same red and gold as the main hall.

  Faisal turned to face me, placing his hands on my shoulders, as if he was preparing to steady me. “Najwa, this is the Room of Iblis,” he said, and I felt my jaw go slack.

  I swallowed, and then said, “Why are we here?”

  “I told you that you’re the only one who can get into the palace. That proves you have special abilities, so we are going to bring you into the Corps.”

  Heat spread across my cheeks. “Today?”

  He smiled, let go of my shoulders, and put his hand on the door. “Prepare yourself,” he said, but he didn’t give me any time. Suddenly, the door was open and I could see at least ten other jinn inside, all looking straight at me.

  They were officers in the Corps. A woman stood by a map laid out on a table, and I recognized her as the one who always reported to Faisal. I had seen her in the hallways of the school, but she had never acknowledged me. The other jinn in the room were younger than Faisal, but more experienced than me. They had been to the surface countless times, some in the middle of a battle. They’d never taken notice of me, but I’d always known who they were. Whether it was something in their eyes or just the way they observed the world, I could always tell when someone was in the Corps.

  Behind them all was the Eye of Iblis. It wasn’t an actual eye, of course, but one whole wall of tiled quartz. Faisal had told me it was the way the jinn could see what was going on in the world. But without actually seeing the Eye of Iblis, I hadn’t understood him. Some of the tiles flashed with images from other places, and some were bare and white, waiting patiently to show the room something. The Eye of Iblis was ten feet tall, twenty feet wide, and so bright that it silhouetted the jinn before it.

  Faisal motioned toward the room. “Are you going in?” I felt faint, but I went in anyway and stood aside. Faisal went to the woman by the map. She nodded at him and turned back to give me a strained smile.

  “Good, she’s here,” she said. Then, to me: “Are you ready?”

  Faisal cleared his throat again. “I haven’t had time to explain what we want her to do, Delia. Najwa, each of us here has tried to enter the palace using your wish, but the closest we can get is the wall outside.” He paused, waiting for me to say something.

  “I—I’m sure someone else can get in,” I said. My voice was quieter than I’d meant it to be.

  One of the other jinn snorted. “We tried. Do you know how exhausting it is to transport yourself over and over? We’re done.” I could see now that he was leaning back against another table, using it to prop himself up. The transport had been tiring. I couldn’t imagine doing it repeatedly.

  Delia shook her head. “You have to go back, Najwa. We needed someone in there a year ago. Ten years ago. We need to bring you into the Corps as a full member.”

  The same thing had happened to Atish. He’d finished his tests early, and the Shaitan had taken him. Somehow, getting into the palace had lifted me into the Corps, and they were going to give me a real assignment. I started to shake, nervous and excited at once.

  “Najwa?” Faisal said. “Do you understand what Delia told you?”

  “I understand,” I said. Delia smiled, and this time it was genuine. The other jinn stepped back as she made her way to the center of the Eye of Iblis and pressed both hands against it. The images blinked and were gone, leaving it just a wall of blank crystal. Then she pulled on the center tile, and it slid out like a drawer. She reached in and pulled out a stick of sapphire the length of my forearm but as narrow as my thumb. One end was sharpened, and when I saw it, I knew what it was for. The mark of the Corps was sapphire blue, and this was what made it. She brought it to Faisal, who asked me to hold out my hand.

  While the other jinn surrounded us, he held the sapphire point above the webbing between my thumb and forefinger.

  “Najwa, we welcome you into the Eyes of Iblis Corps,” he said. Then he wished, “Iblishi.”

  A blue light came out of the rod. It was a thousand and one heated pricks, all in one tiny spot. I gasped but held my body still, afraid that if I cried out, they would see how much it hurt. I watched as the light moved, drawing the mark, and then it was done.

  That was all it took. Years of studying with Faisal, years of learning about humans and how to watch them, and all it took was a few seconds to join the Corps. I held up my hand. The rounded eye of an owl, the size of my smallest fingernail, stared back at me.

  “Welcome, Najwa,” Delia said. “In a few moments, the sapphire dust will reach your heart and become part of you.” Then she winked. “You will be able to show us what you see whenever you press on it.”

  This was something Faisal had never told me. Everyone got a mark to designate their profession, but that was all it was. The Shaitan’s lion mark was just a bit of gold powder set inside their skin. The physician’s mark that Shirin would receive, an emerald snake wrapped around her wrist, was only that. Wasn’t it? Or were all the marks a secret way for the members of each profession to communicate?

  “How do you see what I see?” I asked Faisal.

  “It goes to the Eye,” he said.

  “Can I practice?”

  “Certainly,” he said, nodding at my hand. “But it might be sore there.”

  Everyone was silent while I gazed at the mark between my thumb and forefinger. The skin was sensitive, but it was not broken. There weren’t any punctures. How had the mark gone through my skin without damaging it?

  I looked up at the wall, and then at Faisal. Gently, I pressed, and a giant white beard spread across the Eye of Iblis. I jumped back, letting go of my hand, and everyone laughed. The image of Faisal’s face flickered on the wall.


  “Couldn’t you have looked at someone prettier?” one of the jinn joked.

  I turned to Faisal. “That is amazing! No wonder you know so much about the humans.”

  “Yes,” he said. “I’m sorry we can’t have a proper celebration, but we have to brief you and send you on your way.”

  Delia nodded and went to place the marking stick back into the Eye. When the drawer slid shut, she tapped the quartz and made a whispered wish. A brown line spread across the surface, branching out in both straight and curved lines. Within seconds, a map filled the entire expanse of the Eye. The map was of a large compound.

  “Is that the palace?” I asked. I wanted to go closer, but I didn’t move, afraid I’d break some rule I hadn’t heard of yet.

  “Yes,” Delia said. “Can you find where you went this morning?”

  The palace was a series of rectangular rooms of all sizes, and I couldn’t tell which rooms had roofs and which did not. There were no indicators of bedrooms or gardens.

  “She was in this garden,” Faisal said, walking forward and pressing his finger against a large rectangle. Beside it was the laboratory I’d seen Prince Kamal in.

  “Yes, I think that’s where I was.”

  “You are not sure?” This came from another jinni, the one who’d said he was exhausted. I tried not to stare at the pointiness of his nose.

  “I was there.”

  “And you can get back inside?” he asked.

  Faisal put up a hand and stilled the jinni. “She is going to try.”

  I nodded. I was afraid to answer the other man, afraid I’d not be able to get to the palace this time. What if it was all an accident, and they’d given me the mark before I deserved it?

  “For now, anything you can learn will help,” Faisal said. “It’s been fifteen years since anyone has been there. Just return to that laboratory and watch for a little while. There is no need to walk around yet. We only want to get another glimpse. If you see nothing, come back. If you see the prince, or someone else, watch what they are doing. You have been trained for this. You will do fine.”

  “Yes, but I haven’t finished—”

  Delia cut me off. “You have. We’ve all been watching your progress.”

  This didn’t make me feel any better. Did they know about the many times I’d tried to transfer before, and failed? “Do I need to bring anything?”

  “Just make your wish, and do as we have asked. We will wait here for your return,” Faisal said. He traced an area on the map with his thumb slowly, as if his mind was back in that spot. It was the House of Wisdom, on the edge of the palace. He had spent an entire year of his life there.

  “How long am I supposed to stay there?” I asked.

  “As long as your shahtabi lasts.” The invisibility wish, which hadn’t lasted long the last time. “Now remember: eyes open, mouth closed.”

  I blinked a few times and sucked in a deep, slow breath. Then I took a last look at my new mark and made my wish.

  8

  Zayele

  The camel’s neck swelled as she walked. Even though her steps were smooth, the motion swayed me in the saddle. It sloshed my stomach, which wasn’t comforting, but at least it was a short ride to the canal. My family walked in a line beside me, and I was high enough to see the tops of their heads.

  I was convinced they’d put me on the camel so I couldn’t run away. I hadn’t actually tried to escape, but I might have said something about the mountains being an easy place to disappear into. It was true. I knew the seasons, and how to survive. I hadn’t been to the peaks, but it was spring, so I would have had time to make my way over them, even if I’d had to slow down for Yashar.

  Yashar wouldn’t agree to go. Instead, he told Mother to be careful of letting me slip away. And that was why they put me on the camel while everyone else walked. That is, except for Hashim and his guards. They had their horses.

  I wanted to be angry with Yashar, but I couldn’t. He had to hold Mother’s hand as he walked down the rutted road, not wincing in the sunlight like everyone else. He had to trust Mother with every step. And although he tried to act like he was older, he was still only a boy. His face was smooth.

  We were walking in a train down the narrow road alongside the river. The sun delved into the gorge’s divide, leaving one wall gleaming so bright, I had to look at the water.

  The river didn’t just flow past us. It ran full speed, tripping over rocks and carrying large bits of trees and some daring ducks. It was white and a foamy green-blue. It belonged somewhere else, not hemmed in by craggy walls.

  The morning was dry, shining, and buzzing with flies, but even with all my layers, I was shivering. I forced my hands to stay still. I was just cold. I didn’t want anyone to think I was weak.

  Finally, the cliffs disappeared into the ground. We walked over a stone bridge, where the horses’ hooves clopped and scraped but the camel’s padded hooves were silent. Then we stopped beside a canal where three barges lined up along the bank.

  Each barge was nearly twenty feet long and made of wood and woven grasses. The center one was to be mine, but there was nothing to signify it would be taking a girl and her companion into Baghdad.

  Father had been holding my camel’s bridle the entire way, and when we stopped, he clicked his tongue and brought her onto her knees. This was my last chance. The horses were by the barges, and we stood between them and everyone from the village. If I’d turned the camel around and run her off into the mountains, I would have had a head start. Instead, I climbed off and took my father’s hand. Our eyes met, and I knew he wanted to say something, but I looked away. I didn’t want to argue anymore. It hadn’t worked before, and now it was too late. I heard him sigh, and then he walked off to help the vizier off his horse.

  Yashar reached out for me and I caught his hand. “Be careful,” he said. “Don’t forget to pray on your way to the city.”

  “I doubt the vizier will let me forget,” I said.

  “Zayele,” he said, coming closer. “When you get there, can you see if they have any … anything for me to do?” He blinked, but it did nothing to clear his sight. It was always strange, looking at him, knowing he couldn’t look back. He couldn’t see the uncertainty I felt, but if I wasn’t careful, he could hear it in my voice.

  My throat got really thick all of a sudden. “Yes,” I said, sounding as confident as I could, “I’ll find something and then send you a message.”

  “Thank you,” he said. He hugged me then, dropping tears on my shoulders, and stepped back to allow our mother to speak.

  “My dear, you’ve become such a beautiful woman.”

  “I’m not a woman yet. Remind Father that I am still a child. And he’s already shoving me off.”

  “Zayele,” she warned. She glanced back at the men before gripping my wrists. “This is something we all go through. You have no choice because there isn’t any. Don’t you believe that I’d give you one if I could? Don’t you think that he would have?” She let go of my wrists. “Rahela is going to help you. Trust her. We love you, and we know you’ll do well in Baghdad.”

  There were no tears on her cheeks when she let go.

  I stood still while everyone bustled around me. They carried boxes of silks and other goods onto the barges, and they coaxed the vizier’s favorite horse onto his personal barge, the one in front. There was a flurry of children running along the water, the guards trading their horses with the village men for other things they wanted, and then the vizier was standing in front of me. He was dressed in black, with his ink-dyed hand outstretched.

  “Cousin, let me help you onto your barge,” he said. When I didn’t reach out to him, he picked my hand up and held it tightly. His palm was dry and callused. Then he took me down the three stone steps to the plank.

  I turned and saw Rahela right there, in my shadow. My parents stood toget
her, with Yashar off to the side. Everyone but Yashar watched as we were ushered onto the barge.

  “We’re going in that?” I asked Hashim. He had brought us to the front, where the sides of the barge rose a few feet off the floor. A door was open in the raised center, showing a dark, gaping hole in the belly of the barge.

  “Yes, Zayele.”

  I crept into the hole. Rahela climbed in and we stood there, looking at the impossibly small space. There was only one sleeping bench and a little bit of floor. Two of our trunks were tucked in beneath the bench. Anything not in the light coming from the door was lost in shadow.

  Hashim shut the door in my face and opened a little window with wooden slats.

  “You can’t lock us up in here!” I pressed my face against the slats, and tried to find a handle. There wasn’t one. “It’s not like we’d jump off the boat!”

  He slid the bolt on the door and locked it, holding up the key for emphasis. Everything inside me froze. “I had hoped to spare us this discussion, but as we are having it, know that if you were allowed to walk about in full view, any man along the way would be sorely tempted. It’s for your own safety. It’s best if no one knows we have a princess on board.”

  Then he turned and disappeared from our little window. All I could see was a bit of sky and part of the barge in front of ours. A moment later, I saw him climb on board and settle down on a bench made of folded rugs. He brushed at the dust on his sleeves, wiping away anything from our village that might have settled there.

  “At least leave it unlocked!” I shouted at him. But he didn’t seem to hear. Instead, he lifted his arm and waved at the family I couldn’t see anymore.

  9

  Najwa

  I blinked and was in the same garden. The sun was eclipsed by the wall opposite from me, and the rays scattered all over the leaves and blossoms. The colors were richer now that there was some shade to contrast. The shadows beneath the bushes bubbled along the tiles, spreading over my feet, but the ground was still warm from the sun.