“He didn’t… say good-bye,” Violet said. She coughed.
“Oh, I’m sure he’ll stop by the house for tea when he’s done looking for someone else to kidnap,” I muttered. “Let’s get you to the house, you look peaked.”
I put my arm around Violet’s shoulder. I was still feeling kindly toward her because she had looked so small on the jinn’s horse, even though she had acted foolishly. She let me lead her along.
“What happened back there with you and the jinn?”
“Nothing.”
I recalled a time on my uncle’s farm when I had eaten a sweet yam bun I wasn’t supposed to have. My response when my uncle asked me where it had gone was much the same. But I didn’t want to demand an answer. That tactic had not exactly endeared my uncle to me. “You seemed awfully eager to sacrifice yourself on Erris’s behalf.”
She made a little grunt. I doubted there was anything more I could say, so I let her be.
As we neared the house, Celestina came running toward us. “Did you find him?”
“The jinn is searching the grounds, but Erris is hiding… in the ocean. I think it’s out of our hands now…” I took a deep breath.
Celestina startled me with an embrace. “It will be all right,” she said. “I only hope he doesn’t burn down the house if he can’t find Erris. Or take us hostage. Or some awful thing.”
“I don’t think… he’s really cruel,” Violet said. “When I was crying, he was rather nice.”
“What? When was this?”
Violet looked a little flushed. “I didn’t mean to cry, but for some reason, I got so upset about… trying to protect Uncle Erris, so I started crying.”
“What did he say to you?” I asked. I wanted to know as much as I could about this perplexing creature.
“I don’t know. We talked a bit. And then he helped me onto his horse. And that was when we saw you, Nimira.”
Celestina took a deep breath. “Well, I’m glad to hear you’re all right, but it certainly gave me a scare. And where is your other hair bow?”
“I guess I lost one.”
We had just entered the warm, cozy kitchen. Violet took an apple from the counter and sat down heavily. Celestina had just baked apple pies yesterday, and now she took one from the pantry and cut a huge slice from it. “Do you want any?” she asked me.
I shook my head. I moved to the window, and stared out even though there was no sign of the jinn. The loudest sound in the room was Violet’s slow crunching of the apple.
After a bit, Celestina said, “Come away from the window, Nim. There’s nothing we can do now.”
“I’m all right here.”
My thoughts were racing. I wondered what I would do if the jinn found Erris. Would I go to the fairy kingdom and try to save him? That seemed too impossible to even consider. But where would I go instead? Celestina liked me, she would surely let me stay the winter, but what about when Ordorio returned? Maybe he would agree to help rescue Erris and I could accompany him, although I wasn’t especially useful. Ordorio was Violet’s family, not mine, and I wasn’t Karstor’s concern either. I wondered if everyone would shut their doors to me if Erris disappeared. He was really the person who mattered.
Then it came back again to what I would do with Erris, anyway. If he remained an exiled automaton, we could never marry. Would I just remain the keeper of his key? And if he became the fairy king…?
The more thinking I did, the more hopeless I felt. It was best not to think at all, ever, but that was impossible to maintain.
I needed to make myself useful.
“I want to learn magic,” I said suddenly. “We can’t let this happen again.”
“It’s dangerous without proper instruction,” Celestina said. “And no one gives proper instruction in magic to women.”
“Oh, come now,” I said. “Don’t say that.” It was true, magic was something women simply didn’t do in this country, beyond perhaps a little healing or birthing magic. But I hadn’t taken Celestina for the type to follow all the rules. “My life is clearly dangerous whether I like it or not. We should be prepared.”
“Yes,” Violet said. “We should learn magic! Won’t Papa have some good books on it somewhere?”
“No,” Celestina said. “I’m not going to have your father coming back to find the house burned down!”
“If we’re careful, I doubt we’ll burn the house down,” I said. Magic could be dangerous-I knew it well-but I imagined it would be less dangerous if we had time to practice. “Celestina, we can’t just let the jinn come back and take Erris. Or Violet!”
“Maybe Erris could teach me fairy magic,” Violet said.
“That won’t help the rest of us!” I said. Goodness, if Erris started teaching Violet how to talk to the forest while I sat around uselessly, I would scream.
“No one is learning magic until Mr. Valdana comes back!” Celestina shouted, shoving back the empty plate she had been eating pie from moments ago. “He left me in charge and I must
“Why?” Violet asked.
“Because it’s dangerous, as I
I had never seen Celestina be short about anything. I raised my brows.
“I hear the horse,” she said. I thought she was only looking for a diversion, but when I pushed aside the curtain, sure enough, the jinn had ridden his horse to the door and slid off as easy as I might climb out of bed. He knocked on the door.
Celestina shot me an apprehensive glance, then opened it. “Yes?”
“Where is he?” the jinn said.
We were quiet, although Violet stood from her chair.
“You’ve foiled my magic.” He put his hand to his heart and dipped his head, an acknowledgment. When his head came back up, his eyes met mine. “He was the first thing King Luka asked of me.”
His voice was soft, and yet, I could feel his power like the electricity in the air before a storm, and I wondered how we would ever foil him twice.
His eyes lingered briefly on each of us, and then he turned back to his horse. Celestina shut the door, and Violet moved to the window. We all watched him go.
“I’m going to study magic,” I said firmly. “But first, I must get Erris.”
I waited awhile and approached the shore warily, still looking and listening for the jinn in case of trickery. And when the sea came in view, it looked empty, like it had surely swept Erris away without a trace.
I screamed his name. The sea winds roared in my ears. I cupped my hands around my mouth and called even louder.
He stood up from behind the rock, just where he’d said he’d be. I tried to hide how scared I had felt. He straggled up to me, clothes soaking wet. His hair was still dry. He never had to submerge himself completely, but he’d still been in the water over an hour.
“Are you all right?” I touched his wet shoulder.
“I think so.” He clutched his chest. He looked quite pale. After a moment he said, “I feel cold and clammy all over. Not right at all.”
“You’ll probably feel better as you dry out,” I said hopefully. What would it be like to feel the cold sea rush not just over your skin, but all through your insides?
“Yes…”
“Well, let’s get you back to the house.”
“You go on without me,” he said.
“But-”
“I want to be alone,” he said, with the slightest hint of desperation.
I regarded him a moment, reluctant, and he nodded toward the line of trees, urging me on.
“You always want to be alone,” I said softly. I turned from him, sniffing back the tears, and started to walk away.
“I’m sorry,” he called.
I couldn’t take that. Like he could just yell out that he was sorry and everything would be all right. “I was so
