"B ut I don"t have time to learn how to invoke a djinn . I have to stop Amesh before he makes another wish . I sn"t it a s simple as that? "
"I t would be that simple if time were a constant. "
"B ut my dad will be frantic. He"ll report me missing to th e police, and they"ll end up talking to the woman at the hote l counter who was working the day Amesh came in with the package . T hey"ll question rini, too . T hat will lead them to Amesh, b ut he won"t talk to them. How can he? if he starts talkin g about magic carpets, they"ll throw him in jail." t he carpet did not answer . I had not asked a question .
"How"s my father doing?" I asked .
"He is not frantic. "
"I find that hard to believe." I paused . "S o am I suppose d to spend my time here learning to control a djinn? "
"I f you do not learn to control the djinn, you cannot solv e the mysteries of the Carpet of Ka. Without such knowledge, y ou will not be able to fulfill your destiny. "
"I have a destiny? "
"A ll who are born have a destiny. All who die withou t fulfilling it live and die in vain."
Whew . T hat was pretty heavy .
"Can I trust Aleena and Hara?" I asked .
"T rust, like t.i.tles, must be earned."
"T hey won"t show me the rest of their house . T hey hav e secrets. "
" You don"t want to show them the carpet. You have you r own secret. "
"T rue. But would they try to take it from me? "
"T here is only one way to find out. "
" Do Aleena and Hara know this is the island of the djinn? "
"T hey live here . T hey are not fools. "
"T o invoke a djinn, do I have to return to the valley of th e temples? "
"I t is not necessary. But they are there . M any are there. "
"I s each one connected to one of the temples? "
" Yes and no. "
"I s each one connected to one of the artifacts in th e temples? "
"T here are more djinn than there are artifacts. "
" Can I use one of the artifacts, like Amesh did, to invok e a djinn? "
"T hat would be dangerous." I felt frustrated. "there you go again, telling me how dangerous they are. At the same time you keep telling me I have t o work with them. What"s a girl to do? "
"S top and think and quit complaining." t hat shut me up in a hurry . I did stop to think .
"I f there are more djinn than there are djinn-bound arti f acts, then some of the djinn must be unconnected to an artifact . T rue? "
"T rue. "
" When a djinn is invoked, does it have to be attached to a n object? "
" Yes . T he object serves as a link between this world an d their world. "
"A re the artifacts in the temples impossible to destroy? "
" Only the Carpet of Ka is impossible to destroy. "
"A re the artifacts difficult to destroy? "
" Very difficult. "
"I s a person"s contract with a djinn destroyed when th e artifact it"s attached to gets destroyed?" I asked, and even befor e the carpet answered, I was thinking how easy it would be t o smash a clay pot . T he stars on the carpet formed a smile .
"T he girl is beginning to think," it said .
Chapter Eleven.
The next mo rnin g started like the mornin g before: breakfast followed by ch.o.r.es . I had to milk the goat s again, but this time Aleena wanted me to milk as many as sh e did . I did not think that was fair, but I could not exactly argu e with her . T hat was one advantage the deaf had, I thought . T he y were next to impossible to argue with . I got kicked again at the beginning and I think it was b y the same goat as the day before, but I could not be sure . I t kicke d me really hard; it broke skin and I bled. Aleena showed not a n ounce of sympathy . I t took nearly until lunch for me to finis h with my goats and she still wanted me to sweep the barn. Bu t s he did not take me to the stream . S he handed me a fresh pai r of pants and a shirt and gestured for me to go on my own . I found it difficult to relax in the water . I kept thinking o f the carpet, which was hidden under my bed. Aleena did no t strike me as a snoop, but it was her house. Would she know wha t the carpet was? if she knew what the djinn were, like the carpe t said, then she must know about magic carpets. Perhaps she an d Hara would steal it and use it to leave the island without me .
Yet the carpet had returned . T hat meant a lot to me .
After lunch Aleena resumed her pottery lessons . I pai d close attention. After saying good night to the carpet, I ha d already begun to formulate a plan . I needed to invoke a djin n that could destroy the djinn that was tormenting Amesh. But I needed to attach it to an object I could break . T hat way I coul d break my bond with it and circ.u.mvent the three Laws-at leas t that was my understanding of what the carpet had said .
Aleena was my ticket to the perfect pot . I ndeed, it struc k me as an incredible coincidence that I needed to make an easyto-break artifact, and here she was giving me pottery lessons . I t couldn"t be just a coincidence . T ime was not constant, the carpet kept saying. But I fel t that time was my enemy. With each pa.s.sing hour, I sense d Amesh moving closer to death .
On the fourth day, after supper, I made a bold move. Whil e the other two were resting in the living room beside a roarin g fire, I went into my room and got out the Carpet of Ka an d t alked to it for a while . I asked my usual pointed questions, an d it gave its usual disturbing answers . T he bottom line of ou r conversation was that I needed more experience with the djin n before I could hope to control one . I t was telling me to return to the valley of the temples . I couldn"t do that without telling Hara and Aleena . T he y were not going to sleep for hours, and I wanted to go to th e valley while I was still fresh. Yet I doubted they would let me g o for a hike in the dark by myself. Just once, in the middle of th e night, I had gotten up to pee in the outside toilet, and Hara ha d immediately awakened to check on me . I could think of only one way to prepare them for my bi g surprise . I returned to the living room and took them by th e hands and showed them the pieces of Aleena"s pottery that reminded me of the carpet"s artwork . T hey both nodded, unsur e of what point I was trying to make . T hen I went to my room and returned with the carpet . I laid it on the living room floor .
Aleena gasped; she made the actual sound, the closest to a word I had heard her make. Hara began to talk in an excite d voice . I could not tell if he was happy or upset. He would no t stop talking . N ot until I encouraged them to touch the carpet . T hey reacted shyly, as if it were sacred. But finally the y touched it, and began to stroke it, and when their smiles change d to laughter, I knew they could feel the energy the carpet ofte n gave off .
Finally, I stood and hugged the carpet to my chest an d pointed to the sky. Again, I was sure they understood . T he y knew I was about to fly away . T hey looked worried . I had t o struggle to make it clear I was going to return .
Outside I searched for a ley line . T he sky was clear, the stars bright . I did not have to go fa r to find a line . I n minutes I was sitting at the front of the carpe t and floating six feet off the ground . I t was wonderful to hav e the power of flight back under my control . I was ready to blast off, but I was cautious . I t was extremel y dark . I t would be easy to get lost . I had only my compa.s.s t o guide me . I tried to remember the path that had led me to th e house, but I was forgetting a few turns . T hen inspiration struck . T he kind that was either brilliant or foolhardy .
What if I commanded the carpet to fly straight up? to ris e up so high that I could see both the house and valley of temple s from one grand vantage point? On the surface it seemed like a simple solution, but it was risky . I might have to take the carpe t up a mile to see the valley . T hat would be higher than I had eve r been before. Could it even fly that high?
"T here"s only one way to find out," I muttered to myself . I positioned the ta.s.sels. But this time I also tried to mentally focus on steering the carpet . T alking to it the last few days, i "d learned that a psychic connection to the carpet was mor e i mportant than a physical one . I n a way, the ta.s.sels were lik e crude instruments for beginners . I began to rise higher and higher . T he air had been cal m and warm at ground level, but suddenly I felt a brisk wind in m y face . I t was so cold it made my nose numb. Yet the wind did no t cause the carpet to waver . I t remained flat and steady, until i t came to a sudden halt without my telling it to halt . T he view was stunning . I t took my breath away . T o my left, I saw the valley of temples and its watery pools .
Directly below was Hara and Aleena"s house-woven so dee p into the hill against which it had been built that there were portions of it on the other side. On the far side of the summit wer e lit rooms I suspected they would never show to me. Perhap s they had more guests than one .
But I did not have time for sightseeing . T he air was freezing; I began to shiver. What a fool I had been not to brin g my coat! I didn"t dive straight down, but swooped lower in a spiral . I could only a.s.sume my ley line had expanded as i"d flow n higher. After a few minutes of spiraling, I was sitting beside th e first temple Amesh and I had entered: the triangular temple wit h the altar that held the sword hilt . T he carpet had already tol d me that the djinn attached to this artifact was powerful. As I moved to the side of the star field, I asked the carpet just how s trong he was .
"T he djinn who is tied to this artifact rules this island. Few c an stand against him. "
"A re you saying he"s the king of the djinn?" I asked .
"He is the king of the djinn on this island. "
" Do djinn live elsewhere? "
" Of course. "
" Can I invoke him without making a wish?" I asked .
"Yes. But he will expect you to make a wish. "
" Do the djinn have two s.e.xes like human beings?" I asked .
"Yes. "
" Do they marry and have children? "
" Yes. But not all marry, nor have children. "
"I s the king of the djinn married? "
" Yes. "
"I s the wife powerful? "
"N o doubt. "
" Can I use the king djinn to reach the queen djinn? "
"I t depends on how much information you can extrac t from the king. "
" From what you"ve told me, it sounds like I need to lear n the queen"s name. "
" Correct . I s that your plan? "
" Part of it . I s the king"s mate attached to an artifact? "
"N o. "
" excellent! Can I attach it to an artifact? "
"I f you"re careful, perhaps."
"Why did you add the perhaps? "
"B ecause the key to your plan lies in tricking the king s o you can later ensnare his mate. "
"I "ll release the queen once Amesh is safe. "
"S till, the djinn do not like to be used. "
"I s my plan too risky? "
"I t is very risky, but also very clever." I felt encouraged . T he carpet seldom handed out praise .
"I know that I need a strong djinn to rescue Amesh fro m his djinn . I saw what his can do. When you told me a powerfu l djinn lived in the triangular temple, it got me thinking tha t perhaps it had an equally powerful mate that was not connecte d to one of those impossible-to-break artifacts. "
"N one are impossible to break. But most are difficult t o destroy. "
"T hat"s why I want to go after the queen instead of th e king . I f I understand the rules correctly, I can"t break my contract with him unless I can break his artifact. But if I can bin d his queen to, say, a pot-that I can smash later-then I figur e she might make the perfect ally. "
" Your reasoning is sound." I hesitated. "Are there any holes in it? "
"T he king of the djinn is shrewd. He will know that yo u want something from him. When you do not ask for a wish, h e will get suspicious. "
"M aybe I can just ask for one wish."
"One wish often leads to two . T ry to avoid tha t temptation. "
" Does it matter that I don"t have my pot ready to attach th e queen to tonight?" I asked .
"N o artifact is necessary if you are not going to invoke he r tonight. "
"I s there any other warning you can give me about th e king djinn? "
"I f he tastes your blood, he will realize you are royalty, an d he will be anxious to make you indebted to him. use that desir e against him. Also, if you do trick him into revealing his wife" s name, but make no wish, he will get angry. He may even see k revenge. "
" How is he going to taste my blood?" I asked .
"B e wary of the blade that is not visible. "
" Huh? "
" Keep your eyes open. "
"B ut he can"t hurt me when there"s no contract between us. "
" He should not be able to. But he is shrewd. He migh t find a way." I swallowed. "Any last piece of advice? "
" Do not tell him your name."