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I’d love to say that the shimmering golden sunlight woke me up fresh as a flower, but the truth is, it was hunger. I gave in to the rumbling sound and got up, put on some decent clothes, and walked down to the kitchen.
It was already late afternoon and most of the girls had started preparing for the surge of guests and patrons. A pair of them were refilling the incense bins, others were busy organizing huge, colorful seat cushions and tables around the pools. The kitchen was filled with the scent of citrus fruits, figs, and grapes and I could even smell skewered crabs and mussels roasting over the stove. It was surprisingly cozy for a brothel.
I picked up the first plate I found and started sampling everything at random. I just couldn’t help it after a whole day of not eating a thing.
“You’ll get fat if you go on like that,” Sheen said, laughing.
“That’s a problem for you, not me. I can make perfumes weighing twice as much,” I said, munching a piece of freshly baked bread dunked in a generous amount of eggplant cream. She just laughed and pulled the bread away from me, then pushed a batch of dry biscuits into its place.
I looked at her with eyes that could impale a bull, but deep down, I knew it was her way of caring. I think it has been two years since she entered our shop, looking like the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. She looked exotic and mysterious, with her ice-blue eyes and ashen hair, and she had delicate facial features and an air of confidence about her.
She was much nicer than most of our customers. She used to stay in the store for hours to chat when things weren’t busy, and she taught me a lot about how most people lived their lives. She even allowed me to accompany her to some dubious gatherings and celebrations to socialize a bit. I think she found my clumsiness amusing and since I was in no way competing with her, she could let loose for a while with me.
“Can I help somehow?” I asked. My belly was full and my pants suddenly felt tighter around my waist, but I wasn’t going to sit idle and watch as they worked.
Luckily, I could always count on Sheen to boss people around. She instructed the other girls as if she was the next Mother-to-be, but thanks to her, the work soon turned into a well-choreographed dance. I joined them as a misfit, but somehow, they always found something for me to do. I sliced fruit into pieces, checked the incense bins, packed pillows, or whatever they needed. The day-to-day chores somehow calmed me, as if something was flipped back into its normal place. The cyclical repetition of movements made me feel safe, and it didn’t require me to plan and think ahead.
Later, Sheen called me to her room and gave me a non-provocative dress with a light blue veil, so I could walk around among the guests, serving wine and food. She even did my make-up, laughingly noting that I could seduce her customers. She made me promise three times that I wouldn’t say yes to any offer.
“You’d better get yourself a decent husband someday. I’m sure the competing perfumers have someone,” she said.
“I wasn’t planning on getting married.”
“You should think about it. You could beat the competition and they’d even thank you for it.”
It didn’t miss my attention that people considered marriage a part of life, almost a duty for women. Most children’s tales ended with a wedding and “decent woman” mostly meant “married woman”. My kind were social beings, too, but I couldn’t imagine myself in this situation. I couldn’t even start to imagine the disaster that would’ve caused.
“I’ll leave those plots to you for now. But I might visit them someday, just to see what’s on offer... considering perfume, of course.”
Sheen grinned and finished my beautifying with some black ink around my eyes. I returned to the pools to finish filling the hookahs. I glanced at every man who wandered in out of caution, how they interacted with the girls, how they moved and behaved with them. I only saw Ezair once or twice, but I didn’t mind that much. The plan was in motion. We just had to wait.
The only strange thing that never fit into the picture was a young one-legged girl limping around with two crutches, mostly between Aylea’s study and the main rooms. Sometimes I saw her adjust pillows and talk to others. Some of the guests must have had strange tastes if she had a place in a brothel.
When I noticed a girl bringing more fruit bowls to the pools, I quickly sidled towards her. “Who is she?”
“You mean Chai?” she asked. “She’s Aylea’s daughter.”
That explained what she was doing here, even considering how odd she looked. I didn’t think that the Mother could send away her own kid.
“Does she also... work here?”
“She does, harder than you think. But not the same way we do. I’m sure some sick idiot would want her, but the Mother forbids it, so she helps out wherever she can. Mostly with numbers. Keeping track of incomes, expenses, that sort of thing. But ask her if you want, she’s usually chatty.”
I nodded, but I didn’t want to be intrusive. I’ve seen crippled people like her before, but they were all old and sick, which is why the sight of the young and vigorous Chai shook me more.
As the evening progressed, the crowd grew. I tried my best to glide around among the guests, avoiding the hands that sometimes stretched towards me, and ignoring the comments.
Then at one point, the soft melody of harps was cut off by a cry.
People flocked towards the entrance, completely blocking my vision, so I could only tiptoe to peer over their heads. Finally, I caught sight of a crooked figure trying to get through the crowd. As he pushed two girls aside, my heart almost stopped.
Ezair was holding one hand to his stomach, the sleeve of his shirt was red with the blood and he was struggling to take every step.
“That... damned bitch...” he moaned and tried to walk towards me, but his strength ran out and he fell to his knees.
I rushed to him without thinking. I didn’t know what I could do, but I couldn’t stand aside while he was bleeding to death.
“He needs bandages,” I shouted but to no avail. The brothel was like a disturbed beehive. The girls were buzzing around, trying to calm the frightened guests, and no one dared to even move until Aylea’s commanding voice finally brought order.
“What’s this ruckus? Shoo!” she said, pushing guests and girls aside, then looked at us and froze for a moment. “Follow me. Without a word.”
I reached under Ezair’s shoulder and tried to hold him up. I pulled his arm over my shoulder, soaking my hands and clothes in blood, but that bothered me the least.
“I somehow suspected you two would mean trouble sooner or later,” Aylea said, pushing us inside a small storage room. Ezair collapsed into a chair and let his arm drop, revealing a deep wound in his side. It looked horrifying. The smell and sight together made my stomach lift, but my panic overcame the nausea that hit me.
“I’ll get something for that. Then you’ll tell me everything, without exception,” Aylea said, then hurriedly left us.
“Can I do something?” I asked in a trembling voice. I didn’t know how to treat any injury, let alone one this bad.
“Alcohol... Or water at least,” Ezair said. “You have to clean the wound before it poisons me.”
I just nodded and started dashing around the room looking for some cordials, and by sheer luck I found a strong-smelling brown liquor.
“Got it. What now?”
“Give it here,” Ezair said, reaching for the bottle, then took a hard sip from it and gave it back. “Now pour it on the wound.”
I only hesitated for a moment, because I knew full well how painful it was when spirit got into an open wound. There was a saying that pain was more tolerable if we didn’t expect it, though, so I steeled myself and did as he asked.
“What happened? Are we found, or...?” I asked to distract him, then splashed the liquor onto him.
Much to his credit, Ezair didn’t shout. Only a moan escaped from behind his clenched teeth, then an angry scoff.
“I met with a... colleague, to catch up on a promise, but we got into a disagreement.”
His eyes wandered off and his expression soured. He looked more disappointed and betrayed than anything.
“This is more than a tussle. What happened to him?”
“Her. And she’s dead.”
“Oh. I see. I’m sorry,” I said, shunning my gaze. I realized I was still holding his hand, so quickly let go of it. “It’s all my fault.”
“Horseshit,” he said, but even that made him grimace in pain. “It was her fault. Or the caped idiots’ who hired her. Don’t blame yourself.”
He was wrong. I shouldn’t even be here, and without me...
I couldn’t finish the thought, as Ezair suddenly tipped forward. He had lost so much blood, that his strength was fading away.
“Ezair! Stay with me! Where is Aylea, for storm’s sake!”
Aylea chose this exact moment to open the door, but she wasn’t alone. Her daughter Chai stumbled after her into the room.
The girl gasped as she saw the wounded Ezair, but quickly recovered and pulled out a small hourglass from a pocket on her tunic, holding it over the wound.
“Don’t move. It’s going to hurt, unfortunately. There’s nothing I can do about that,” she said, twisting a blue pearl on the upper edge of the hourglass carefully, as if she were trying to tune an instrument. “How old is the wound?”
Ezair looked up at the girl a little confused. “A few minutes. Ten, maybe.”
Chai continued to twist the pearl. The sand inside the hourglass started glimmering, and slowly poured out right onto the wound. Ezair clenched his teeth, only letting a silent swear escape. The leaking blood flowed back into the wound, then the cut closed in front of my eyes, without leaving as much as a thin scar.
I was mesmerized. Of course, I’ve heard stories about witches and magicians, but I thought they were nonsense. Like the djinns, again.
“Is that all?” the girl asked, looking at her mother. Aylea nodded and took a seat in her chair, while Chai settled on a stool, leaving her crutches propped up against the wall.
“Well, darlings, it’s time to talk. Who attacked you?” Aylea asked.
“An old acquaintance of mine,” Ezair said, still touching his side in disbelief. I couldn’t blame him.
“What happened to this acquaintance?”
“It’s quite a tale,” he said, trying to shake off Aylea’s pestering questions, but she wasn’t so easy to shake.
“We have time.”
Ezair sighed and leaned back. “Fine.”
***
Ezair had no reason to fear being recognized. All sorts wandered the streets, each rougher looking than the next. Yet, he was still uncomfortable walking around in too familiar places, so he waited on a random street corner, scanning the crowd.
The deadline he and Nari had given each other had expired.
Nari walked along the pavement curbstones, holding a mixture of meat and vegetables on a stick, as if she had no problem in the world. She had a habit of acting irresponsible, to trick everyone into underestimating her, but in the present situation, it was an exaggeration even for her.
Ezair pushed himself away from the wall and approached Nari, grabbing her shoulders. She instinctively trod on his foot and almost punched him in the stomach before Ezair caught her elbow.
“Stop. It’s me.”
“You scared me, Aspis.”
Ezair noticed an alley that lacked the usual dubious mixers and merchants, so he led her there. “I know. Sorry. I was being cautious.”
Nari snorted. “Did you find out anything about your uncle?”
“Quite a lot, but not much makes sense.” Ezair waited until the noise of the streets faded and only the quiet of the ally remained before continuing. “Looks like the caped men are looking for the suspected murderer of treasurer Aarif and his wife, but my uncle believes she’s innocent. Someone’s trying to frame her for some reason, but I couldn’t figure out why, yet. Did you have any luck?”
Nari shrugged and emerged from Ezair’s forced embrace. “You could say that. The Chief’s back home, and he thinks it’s in all our best interest to cooperate with the caped men. They’ll get the girl in exchange for their alliance.”
Ezair suddenly stopped, standing silent for a few seconds, then turned to the girl with a frown. “I must have misheard you, Nari. I would swear you said the Chief believes we should let an innocent girl get snatched by a bunch of maniacs.”
Nari threw away the remains of her dinner and withstood Ezair’s gaze with her hands on her hips. “I misheard you too, Aspis. It was like you called this djinn an innocent girl.”
“I met this djinn. She couldn’t hurt anyone. She’s not a demon, so yes, she is innocent in my eyes.”
Nari grunted and poked Ezair’s chest with one finger. “If that’s what you think, you’re even more stupid and naïve than I thought. You’d better quit this fast, take your uncle, and leave the djinn to us.”
Ezair roared and approached the girl, but she didn’t even flinch. “My uncle’s in jail because he dared to defend her. You don’t believe either of us will just leave, do you?”
Nari closed her eyes for a moment, and the roasting heat switched to freezing cold in an instant as they both realized where this conversation was going.
“Then you’re in the way.”
The girl’s hand struck like a snake. She had pulled a crooked dagger and slashed towards Ezair’s neck, missing it only by an inch. Ezair let out a fierce snarl and unsheathed his blade, pointing it directly towards Nari’s stomach. “You’re out of your mind.”
“Oh, that’s rich of you to say, choosing the side of a demon instead of us!” she struck back, then burst forward, trying to plunge her dagger into Ezair’s throat again. It was a foolish way, seeking to end the opponent’s life with every move, since there was always a risk a missed strike meant the attacker’s death, but there were some who could pull it off. People with extreme speed and dexterity. People like Nari, the Rattlesnake of the Two-Headed Viper.
Ezair stepped to the side and hit the girl’s arm with the palm of his hand, pushing the thrust away from his neck and above his shoulder. “Don’t do this. You know how it will end.”
She didn’t answer, only swung her other fist upwards, hitting Ezair in the jaw. Emboldened by success, she threw her knee into his stomach, forcing him to bend over.
He had to take it seriously. Nari wasn’t playing around.
Ezair bent even lower and stretched his legs, headbutting straight into Nari’s chest, than jumped forward and attempted to pierce her shoulder.
Nari caught his wrist and yanked it to the side, deflecting the move by the skin of her teeth, but tipping him off balance in the process. She had used this opportunity to dash behind him, so Ezair quickly turned towards her – only to run into a dagger stabbing him in his side.
The pain stung like venom, but the battle haze suppressed it enough for Ezair to ignore it. Nari had made a mistake in her desperation to wound him: she got inside arm’s length. Ezair grabbed her shoulder and pulled the surprised girl towards himself, right into the blade he held at the height of her belly, then hurriedly pushed her away.
Nari staggered and covered her stomach while gasping for air. Her large, faint green eyes looked at him in complete disbelief, but Ezair only looked back with sadness.
“Traitor...”
“You wanted this,” he said, wheezing as the excitement slowly faded away. “Why? What’s so important?”
Nari’s trembling lips stretched to an unexpected, grotesque smile as her strength slowly seeped through the hole in her belly, and her knees gave up under her.
The Rattlesnake died.
***
“So, you lost your base to bargain, am I right?” Aylea asked after Ezair finished.
I was about to argue that even though one mercenary had gone rogue, it deducted nothing from the value of the organization, but Chai cut me off.
“Not exactly,” she said. “Today, eleven soldiers visited the Lotus, eight of whom paid seven sungold each. They may not come in for us, but even the fulfilled get hungry right beside a cooking pot. I think he’s making us quite a profit. You’re not paying him, are you?”
“Of course not,” Aylea said, then rose from the chair. “Fix this mess. I don’t want to reach a point where the risk outweighs the reward.”
She left the three of us alone, yet nobody wanted to speak first, as if Aylea’s presence somehow still lingered in the air.
“What did you mean when you said Ezair is making your mother profit?” I asked Chai eventually.
“The prince’s soldiers are looking for you,” she said. “Since we’re deterring all their efforts of finding you, their search is in vain. As a result, the prince is getting angrier and chastises his men more harshly. And where does a soldier go if something’s getting on his nerves, but he can’t afford to be drunk because of his duties the next day?”
“To a brothel,” I said. “And we’re the ones paying Aylea to be here! By the way, how did you do that?” I asked, looking at Ezair.
“With this,” Chai said, lifting the hourglass. “The sand in it reverses time over an object or even a wound. It was painful because you had to suffer the same feeling of getting stabbed as you originally did, but backward. I really am sorry,” she said, but Ezair just smiled back.
“It was nothing. I’ve had worse. Is there a mejai running the records in every brothel?”
Chai held one of her strangely uneven black hair strands between two fingers and wrapped it around as if the question embarrassed her.
“No, of course not. It’s just I’m no good for anything else. You can’t work as a mejai unless you want power or to harm people.”
“Anyone who can do things like this deserves more than counting coins till the end of her life, that’s for sure,” I said. “We are in your debt.”
I looked at Ezair again, who, on the other hand, didn’t even thank the girl for the miracle. I was hoping a strong stare was enough to get him to his senses, but for a few seconds, he just looked back at me with raised eyebrows. When he finally realized, he turned his head towards Chai so suddenly as if his heart had missed a beat in panic.
“Yes, I’m grateful. You’re amazing.”
Chai smiled sourly. “Well, I’m not beautiful, so I guess it’s only fair. Don’t try too hard to get yourself into trouble again, I’ve only got so much magic sand,” she said, then left without a goodbye.
After the sound of her crutches faded in the distance, Ezair turned to me. “Who was she?”
“She’s Chai, Aylea’s daughter. But you seemingly know more about her than I do, so why don’t you answer that. Are mages a common sight among humans?”
Now that I realized they were real, I thought it would’ve been useful to know how many of them I missed during these years.
Ezair just rolled his eyes. “Real mages are nonexistent now, but even mejai like her are quite rare.”
“What is the difference?”
“Mages do miracles from thin air. They summon the forces of nature, bend time and space and create life, at least according to the legends. Mejai are incapable of magic by themselves, so they use trinkets. Tools to channel their power.”
Since most of my knowledge about this world came from children’s tales, I had always thought mages and mejais to be the same, but it seemed not every folktale was real.
“Well, it doesn’t seem like much of a handicap, at least given what we just saw,” I replied. Ezair nodded.
“Well, I think Chai’s no ordinary mejai. She seems powerful enough to be a court noblewoman, or in a Secret Circle. No wonder they’re not advertising it. They would have been robbed blind a long time ago, no matter how many guards protect this place, if people got the idea that there’s a mejai with trinkets here.”
“If she’s such a big deal, what is she doing here? And why did she help us?” I asked, but then let out an exhausted sigh. Even Ezair couldn’t have the answer to everything. “Never mind. Tell me instead what’s our plan going forward. I’m surprised they haven’t yet figured out we’re here.”
“That’s a good question. I think if they won’t come to us, let’s go to them. Which would be easiest if we found the girl who brought the poison to the treasurer, but I doubt she’d show himself in this mess.”
“Can’t your companions help?”
Ezair leaned back with his eyes closed. “I was just thinking that. I’ll head right there tomorrow to find out. There was enough excitement for today.”
I felt uncomfortable. I was supposed to be an all-powerful djinn, capable of fixing this whole situation with a handwave, but even Chai could help a lot more than I did. I didn’t understand how it was possible for me to feel small compared to a one-legged girl, but I did.
“Can’t I do something?”
“Depends. Do you think the girls would tell you what they heard from their... customers?”
“Maybe. I can try.”
“Please do. Every tiny bit of news is crucial. As long as we’re in the dark, we’ll never sort this out.”
I nodded. Time was tight because the prince wasn’t about to halt the execution and wait until we solved everything. Now it was my turn to help speed things up.
“I’ll do my best.”