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The water djinn leaned forward and the smell of cologne rushed at me with renewed vigor. I almost told him that he had chosen an unfitting composition in this heat, but I wasn’t here on business. Not that kind, at least.
The man absently rearranged one of his wavy black locks that hung right in his eyes. “What sort of deal could you possibly offer?”
“I know chasing after someone is a hassle, so I’ll make it easier for you. Let me prove my father’s innocence, then I’ll let you take me wherever you want. Without running unnecessary rounds. I just want some time.”
“Interesting proposal. But what assures me you won’t just get on a boat and leave after you cleared everything up?”
“I don’t think the sea is an obstacle for you.”
“I loathe fieldwork,” he said, to which Tamen snorted quite loudly. Arjun just gave him a scolding look and continued. “I have no desire to chase a volatile thief myself through the wide seas of the world. But I think I have a better proposition, one that assures both of us keeps their end of the bargain.”
The marid leaned back, his face devoid of the previous amusement, resembling a woodcarving, rather than a flesh-and-blood man. Our little mouth-off turned into a business meeting, and that I was familiar with.
“I’m listening.”
“Let’s suppose I let you go this one time. I’ll give you three days, because that is the longest, I can control His Majesty’s wrath, and that’s how long I feel safe from my employer. When the time runs out, whatever you’ve achieved, you’ll show up in front of the palace at dawn and submit to anything. If it doesn’t happen, someone close to you will die. You may not even know it yet, but don’t be deceived: I’ll choose someone important. Someone whose absence will hurt. That is somewhat of a specialty of mine.”
“Make it ten days, and we’ll have a deal. There aren’t that many possible hostages, you don’t even have to push yourself.”
I knew he was in a better position to bargain, but it didn’t mean I wasn’t going to try. It was best to open with a shamelessly bold offer at first, so we could bid lower and lower until we reached something I could agree to, letting Arjun think he’d won.
“Three days. You’re not in a position to bargain. I have time. You don’t.”
“That is precisely why you could give me ten days. What does it matter to you?”
Of our infinite time, he could really have afforded so much. I didn’t understand the haste on his part.
Arjun took a deep breath. “Just so you see that I am not your enemy here, let us settle on a week. Be quick and don’t waste. I also know that is your specialty.”
Sadly, it was too late for him. I already considered this jerk the source of every misery I had to endure, but something piqued my curiosity.
“Deal. But if you’re not my enemy, then I’m terribly curious who is. I’ve only just received this hide, and it’s bad enough that I have to risk it already. But I figure we know each other.”
“Partially. I know you. You don’t know me, and it would be preferable to keep it that way. And the real enemy... Well, he’ll introduce himself. Now, if you would, get out of here.”
He didn’t have to say it twice. Although I itched for more about this terrible, dark evil, I felt talking to him more would be detrimental to my health.
I stood up and smiled at Tamen first. He probably hadn’t understood a word.
“Well, Tamen, it was my pleasure to show you how to negotiate a later curfew. I’ll see you in a week, Councilor,” I said, as if we’d agreed on a nice rendezvous rather than my execution. At least I guessed it was something like that, but I still harbored some hope of talking my way out of that.
“I’ll show her out,” the young master said, joining me as I closed the door on Arjun. “I think I’m owed an explanation.”
I waved at him to follow me. I wanted to get far away from Arjun as soon as possible, so he had to be content with an explanation on the way to the Velvet Lotus.
“To sum it up, I am the daughter of the perfumer they blame for the murders. Inspector Rashad got jailed as well, so his nephew and I are trying to find the real culprit to free them. The personal beef between me and the councilor is a whole other mess, I’ve no idea how they are connected.”
“So, as I understand it, you’re sure your father’s innocent. And if I help you now, we can find out who the real culprit is,” Tamen said, then looked at me for confirmation.
“Correct.”
“How?”
“We have a trinket that can find anyone from a name and a face. We know the name; we just need someone who saw this mysterious thief girl. That would be you.”
Tamen nodded. “I think I can help with that.”
Now that we were free of Arjun’s gaze, we didn’t rush. We walked through the villa district at a calm pace, watching the stunning view of the city reaching below us towards the thin blue stripe of the sea. I even bought four pistachio cakes from a street vendor, one for everyone. Some apologies were in order, and what better way to reconcile than cake?
I half suspected the young noble to flinch as I led him to a brothel, but he followed me without a word. We cut through the small courtyard, then wandered around the rooms until someone pointed at Chai’s. I knocked twice, and not much later the door opened.
“Zaira? Did you succeed?” Chai asked as she let us in, looking at Tamen in surprise. “Who is he?”
“Chai, let me introduce Tamen Aarif, son of the late treasurer, and a witness. Tamen, this is Chai, our household mejai.”
Tamen was hesitant exactly how to react, but eventually bowed. “Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Lady Chai.”
“There’s no need to be so polite, Master Tamen. I’m no court mage, and not even a registered one. Please, come in.”
I settled at the end of the girl’s bed. Her room was much larger than mine, but it was still crowded with shelves and boxes containing Chai’s collection of magical trinkets and relics. It was like a secret treasury in the city's heart.
Tamen glanced at Chai’s missing leg, but luckily, he was more polite than to stare at her. Instead, he settled on top of a large crate.
“So, what do I do?” the boy asked.
“Can you draw what the person we’re looking for looked like?” Chai asked.
“I’m afraid not. I was taught how to handle charcoal and paint, but I was never particularly talented in either,” he said. Before we could continue, someone else knocked.
“I’m back. Did you hear from Zaira?” Ezair’s voice asked from the outside.
“I’m here,” I said, trying to sound friendly. “And I brought pastries. As a peace offering.”
My stomach was tight, and I was secretly afraid that he was still so angry that even the sweets wouldn’t melt the icy atmosphere.
“Pastries, you say?”
Before I could reply, the door opened, and Ezair marched into the room—as if he was in a brothel or something—, then looked at Tamen. “I see I missed a few things.”
“You haven’t missed a thing yet. Tamen can’t draw for us, but maybe he’s a mejai, he just doesn’t know it yet,” I said while holding a cake towards him.
“You saw the thief we’re looking for?” he said, looking at Tamen.
“I did. I’m Tamen Aarif, at your service. I guess you’re the inspector’s nephew Miss Zaira mentioned.”
“I am,” Ezair said, looking at the magic medallion. “But I’ve got good news, even if the young lord can’t use the locator. I managed to track down a few old debts, and found someone who could be useful.”
“Really? Who?” I said while munching my pistachio cake.
“I learned of a... Well, mejai is a strong word, he’s more of a street performer who can see into your head on a certain level. He’s set up shop in the main square.”
“Can he draw?”
“The best I’ve ever seen in my life. He draws better than the original.”
“Right. Let’s go then.” I said stuffing the rest of the cake in my mouth. We didn’t have much time, but another hungry trip was worse than any marid. For the both of us.
***
The “main square” of Kahlaran wasn’t actually a square, rather the end of the bazaar where it widened into a circular dead-end. The locals used it as a center of business and it was always jam-packed with people. The sun was still high and scorching, so most of them hid under the stretched tarp at the square’s edge, and only a few bold souls wandered the stone pavement.
“That’s him,” Ezair said, pointing at one of the rickety wooden stalls with an eye-watering striped awning. I didn’t trust the artistic abilities of a man who I suspected to be color blind. Behind the stall sat an old man with a white shawl over his head and neck like he’d just arrived from the desert.
“Can I have a word before we do this?” Ezair said.
I nodded. “Tamen, can you go ahead, please? Just a minute.”
Tamen didn’t ask more, just walked to the old dabbler while Ezair pulled me to the side behind an empty stall.
“We got here too easy. It’s like the patrols were halved. Is there something I should know?” he asked.
“Actually, I have some good news, besides Tamen. We have seven days to find the thief in complete peace, without worrying about soldiers, fanatics of the Court of Fire and other inconveniences.”
I wanted him to compliment me as he did this morning, but he wasn’t exactly pleased.
“How did you manage that?”
“I cut a deal, of course. But I didn’t think it would work so quickly.”
“A deal? With whom?”
“Does it matter? We’re in a hurry, aren’t we? We’re okay for now, and a week’s plenty of time.”
I turned my eyes from him, because I didn’t want to see his disapproval. I couldn’t back out, especially after the threat, so it really didn’t matter.
“I hope you know what you’re doing.”
“I wish I could reassure you, but I don’t. It seemed like the best choice at the moment, because otherwise you’d think I disappeared out of spite.”
I tried a little half-smile, just to lighten the mood, then headed for Tamen and the old quack.
“Oh, there’s more, wonderful. Come closer, yes! Do you care what lives in your souls?”
To be honest, I was dying to know. I had no idea what the old man could see in me, but now wasn’t the time.
Ezair put his arm around Tamen’s shoulder and pushed him forward. “Don’t be shy, Tamen. You know, he’s my brother",” he said to the old man. “And he met the love of his life, the most beautiful woman on earth, and other similar lover’s twaddle. But he didn’t dare address her, and he only saw her once. Some of my acquaintances said you could help him.”
I couldn’t hold back the giggles when I saw the impromptu performance. I didn’t think Ezair would come up with an idea like that. It was my niche, but I liked it.
“Of course, we are dying to find out who she is,” I added.
“Oh, the love of the heart is very interesting. Don’t worry, young man. Please tell me about her.”
The man took out a roughly carved pencil with a bent bronze platelet circling it. He put it behind his ear and leaned forward to listen to Tamen’s whimpering speech about the “lady of his heart.” The quack nodded and hummed for what seemed like five minutes, then took out a piece of paper and started scratching it wildly. I could hardly take my eyes off him when suddenly, this whole charade came together in my head.
I took a step very close to Ezair so no one else could hear me. For a moment his scent hit me again, but I tried my best to ignore it. “It must be the pencil.”
“Maybe we should get it for Chai after this,” he said.
The old man added the finishing touches to the portrait, but then immediately rolled it up. “Seven moonsilver.”
Ezair took the money out of his purse and put it on the table, swiftly covering it with his palm.
“How do we know you’re not fooling us?”
The man grinned and rolled out the paper, then waved at Tamen to lean closer. “Did you see her, young man?”
Tamen looked at the drawing, his eyes widening in surprise. “Yes, that’s her.”
“Well, well, the old man’s worth his money,” I said. “He truly sees into his head.”
Ezair lifted his hand. The quack pulled the paper from our noses and rolled it up, put the money away, then gave me the drawing.
“Don’t get too involved, young man. Find a more decent girl who won’t scare you.”
“Thank you,” Ezair said with a satisfied grin on his face, then headed towards an abandoned bench. He looked at me expectantly, so I handed him the picture.
“What now? Back to Chai?”
Ezair unrolled the drawing, revealing a young woman with narrow cheekbones and a dot under one eye, although Tamen hadn’t mentioned it to the street quack.
“That’s the next step, but we shouldn’t rush. As Chief Hain said, this girl is shy and hides at the first sign of danger. We have to get close to her so she won’t flee.”
“How about we pretend to be customers? Or we ask someone to pretend to be,” I said.
“Clever. We’ll do that,” Ezair said, then looked at Tamen. “Well, honestly, that was all we needed your help for, but I’m not sure about letting you go.”
“I’ll make it easy for you, since I’m not going anywhere. Not until whoever killed my parents meets justice.”
“You mean, you want to stay with us? Aren’t you afraid your precious tutor will strangle you in a spoonful of water?” I asked.
“I don’t fear him. And I think he’s got more pressing problems these days. Besides, I can make things a lot easier for you.”
I smiled at him. He was a sympathetic boy, and if it was just me, I would have voted to trust him. He had enough reason to help us, but I couldn’t decide this alone.
“Ezair, what do you think?”
“At least he stays in sight and isn’t talking to anyone. Besides, I don’t think he will betray us, with all our interests pointing in one direction.”
Ezair stood up and held his hand towards Tamen, who immediately shook it.
“I won’t betray your trust. Thank you.”
“For me, it’s enough that we hate our dear friend Arjun together. Welcome to the team!” I cheered.
“Well then, it’s time to find this Asha Roasin,” Ezair said, setting the scroll on his shoulder like a sword. “Or, to stick to Chief Hain’s metaphor, it’s time to catch a fox. “