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Kadin
WE SUFFERED THROUGH THE twist of traveling impossibly fast, standing in front of the Red Rose one moment, then in the forest beside a road the next. It was a vast distance to cross in mere seconds and my body rebelled, shivering and sweating simultaneously.
Bosh groaned while Daichi outright heaved in the bushes. My own stomach felt unsettled, but I ignored it. “Where are we?”
“This is just a short walk from Hodafez,” Gideon replied, pointing behind me.
I swung around. The peak of a mountain stood before us with a small city surrounding a beautiful white stone castle and whisps of clouds that brushed the tips of its towers.
I cleared my throat, searching for a diplomatic way to ask Gideon, “Why didn’t you bring us closer?”
“If we were to appear at the front gate it would be very unsettling.” Gideon stepped onto the road and began to walk, not waiting for us.
“Obviously.” I resisted rolling my eyes as my men and I followed. “I meant, why didn’t you bring us somewhere inside the castle, out of sight? Save us the walk?”
“That’s breaking the rules,” he replied, swinging his cane more like a walking stick.
I stared at his back. “What? To appear in the castle without an invitation?” I asked. “You just did that a few days ago!” The dirt road was steep and I was already out of breath.
“That’s different. I had an invitation,” Gideon replied. It was hard to read him by the back of his head.
“How so?” I demanded, picking up my pace until I walked beside him.
“Because you called for me.”
I groaned. “I’m sure Arie would call now, if she could.”
“That’s not the same,” Gideon said without looking at me.
“You care about her too. I know you do. She could be in trouble.” Running my hands through my hair, I struggled to find some other form of logic to convince him. “What if they catch her? What if they kill her father? If your stubbornness keeps us from helping her, it will be your fault.”
At my words, Naveed signed, Don’t be stupid.
Bells rang out from the city above, letting all within earshot know of an event. Either a wedding or a funeral. Which meant that either Arie had been captured, or her father was dead. Either way, she needed help.
Gideon tapped his cane on the ground. “Tell me, why is it so important to you to save her?”
With my men listening, I struggled to form words. I could say so many things. She was the most confident girl I’d ever met. Fierce. Intelligent. It didn’t hurt that she was gorgeous either. But none of that came out.
The men stared at me as we walked, eyebrows raised. A whisp of a smile appeared on Gideon’s lips.
“I don’t know. It just is,” I answered lamely. “But you need the lamp, otherwise you wouldn’t have come all this way. You’ve gone to great lengths for it, don’t you have any other tricks or Gifts you could use to help Arie?”
Though I’d always considered the Gifted to be selfish, I’d come to know Gideon well enough to believe better of him. To believe he had a heart. As I thought this, he nodded to me, just once. “I do,” he murmured. I wondered whether he was answering my verbal thought or my silent one.
“Do you have a plan?” I asked him. “What do you want us to do?”
Gideon met my eyes. “This is your venture, Master Kadin. The plan is up to you.”
People were staring at us. At Gideon really. A Jinni in plain sight—whispers began to float along the air.
“I see them,” Gideon replied before I could point out that he was drawing attention. He bent to pick up a stick, running his hand across it before handing the now engraved piece of wood to me. “Call me back when you’re ready,” he murmured, and disappeared before I could respond.