The Secret of Ka (12 page)

He stepped away and sat on the carpet. "I just need to make one wish," he said sadly. I sat beside him.

"Is that true? Do you promise only to ask for one wish?"

He gave me a puzzled look. "What does it matter to you?"

"I tried to tell you. It's because of the Laws of the Djinn the carpet told me about. One wish isn't dangerous. But after that you owe them something."

For the first time since he had caught me talking to the carpet, he appeared to listen. His dark face looked beautiful in the candlelight. Had I been more experienced, I believe I would have leaned over and kissed him. I felt a wave of love for him wash over me. Who cared if he wasn't royalty? He was special to me.

"I'll just make one," he promised.

I did not ask him what his wish would be. I knew he was desperate to get his hand back. How could I deny him that? After all he had suffered?

I smiled wearily. "Let's try one more temple."

Again, I propped open the temple door before we left. I hoped to study the interior of all of them at some point.

It was ironic that as we flew into the circular temple we saw a bottle that closely resembled a genie's lamp—at least the way lamps were portrayed in cartoons. We landed and walked toward it. The lamp was polished ebony, smooth and shiny, a wide bulb on the bottom that tapered into a narrow stalk at the top. Of all the artifacts we had seen, it looked the most harmless. Yet as Amesh tried to lift it, he staggered on his feet.

"It weighs a hundred kilos!" he exclaimed.

"Put it down!" I said.

My order was unnecessary. He dropped it on the altar.

The round temple was better lit than the others. There were more candles against the walls. They were red candles. For some reason, these candles did not burn with orange flames. The wicks shone with red fire; they filled the temple with a deathly shimmer. The color made me uneasy. Their fire was powerful enough to give me a glimpse of the images in the stained glass windows.

What I saw did nothing to soothe my nerves. The images were even worse than in the first temple. The scenes depicted one battle after another. There were soldiers in armor. Steel swords held high and corpses lying low. Blood everywhere.

I suddenly felt it was a mistake to be in the temple. Everything we were doing suddenly felt wrong. The carpet had said the djinn were dangerous. Why wasn't I listening?

It was because I had lied to Amesh, and now I was trying to make it up to him. It was a foolish reason. The lamp might have been difficult to lift, but all it had on top was a simple wooden cork. It would be easy to open. Amesh said as much. Still, he made no move to open it.

"What are you waiting for?" I asked.

"I keep expecting you to stop me."

"I wish you would stop. Do you really want to confront a djinn?"

"Do you really think one is going to pop out?"

I shook my head. "I don't know."

"But if one does appear, you said it was safe to make a wish."

"One wish. If you make two wishes, you owe it."

"I know, I know. What if you make three wishes?"

"I think something bad happens."

"What?"

"I'm not sure," I said miserably.

My uncertainty seemed to give him confidence. He circled the lamp. "If a djinn does come, I'll talk to it. You keep quiet. Okay?"

"Okay."

"You understand why?"

"Because I'm a girl and you're a boy."

"I don't want there to be any confusion about who freed it from its prison." In other words, he wanted it to obey only him.

"I'll keep my mouth shut," I said.

"Good." He reached for the lamp, then paused. "I might need help."

That was the last thing I wanted to do. The thought of touching it made me feel ill. Yet that desperate note had returned to his voice. How could I say no? Still, my legs felt heavy as I moved to the altar.

"You want me to hold it down?" I asked.

"Yeah."

"It's so heavy, it shouldn't move."

"The cork might be in tight. Can you just hold on to it?"

"Okay," I said.

I clasped the neck of the lamp. The black bottle was hot, while the room was cold. It made no sense, unless there was something inside that burned to be set free. I tried to stay calm.

"Amesh," I whispered. He was only four feet away, on the other side of the altar, his left arm already outstretched.

"What?" he said.

"Let's not do this. Not now, not tonight. Please?"

"Why not?"

"Because I'm afraid."

He gave me a sympathetic look then, and I was sure he was going to listen and stop this madness. Then his hand brushed the cork and his face suddenly hardened. He sucked in a sharp breath and his fingers closed around the cork.

"I have no fear," he whispered as he yanked on the cork. I expected a popping sound, but instead I heard a scratching noise, like nails being raked across metal. The noise grated my nerves and I let go of the lamp without thinking.

It didn't matter. It was done.

The djinn did not appear to me; it was visible only to Amesh. That was my first surprise. Yet I was instantly aware of its presence. As Amesh turned to the left to stare at it, I sensed an invisible shape swelling before him. Somehow I was aware of its weight. It was more than a ton, and I suspected it could crush us if we lost control of it. No, I corrected myself. If Amesh lost control. He had set it free. He was the only one who could master it now.

"It's magnificent," Amesh whispered.

He was talking to me; I assumed he wanted me to respond. Yet I had promised to remain silent. Best to be safe, I thought. Keep quiet; don't draw its attention. Let Amesh get his hand, and then hopefully the djinn would return to its bottle and leave us alone.

A voice spoke. The words did not emanate from the direction of the invisible mass alone. They came out of the walls. They were inside my head, too, an echo of a sound so old it could have existed before the earth. Words both soft and oppressive, definitely sly. It was clever; its life had been long. It would be difficult to fool.

"What is your name?" it asked.

Amesh opened his mouth to speak. I abandoned my vow of silence.

"No!" I shouted. "Demand to know its name."

Amesh tried to look at me, but the thing had him hypnotized.

"Why?" he mumbled.

"Your name will give it power over you. Tell it to reveal its name."

Amesh swallowed, struggling. "Who are you?" he asked.

Now I felt the djinn stare at me. It did not want to give out its name. Plus, it was angry that I had helped Amesh. I sensed it saw me as an enemy.

Yet a part of me felt that was not necessarily bad. The djinn were not there to make friends. They were forces of nature. They possessed power, and apparently they craved power. Amesh could use it as an ally to get what he wanted. But then he had to break the bond.

I felt as if the carpet were still talking to me, telling me these truths. But I wondered if it was not something else. The carpet had spoken about my intuition. But I felt as if talking to it had been the real jolt that had awakened a hidden part of my mind.

"Don't just ask.
Order
it to reveal its name," I told Amesh.

He coughed weakly. "Tell me your name," he muttered.

His voice lacked authority; another mistake, I knew. The djinn's gaze swung between us. Amesh had set it free. However—and it was as if I could read a piece of the djinn's mind!—it was suddenly curious about me.

The djinn wanted to know my name!

Even more than Amesh's. It wanted his name so it could get mine. It was fortunate I was in the temple to guide Amesh. At the same time, it was a pity I had not had a chance to learn more from the carpet before I had to face a djinn. I was not sure why it was interested in me.

"Be forceful," I urged Amesh.

"I demand that you tell me your name!" he said, finally showing some strength. The attention of the djinn swung back to Amesh.

"Darbar Aloya Ta," it replied. "Now your name."

Amesh went to reply.

"Ignore it," I said. "Make your demand."

"Should I ask for my wish now?" Amesh asked me.

"First invoke its name. Then make your wish an order."

Amesh nodded at my instruction, which had just popped into my head. Frankly, I felt as if my mind was not my own. I felt like the carpet was still trying to warn me about the djinn, while the djinn was still checking me out.

As Amesh focused on the djinn, he flashed a cocky grin. That worried me. Cockiness and mastery were not identical. In fact, they were usually opposites.

"Darbar Aloya Ta," Amesh said firmly. "I demand you grant me great riches of jewels. A treasure chest full of them."

"Huh?" I gasped. He was asking for money when he should have been asking for a new hand! Money could always be earned; only magic could fix his handicap.

A red mist formed at Amesh's feet. A wind blew, taking the mist and twisting it into a spiral that spun before him, giving off bright sparks, changing into a pillar of fire. I heard a loud popping sound, and a gold chest appeared at Amesh's feet. The jewels inside it sparkled with exotic beauty. The pillar vanished.

I knew I had to get over my shock and watch closely what Amesh did next. The entire night had led to this moment. He had made his wish. It was not the one I had hoped for but it was done. Now he had to return the djinn to its cage and walk away.

But Amesh had fallen to his knees. He was running his fingers through the jewels, lifting them to his lips, kissing them, spilling them over the floor. His eyes were drunk with joy. He looked so happy—I scolded myself for being judgmental. His wish had not been my choice but it had been ... his.

All along I had been wrong. He wanted wealth more than anything. Now it was his. Now he could buy his Papi and Mira whatever they desired. From what I could see, the gems the djinn had given him were priceless. I suspected the richest men in the Middle East would sign over their fortunes to possess them.

Possess. The word haunted me for some reason.

"Do you see what I have! Sa—"

"Don't say my name!" I interrupted. "Not in front of the djinn!"

But the djinn had heard. I heard it whispering to itself.

Sa ... Sa ... Sa...

Amesh made a dismissive gesture. "Don't worry, I'm the one who freed it from the bottle. It owes me. You can't hear everything it's telling me. You can't see it, can you? It says you can't."

"No, I can't see it. But I can hear it, and I know it's telling you what you want to hear. For one thing, it doesn't owe you anything. It already granted you a wish. Remember the laws I told you about. If you make another wish, you will owe it."

Amesh plucked a large ruby from the chest and stared at it hungrily.

He giggled. "What are you talking about? I'm its master. That's why it told me its name. It's under my control. You saw how it obeyed me."

I took a step toward him. Yet I was afraid to step between him and the djinn. I suspected the creature would not allow that.

"Please," I said. "You promised me you'd make just one wish. We have to put the djinn back in its bottle. We have to get out of here."

"Why?" he asked, the silly grin still on his face. He was not hearing everything I said. The djinn had its own dialogue going on inside my friend. It did not want me messing with its plans. No doubt its plan was old, tried and true, for whoever opened its bottle. It probably kept giving the person whatever they wanted, as long as they kept making wishes...

I worried Amesh would make a second wish.

I was terrified he would make a third.

"We're in danger!" I pleaded.

He laughed and stood, shoving a few prized gems in his pocket. He held out a huge pearl to me, which was encircled with a diamond-studded gold band. It was a pendant—the pearl dangled from the end of a gold chain. Amesh came near.

"This one's for you. Take it. It's my gift to you."

He was close enough to slap. I felt I had to knock some sense into him. Mental telepathy, the ability to dominate a person's will—these were not powers I had expected the djinn to have. I realized I had been a fool to go along with Amesh, to help him get even a single wish. Because all of it had just opened a door—the djinn's front door.

I pushed his hand away. Unfortunately, he dropped the pretty pearl, and it bounced over the floor. He took a step back, stunned that I would reject him so blatantly. I wanted to shock him back to his senses.

"Keep your stupid jewel," I said.

His grin was gone, but something else had also vanished. There was a flatness in his gaze I couldn't quite understand. It was as if his inner light had been extinguished.

"What's wrong with my jewels?" he asked. "Not good enough for the proud princess?"

I tried to grab hold of him, to get him to focus on me.

"They belong to you, not me," I said in a clear voice. "They're what you wished for. That's fine; you're rich now. Let's leave this place with your riches. It's time to go." I paused. "Order the djinn back in its bottle."

He blinked at my last remark. I knew why. My words were not jiving with the words he was hearing inside, words he believed were his own thoughts. Yet I could pick up enough of them to know they were coming from the djinn.

Make another wish. Another wish. Don't stop. Make another wish...

Amesh believed he was in control, when he was really the puppet. He staggered back as if drunk and pointed an unsteady finger at me.

"You don't want my jewels because you think I'm a freak."

"That's not true. I think you're a great guy," I said.

"Right!" he shouted. "A great guy who has only one hand! A guy who can hardly dress himself in the morning! Yeah, you admire me, all right."

"It's true. What happened to your hand doesn't matter. You are who you are." I lowered my voice, desperate to reach him. "I never told you this before but it looks like a war wound to me. It makes you look kind of sexy."

He blinked again, this time with interest. "Really?"

I nodded vigorously. "I almost told you that when we met."