The Secret of Ka (17 page)

"What is the word for Mrs.?" I asked.

"La"

"So his wife's name is Trakur Analova La?"

"Yes."

"Why didn't you tell me that in the first place?"

"I wanted to surprise you."

I fell back on the bed, exhausted. "Cool," I said.

T
HE CARPET HAD ESSENTIALLY
ordered me to remain on the island and complete an introductory course on the djinn and the dangerous rules that surrounded them.

But that brought up a disquieting question: Had the carpet purposely put Amesh in danger so I would have to save him? In other words, were the two of us mere puppets? I challenged the carpet on this point, and it replied that I had to have faith, that I had been led to the island and the carpet for a reason. Later, I asked the carpet about other people who had invoked djinn. Its answer was chilling.

"Most of those humans are now thralls of those djinn."

"Where are they now?" I asked.

"You don't want to know."

Frustrated with how slow I was learning to throw pots, I asked the carpet if Aleena could make one for me. But it said if I wished to attach a djinn to the pot, then it had to be an extension of who I was or I wouldn't be able to control the creature.

What was the secret of throwing the perfect pot? It was fearlessness and confidence. Aleena taught me to approach the clay with a quiet mind, but with a firmly fixed vision of what I wanted to create. Then I would be able to mold the lump of clay into a thing of beauty.

I cannot recall how many days it was after I faced the bloodthirsty djinn that I threw my first perfect pot. It could have been three or four days, it could have been a week. But when I did it, the result was exactly what I needed.

I was no longer simply an apprentice. I was a real live potter.

Yet the pot needed a lid; it needed handles. Those took another day to fashion. In the meantime the pot dried and I primed it with a white liquid and set about painting it according to the carpet's instructions. I had to create a specific star pattern, which the carpet said mirrored the djinn's character. In other words, I was recreating the djinn's astrological chart on the pot.

And here I had always thought astrology was for the birds.

I asked why the other artifacts did not have stars painted on them.

The carpet's answer surprised me. "They do. You just can't see them."

The carpet also had me paint and carve the name of the djinn into the pot. It explained that such a technique made it almost impossible for the djinn to disconnect itself from the artifact. Once I returned to Istanbul, it assured me, I would need such control.

The carpet made it sound as if I was going to war.

So be it, I thought. Bring them on; I felt ready.

Or maybe I was just sick of the goats. Their smell, their brutal kicks and constant baying. I tried to convince Hara we should eat more goat meat and less lamb. I'm afraid to say that I never formed a warm and fuzzy relationship with the beasts.

The day after I finished painting my pot, Aleena immersed it in the intense heat of the kiln. The process was fascinating to watch. The clay and paint fused to form a shiny surface that, color-wise, reminded me of the carpet as much as Aleena's finest work. When it was done, she set it out in the cool evening air.

Then we shared a meal that we understood would be our last.

They tried their best to get me to stay longer. I refused. Yet if I was honest with myself, I was pretty sure Amesh had already made his third wish. If that was the case, and he was a thrall, I was not sure how I could use my djinn to free him. The carpet did not answer when I asked such things. It never gave me much hope that he could be saved.

"Act. Do the best you can do. But don't worry about the fruit of your actions. That is beyond your control."

When I was ready to leave, Hara offered to help me carry my pot to the valley of the temples. I politely declined. I planned to fly there. But then the carpet said it wanted Hara to come. He was to fly on the carpet with me. I should have known something odd was up right then.

Hara held my two-foot-tall pot. I carried a torch and the lid of the pot. Aleena stayed behind, but gave me a long lingering hug goodbye. She had tears in her eyes when she let go. We had become close, but I did not know we were that close. Perhaps I had misread her feelings from the start.

We rode the carpet to the valley, but got a late start. The red star had already risen in the east and its sober light shone over the cold pools of water that separated the temples. I tried asking Hara about the star but he shook his head as if to say it was not something to talk about in the dark.

We landed outside the triangular temple and entered through the front door. Approaching the altar, I feared that Trakur Analova Ta would put in an appearance, but the building felt oddly calm. I asked the carpet if Hara should be present while I invoked the djinn and it said no. It added:

"But be grateful for his help. He will watch over the pot."

"Watch over it?" I asked, shocked. "I'm taking it with me."

"You cannot."

"Amesh took his lamp with him when he left with his djinn."

"His artifact is hard to destroy. Yours is easy. It must be guarded."

"But doesn't my djinn go back inside my pot when I'm not using it?"

"Your mind is stuck on cartoons about genies and their lamps. The djinn gets attached to your pot. It is through your pot that it gets attached to this world. But it does not have to stay inside the pot, not once you have bound it to you and to this world."

"Won't the distance the djinn is from the pot affect the control I have over the djinn?"

"No. Especially if she believes you're going to make three wishes."

"That's my point!" I complained. "If I do make wishes, I'll need to destroy the pot to cancel out my contract with the djinn."

"I'm aware of your plan and it is sound."

"But if the pot's here and I'm in Istanbul, I won't be able to destroy it when I want to."

"Do not worry about that."

I shook my head. "This is insane. This is not what I planned."

"You must learn that things do not always go according to your plans. To keep your djinn attached to your pot, and the pot safe, it must stay here."

Hara saw that I was distraught, arguing with the carpet. I'm sure he felt helpless that he could not do more for me. He gave me a hug the same way Aleena had. He shed a few tears, too. Then he took the torch and left the temple. Yet he made sure the door remained propped open. He really was going to check on my pot.

The carpet instructed me to set the pot in front of the altar, and to sit with the pot between me and the altar. I laid the carpet out nearby; I still had some last-minute questions.

"Is Trakur Analova Ta's mate in the temple?" I asked.

"She is near. Remember, she is free, unattached to an artifact. But she will be anxious to attach to your pot, especially after you defeated her mate."

"Why?"

"She seeks revenge."

I shivered. "Her husband got at least four pints of blood out of me. I didn't even scratch him. He has nothing to complain about. Besides, my side's not totally healed. I still have pain there."

"You may always have such pain. It's part of the price you pay to walk the path you have chosen."

"I haven't chosen to walk any path. I'm just trying to save Amesh."

"You have a great destiny set before you. You can try to achieve it, at great cost and sacrifice, or you can run from it and sink into mediocrity. The choice is yours."

"Did I ever tell you that you need to lighten up?" I said.

"Greatness requires commitment."

"Each time I've faced a djinn, I've felt intuitively that I have to try to remain in charge. But it makes me wonder how to act with a djinn that's going to be following me around. Say I tell it to go away so I can sleep. The djinn can always say to me, 'Is that a wish?' You see what I'm getting at?"

"The djinn will try to do that every chance it gets. You have to stop it from taking liberties. Make it clear that you're the master and your orders are not the same as your wishes."

There was a rustle in the air.

"Trakur Analova La comes. Quietly repeat her name. Guide her into the pot. When she is inside, put the top on. Then she will be bound to it."

"Won't I have to let her back out when we head for Istanbul?"

"A part of her will remain connected to this pot. Most of her will go with you to the city. But once she enters the pot, leave her inside."

"I'm finally beginning to see how this works," I said.

"Good. You fly the carpet, not the djinn. They have a tendency to abuse magic carpets and treat them as slaves."

"Okay." Suddenly I could sense an invisible being in the area. She didn't feel as large as her husband, yet she felt more focused. Her energy was more concentrated.

I began to recite her name. "Trakur Analova La. Trakur Analova La. Trakur Analova La." It wasn't long before a mist formed between me and the altar. Unlike the previous invocations I had been involved with, this djinn didn't quickly assume a form.

I thought I understood why. Unlike the other djinn—who were attached to artifacts and accustomed to ensnaring unwary humans—this one had not put its foot into our realm in ages, if it had ever done so. I continued to chant its name for half an hour before it settled on a shape. I didn't get impatient. I could see it was making progress. Also, the form it chose was pleasant.

She looked like a human queen, with long, black shiny hair, a veritable shawl made out of darkness. She wore a crown, a small gold one, and not much else. Her dress was mostly sheer and black. She was dark-skinned. If not for a wide silver belt around her waist and a similar necklace atop her breasts, she would have been exposed. The necklace and belt were draped in hair-like material and inlaid with precious stones, mostly rubies, which matched the creature's eyes. They were black and had fiery red pupils. The color reminded me of the blood her husband had stolen from my veins.

I wondered if they shared the same appetites.

She stood. "Trakur Analova La," I said in a firm voice. "Come closer."

She came near, glancing at the pot with distaste. To my surprise she gave off a faint camphor smell, which was rather pleasant.

"I am here to grant you three wishes," she said in a husky voice. "Tell me your name and what you desire."

"I've fashioned a beautiful pot for you. It contains the stars of your birth. Your name, both carved and painted on the sides. Signs of the fire element, dear to your kind. In all respects it is perfect for you. Would you like to step inside?"

"I am more interested in what you want."

"You know that you can grant me nothing in this world unless you are tied to an object in this world. Trakur Analova La, I order you to step inside the pot. Now."

She hesitated, moved close to the pot, suddenly shrank in size, and stepped inside. Still, her head and crown stuck out the top.

"Trakur Analova La," I said. "Please sit, relax; I mean you no harm."

The djinn sat, and I quickly placed the lid on top of the pot. The fit was firm but not too tight. So far, so good. Now came the dangerous part—the binding of the djinn to the earthly object. I had to wait until Trakur Analova La tired of being inside the pot and begged for me to let her out.

I was what the carpet called her
Nagual
—her Primal or First. For all of time I would be the one who had connected her to this realm, even if others begged wishes from her in the future.

Yet if I did
not
wait for Trakur Analova La to beg, if I grew impatient and left, then she might break free and chase after me and try to attach me to an object from her world. Then I would be stuck with one foot in her realm. The carpet had emphasized this point. Always, it said, the djinn schemed. I had to stay alert.

I lay down on the carpet, prepared to wait days if need be. But Trakur Analova La did not seem to fear me. She was confident she would be able to get me to commit to three wishes. She waited only half an hour when she asked to be let loose. I said no, beg.

In the end she did beg, but I never took the top off the pot. I ordered her to exit it whatever way she could and gave her permission to do so. As her master, I needed her to know my permission was key. She stepped out and swelled to her previous height—a head taller than myself. She stared down at me with burning red eyes.

"You thought to take from my husband without paying," she said. "You thought wrong."

"Be silent," I said.

I checked the pot lid. It was on tight.

I pointed to the carpet. "I'm flying to Istanbul tonight. You're coming with me. Sit on the back. I'll sit up front and control it from there."

"You? A mortal? What do you know about magic carpets?"

I felt the urge to brag. It might have been a mistake.

"This is the Carpet of Ka, the greatest magic carpet in the world. It is I who command it."

The red in her eyes flashed at the mention of the name, and she stared at the carpet with unexpected reverence. "How did it come to you?" she asked.

"None of your business." I climbed aboard, not worried about finding a ley line in the temple. And when we reached the beach, I was confident that I'd be able to pick up the spot where Amesh and I had landed on the island. I was going to take the same magnetic highway back to Istanbul. The djinn climbed on the carpet and settled at the rear.

"What is your name?" she asked.

"My name's unimportant. But I'm already tired of calling you Trakur Analova La. Do you have something simpler you go by?"

The djinn hesitated. "You may call me Lova."

"Lova. I think we'll get along fine. All I require is your obedience."

"You want me to obey you? Is that a wish?"

"When I make a wish, I'll invoke your full name and carefully label it as such. Otherwise, do what I say and don't get in my way."

Lova smiled faintly. "I cannot get in your way, not when it comes to interacting with others. You are the only mortal who can see me. That won't change unless our relationship should change."