As the young woman with the dark braids ran away, Ifra stared at the girl holding his arm. She was small and pale, with her hair in bows. She looked afraid too, and the way she peered up at him made him feel sheepish. Her hands encircled the cuff at his wrist, but when he looked at her, she let go.
“Where are you going to take Erris?” she asked softly.
“To the fairy king.”
“Can you take me instead?”
“Why? Who are you?” Ifra hadn’t heard anything about a girl.
“I’m his niece.”
“His niece? You are a Tanharrow too?”
“Yes. I’m Violet. My mother was a Tanharrow.”
“Luka didn’t mention you,” he murmured, and he wondered why. Was it because she was a girl? But fairy society had not struck him as especially patriarchal.
“He doesn’t know about me,” Violet said, her voice flattening. “No one does. My father asked the Queen of the Longest Night to put a spell on me so no one would remember me or know I exist. So the fairy king couldn’t hurt me.”
“Then why would you want me to take you to him?”
“Because… I want to know… where my mother comes from. She died when I was little. I don’t know anything about fairies.”
Ifra slid off the horse, but he wasn’t sure what else to do. She looked so sad. “I understand,” he said.
“Do you? Does anyone? I’ve never had a friend.”
Neither have I, he might have told her.
“When you came out of the forest, I-I was really hoping you were just a lost traveler who’d have to stay the night, except nobody around here would look like you, not even Nimira. She’s from some other country but she’s boring. So I didn’t know what you were, or where you could possibly come from. It was like… I dreamed you up.” She didn’t look as scared of him as she ought to be.
“I’m no dream.” Despite the cold air, his palms sweated. He’d never had much chance to be around girls his age. “I’m here to take your uncle away.”
“So take me. I wouldn’t miss much. Celestina only scolds, and she never told me that I was too old to wear bows in my hair. How would I even know? I hardly ever go to town, I’m sick all winter, and Father is never home. Nimira and Uncle Erris don’t like me either. Maybe Uncle Erris does, but only because I remind him of my mother. Whenever we talk, he just goes on and on about his sisters. Well, they’re dead, aren’t they?” She screeched the last bit, her eyes flashing anger.
“See,” she snapped, “I don’t even care if I scream at you because you won’t remember me tomorrow.”
“I might,” he said.
“No one does.”
“But I’m a jinn. And most people won’t remember me either. I had to erase the memory of everyone I met along the way to find your uncle. And King Luka, when his wishes are granted, he’ll forget me too. Masters forget their jinns. After a little while, they think good fortune came on its own.”
“Maybe we’ll both forget each other,” she said.
“Possibly.”
“Then we can say anything we want. It doesn’t matter.”
Ifra glanced over his shoulder, unnerved by the way she peered up at him through a fringe of lashes, suddenly wishing the girl with braids hadn’t run off. But they were still alone. “I don’t think… we have much to say to each other.”
“I do. I think you’re beautiful.” She rushed through the words.
His cheeks warmed. “Don’t say such a thing! I’m dangerous.”
“Do you have to do whatever your master wishes, because you’re a jinn?”
He nodded, averting his eyes from her.
“I wish…” She hesitated, and then she burst out, “That you’d kiss me.”
“But you’re not my master.”
“I wish I was.”
“I’m not sure I do.” He smiled a little. He suspected it was rare anyone ever said no to this girl. Disciplined young women wouldn’t demand a kiss from a strange magical person who walked out of the forest.
“You wouldn’t prefer me as a master over the fairy king?” Violet asked.
“I would hope that if you are ever a jinn’s master, you would set him free.”
“I would if you’d kiss me. Would you, if I was your master? I’m beautiful, aren’t I? Is it the hair bows?” She tugged one loose.
Ifra shook his head. The way her hair suddenly spilled over her shoulder seemed indecorous.
“What?” she asked.
“Where I’m from, you only kiss if you’re married. And… you don’t look like the girls from home.” No, she wasn’t lovely and bewitching like some of the girls in the bazaar, but she did seem much more real.
She scowled, her eyes dark in her pale face. “Celestina never told me how to talk to men. But of course I’m respectable. I’m a princess.”
Ifra leaned in and pecked her forehead.
That was definitely something a jinn should not do, unless they were trying to seduce their master into setting them free. But he would forget her anyway, possibly.
She looked at him a moment, then quickly touched her lips. “One more time,” she said, reaching for his collar. “That didn’t really count.”
She aimed for his lips this time, but he was suddenly shaken at the idea that he might kiss this strange Tanharrow girl. Developing feelings for any Tanharrow was the worst thing he could do. He turned so she met his cheek.
Violet drew back, biting her lower lip.
Just then, something shifted in his senses. Erris disappeared. It was as if he’d vanished from the world-no, there was still a slight tug back in the direction of the fairy kingdom-but just moments ago, Erris had been here. Close. “Does Erris have magic?” he asked her.
“Why?” she said.
“I don’t sense him here anymore. My magic… isn’t calling me here. It’s calling me back to Telmirra.”
Violet looked confused. She shook her head.
I have to follow where the magic tugs me. If I sense Erris in Telmirra, even if he isn’t there, I am still following orders. He could put off granting the wish even longer.
Ifra heard sudden footsteps-the wind had obscured the sound, but now they were close, and Violet stiffened.
“Someone’s looking for me! You’d better hurry.”
“You don’t really want to come with me. Whoever I bring back, the fairy king will want to use for his own purposes. And surely your father will miss you when he does come home.” He looked at her seriously. “It’s painful to be torn from your home without knowing if you’ll ever see it again.”
She frowned, cheeks flushed, in a tight, almost childish way and reached upward. “At least take me back to the house on your horse and act like you considered kidnapping me. I don’t want Nimira or Celestina to find me yet.”
He couldn’t help but smile and pulled her up onto the horse.