Chapter 31

Low orange light glowed from golden lamps floating around the corners of the room. Smaller lamps filled with incense swirled from the roof. A table as long as a king sized bed sat between the sayyidi and her. An assortment of colourful food sat on the dinner table. Stuffed duck, roasted beef, vegetable kebabs, meat kebabs, stuffed pastries, bowls of couscous, bowls of rice, trays of vegetables and various soups. She wasn't sure how all this food was meant to be shared between two people but she figured it would be shared amongst the staff afterwards. She twirled a golden fork between her fingers. It's light glinting and hitting her eyes at a time. Her eyes fixed on the half eaten plate in front of her. On another day, she would've loved couscous with stuffed duck but tonight that food had no taste. A pain occasionally flared in her stomach, reminding her of the weight of her decision.

She took in a deep breath and forced her eyes to look at the prince. He casually filled his plate with another large ladel full of jasmine rice. Were it not for the gold woven into his braid on the side of his hair, the thin gold necklace around his neck and the tiny gold rings on his finger; one would think that he were apart of the staff. He wore a casual open brown linen shirt with matching wide pants. Eva forced a fake cough. She had waited for his response long enough. The guards beside the sayyidi shifted foot to foot along side the windows. The sayyidi froze. His squinted black eyes looked none existent behind his curly black hair. She couldn't see the confused stare but she could feel it.

"You want me to free your friend and keep you instead?" he enquired for a second time. The sayyidi grabbed a ladel and poured rice onto his plate.

Eva grabbed a few kebabs to stop her hand from shaking. She was the target. Not Sari. This was not her burden to bear. "Yes. She has no reason to be here and no relation to the situation at all. So she may as well go home."

"I would if she wasn't in too deep."

Sari was a realist. Even the short films she made were rooted in reality. Her mind was not open enough to accept sudden changes. All of this knowledge would break her. "But -"

"She knows about at least two realms and its not like its the unimportant realms but its speciifc realms that have been altering and will continue to alter the human realm. I cannot allow her out." he shrugged.

He was right. She hated it but he was right. The fae and jinn are intrinsically linked to the human world. It's almost as if all three worlds wouldn't exist without the other. Jinn were extremely important to religion. The fae to creativity. Their worlds depended on humans not finding them. Mbilu didn't want to have to do this but she had no choice. Her friend's sanity was on the line here. She stood from her chair and lowered her head in a bow. "You have magic. Can't you just erase her memory to the day she was taken?"

"It has been at least three weeks in your realm. Possibly a month here depending on what happened in fae. I'm sorry but I cannot let her go." he responded.

Her heart hammered in her chest. 3 weeks. It has been 3 weeks since she went missing. Their families were definitely searching for them. Mbilu didn't go a day without talking to her parents. They must be worried and losing their minds. Remi might have calmed them down but they didn't know about Remi. She never told anyone about her personal life. She placed a hand on her chest. She had to calm down. Her safety depended on her treatment here. Her return to her parents depended on the kindness of her capturs.

"I can fill in the blanks of the missing memories." She sharply lifted her head up.

The sayyidi's face softened. Pity took its place. "The fae are really good when it comes to altering human minds, that is not our speciality."

She quickly grabbed a knife. The guards turned towards her. "She's losing her mind! She has nightmares and sees things that aren't there. Please help her!"

The sayyidi's eyes widened. "I'll see what I can do. I can't make promises but if there's a way to at least hide her memories then I'll send her back."

"Thank you." she placed the knife back down and sat down.

Mbilu looked at the guards. They gave each other a side eye and pursed their lips. They had no hope that Sari would be saved. Mbilu's last shred of hope cautiously flickered. If the guards doubted the plan then she had to too.

***

Mbilu left the dining room frustrated. She walked out to one of the multiple gardens within the manor. She sat by a fountain disregarding the droplets of water landing on her clothes. She stared at the water slowly spilling over the water fountain. The fountainwas surprisingly simple compared to the rest of the palace she was in.It was a red marble vase that laid on it's side and poured water out the top. A pair of hands held the vase up. The water from the vase poured into a bowl. The bowl was filled with gold coins.

A shadow loomed over her. "Don't you think this is going too far?"

"And you are?" Mbilu turned around to the source of the voice. An extremely pale man in a matching silver and pearl dishdashda, keffiyeh and salwar stood behind her.

"Markab Al Rashidi." the man bowed to her. Remi's triplet. His cloud coloured hair and almost silver skin matched Remi's vitiligo patches.

"So you're a fae?" she commented. His form phased in and out. An invisible wind made his clothes flutter behind him.

"Surprised I'm not just a djinn with albinism." he took a seat next to her. Even the way he sat down was more graceful and elegant than regular djinn. He didn't carry the heaviness and clunkiness that the jinn had. Jinn moved more like humans compared to the fae. Even the jewellery that was braid down his head didn't jingle the way jinns' jewellery would.

"You literally don't match the rest of your family." she responded. Mbilu didn't know much about Markab. Remi didn't speak much about him aside from they were related. Remi clearly loved Markab but it was clear that the brothers had tension.

"Fair fair." he nodded.

"How's court?" he asked.

She released a heavy sigh. "I doubt it's any different from the Air Court." she frowned.

He leaned close to her. "Don't say that out loud. You might offend the sayyidi." he whispered to her.

"I'm sure I already did." she chuckled. He laughed out loud. His laugh was soft like the wind rustling the trees. A purple hue spread across his face.

"Where's your brother?" she asked him. He pulled out a packet of tiny pretzels from his pocket.

"Pretending to be a neutral video game character." he offered some to her.

She took some pretzels. "Well his neutrality is working on my last nerves. I'm tired of being kidnapped." she tossed a pretzel into her mouth.

"I hear you but what can I say? You are dating an activist." he leaned back and watched a bird land on a statue of a crane.

She sighed again. "I don't mind the activism. I mind the fact that I'm not involved in any of this. I'm not magical so why am I kidnapped?" she ate another pretzel.

"You could ask Bob Marley why his wife was shot." he shrugged.

She leaned her head against his shoulder. Even his shoulder felt soft like a pillow. "Can't you get me out?"

"Honestly, it's up to the powers that be." he reached out to pat her braids.

"Damn." she closed her eyes.

"I can help you with your friend though." he offered.

"You can?" she looked up at him.

He nodded. His eyes gave off a silver glint in the sun. "Yep. I'm fae too. Not as powerful but I do have friends that specialize in mind magic. I just need her permission first."

"Her permission?" she forgot about that. Magic needed permission in order for it to take full affect. So the storybooks were right.

"Fae magic is all about consent." he explained.

"Is that why you guys use flowery words to hide lies?" she smiled at him.

"I don't like the way you pay attention to things." he faked a frown.

"Your first truth?" she played along. Though he was Remi's brother, he was still a fae more than he was a jinn.

"You'd be a wonderful fae." he winked at her.

"I just want to go home." she pouted.

"You'll go home. He misses you and is in constant distress. He's just stubborn and refuses to look into the grey area." he rolled his eyes. There was ice in his tone. They were clearly still having sibling problems.

"Tell him I want to go home." she said to him. He stood up and bowed to her.

"I will." he walked away.