Her previously stony face burst out into a smirk. Cyrus also grinned.
“I’m glad we’re of one mind, my love.” He pushed her back against the mattress and crawled over her, their kisses becoming more heated. She let out a soft moan as his hands travelled down her waist and then, for the first time ever, I saw it. The bottom half of a jinni. The mist that had covered the queen from the waist down, relinquished to reveal… quite an ordinary pair of legs. She wore a silk skirt around her waist—a garment that Cyrus quickly removed, revealing satin underwear.
That I didn’t yell in horror at what happened next was a miracle.
Cyrus’ mist also disappeared, giving way to the lower half of a scorpion.
His smooth, ebony torso flowed into a shiny black abdomen that segmented in several places. Eight black, pointed legs propped him up, and shooting out of his backside was a thick stinger with a razor-sharp, red-tinged tip.
What. The. Hell.
I’d read about a “King Scorpion” in an Egyptology class at school; a historical figure during the Protodynastic Period of Upper Egypt. This guy sure takes that name to new levels of meaning.
I was glad that I did not have Lucas with me, for I was sure he would have gasped out loud.
The half jinni, half scorpion scuttled leaned to his wife on the bed, and she stood up so that her face could be level with his.
I sensed that this scene was about to get a lot more disgusting as his hands lowered to her hips, but then she whispered, “I wish I could have you again.” From the fire blazing in her eyes, she could mean only one thing by that.
“I know, my love,” he breathed, even as he caressed her collarbone with his full lips. “But you did have me. We had children together. Just because our intimacy has lessened since I came to the throne does not mean that you have lost me. I still love you, just as I love your sister-in-law.”
“And more than you loved your previous seven wives, I hope.” She said the words with a teasing smile. “And Nuriya,” she added spitefully.
“Naturally,” he murmured, breathing into her neck. “Otherwise you would not still be here, would you?”
The two continued embracing and it was clear as the minutes passed that, as impassioned as their kisses were, they were not going to go beyond second base… Thank God.
Now I realized why, even in the presence of all those harem ladies, Cyrus had kept his pants on… so to speak. And man. With an ass like that, I couldn’t blame him. It was ironic—as surrounded by women as he was, he could not experience the pleasure that even a beggar could.
My mind continued to turn over, reverting to Hortencia’s story. When he’d disappeared those four days before the contest to win the throne, had it been for this? He somehow managed to turn himself into this? Half scorpion? And was that why, in the arena, the scorpion had made no attempt to attack him? And why he had been able to stomach the poison so easily when his brother could not?
But how? How had he been able to turn himself into such a—I recalled Horatio’s words booming through the court just a few hours ago—an abomination?
Whatever the case, Hortencia sure hadn’t been joking. “Everyone has something to hide.”
Some more than others…
Ben
My brain was exploding with so many questions, I was almost tempted to leave right now and return to Horatio to get some answers. But I stayed watching until Cyrus made a move to leave.
Then I darted out of the apartment and emerged in the corridor. Horatio had drifted further up the hallway, leaning against a wall, one hand planted over his right pocket.
“Horatio,” I whispered hoarsely as I approached.
He led me to another apartment—apparently his own apartment this time—and into a sitting room, where he closed the door behind us. Solidifying myself, I wasn’t even sure which of my hundred questions to ask first.
Aisha crawled out of Horatio’s pocket and resumed her jinni form. “What happened?” she asked tensely, her eyes wide.
I was still quite speechless as to how to even describe the monstrosity I’d just witnessed.
Horatio eyed me darkly.
“He’s…” I swallowed. “A scorpion mutant. H-half scorpion.”
Aisha’s jaw hit the floor. “What?”
“How is it possible?” I asked Horatio.
He shrugged. “I am certain of when it happened, but not how. Just before his coronation, before the test that his father set for him and his brother.”
“He… he metamorphosed,” Aisha gasped.
“Yes,” Horatio said. “Permanently.”
“How could he have done it?” Aisha asked, repeating my question.
“I doubt anybody knows how he actually pulled it off,” Horatio replied. Noticing my bewildered expression, he added for my sake, “As I’m sure you are aware, jinn can morph themselves into various forms—be they animals or humanoids. But these are only temporary manifestations; jinn must always return to their original forms sooner or later… but not in the case of my father. I’m not sure that he could turn back even if he wanted to.”
“And what exactly does he want Nuriya for?” I asked, recalling the king and queen’s conversation.
Horatio’s eyes darted toward Aisha’s fearful face. He heaved a sigh before continuing to answer me in a low tone. “All the children my father has—me and all my siblings—were begotten before his coronation… as you may imagine, given his mutation. But he is not satisfied with us alone. He has been trying to have children since. It’s tradition among the Drizans that each new generation must be more powerful than the last—the bar must be raised higher and higher to ensure that we remain the undisputed leaders of The Dunes. Since his turning into a monster, he’s wished to create progeny just like him: toughened, robust… poisonous. He believes that this is the true way forward for our race. But in order to create such heirs, he is in need of a female jinni who is capable of adopting the same, permanent form as his. She must become half scorpion. My father believes that Nuriya is the female destined for this.”
My fear for Nuriya increased tenfold, and Aisha looked like she was about to pass out.
“W-why would he believe that?” Aisha stammered.
“She is of impeccable lineage,” Horatio said. “The Nasiris are renowned for their intolerance of inbreeding, and as she is the youngest of the Nasiri king’s daughters, he believed—and still believes—that if any female is capable of surviving the turning and bearing his young, it is she… Hence, when he discovered that she was in love with another man, you can imagine his fury.”
“He told you all this?” I asked, frowning.
Horatio shook his head, scoffing. “Never. The only two still living—apart from me—who have seen his scorpion half are my mother and stepmother; but that in itself is nothing unusual, if you know anything about jinn culture… I only discovered his secret after walking in on him and my mother unexpectedly one day. Even then, after I’d seen him, he made me swear secrecy and refrain from telling any of my siblings. He refused to give me any kind of explanation. Bit by bit, however, I managed to wear my mother down until she caved in and revealed to me more history.”
“H-how would he turn Nuriya?” Aisha stammered.
“As I said,” Horatio replied, “I do not know how he metamorphosed himself, let alone how he would inflict it on others. But whatever the method, he has tried it on his first seven wives… none of whom survived.”
“And… he never tried it on your mother? Or the queen he was with just now?” I asked.
Horatio shook his head. “No. Nenia, whom you saw just now, is his eighth wife, while my mother is his ninth… and sworn last. Though his word means nothing.”
“Why did he never try it with them?” I asked.
“Because after seven lost wives, he’d had enough experience to know that they wouldn’t be successful either, especially since they hailed from the same bloodline as a previous wife who died.”
Ugh. So he marr
ied, like, women who were sisters or cousins?
“Then of course,” Horatio went on, “the dragons showed up offering the whereabouts of Nuriya. I’d never seen my father so happy as that day… and now he is preparing to wed her before beginning the mutation.”
My head spun. This was all turning out to be far more complex than I had hoped. In spite of still being in shock, I could not lose awareness of our rapidly escaping time.
I rubbed my face with my hands, taking in a deep breath and trying to calm my brain. I looked up again and addressed Horatio. “You said before that what you would reveal to me was the key to freeing the Nasiris without killing Cyrus. How?” I couldn’t understand how what I’d just witnessed could be considered a weakness. If anything, it just made the obstacle ahead of us seem even more impossible.
Horatio took a seat opposite me, resting his elbows on his knees and looking at me intently. “I believe that his transformation is the cause of his unparalleled powers. How else could a single jinni uphold a bond over all the Nasiris at once—who are certainly not considered a weak clan by any stretch?” He shifted his gaze to Aisha, then back to me. “Besides that, since discovering his secret, I have observed him as much as possible without arousing suspicion. I visited his apartment at odd times, most times watching without him even knowing. I have noticed that he has a ritual of drinking a bright orangey-red liquid… liquid that’s almost the exact color of the tip of his stinger.”
Aisha and I stared at him, wondering exactly what he was implying. Aisha voiced where my thoughts were turning before I could. “Y-you think he’s drinking… his own venom?”
Horatio nodded slowly, grimacing. “I don’t know where else he’d get it from.”
That was a visual I did not need. God. Can this story get any more gross?
“He drinks it like a ritual, morning, afternoon and evening, and he keeps a stash of it in his kitchen,” Horatio continued.
“I’ve seen him drink it too,” I murmured. “And he’s feeding it to Nuriya.”
“Ugh!” Aisha cried.
“So you’ve already done your own share of spying?” Horatio said to me.
I nodded.
Horatio’s nose curled in distaste. “Then apparently, she has already proven that she can withstand the poison… In any case, flooding his veins with venom must be key to his strength, otherwise he would never drink the vile stuff so religiously—and it is vile, believe me. I’ve smelt it,” he added in an undertone. “Since the poison originates in his tail, that would seem the logical place to target, if he was caught in his physical form, his full physical form. Damaging it somehow, maybe even depleting its stock of poison, might severely weaken him. At least, enough for the Nasiris to use their own powers to break free from his bond.”
A span of silence followed.
“So,” Aisha began, her voice unsteady, “how and when would we get him in his physical state, his full physical state?”
“It would have to be during one of his visits to his wives. He isn’t scheduled for another one until the day after tomorrow—my mother.”
The day after tomorrow. I cursed beneath my breath.
“We cannot wait that long,” Aisha voiced for me, glancing at me nervously. “It has to be tonight.”
“Tonight?” The doubt in Horatio’s eyes made my stomach clench. He stood up and began pacing up and down, slowly, thoughtfully. “In that case… I might have another idea. It could kill us all, but it’s an idea nonetheless.”
I held my breath, waiting for him to continue.
“However, we could not do it without Nuriya’s help.”
I raised a brow in question.
“On the night of the wedding, it’s tradition for husband and wife to reveal each other fully to themselves,” Horatio explained to me. “It’s also the same night that—according to my mother—he has historically attempted the mutation… But I’m guessing that they would have some time alone first.”
“We’d have to catch him before that.” Aisha shuddered.
“I’ve no idea if this will work. Usually royal weddings are planned many weeks in advance, and I’m not sure my father would want to rush his wedding with Nuriya, considering what a landmark he considers it to be. I can’t help but think he’d want everything polished to perfection. However, if the request came from Nuriya… you just never know. In any case, we could try.”
“Try to get Nuriya to convince Cyrus to hold the wedding tonight?” Aisha’s brows raised so high they almost disappeared into her hairline.
“As I said,” Horatio muttered, “it’s a long shot. It’s up to you whether you want to take the risk.”
“We’ll take the risk,” I answered immediately.
Risk wasn’t something that scared me anymore. Failure was.
Ben
So we need Nuriya’s help. Last time I’d seen the woman, she’d looked so far gone, she could hardly help herself. And even if we managed to convince Nuriya to try to shift the wedding to tonight—which was preposterously short notice by anyone’s measure—and Cyrus agreed, I still wasn’t sure what Horatio was thinking. How would we even overpower his father in order to damage his stinger? But one step at a time. No point counting eggs before they’ve hatched…
It was decided that I would go to Nuriya and attempt the persuasion. First, as a fae, I was capable of being invisible to jinn, and second, I should be at no disadvantage compared to Aisha because Nuriya was fond of me… at least the old Nuriya had been. I was not sure what state of mind she was in now. Hopefully she would still recognize me.
I left Horatio and Aisha in his apartment and hurried back to Cyrus' quarters. A place I had hoped I would not need to return to. Horatio had instructed me to go fast, for if I hurried, I would have about half an hour with Nuriya before Cyrus returned. Apparently the king and queen had made it a habit to go for a leisurely wander in the desert after one of their rendezvous.
As I raced along, I prayed that Cyrus would keep to his schedule.
I entered the apartment, moving from room to room until I found Nuriya, slumped in a ruby-studded rocking chair. A book lay open in her shackled hands, but she was not reading it. She was gazing absentmindedly at the opposite wall, her face devoid of expression.
Still invisible to her, I moved in front of her and crouched down before solidifying myself. As my face appeared before hers, life sparked in her eyes and she jerked backward in shock, the book falling from her palms.
Well at least she’s conscious.
Then to my relief, she gasped my name. “Benjamin?”
She’s not as far gone as I feared.
Before she could protest, I grabbed her hands and led her toward where I remembered the nearest bathroom was located. Pulling her inside, I bolted the door behind us. She was still gaping at me, her mouth opening and closing like a fish’s.
“How… What…” she stammered, making too much noise for comfort. I placed my palm over her mouth and shushed her.
“Nuriya,” I whispered, even as my ears strained to remain aware of any sounds in the apartment. I could only imagine what Cyrus would do if he found me holed up in his bathroom with his betrothed. “Is there anyone else in this apartment right now?” I demanded.
“I’m not sure,” she breathed. “There were some servants who came in earlier, but they may have exited now…. What are you doing here?” She frowned so hard a deep line formed down the center of her forehead.
“I’ve come to free you and your family,” I said.
At this, she broke down. “Benjamin. Oh, Benjamin!” She flung her arms around me and held me tight, filling me with a sense of déjà vu. She clung to me like I was her lost son, as she’d done to me several times back in The Oasis. When I managed to detach myself from her, tears were streaming down her cheeks. “You came for me. You came for us!”
“Yes, but hush!”
“How will you help us escape?” she stammered, fighting to lower her hysterical voice.
“Befo
re I can do anything, I need your help,” I said.
She clutched my hands. “What?”
I felt a stab of guilt for what I was about to request of her. “Whatever it takes,” I began, “you need to make your wedding to Cyrus happen tonight.”
Her lips parted in shock. “What? Why?”
“I don’t have time to answer questions now,” I said. “You must just do what I say.”
Another twinge of guilt.
The jinni’s eyes filled with fear, and that was without her knowing what fate lay in wait for her after the wedding. But I couldn’t tell her. Not if I wanted to stand any chance of getting the Nasiris out of here and meeting the fae on the mountainside on time.
She drew in a breath. “Okay… How do I do that?”
“I’m not sure. You have to figure it out. Do anything. But don’t fail. Fixing the wedding is all you have to do; I will take care of the rest.”
“All right,” she said. “I will try. I swear, I will try.”
“No,” I said, more forcefully than I had intended, even as I found myself speaking the same words the oracle had spoken to me in my time of despair. “Not try. Trying is for cowards.”
Nuriya pursed her lips, stiffening. Determination flickered in her golden eyes. “You’re right. Not try. I will.”
Ben
I left Nuriya in the bathroom, where she said she would immediately take a shower and get ready, while I drifted to the entrance hall of the apartment. Here I sat down in a corner in my subtle form and waited until Cyrus returned home. He appeared to be in a good mood as he drifted through to the bedroom, calling Nuriya’s name.