I fixed my attention to the gathered faces surrounding me, taking in each of their otherworldly beauty with such awe my jaw slackened.Their bodies were sculpted to inhuman perfection, a sea of different skin tones that seemed untouched by time’s cruel hand.No one appeared older than thirty-five.The women were especially captivating.Like Zaheera and Jasila, their beauty was unlike any I had ever seen.
I became self-conscious of my own appearance, smoothing down my hair and tucking stray strands behind my ears, as if that would make a difference.
What are we waiting for?The thought scratched at my mind.
A heavy stillness hung in the air, the tension stretching longer with every passing second.No one had moved a muscle.They stood unnervingly still.Waiting.
Forhim.For his command.
I bounced on my feet, growing restless.I stole a quick glance at Jasila and tried to whisper, to ask her something, but she ignored me completely.No, worse than ignored.She pretended I had ceased to exist, her focus trained forward.
Against my better judgement, I glanced back toward the throne.
He was watching me.
A jolt shot through my spine.I snapped my gaze downward, but I had seen it—the way fire skittered over his skin.The way his hands gripped the carved armrests of his throne so tightly his knuckles had turned white.
I had provoked him.Again.
Two figures stood beside him, draped in thick robes of midnight blue, with hoods shrouding their faces in darkness.They whispered something too low to hear, their words indistinct but urgent.After receiving what appeared to be a nod from their king, they slipped away into the shadows, heads bowed low, vanishing like mist through the gathered.
His command hadfinallybeen given, though no words were spoken, and the hall stirred to life.
People moved, taking their seats at the long wooden tables that I hadn’t noticed before.The space, once so uncomfortably silent, now filled with the clatter of plates and cups and the low murmur of voices blending into one another.
The tables overflowed with food—glistening roasted meats, platters of sweet, sticky delicacies, bowls of ripe fruit, and pitchers of dark wine.My stomach clenched at the sight, a painful reminder of just how hungry I was.
Jasila shoved me down into a chair.I shot her a glare, but my hunger quickly drowned out any argument.Uncertain of the customs, I watched as everyone else filled their plates.When they began eating, I hesitantly reached forward, placing a few pieces of sweets and meat onto my own plate.
The first bite was pure bliss.The flavours exploded on my tongue, rich and seasoned.Warming me from the inside out.I had forgotten what a proper meal felt like.
I ate greedily, savouring every bite, forgetting the weight of my surroundings for just a moment.I was sucking the juices from my thumb when the sensation of being watched struck me.
My eyes flicked up.
He was staring.His gaze bore into me like my presence bothered him.But it wasn’t just the way he looked at me that froze the blood in my veins.It was whatIsaw when I looked back.
The flashes of my dreams struck me like a whip.Those eyes, watching as I burned alive.Cold and unfeeling as the flames consumed me.No matter how I begged, no matter how I writhed in agony, he only watched.Not with indifference, but with something worse.Satisfaction.
Was it a vision?A glimpse of a future that had yet to come.A warning of what would happen if I failed?If I was caught?
I didn’t know.And right now, I couldn’t afford to dwell on it.
I forced myself to tear my gaze away before the rising panic swallowed me whole.
The night had ended.One by one, Jinn rose from their seats, their movements unhurried as if time itself bowed to their will.Some vanished though arched doorways while others seemed to melt into the shadows between towering columns.
I exhaled slowly, tension unwinding from my shoulders.Thankfully the night was over.For hours I had sat with my head bowed low, my eyes fixed on my plate like it was the most interesting thing I’d ever seen.
I’d managed to not look in his direction again, not even once, though I could feel the weight of his gaze like a physical touch.Despite my efforts, nothing had settled the unease that swelled in my gut.
I shouldn’t have stared.I should’ve bowed as everyone else had done.Now that momentary lapse of judgement loomed over me like a curse.
Without a word, Jasila pulled me up from my seat and steered me through the remaining crowd of Jinn.She ushered me from the hall, her fingers closed around my arm, grip firm as steel despite the deceptive slenderness of her hand.
The walk back to my chamber felt endless.The mountain hallways twisted into countless darkened paths, the space choked with the smoky remnants of dying flames.
The moment we reached my door, Jasila opened her mouth to speak, but I didn’t wait for whatever cutting remark or warning she intended to deliver.I pushed it open with both hands and slipped inside, eager to shut the world out.Eager to bealone.
