The Princess Who Tamed Demons (23 page)

"The man seemed pretty excited about the idea
of torturing me. Misogyny and religious fanaticism make for an
interesting combination. Maybe his sadistic nature is answer
enough." I didn't know what else to say. Insects chirped and a
breeze interrupted the night's stillness, ruffling my hair like a
playful djinn.

"So, enough with these tangents. What is
really
troubling you?" When I didn't answer, he tried a
different tactic, the 'I'm going to make an observation which is
really a sneakily voiced opinion' tactic. Linn said, "The children
are growing quite attached to you."

I stared into my cup of tea as if it could
give me the answers. "Yes, well, is it any wonder? The Great Amir
has been kind to give them access to his best tutors, and Mhirra
and Ankhar are eager to learn. And yet the truth no one wants to
talk about is that we've had to segregate them from the other
children! The other children say nasty things about them, calling
them Jafarri half-bloods, among other names best left unmentioned."
In a world that made sense Mhirra and Ankhar could have attended
classes with all the other officials' children in the Great Amir's
government. But this wasn't a world that made sense. This was a
world where cultural prejudices could easily go in all
directions.

"Do you think it is right to shield Mhirra and
Ankhar from that prejudice? Will they not face it, sooner or later
in life?"

I threw him a baleful look.

He put his hands up, palms open in surrender.
"Forgive the suggestion. I am only trying to help." Linn looked at
me as I pulled out Drake's letter again, feeling its reassuring
tangibility between my fingertips. "Your husband has cut his
diplomatic trip short and will be here in just over a week. You
cannot put this decision off forever."

"Thank you, Commander Obvious."

I put away the letter. My hands went back to
cupping my teacup, and suddenly I found Linn's hands around
mine.

"I see the way they look at you, Najika. Do
not misunderstand me. I am not saying that you can take the place
of a mother. That would be to promise things far beyond my pitiful
human capacity to know." Linn's eyes coaxed me to really look at
him. "What I do know is this—these children care for you, and I am
fairly certain that you care for them. Is this true?"

"You know it is," I said, wanting to swipe
away the tear forming in my eye.

"Then please listen. Consider. Perhaps you are
meant to take them with you when you return to the Black
Kingdom."

"And what then?" I chuckled bitterly. "I
already told you about Bronwyn's conversation with Drake. The
people of the Black Kingdom look down on adoption. I will be taking
Mhirra and Ankhar from one place bombarded by prejudices only to be
pariahs somewhere else, changing what, besides maybe the scenery?
It might be better for everyone if I just returned them to their
village."

"You don't truly believe that."

"Oh, and why is that?" Linn's thumbs caressed
my knuckles, the comforting touch of a friend instead of a
lover.

"In the Black Kingdom you have Sir Drake and
you also have his mother Lady Vaela, both of whom are well
respected, even loved. You have the ability to be an example for
your people, to use your influence to temper hearts and minds. Is
that not so?"

The wizened librarian had a point, damn him. I
nodded slowly.

"Do you want to know what I think?" Linn
continued. I chuckled, and he joined in.

"Go ahead, old man. Stop holding
back."

"I think that you are more terrified of
letting two small people enter your life and into your heart than
any of the reasons you have given me just now. You have probably
never felt so vulnerable. This is a new sensation for you, to feel
partly responsible for two fragile lives, and on many levels that
must be very frightening." He squeezed both my hands now. "But I
see the happiness they bring you. I watched as you hoisted Mhirra
up on your shoulders during our walk after lunch, and as you gave
Ironskin to Ankhar and showed him the basic counter-moves in the
training yard today. When you are around them, you change who you
are. You do it gladly and unconsciously, Najika. You must feel
this."

"And what do I tell them about their mother?
Hmm?" I looked at Linn angrily, as if everything were his
fault.

"Be honest with them. That is all you can do.
Knowing how much they feared her, how aloof she was, do you really
think it will change the feelings they are developing toward
you?"

"Shut up." Tears were glistening on my damned
face in the damned moonlight, and I had this idiot to blame. This
dear, dear friend. "I can't be their mother," I gasped, choking
back a sob.

"You don't have to be their parent to love
them. To help them find a place in life."

"I know, damn you. I know." I stood up and
Linn opened his arms as I gave him a ferocious hug. The musty scent
of books enshrouded me along with his warmth, and together they
forced back the night's chill. When I was done hugging the
starlight out of him, I stood up and took a gulp of purifying
air.

"So, what now?"

I sniffled, throwing my partner in crime a
rueful grin.

"Now I have work to do." I ran my fingers over
my face, wiping away the last vestige of wetness. "I have to decide
how I am going to tell the children that their mother is dead. I'll
also have to propose the unexpected change to the Great Amir. I'll
certainly need his permission to take the children with me. Not to
mention, I
also
have to figure out how in the Kingdoms I am
going to break this all to Drake. I have to—"

"Slow down." Linn pushed in his chair as
plans, checklists, and priority items danced in my head, coalescing
into five or six different agendas.

"No time." I picked up Linn with a
bone-crushing hug and whirled him in circles as laughter flew from
my lips.

"Can't…breathe."

I put Linn down, beaming at him. The
pensiveness in me was gone like fog burned away by morning
sunlight.

"We have plans to make, and I haven't even
told you the best part." The gleam in my eyes had Linn's whiskers
twitching, and he looked doubtful for the first time.

"Plans? What plans?"

"Helping the children adjust isn't going to be
easy. I will be formally requesting that the Great Amir put you on
extended sabbatical so that you can lend us your talents. I want
you to be Mhirra and Ankhar's personal tutor, and also serve as
high councilor for Drake and myself." I watched as that revelation
hit poor Linn like a toppling pyramid.

His mouth opened but no words would come. I
gave him a peck on the cheek and squealed with delight as if he had
just given me a resounding
yes
.

"I'm glad you agree. Think of all the new
books you might uncover, poring through the library at Castle
Crag." Now
there
was a form of bribery whose effect was
instantaneous. I saw Linn's bulbous eyes relax and turn distant,
like a moneylender deciding whether the potential rewards warranted
the risk.

"If…
if
I do this, I warn you, there are
certain things I will not tolerate. I must be supplied tea leaves
of the highest quality. I don't know what kind of slop you drink in
the Black Kingdom, but here in Tajma I have grown used to a certain
standard of living. I have—"

I nodded, pretending to listen as Linn the
librarian began rattling off his list of trivial demands. The older
man was cute, the way he thought he had any say in the matter. Men
could be adorable like that. I thought of Drake, imagining how
shocked he would be at all that had changed since his departure. I
had changed as a person, grown in a way I would never have
expected. Facing this crisis away from Drake had been difficult,
but it had brought clarity too. After the assassination attempt I
had thought that something had been stolen from me, forever lost.
Now I saw things differently.

No one could truly take anything from me, not
unless I let them. It had taken a mystery solved and a quirky
librarian to teach me that.

~*****~

The End

Questions for
Discussion

1. Najika can no longer bear children because
of the attempt on her life. How does she cope with what happened,
and to what extent is her method of working through the trauma
healthy?

2. Is Drake a good partner for Najika? Was he
right to leave her alone after what happened and does it matter
that Najika was the one who requested it?

3. Najika consciously rejects hatred, seeing
its destructiveness as ultimately self-defeating. Can hatred ever
be advantageous, given the right circumstances?

4. Cultural mistrust and misunderstanding
occur throughout the story between the Mosques, the Jafarri, and
the reigning monarch of the Gold Kingdom. What role does religion
play in that mistrust and misunderstanding?

5. Ghayth's belief system in the Two Creators
makes him difficult for Najika to understand. Are Ghayth and Najika
as different as they seem?

6. Fasima is both a victim of discrimination
and a perpetrator of it because of her gender and ethnic roots.
Does being a victim increase the likelihood of victimizing others?
If so, what does that imply about how the human mind works and what
it takes to break the cycle?

7. When Linn compares himself to Ghayth, he
makes the argument that Ghayth is still using the ends to justify
the means. Is that accurate, given what Ghayth did, or is Linn's
stance a reflection of two different cultures which have different
ways of viewing justice?

8. Najika gets Linn to tacitly admit that he
helped her partly because she reminded him of his wife, Xuya. Do
you think that people help one another more based on personal
experiences rather than principles?  

9. Linn makes the point that it might be
important to let Mhirra and Ankhar be exposed to prejudice and
discrimination. Do you agree? Where is the line between extreme
adversity that improves a person's character and adversity that
permanently scars it?

10. Najika decides to take the children back
with her to Castle Crag at Linn's encouragement. Would it be fairer
to call her decision naïve or brave? How drastically does a person
change depending on the people they meet?

11. After their initial meeting, Najika
dislikes some of Ghayth's beliefs while admiring the confidence his
overall belief system has instilled in him. Ghayth implies that his
beliefs give him continuity, stability, and—though he doesn't say
it in so many words—comfort. What are some other purposes of having
a strong belief system?

12. Najika never explicitly forgives Fasima
for what she did to her, but she treats Fasima's children with
kindness. Does this mean that Najika has forgiven Fasima on some
level without knowing it? Can someone choose to forgive or does it
have to come naturally over time?

J. Kirsch

I'm an avid writer, traveler, and
dog lover. I grew up in Chicago, IL raised by two librarians with a
sincere love for storytelling, and the rest has been one long and
mostly memorable adventure. I have published 3 novels, 7 novellas
and more than 65 short stories. My stories have been featured on
The Book Cave, received praise and recognition from award-winning
authors, and become bestsellers or highest-rated works on Amazon
and Smashwords. I live in Spartanburg, SC, where I have the
privilege of working with amazing people who love books and
storytelling as much as I do.

You can get in touch with me or see what I'm
up to by checking out my Goodreads page,
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/247102.J_Kirsch
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[email protected]
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