Wish For Me (The Djinn Order #1) (18 page)

I whistled. “That’s a lot of killing.”

Irving chuckled. “You take pleasure in testing me, don’t you?”

“Nothing brings me more joy.”

He rolled his eyes and pointed out the window. “Look. You’re missing it.”

I turned and gasped like a child that had just arrived at Disneyworld.

“Airships,” I breathed.

We had left the imperial barracks and pulled into a huge marina full of airships. Like
real
airships. Men were scattered all over the marina working, lifting, fixing, and all sorts of other things. I saw a group of Djinn struggling to hang a sail, another lifting a steam engine to transport it somewhere, and more Djinn working on a brand new steel ship that had yet to see its first flight.

“Most of the ships belong to the Sultan,” Irving said. “But that one belongs to Edwin.” He pointed out a massive airship named
The Sky Harem.
So befitting. “That one belongs to Ada.” Hers was called
The Tiger’s Talon.
Also befitting. “And that one belongs to me.” Irving’s airship had a simple name.
Mallika.

“Who’s Mallika?” I asked.

Irving sighed. “She is someone I once knew but will never know again.” The sadness in his eyes confirmed that this Mallika was someone Irving loved with all of his heart, a heart Mallika had broken when she’d left. Or died. Could she possibly be dead? I wanted to know but didn’t want to push it and possibly ruin our day. I decided to wait for the right moment and ask again, though I wasn’t sure there would
ever
be a right moment to ask about the possible love of his life and if he was trying to replace her with me.

Where that thought came from, I had no idea.

We moved on from the airship marina and pulled into the heart of Shrinelyn. Irving called it the Night Bazaar, and it went by that name even during the day. The bazaar was exactly what I expected a bazaar to be—busy and loud with an endless village of Victorian-style houses surrounding it. Some were low and wide; others were compact and tall and came in a variety of colors and materials. A few houses were even perched on the limbs of trees. And what do you know? The trees were made of steel. It was honestly one of the coolest things I’d ever seen and I wondered if I could get away with building a functional tree house in my realm and actually living in it. Probably not, but the thought was nice.

A robotic blacksmith was the first commodity at the bazaar that caught my eye. It was built to look like a man, a steel man, and seemed to have all the functions of one, except maybe organs that actually worked. Sparks flew as its hammer continuously smashed into the piece of steel positioned on top of an anvil. I wondered if it was actually building something or if it was just there for show. Either way, it was pretty damn cool.

There was a Djinn woman set up not too far from the blacksmith that kept changing her appearance for every customer who showed interest in her array of knickknacks. She appeared as a handsome young man when conversing with a trio of young girls, and when some young men came snooping around her cart, she transformed herself into a stunning beauty with black locks down to her waist. How many people did she fool with this stunt every day? It must have been quite a few because in just the moments I watched her, she made a killing.

Screw my glamour
, I thought to myself.
I want to do that.
But I knew Irving would slit his own wrists before granting me anymore magic powers.

Closer to the center of the bazaar, a man demonstrated a brass jetpack to a troop of young boys. They exploded with applause when a pair of brown leather wings extended from the pack, demonstrating how they would look in flight. Even I was intrigued. It was pretty bad ass.

I was so taken by everything going on at the bazaar that I never noticed all the people collecting near the tracks. When I finally did, dozens had gathered and they were all waving at us.

“Should I wave back at them?” I questioned.

“They cannot even see you through the shaded windows,” Irving replied. “They have only gathered because they believe their Sultan is aboard.”

“Isn’t he?” I said, my eyes fixated on a little Djinn boy standing with his mother at the tracks. His face was covered in what appeared to be chocolate and he kept sticking his tongue out trying to get it all. When his mother finally realized what a mess he was, she started fussing at him and wiping at his clothes. He just laughed at her and so did I. The only way to remove all of that chocolate was with a good bath and the little Djinn seemed to know it.

My smile vanished as I reeled my attention back inside the train. Minutes had passed and Irving never responded to my remark. I knew he was hoping that I dropped the subject, but there was no way I could do that. Not now. So I just turned toward him and asked what I really wanted to know.

“Are you the Sultan of Shrinelyn, Irving?”

Irving’s eyes shot to mine, but he still didn’t speak.

“It’s the only thing that makes sense,” I pushed on. “I can’t think of any other reason why the crown prince and first princess would bow to you. It’s the only thing that makes
sense.
”

Still, he said nothing. But I was on a roll and this conversation wasn’t going anywhere but where I wanted it to go.

“And then when we were with Kasam…it was something he said. Something about you speaking like a Sultan. It was your reaction. You didn’t like the comment.” I swallowed hard. “Please tell me, Irving. Tell me the truth.”

Irving’s response was not immediate, but I got one this time. “I am not the Sultan, Glory,” he said.

“Then who are you? Don’t tell me you are just an Amir prince. I know it’s not true so don’t insult me by trying to feed me that load of bull.”

“I am not the Sultan,” he repeated. There was a moment of silence, then he said, “But I was supposed to be.”

My heart skipped a beat. I held my breath and waited on him to continue.

“I am the only son of the eldest brother, though it is widely believed that I am the heir of the fourth son born to Parish,” Irving said. “Very few know that I am the son of Vinesh Amir, the first born and the Sultan.”

I knew what it meant to be the first born of the oldest brother. Royalty was all the same. In more ancient times, the eldest brother always inherited the throne, and his eldest son inherited the throne after him. The Djinn kind were no different it seemed.

I nodded at him to tell me more as the train continued on its way. I no longer cared where.

“I never wanted to be Sultan, Glory, and from a very young age, I always felt trapped. It was my birthright, the honor coveted by every male in our kingdom, yet I wanted no part of it. Politics annoyed me and my curiosity for steel and all that it could create worried my parents and the Council. Steel was not a proper pastime for a Sultan, you see. But my inquisitiveness overpowered the opinion of the Council and that is what led me to Lord Balzar, whom I knew no one had the audacity to question or chastise. He accepted me as his apprentice and that was that.

“But forty years into my apprenticeship, my father fell victim to black ash while on an expedition and faded into eternal rest. I was proclaimed Sultan the moment of his last breath. The sun did not even leave the sky before I abdicated the throne in favor of my uncle. My mother and the Council were furious, but I was two centuries old by then and there was nothing they could do about it. The very next day, Kasam was crowned Sultan of Shrinelyn and has been so ever since. I neither regret my decision nor wish I had chosen a different path. I would have made a horrible Sultan and I am glad I chose Kasam, for he is the best thing that has ever happened to Shrinelyn.”

I finally released my breath and turned to stare out of the window while I absorbed everything I’d just heard. Irving called his uncle by his name in such a casual manner that I knew it was all true. He had abdicated the throne and Kasam was only Sultan because Irving wasn’t.

Sure, I had come to this conclusion on my own, but it was still shocking. It seemed it was just one revelation after another with Irving and I barely registered one admission before he was dropping another on me. But the Sultan? Irving was the damned Sultan? Now
that
was one confession I just didn’t know how to process.

“Say something, Glory. Say anything.”

“What do you want me to say?” I asked. “First, I find out you’re a Djinn. Then I find out you’re a Djinn
prince
. Less than twenty-four hours later, I’m listening to you tell me that you’re the Sultan of Shrinelyn.” I turned back to look at him. “What the hell do you expect me to say to that?”

“I want to hear you say that it does not change anything between us,” Irving said.

“Are you freaking kidding me? This changes
everything.
”

“But it does not have to. I do not sit on the throne, Glory. The Sultan’s Diadem does not rest on my head. I am a prince and nothing more.”

“You are the Sultan of Shrinelyn!” I shouted. “The crown prince and first princess bow to you!
Kasam
probably bows to you! How can you sit there and tell me that means nothing?”

“Because it does not. I do not rule this kingdom, so therefore,
I am not the Sultan.
”

He didn’t get it. He just didn’t get it.

“Take me back to the palace, please. Or better yet, take me back to my realm.”

“I cannot do that, Glory.”

“Then take me anywhere that you’re not!”

Irving frowned. “You are being irrational.”

“Irrational!?” I screeched. The urge to smack him rose up in me. “You keep secrets like this and you call
me
irrational? I bet you never would have told me who you were if I hadn’t witnessed the truth for myself!”

He didn’t deny it and that said everything.

“Take me back to the palace, Irving.” It was an order and he knew it. I understood that my realm wasn’t safe, so I wasn’t going to demand he take me back there. But I needed to be alone for a while and sort through my feelings. I needed time to think all of this through and decide what it all meant for me.

“Your wish is my command, Glory.”

And in the blink of an eye, we had returned to the palace and I was alone in his chambers. Left to stew with my thoughts and come to terms with the reality of my situation.

Irving was the Sultan of Shrinelyn.

I fell back onto his bed and curled myself around one of his long body pillows.

Irving was the Sultan of Shrinelyn.

My heart started to race as the truth settled in.

Irving was the Sultan of Shrinelyn.

Dammit. What the hell had I gotten myself into with this Djinn?

“Wake up, Glory.”

I had no idea when I’d fallen asleep, only that I was pissed I was being woken up now. I groaned as I rolled over, then groaned louder when I saw his face.

“Go away,” I grumbled. “I’m still mad at you.”

I wasn’t really. I’d had hours to think about things and though I didn’t like all the secrecy, I could understand why Irving wouldn’t want something like this to get out. He was the true Sultan of the Djinn realm and I figured at this point, nobody knew. Nobody, as in no one in the League of the Black Cloud. They assumed all Irving was was an Amir prince, a descendant of the Djinn who crumbled their empire. But if they knew who he really was, they would probably tear the world apart to obtain his Chronolier. Becoming Irving’s master would be the one thing they never gave up on. Though as things stood, that already seemed to be the main objective.

So yeah, I understood. But I wanted Irving to trust me and not keep me in the dark about shit like this. Not now. Not when we were being hunted and secrets could be the very death of either one of us. I wanted truth or nothing.

“I have something I need to say to you and then I will go if that is what you want.”

I grunted as I pushed myself into a sitting position. I crossed my arms and glared at Irving. He must have realized that was the only go ahead he was going to get from me and he pushed forward.

“Edwin and Ada did not have a choice in their deference to me at breakfast this morning,” he said. “According to Djinn law, a Sultan can never really stop being a Sultan. So my inferiors will always be my inferiors, though I do not see my cousins in that light. But the truth remains that my uncle only rules because I let him. At any moment, I can reclaim my crown and throne, though Kasam knows I never will. I do not want to be the Sultan. My feelings have not changed in this regard.”