Page 72 of Shade of Ruin

Don’t worry, Lady Maeve. I’m a Djinn, and just as Master Cole can command flames, I can command your experiences.As if to show me what she means, her long, thin fingers brush my arm, and I’m away from the Keep of Flames, no longer seated in Cole’s chambers. Instead, Cole’s holding me as he soars through the air, his legs and arms wrapped around my body as we look down at Draenyth.

“Trust her, Maeve,” he whispers in my ear. “That’s why I brought her to us. So we could relax without ever leaving my chambers.”

“That’s why she’s kept here, isn’ t it?” I shout over the wind. “A slave to your father’s court.” My mind goes to all of the things that people have probably forced her to show them. Fantasies of terrible things.

Speak the truth, Sia,I think.Do you enjoy doing this for the people in the House of Flames?

I can hear her hesitate.No. But it is my place, Lady Maeve. I am a slave, as all djinn are. We have been collared for thousands of years.

“I want this to end,” I say and think at the same time. There’s a blurring of the world, like blinking my eyes, and then the entire world seems to shatter, disappearing in a way that waking up from a dream never feels like, and I’m back in Cole’s chambers. The real world where Cole and I are sitting next to each other with Sia standing in front of us.

Cole turns to me looking quizzical. “Why not enjoy a relaxing flight over Draenyth? Would you rather go somewhere else? Amountain lake maybe?” he asks. He turns to Sia, the same look on his face and then back at me. She told him something.

“I don’t want to abuse slaves any more than I want Darian and Lee to become them. You grew up here, Cole. Slaves are normal to you. But if things had gone differently, I could be the one wearing a steel collar, used until my master no longer had interest in me and then disposed of. Unable to fight back against the power that people like you and your father wield.”

Cole looks at me, thoughts running through those beautiful, sparkling blue eyes, and he runs his hand through his hair. “What would you like to do, then? I don’t know how to pamper you without slaves.”

I’m not angry at him. Like I said, this is normal for him. Normal for his world. No different from the fact that humans are sold like livestock in the market here. I won’t take advantage of them, though. And maybe I can do something different, something that will remind Sia that the world is better than what she’s used to.

I glance up at her while she silently watches us, listening to the words that are probably as foreign to her as they are to Cole. Who knows how long Sia has worn a collar?

Then she speaks, with far more hesitation than I expected. Directly to my mind.I don’t mind showing you beautiful worlds, Lady Maeve. Your dreams are pleasant, and I enjoy watching them. Far more than the dreams that I am ordered to give to so many. It doesn’t displease me to help you to relax.

I smile at Sia and then at Cole. “Go get Lee. She’ll show all of us, Sia included, a little pampering. I bet that she has an idea of some less slave-based pampering we could enjoy.”

Cole looks at Sia, and I notice the barest hint of a nod to her. I take the collar from Cole, ignoring the nod and the fact that they’re having a private discussion. “Go on, Lord Cole. Get your friend. Sia and I are in desperate need of pampering.”

His huff doesn’t surprise me. But the look of worry in his eyes does. He still gets up and leaves the room. Sia studies me carefully, but she doesn’t say anything.

It’s not right that anyone should have to do things they don’t want to do. In another life, it could be me sitting there, forced to provide leisure to some Great House noble. Knowing the cruelty that Cole’s father embodies and the way that everyone talks about the denizens of Draenyth, I have a feeling that Sia’s existence as a slave has been one of constant torture even if her body is unmarred.

And today I’m going to show her that there are other experiences in the world. Maybe even some that are enjoyable, but I’ll be happy if it’s different than what she’s used to. Because what she’s used to is terrible.

Darian, Lee, Cole, and Sia all seem very uncomfortable with the current situation. Sia keeps staring ahead, and Darian, Lee, and Cole glance at each other nervously.

“This is it?” I ask.

Lee nods. “This is a place for women to go to relax.”

What is so complicated or strange about this? Why can’t they just go with it? From the moment I was thrown into this magical world, everyone has just expected me to accept one crazy thing after the next. It’s more than a little difficult to believe that only two months ago, I was just a girl living in a village without a bit of magic in my life.

Now… Now I’m betrothed to the Prince of Flames in a city full of Immortals that would have eaten me a month ago. It’sonly fair that I’m not afraid to make everyone else a little uncomfortable. “Cole, why don’t you get us girls set up here, and then you and Darian can go do something else?”

That makes him frown even more, but when he looks at Lee, she shrugs. And Sia just stares straight ahead, expressionless, as if this was just another task for her to complete. Nothing other than luck has kept me from turning out like Sia or worse, and the thought infuriates me. At least she’s not being forced to wear the collar right now.

Sia’s appearance should be off-putting. I should be nervous because I don’t know anything about her. Not about djinns or her, personally. She can get into my head, and I’m sure that’s at least part of the reason that all djinns were enslaved. They could have manipulated people so easily.

Who knows how far her powers extend?

It doesn’t matter. That’s the truth of it. Sia didn’t do anything wrong, and she’s been forced to do whatever Cole’s family has wanted her to do for hundreds of years. Like Cole said, it’d be better to be murdered than to be enslaved. Especially to be enslaved by someone like Casimir Cyrus.

“Fine,” Cole says, his face becoming emotionless. What’s he so uncomfortable about? Is it because he won’t be around to watch over me? Lee will be with me, and I doubt that anyone is going to attack me after he set this all up. The owners of the establishment will know that he’d rip them apart.

I watch his back as he enters the nondescript building. Made of stone with obvious flecks of red, it’s not very noticeable compared to the madness of the marketplace or the opulence of the Keep of Flames. It’s wider and longer than most of the other discrete buildings we’ve passed, but it has the same simple architecture which is so forgettable amidst the rest of the gorgeous city.

Lee whispers, “What are you trying to do?”

I chuckle. “I don’t know, Lee. I’m just trying to relax for a day, and I don’t want any slaves to have any part.” Lee glances at Sia. “No, by…”

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