Page 10 of Above
Her and Dad moved from the Farigh District because she dreamed of helping eadi. Originally, she had hoped to open up an apothecary there. The only issue was that the farther from the Star District one went, the more impoverished they became. They couldn’t afford anything my mother would sell, which meant she couldn’t continue to help them.
Not only that, but it became harder to complete the magic ritual. Traveling from most of the districts to the Ether Cathedralwas nearly impossible. It was a major reason why a lot of eadi didn’t get a chance to beg the stars for magic on their twenty-fifth birthday. In fact, neither of our parents had done so on theirs. But they wanted to give us a chance, even if they mostly loathed the shaytan.
So they picked up everything and made their way here, to the Sham District.
“Today is not a good day to be out and about, we need to close early,” Mama rushed out, her hands moving to arrange the many items we sold.
“Why? What’s going on?” I asked, startled by her panic.
“More protests,” Celeste answered, darting around me.
“I haven’t seen or heard anything.”
“You’re in grunt uniform,” she scoffed. “Of course you haven’t. But there have been whispers all throughout the shops. We have less than twenty minutes before the bell tolls and protesters flood the streets.”
“Celeste is right, we need to get home. Your father will need extra time after taking haya last night.”
“You let him come in?” I gasped, my hand flying to my mouth.
A loud, repetitive thud sounded from the back room. My head flew toward Dad, watching as he entered with raspy coughs. “No one lets me do anything.”
“Dad, you’ve had an awful cold all week and you just took a dose, you can’t be here right now.”
“Let’s not argue when haya is the problem we always find.”
That silenced me. I knew they didn’t want to do it anymore. That much was obvious last night. But the way he said it, so pointedly as he stared into my eyes, felt…accusatory. Yes, it was me who had them regularly dosing. I needed them though.
It was unfair, obviously, but I was going to find a long-term solution. They knew that. I just needed time.
Apparently they were willing to offer less and less of it.
I couldn’t blame them, even if I wanted to. I knew it was hard. Painful. Exhausting. So many things. Sometimes I wished I was strong enough to let them go. Most of the time I was too selfish to even consider it.
Without so much as another word, we all stirred into action. I busied myself with closing all the curtains and fastening the locks on each window, being sure to will a little magic into the glass so it wouldn’t break. What Dad and Mama didn’t know wouldn’t hurt them.
Celeste hurried to restock and organize, her artist’s fingers precise and nimble. All the while, Mama prepared Dad and emptied the coin box.
Sometimes the protests were peaceful, as the demonstrators preferred. Other times the officials came eager to incite violence.
Officials were meant to be tasked with maintaining law and order. A position that could only be held by shaytan despite the fact they were meant to report directly to the king, not the core families.
Long ago, the original cores had made an agreement with the then king—no one in the royal blood line was allowed to ask for magic, and in turn the shaytan would never attempt to conquer. The king had sole rule over all, but the shaytan would lead the military. While shaytan fell under the rule of King Amori, the core families formed a council that seemed to be our true leaders. And with shaytan being officials, we seemed to also run the districts. Those who police the people, control the people.
Even worse, the officials didn’t require any education. Such a job should, but it didn’t. All they had to do was complete the mandatory shaytan training we all went through after being gifted our magic. It was a one month long exhausting experience, but it didn’t do much for educating. That was why we had officials with less knowledge of our laws than many eadi.
So when eadi protested for their rights, begging for equal treatment and a chance at survival, many uneducated officials used it as a chance to attack. Any eadi near a protest was free game. Honestly, even I was fair game. I was of eadi after all.
The only thing the purists hated more than eadi were the shaytan born from them.
As if we weren’t all born magicless—equal.
That was the thing with equality though; it bred resentment amongst the entitled, which eventually fostered division.
Sometimes I wondered if the purists were right. If maybe dividing us completely was just better. Safer. Easier.
With that disgusting thought echoing in my mind and causing guilt to fill me like a well, I tightened the last lock, willed a ward onto the glass to make it hold overnight, and dashed to the door where Mama was wrapping a scarf around Dad’s neck.
“We took too long, we need to be prepared for whatever might come,” Mama hissed between clenched teeth. While they refused to let me help with my magic, I wouldn’t let them stop me from defending them. The stars blessed me with a way to save us if needed, and I would do just that.
