“The Idols.”
I hum in the back of my throat.
“What are you thinking, Daphne?” Nash asks.
“We have been blindly following the rules of a bunch of fussy old men because it’s just the way it is. We are creating villages full of victims because of something written in some stuffy dusty books that nobody has even thought to read in too many annuses to count.”
“Everyone knows the Idols will anger if the storylines aren’t fulfilled,” Theo says, although he doesn’t sound as sure as he did a tempo ago.
“Not everyone has met an Idol, but I have, and I can tell you with all honesty, I was not impressed.”
“It’s definitely something to consider,” Nash agrees.
Why can’t we live our lives the way we want to? Why are we slaves to the storylines set down in an annus no one can remember? “I wish?—”
The air before us swirls with purple smoke, and my genie appears. He glances around the glass dome with confusion before settling his gaze on me and raising a brow. “I am listening, mistress.”
“Cancel the wish,” I snap. His shoulders slump as he sighs in defeat. “Where have you been?”
He floats back and forth over the water as he recounts his last diurnal. “For the record, the mirror man, no matter if he is an original relic, is cracked. He has caused untold chaos in the ocean, telling Poseidon that the fairest maiden in the realm holds his Idol weapon, and he should be thankful it has fallen into such fair and caring hands. The Idol did not enjoy that his failure as the king of the ocean was being broadcast by a cracked mirror man. Then, he tried to banish him.”
My hands rise to my mouth, and I gasp. “My mirror man was banished?” I will kill Poseidon.
Genie rolls his eyes. “No, the mirror man tried to banish Poseidon from the ocean.”
“Did it work?” Nash says with a smirk.
“Don’t be ridiculous. Of course it didn’t work. But Poseidon ordered all mirrors in the sea smashed. There was an incident with some baby seahorses who got hurt.”
“Oh, no. Steve and Linda?”
“That’s right. But our good friend, the mirror man, kept stalking Poseidon through the shattered shards sweeping through the current.”
“Because I told him to spy for me.” My head falls into my hands. I’m not even in the sea, and I’m still causing chaos.
“Anyway, we returned in the last turn to update Gwyneth on our progress. She said we should wait for you to return this sundown so we can strategize.”
“But I said the magic words,” I deduce. “And now you are here.”
He puffs up his chest. “I can go, if you like? If you are about to strip naked and get freaky with these two knights, I would prefer to leave.”
“We did that last night,” I respond absently.
Genie glares at Theo and Nash. “How rude. My mistress is not a harlot. Take your turn like gentlemen.”
“Wasn’t me,” Theo says, holding his hands up. “It was him.”
The genie blinks. “Good.Two is a lot for anyone to handle.”
“She handled two just fine,” Nash declares.
“You were with two of them at once?” the genie says, holding his hand to his chest.
“How is taking turns any better?” I question.
“Well, it must be exhausting satisfying two men at the same time. I would imagine you would need rest and snacks between such encounters.”
“I was not the one satisfying.”
