There was no oil.
On the other side of Kadin’s room, by the window, there was a table with a single chair and a small lamp. Praying I’d be so lucky, I crossed the room and made out a dark liquid in the bottom of the other lamp. When I picked it up, a thin layer sloshed around inside. It barely covered the bottom. I hoped it would be enough.
Setting the ancient green lamp in the middle of the table, I carefully transferred the oil from one to the other, preparing to light it.
I paused.
Kadin would never forgive me.
Not to mention Gideon.
The Jinni had made it clear that once he had the lamp, he was leaving immediately. But if my plan worked—and if he didn’t murder me first—then maybe, just maybe, I could not only get home, but draw Gideon to Hodafez after me... and once he was there, he could stop King Amir from abusing his power.
It was risky.
Gideon was honorable, but there was an urgency to his plan I didn’t understand.
Either way, I had to stop King Amir, or at the very least, rescue Baba. There was no time to waste. Summer’s Eve festivities began in just a few hours.
Still I paused, Kadin’s face etched in my mind. To betray him twice in one day... There was no way he’d forgive me after this.
Should I leave a note? Did he even read? This was silly. I didn’t know him well enough to know if he could read, so why should I leave him a note?
Even with this sound argument, I couldn’t make myself move.Gifted people use people.His words reverberated in my thoughts, the way they had all day. But instead of urging me to light the fire and leave him behind, the memory only made me feel even more guilty. I stared out at the moon, as another memory hit me.
When he’d turned back to the interrogation, opening the door, I’d heard his thoughts about Prince Dev.
Not one of them had been about me.
Yet, I’d still heard him as clear as day.
Had I imagined it? Was there some whisper of thought related to me? I didn’t think so...
I shook my head. This wasn’t the time to worry over Kadin’s thoughts, not the ones he had now or the ones he would have in the very near future when he found out what I’d done.
Swallowing hard, I set my bag on the table and loosened the drawstrings. I pulled out my crown. Even in the moonlight the diamonds glittered. It might cost more than the lamp, but I knew it still wasn’t enough.
I chewed on my lip. Was there any way Gideon might follow me? And if he did, would he let me ask for help before he punished me?
Turning to Kadin’s bag, I set the crown inside where the lamp had been. It would serve as both a note and a payment for my theft.
Picking up the flint, I lit the lamp.
My father needed me. If I didn’t get home soon, his murder would be my fault.
I wrapped my fingers around the base of the lamp.
Nothing happened.
Was I supposed to say the place I wanted to go? Picture it? I opened my mouth, thinking back to where I’d left my father’s kingdom, which had just happened to be at the mouth of the ocean—
Splash!
Cold water engulfed me and the scenery shifted from the warmth of Kadin’s room at the inn, to pitch-black darkness. Still gripping the lamp, I lifted it above the water, which came up to my chest.
Struggling to find my bearings, my eyes began to adjust. The moonlight danced on the water all around me. Ahead the lights of Keshdi twinkled.
It was the exact place I’d crawled out of the ocean almost an entire fortnight ago.
