“Ah. So you got that after all.” I half-smiled before turning toward my bedroom. “Listen, I need you to stay here. There’s something I need to do.”
“What is it?” she asked.
I’d grown so used to her questions that I barely heard her. By my bedside I found my regular oil lamp, where it usually was, and peered inside. It was full. I pulled the Jinni lamp from my pocket and set it on the table as well.
Transferring the oil, I avoided touching the Jinni lamp, in case even a drop might transport me elsewhere.
I filled the Jinni’s lamp halfway, stopping when I spilled a bit on the floor.
“Can I help?” Rena piped up when I didn’t answer.
“No. I’m sorry. I have to go alone.” I stopped when I saw her face. The way her shoulders slumped. “You can... help yourself to my jewelry box,” I offered, gesturing toward the table. Whatever it took for her to look away.
“I suppose I can wait for you here.” She trailed a finger along the bed frame and moved toward the jewelry box.
I took advantage of her distraction, stretching out my hand to grip the base of the lamp as I firmly imagined the place I wanted.
The room flashed around me, shifting into my father’s chambers. He wasn’t there. Where else would he be? My mind pictured another place. I hoped I was wrong, even as I gripped the lamp and imagined a space I’d only seen a few times before. A deep darkness surrounded me, only penetrated by the tiny light of my candle. Swiveling around, I worried that I’d chosen wrong, when my foot bumped something behind me.
“Baba!” I cried, barely remembering to keep my voice down. Kneeling beside him, I brought the lamp close to see his injuries, but couldn’t make out the details through the blur of tears. “What happened? How did you get in here?”
He groaned and mumbled something I couldn’t make out. His eyes opened. “Arie, you’re alive!” His excitement made him cough, wheezing as he tried to catch his breath. “I was so worried!”
“I’m so sorry, Baba.” I took his hand, feeling the guilt press down on me like the entire mountain sat on my chest.
His eyes fluttered shut as if he couldn’t keep them open.
“I thought I was doing the right thing. I thought Amir would leave you alone. This is all my fault.” I pressed my hand to his forehead. He was burning up. “You have a fever,” I told him, even though he wasn’t responding. “Don’t worry. I’m going to get you out of here.”
Squeezing his hand, I gripped the lamp in the other and envisioned the main street in town where I thought a healer lived.
The landscape shifted around me once more. I found myself kneeling on a quiet street.
Alone.
“No!” I cried out. The night sky was full of stars and the quiet, clear road mocked me.
Without thinking, I clutched the lamp and pictured my father’s cell. The scenery flashed and I was in the dungeon once more. My father hadn’t moved.
I set the lamp down on the damp stone floor, not wanting to travel again without meaning to. The infuriating object allowedmeto travel... but no one else.
Staring at the flickering light, I wanted to scream. I could try to send my father away with the lamp. But he didn’t look well enough to make it on his own. Would he even wake up? I could leave and come back with help. But what if something happened to him in the meantime? I would never forgive myself.
I shook my head, settling back on my heels and pressing the palms of my hands to my eyes. Who would help me? Who could resist Amir? Only I knew when he used his Gift; everyone else fell under his power. Maybe Gideon could’ve helped, but I’d left him behind.
The light sputtered.
Startled from my thoughts, I leaned forward to look at it. The oil was low. All my traveling back and forth must’ve used up quite a bit. Did I even have enough to return to my room? If Amir found me here, there’d be no explanation.
From inside this cell there was nothing I could do. I would lead Rena back out of the castle—better to have her roaming the village streets than the castle corridors, in case she broke her word and told someone I was there—and then I’d find the keys to the prison and come back for Baba.
Shaping the image of my bedchambers in my mind, tears dripping onto my father’s prone form as I let go of his hand, I gripped the candle and let it whisk me back to my room.
Rena wasn’t there.
Instinct made me hide the lamp in the secret tunnels before I moved through my bedroom into the outer room that led to the hall. I paused at the door. Why was I going after the girl? She wasn’t important right now. I needed to save my father.
I slipped into the hall, determined to steal a key to my father’s cell and get him out of there.
