When Winds Wonder (DragonSong)

[quaggan]

 Faysal gave the djinn a cursory glance - just a small one, his ego really didn't need any more feeding. "I'm sure I can find some slinky transparent negligee in your size, Master Zahir."

"How separate do you want the rooms?" he asked. It would probably be the best to strike the perfect equilibrium between far enough to be safe from the djinn's harassment, but close enough to be able to find each other without trouble. "I assume you'd like them on the same floor?"

[DragonSong]

To Lapis's surprise, Zahir burst out laughing. "Oh, I really like this one."

Sighing, the young scholar murmured, "Near each other is fine, thank you."

[quaggan]

 Faysal found a pair of guest rooms and carefully opened the door, leaning on the right crutch as he manipulated the handle with the left hand. He pushed the door open to let the guests inside and let them see the room. The floor was a mosaic of colourful stones, carefully chosen to create a beautiful image of an oasis. Upon those stones furniture was carefully arranged: seats surrounding a small table to work on, some chests to contain guest's belongings standing by the wall. In the back, appropriately placed folding screens blocked the sight of the sleeping part of the chamber, to provide the guests with some privacy. The walls were decorated with tapestries brought from foreign lands.

"There's a separate bath further in" he explained. Some of Zaahir's guests were foreigners and had strange bathing customs - after struggling to meet everyone's needs, providing them with separate bathing chambers seemed like the logical conclusion.

[DragonSong]

Lapis's eyes lit up at the prospect of a bath, but she tried quickly to hide it. "Thank you," she murmured, dipping her head respectfully to their host. "This is incredibly kind of you..."

Even if he had done it at the coercion of a djinn.

[quaggan]

 Faysal smiled back. This was an exhausting day, but he was glad that at least she liked the place. "Very well. If you need something, just ask..." He frowned. Where was that slave? How hard could it be to make it here with both legs functional?

Fortunately, she didn't keep them waiting for long. The sound of running soon echoed in the corridor, followed by a girl in house colours. "Reporting as commanded, my lord" she gasped out.

Good. He turned back to Lapis Lazuli and Zahir. "She's here to tend to your needs during your stay. Food, water, any arrangements you need to have made. Since the household is rather large, and I cannot claim none of my father's wives would... make any propositions such as the one you received at the market. Therefore, she will coordinate to make sure you won't have to encounter them and risk it."

The last thing he wanted was to make his guest think he was trying to control their freedom, or use a slave to spy on them, so he hurried to provide further explanation. "She is here to serve you, not command you. I will have her stationed outside, but the choice whether to use her services is yours."

[DragonSong]

Lapis and Zahir had both stiffened slightly at the slave's appearance, but while the djinn quickly relaxed and shot the girl a quick, charming grin, Lapis just frowned.

"Thank you, but that's not necessary." She addressed the girl rather than Faysal. "I'm sure you've better work to do, I really wouldn't want to take your time." Her voice had softened slightly, though she still seemed...almost angry.

Zahir sighed and closed his eyes. She never learned.

[quaggan]

 Faysal frowned, but quickly fixed his expression. It was a bit troublesome that his solution wouldn't work for his guests - they were a powder keg waiting to blow up, and he would have preferred that they didn't do so in his family's presence. The thought of one of Zaahir's wives hitting on the gorgeous djinn, or someone important setting Lapis Lazuli off was... something he'd really want to avoid. Perhaps he should make a donation to one of the temples and just put his faith in a higher power.

As relaxing as it would be, he couldn't just give up and renounce this responsibility. He had to make an effort. He was the only one who could. "Are you certain?" he asked, turning to Lapis Lazuli. "This is quite a large place." Even now he was considering another alternatives in his mind, preparing for an eventual refusal.

[DragonSong]

She shook her head firmly and Zahir gave a dramatic sigh, closing his eyes.

"I will not force a slave to serve me," Lapis replied, quick, blunt, and sharp.

[quaggan]

 Faysal bit down his instant impulse to argue. There were so many arguments sprouting into his head - he could say that she wasn't the one doing the forcing, since the slave was working on the orders of the family; ask if he should hire a paid servant to do the job since she seemed more at odds with the concept of slaves working than the service itself; and far more. But it wouldn't be the best solution. Pressing too much would reveal how invested he was in it, and he didn't want them to think that he was sending a slave to spy on them or keep them restricted. He had to remind himself that this time, he wasn't dealing with people close to his status. Zahir's presence skewed the situation drastically and his first priority was not to annoy them.

"Very well" he said instead, his voice as calm and composed as if he wasn't inconvenienced in the slightest. "Will you need anything for your business? Access to archives, transport to other parts of the city?"

[DragonSong]

"Archives?" Lapis immediately perked up. "What kind of archives?"

Zahir rolled his eyes. "Oh gods, here we go."

[quaggan]

 Zahir looked apprehensive, but Faysal far preferred dealing with enthusiasm than risking offending a powerful guest. "Most of my family's personal archives are records of business transactions and deals, but if you're searching for something, perhaps some of our documentation could be of assistance to you. I will instruct our archivists to open the doors to you and help you find your way through all this paper. They aren't slaves" he hurried to assuage her. "They are servants of my family that are paid well for their work." The archive was too important to leave it in the hands of untrained slaves - only the trusted vassals were allowed to work there - and of course, appropriately compensated.

[DragonSong]

"I would love to see them, if that's alright," Lapis said excitedly, evidently making an effort to control herself. She seemed to relax just a bit at the assurance that his family employed proper workers in the archives.

[quaggan]

 Faysal was glad to see that the slave unpleasantness seemed to be put behind them. And speaking of slaves... He turned to the forgotten girl who just waited with uncertainty written on her face, not sure about what to do when the guest rejected her service, but no permission to leave was given. "Report to the archivists and let them know my guest will be coming" he commanded. "Oh, and have someone bring my sedan chair." He was getting far too tired of having to hobble everywhere.

[DragonSong]

"Oh, you don't need to do that." Zahir tilted his head, finally speaking up again. "You know...you could just ask. Lapis could wish for you to be healed."

The scholar blinked and glanced at her companion, both surprised and wary.

[quaggan]

 Ah.

It wasn't frequent that people addressed his... situation with such candour. Then again, he spent most of his time either ordering around his lessers who knew better than to even look upon his broken legs, or making deals with people who were rightfully more concerned with profits and business than the condition of whoever they were speaking to. But both the djinn and his keeper were rather straightforward.

He folded his hands and kept his expression neutral. "I could, but I won't. It is not in the nature of my family to ask for what could be accomplished on our own. The passage of time is not as pricey as a power of a djinn, and all I have to do in order to be healed by it is survive long enough - a better deal, I have to say."

[DragonSong]

"Hm." Zahir smirked a bit. "Smart man."

Lapis rolled her eyes at him. "I swear by the goddess, you're worse than a damned demon," she muttered. The djinn just laughed.

"Of course I am. A demon gets a choice in his contract."

That had her wincing guiltily, suddenly unable to look at her companion.

[quaggan]

 The catastrophe at the bazaar and her reaction to the slaves in the palace were a clear indicator of how the woman felt about any sort of enforced servitude. Lapis Lazuli was probably the only Essyrni he knew that wasn't happy to have a djinn at her beck and call. He couldn't quite place whether Zahir was displeased to have to serve a master - a completely sensible and understandable grievance, considering the power at his disposal - or whether he was just doing it to get a rise out of her - also a believable reason.

Of course, there was a simple way to keep her conscience clear: just use up the remaining wishes to get rid of the djinn. Faysal thought of suggesting it, but then held his tongue. She wasn't stupid - any person in his position would try and get rid of her in order to claim Zahir's powers for himself. It would be best for everyone involved if he kept quiet about it. It was a simple enough idea that it could have occurred to her as well without his intervention.

Footsteps echoed from the southern end of the corridor. That was probably his sedan chair. He turned to give some last information to the new guests. "Should you need food, the kitchens are on the ground floor, in the west wing. Follow the smell." It wasn't most hospitable, making them go get food themselves, but sending a slave up to deliver something would probably not be accepted.

[DragonSong]

"Thank you." Lapis nodded to him, though it was clear her attention was now on the promise of these archives, eyes bright. Zahir sighed and ruffled her braids good naturedly.

"So, master merchant...prince...whatever." The djinn tilted his head. "Will you be joining my mistress in burying her nose in old parchment?"

[quaggan]

 "I'm not a merchant prince, that title belongs to my father-" he quickly cut off. He already said it once, and he had a feeling that insisting upon proper titles would not win him any points with either of the guests. His first thought was to refuse, but he reconsidered. While he longed to just sit down, that was a chance to regain some control over the situation. It was unlikely that they were spies - but it wasn't a chance he was willing to take.

"That's a good idea" he admitted. The djinn was the one who suggested it, so it shouldn't be suspicious. "What about you, Master Zahir? Will you come as well, or would you rather stay in the room and wait for that slinky negligee I promised you?"

[DragonSong]

"Oh, I go where she goes." Zahir threw his arm around Lapis's shoulders companionably. "Though if you'd rather the negligee be sent to the archives I'm certainly not arguing."