[
@Kada]
Lapis sat under the shade of a shop awning, sipping at a cool, yogurt-based drink and desperately trying to pretend that she had nothing to do with the half naked man lounging in the seat next to her, practically shimmering from the sheer amount of jewelry that dangled from his person.
A task that became significantly more difficult to accomplish when he leaned in close and slung his arm around the back of her own seat, positively purring, "Lapis, darling, won't you at least
look at me? You aren't still mad, are you?"
Face burning, and for once not because of the Essyrni heat, Lapis Lazuli deliberately turned her head away from him and took another long drink. She could feel the eyes of the marketplace lingering on them; most shoppers only spared them a cursory, vaguely curious glance before moving on--they probably assumed he was a lesser merchant prince, treating his concubine to a day out.
A fact which Zahir had
shamelessly taken advantage of earlier that day, and which she still had not forgiven him for.
"Oh,
come now." The djinn leaned closer, twirling a finger absently through one of her braids. She scowled and batted his hand away, and he retreated with a laugh, both hands raised peaceably. "You must admit, it got us out of there faster."
"I
must not do anything, particularly for
you," Lapis snapped, then winced. Damnit. She'd been determined not to talk to him at all. She'd made it nearly three hours before breaking.
"There it is!" Zahir swooned dramatically, laying a hand over his heart and letting his lashes flutter against his cheeks. "Ah, the sweet dulcet tones of my mistress's voice. How I've missed it!"
"Zahir, be
quiet, for the love of the goddess!" Lapis hissed as she looked around, mortification growing with every second.
Fahru had been in the middle of a delivery when he felt the pull. Paying a young courier to finish carrying the delivery of perfumed medicinal incenses, he accepted the loss he'd be incurring and focused on the thrumming of strings in his chest. There was more important work to be done.
It had taken some doing, like dousing for water in the desert. A lot of warmer and colder as the thrumming in his chest vibrated with more or less intensity each time he turned a corner and doubled back. But eventually he found his way to a shop and he knew. There was no way it couldn't be them: a petite young woman angrily trying to ignore the handsome man sitting next to her. A classic lover's quarrel, perhaps?
He was far too old to be concerned with getting odd looks from strangers, and so he strolled directly up to the couple, eyes sparkling with an enthusiasm much younger than his age might have suggested. His form blocked the sun further as he stood in front of Lapis and Zahir.
"Hakeshna still my heart, hello! Pardon my intrusion but I couldn't help but notice you both. I was just so overcome with emotion at seeing you, and the dour look on your face Miss."
Oh.
Oh, wonderful.
Lapis shot her companion and absolutely cutting look that quite plainly said, You see what you do?!
But Zahir only laughed, evidently delighted, and beamed at her. "Come now, dearest, you see? That sour face draws more attention to use than I ever will," he exclaimed brightly, and turned his attention to the stranger.
Instantly there was a shift in him--subtle, Lapis wasn't even sure anyone unfamiliar with the djinn would notice, but she certainly did. A bit of the playfulness left his eyes, though his expression itself didn't waver. She could see the faint tension that entered his shoulders: a fight or flight instinct rising to the surface.
"What can we help you with, dear sir?" he purred, gesturing welcomingly to the seat across from them.
"Wait, that really isn't necessary--" Lapis winced and bit her tongue, looking up at the man herself. Years of learned servitude had her quickly dropping her eyes again. "Forgive us, master, ahh...we don't mean to cause a disturbance."
Conflicted answers nearly made Fahru pull back, but the girl's discomfort was something that pulled at his heart ever more. "My dear, I am no master. A humble servant myself, a perfumer and little else. So don't feel the need to give this old ego any boosting."
Taking the seat as carefully as he could, knowing that his bulk could break most chairs if he wasn't careful, Fahru essentially kept most of his weight on his feet despite sitting down. "I am truly sorry to interrupt. My name is Fahru Qadir, son of Kalik and Nemu Qadir. It is my understanding that you two are in need of something - something that, perhaps, I can help provide?"
He sighed, giving his oiled beard a stroke and consequently filling the air with the scent of lavender and cucumbers as the perfume within was agitated. "That is to say, despite my humble worldly business, I have come to understand that I have a divine... duty to others. And right now, that means the two of you."
Both Lapis and Zahir blinked at that, mute. The djinn wrinkled his nose a bit as the perfume invaded the air, and Lapis kicked him under the table.
If anyone has a right to complain about gaudy presentation, it is certainly not you, she thought firmly, though she knew he couldn't hear her thoughts. Or so he said, at least. He may be able to project his voice into her mind, but according to him it didn't work the other way.
Clearing her throat, the young scholar summoned up her courage and asked, "Excuse me, mast—sir, but...I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean. What duty are you speaking of?"
Of course they weren't going to be that forthcoming with their woes. He was a stranger and probably sounded like some kind of lunatic.
"Ah, yes. Well, I took a second pilgrimage out into the desert some years ago. After I lost my darling wife. I didn't find peace there. But what I did find was a thrumming, like a stringed instrument being played on my heart. I followed it and found a young stable hand, absolutely smitten with his master's daughter. I helped the boy learn to read and to take up a skill, and built up his confidence to win her heart. It wasn't to be, but his newfound sense of self helped him become a better man."
Fahru smiled down at his large hands, clasped together and fidgeting with one of his rings. "I found peace there. And a dozen other times in similar situations. Always the same thrumming in my chest brought me to who I needed to approach. Always some problem, usually one of the heart, for me to help nudge them back on course."
"I normally don't like presuming things. But I haven't been wrong in over a decade, following my heart like this."
Again, they both just stared at him.
Then Zahir's eyes widened fractionally, and an insufferable sort of smile began to curve at his lips. "Oh. Oh that is delightful. That is--this is utterly wondrous." In a burst of movement, he spun to face Lapis and took her hands in his, clutching one to his heart as he proclaimed melodramatically, "You see, dearest? It is divine intention itself that has brought the man here, surely you must listen to the whims of the gods!"
"Get off, you great--!" Catching herself before saying something very rude in front of the stranger, Lapis blushed deeply as she looked to Fahru and desperately tried to free her hands. "Forgive me, sir, my...companion is not exactly a...firm believer. Please don't pay him any mind, he just likes to irritate people."
The last was said with a firm kick under the table, which made the djinn yelp and drop her hands like she was on fire. Smirking internally, the scholar turned back to face this odd, though seemingly kindly, man properly. Voice soft and eyes kind, she tipped her head to the side and asked, "This...thrumming. You're sure you were meant to find us? I don't mean to question your judgement, but the markets are crowded this time of day..."
Fahru smiled at the couple, a knowing expression that made him chuckle at just how bickerish they were. Just like him and his beloved Satrana in the early days of their courtship. "I haven't been wrong yet, young miss. It's like dousing for water. It gets stronger the closer I am, and my heart is practically singing as I sit with the two of you."
And it was true; the thrumming in his chest was so profound right now he thought his heart might burst. But it hadn't yet, of which he was glad. "I can see that the two of you have some tension. I would, if you'd allow me, to help?"
"We don't have any tension--"
"My good sir, you have absolutely no idea--"
Lapis and Zahir cut off to look at each other, the scholar glaring and the djinn smirking. A fairly standard state of being for them both, at least around one another.
"I've suggested several ways to ease our...tension," Zahir continued, voice like honey and eyes glinting pure sin at her. Lapis flushed and looked away, scowling. With a sigh, Zahir turned back to Fahru and spread his hands helplessly. "As you can see, my sweet mistress is...not so inclined. Ah, well."
"You are utterly ridiculous," Lapis hissed at him, cheeks still very warm. She looked around, caught a few more curious stares, and the blush deepened. Clearing her throat, she said quickly, "If this conversation is to continued--" goddess help me-- "perhaps it might be prudent to move somewhere a bit less public?"
"Of course. It's not my intention to embarrass you, I promise." Fahru nodded, looking between the two of them. He could already see it, honestly.A sexless marriage, as it were. Most definitely arranged, and with them having grown up wildly different with no chance to get to know each other beforehand. Not the worst situation he had dealt with in his lifetime, by far.
Standing up and once again towering over everyone, Fahru offered a hand to each Lapis and Zahir with a big, radiant smile. "We could go back to my shop, if you would like. It is not far from here, and I have some very lovely basil lemonade that I made this morning. A welcome treat on a hot day like today, yes?"
"Oh, um..."
Lapis eyed his hand with the clear wariness that was born of experience. It had been years since she'd been truly in a helpless position in Essyrni society, but the fear it had instilled in her was bone-deep. Fear that made traipsing off with a strange, rather large, man not the most appealing of ideas.
Zahir, already standing, grinned and took Fahru's offered hand. "We'd be delighted, of course."
Subtly, so Fahru hopefully wouldn't see, he reached out to brush two fingers against the back of Lapis's wrist. The scholar started slightly before she caught herself as he his voice whispered in her mind, I will protect you, ka-riin. You don't need to fear.
Lapis relaxed slightly, almost despite herself. He still wouldn't tell her what that word meant--a title from a bygone era, she was sure--but somehow hearing his assurance actually made her feel better.
With a polite smile, she took the other offered hand and stood, drink long abandoned on the small table. "Very well then. Thank you."
The path back to Fahru's home and workshop was not a very long one, but it did wind a bit through the city streets. What they came to was not what might have been expected for a man of Fahru's stature, but certainly made sense given his demeanor. The building was squat, with a doorway that Fahru himself had to duck and turn sideways through to enter though other didn't have this issue. Several vines of beautiful desert flowers crawled up the front wall and windows, and a sign with a desert rose carved into it adorned the hook next to the door.
Inside, the place was homey, with a ceiling higher than normal so that Fahru didn't have to remain hunched over the entire time in his own home. The entire place smelled of flowers and herbs, and the other scents of perfumery wafting from the back.
He patted a table with some chairs around it, enough for a family and one larger than the others and made in a different style. Clearly that one was Fahru's personal chair. "Sit, sit. I will get the lemonade. I think I have some babka as well, if you would like some of that."
He returned with a clay jug of fragrant lemonade, as well as a basket with the aforementioned babka and cups in it. He had taken off most of his outer silken layers and was now just wearing a dark lavender robe and his shoes.
Lapis most certainly did not want to "sit, sit". She always felt...awkward, in another person's house. Like she should be doing something, fetching and carrying, something--but people always insisted on hosting, which left her feeling strangely adrift. She clutched her hands in the hem of her robes and hoped she didn't look quite so out of place as she felt.
Zahir, on the other hand, collapsed easily and gracefully into one of the offered chairs, as though he and Fahru were great friends and he was entirely comfortable in the other man's home. "This is quite charming, Craftsman Fahru," he said cheerfully as he looked around, using a slightly archaic form of address that made Lapis wince nonsensically. "And the refreshments are greatly appreciated. Aren't they, Lapis, dear?"
She scowled at him, but forced a smile and grateful nod for their host. "Er, yes. Thank you." Her feet shuffled in place nervously and she looked around again, looking a little lost.
Craftsman Fahru. That was one he hadn't heard before. Fahru set the basket and the jug down, pouring cups of the earthy, minty lemonade for each of them. Then he took his seat, sighing as he relaxed into a chair actually made to hold his massive frame.
"There's really no need to be so reserved, Miss," he said in an almost fatherly tone to Lapis, giving her a wary smile as though she was a frightened animal that he was attempting to feed. "My home is open to most anyone."
He gave pause, and sighed while pinching the bridge of his nose. "I really must apologise though. I know that you are wary of me, and of the help I am offering. I can see it plain as I see my own hand. But I assure you, I have nothing but good intentions. And I am not here to force an issue one way or the other. I have helped hearts that were pining and ones that needed to be set free."
"Oh!" Great, she'd offended him. That was the last thing she'd intended. "Really, sir, that's not it, I..."
Lapis trailed off, floundering. Zahir looked up at her from his seat. The playful smirk had faded, his eyes cooler than usual, considering. Abruptly, he turned to Fahru.
"My mistress was not born a free woman, Craftsman," he said bluntly. Lapis jerked and gaped at him, blindsided.
What in all hells!? It wasn't like that was a secret, but--but she didn't exactly go around advertising it either! What the hells was he playing at?
Before she could start shouting at him, the djinn continued, "While I'm sure she appreciates your apologies, to be perfectly candid it is unlikely that anything but time and your continued unexpecting manner will do much to truly put her at ease. She is currently waiting for the other shoe to drop, so to speak. As it always has." That smirk again. "Though I'm sure it won't from you."
You...impossible...irreverent--arrogant--!
It then occurred to her, quite abruptly, that he was no longer lounging in his seat. His position hadn't changed, but the tension in his body was clear. And though he still smiled, his eyes were hard as he stared at Fahru.
That...that hadn't been a dig at her. He was warning the perfumer, he was...protecting her, in his own way. As he'd said he would.
Very flushed, Lapis glared at the floor, mute. She wasn't sure how she felt about that--either his protection itself or the way he went about it.
Zahir beamed and took a sip of the lemonade. "This is quite excellent, by the way. Do you truly make it yourself?"
Unlike Zahir's subtle change, Fahru's expression was dramatic and immediately noticeable. The dimples of his cheeks vanished as his smile fell and he looked between the two of them with pity in his eyes.
"I am... deeply sorry. Not just for your having to endure that, but for my presumptuous behaviour. Please, if you'll pardon me, I- I feel that I have done harm where my intention is always to heal. You may both eat and drink your fill and leave whenever you wish; I won't impose upon you any further."
Fahru stood up but hunched his shoulders, a tactic that he had learned long ago made him look much smaller, if also fatter, and less intimidating. He left his drink on the table and shuffled back towards his workshop in the back, to leave Lapis and Zahir alone and not disturb them further with his presence.
Oh for fuck’s sake!
“Really, Master Fahru, it’s alright—!” Lapis tried to assure him, so hasty that she didn’t even realized she’d slipped into the more formal tone of address. It didn’t matter, it was too late. Growling, she whirled on the djinn. “You see what happens when you can’t keep your mouth shut?!”
Zahir blinked at her laconically. “I was only telling him to mind his step with you, dear mistress.”
“You—ahg!” Lapis threw her hands in the air and whirled to follow the perfumer into his workshop. She was so angry that the potential impropriety didn’t even occur to her.
At least, not until she already had one foot inside the door, which was when she paused, feeling that flush start to come back to her cheeks. “I’m...ah, excuse me? Mast— sir? I—I really am sorry about Zahir. You haven’t don’t anything wrong, he’s just...protective, sometimes. Though honestly I question why—err, never mind, doesn’t matter. But really, I’m sorry we’ve intruded and he was so rude to you! I do believe you just wanted to help us, he can just be—“
She cut herself off, finally realizing that she’d been babbling.
Fahru was busying himself with nothing when Lapis came into his workshop alone to speak with him. He paused, sighing and rubbing at his eyes in something like weariness as he turned to regard her as she prattled nervously at him. Or at least it seemd nervous to him.
"Please, Miss. You have done nothing wrong. And neither has your Zahir. He, both of you are right to be skeptical. Wary. I have always... just done what I thought was right, what was needed of me. But I suppose I never stopped to think that some people simply might not want my help."
He paused, then sighed, unable to stop himself. "That man out there, regardless of your differences or arguing, does seem to genuinely care about you. At least from the small amount that I have already seen."
"He...I..."
Lapis trailed off with a sigh, looking away and chewing absently at her lower lip. "I'm afraid it's...not quite that simple," she murmured. Her arms came up to hug around her middle. "He--he sort of has to care about me, at least a little. It's in his own self-interest."
Goddess, this was weird. How much could she reveal before it was too much? How much did she want to? Because she realized quite abruptly that she did, perhaps surprisingly, want to talk about this. It had been so confusing, so aggravating, and she had no one to confide in except Zahir himself.
And that wasn't a proper option at all.
With a small sigh, she leaned back against the door frame and tipped her head back until her skull thumped gently against the wall. "I truly do appreciate that you want to help," she muttered. Then her lips twitched in almost the beginnings of a smile. "And...honestly in most any other circumstances I'd be quite interested in asking you about that thrumming you talked about. It sounds fascinating."
It had been so long since she'd actually, properly done her job that she'd almost forgotten that was what it was: seeking out new phenomena, new knowledge, and trying to understand it. And she did believe Fahru, for whatever reason. Zahir still seemed fairly convinced that the perfumer was a mad if relatively harmless busybody, but Lapis... She wasn't sure. It felt like there was something more here.
"All love is self interest in some way. I acted a fool for my wife because it made her laugh, and the sound of her laugh eased any stress I was feeling from work or my other responsibilities."
He smiled kind of... sadly, somehow, leaning back against the counter of his workshop. But Fahru sighed and collected himself, running a hand through his beard as he regained his composure. He looked over at Lapis, respectfully not looking directly at her so as not to make her unduly uncomfortable.
"I won't force you to talk to me. Not that I could anyway," he said with a kind of mirth. "But my home is always open to the both of you, if you need it. The thrumming in my chest, it... I like to think that my wife has become a Seytil, which is why my pull is almost always towards matters of the heart." He didn't often tell anyone that, as he was sure that some would consider it sacrilegious, saying that a human had become a messenger of Hakeshna.
"It's not love," Lapis responded automatically. "It's...self-preservation."
She listened as he spoke of his wife, her expression softening from that same tense if curious wariness to something...a little more just curious.
"...What was her name?" She couldn't remember if he'd actually said, before; Zahir had been rather distracting. Now that she had a moment to talk to the man alone though, she found herself wanting to just...know more about him. Why had he been drawn to them?
"Her name was Satrana. She was a singer, we were arranged when we were just thirteen. Our families were very close and so it only seemed proper. We spent the first several years actively trying to be as awful to one another as we could to try and get our parents to annul the betrothal. But one day I tripped and fell and she laughed. And oh that laugh. It made my heart melt. I wanted to hear it again. And when I stopped being awful to her, we actually got to know each other. There was no love at first sight, and we had to work constantly on ourselves. But..."
Fahru's smile deepened as he talked about his wife. He did love talking about her. But he realized that he was rambling now and he wiped at the corners of his eyes before the tears could form. "Apologies. Now I'm the one rambling. But, ah. You said self-preservation? That is a curious way to put it, I must say."
Lapis's heart melted a little bit. She tried to be the cool and detached scholar her master had taught her to be, she really did. But if she was honest with herself she knew in her heart she was a bit of a romantic, and they way Fahru spoke about his wife made her chest ache slightly.
"Oh. Er..."
Shit. She had said that, hadn't she? "It's, um...it's sort of complicated--it's a long story," she tried to excuse lamely, then winced. Yeah. That wasn't particularly convincing.
She glanced over her shoulder. Well. Zahir hadn't come to find her yet...
Looking back to Fahru, she frowned and said slowly, "We're sort of...involved in a...contract? And, um--I mean we're not together, it's not a proper arrangement or anything, we just--I know he flirts a lot but that's just because he likes to irritate me, ah--" She cut herself off and coughed, flushing. "Sorry. Doesn't matter. Anyway, we have this--this contract and it...protects him. Sort of. Allows him to live as he wants to. But in order to do that he has to...protect and...sort of...serve me? At least that's what he says."
It all came out in rather a rush, and she was actually a bit breathless when she finally stopped, unsure if anything she'd said made any sense at all.
Fahru listened politely, not interrupting Lapis while she spoke. The way she talked, she had needed to get this off of her chest. Needed someone to confide in, but hadn't been able to. He had, maybe a bit, manipulated that out of her, but not maliciously. He could apologize later. Fahru stroked his beard, considering what she said with a hint of concern on his face. All of this, it sounded supernatural. A Djinn, perhaps? He had heard the stories all his life, of Djinn making deals with humans.
Fahru finally spoke, after thinking about what he wanted to say to her. He kept his voice low however, so as not to draw any undue attention from Zahir.
"I suppose my first question would be then," he said, letting out a long breath and pulling out a rolled herbal cigar to light and puff on, "is what do you want, my dear? It's all well and good to help others, but if you aren't happy with the arrangement then making yourself live in misery for another's sake does you nor him any good. I don't want to tell you what to do, but I can see that you're under a lot of pressure from your situation, and it begs the question as to whether it is worth the trouble."
"Oh, well..."
That was a very good question. She had no idea what she wanted--for most of her life she'd never been allowed to want anything, and then almost as soon as she could she found herself stuck with an irritatingly flirtatious, ancient djinn.
Of course...he was also stuck with her. She realized with an abrupt pang that she didn't always give that part of it enough thought.
"I...do want to help him. I think," she finally admitted, slowly, as though she was working out the words even as she said them. "But it's...like I said, it's complicated. Even if we wanted to, neither of us knows how to break the contract. But I--" She hesitated, bit her lip, then continued, "I'm not sure this...the way we are now...I don't think it's good for either of us."
"If you cannot break the contract, then perhaps you can at least make the best of it? At the very least, I think it would be good for the two of you to be able to talk to one another as equals. And from there, who knows what kinship you might find together, eh?"
Fahru nodded slowly, smiling at Lapis and moving very cautiously over to her. He bent a bit lower, closing the gap as much as he could between their heights. "Miss, may I hug you? I promise not to hurt you in any way, I just feel like we've connected in a way."
Opening her mouth to reply, Lapis found herself suddenly instead giving an actual squeak as she stared up at him, wide eyed--though it was really more from surprise than anything else.
Most people in Essyrn didn't want to touch her when they learned she'd been born into slavery.
"Oh, well, ah...s-sure?" A little hesitantly, she shuffled a step closer and started to raise her arms. Goddess, she felt awkward. She wasn't used to things like this, or people like Fahru, for that matter.
And he'd given her a lot to think about. Equals, hm? What did that mean, for them? Zahir would always be the more powerful of the two of them, just by nature of what he was. But...his contract, his link to life and living it, was through her. Did that...how did that change the balance between them?
It wasn't like she'd never thought about it before, but honestly it was an idea she typically shied away from.
Which left her standing before him feeling small and awkward, a thousand questions spinning behind her eyes as she looked up at him as though he might somehow be able to give her answers.
The difference in size between them left Fahru's hug very much like one a father would give to his child as he crouched down to embrace Lapis for a few seconds. He stood back up, satisfied with this and stepped back to give her some space.
"There's still lemonade and babka out there if you would like some. We may want to get back anyway; Zahir might think something unbecoming if we're gone too long." Giving Lapis a cheeky, joking smile, Fahru moved over and pushed the door open so that she could head back into his house proper and out of his workshop.
The hug was...nice. She couldn't actually remember the last time someone had held her--and certainly never like this, like a parent or favorite uncle.
It was just nice.
she stepped back quickly, still feeling awkward despite admitting to herself that she actually rather liked it. She did summon up a smile for him though, nodding slightly. "That is probably a good idea, yes," she chuckled as she ducked back through the doorway.
Zahir was lounging in the seat where she'd left him, evidently entirely unconcerned with where she and Fahru had been. Lapis rolled her eyes as she approached, then froze when he wordlessly handed her a glass of lemonade. "Oh. Um, thanks. What--?"
Have you satisfied your curiosity, dear mistress?
His voice was a sharp, cutting hiss in her mind. She winced, then flashed a quick, startled look at their host, hoping he hadn't noticed. Glaring at the djinn, she lowered her voice and hissed back, "What in all hells has gotten into you all of the sudden?"
Fahru watched the exchange, not oblivious to the tension between the two but absolutely looking like he was. He sat back into his chair with a contented groan and took a slice of babka to accompany his now room temperature lemonade.
"I am sorry to have kept you waiting, Zahir. Though I must confess, I have to admit being correct in our earlier disagreement. Your lady here seems quite invested in you, enough to overcome her misgivings about me for your sake."
He took a long sip from his cup, mostly to hide the hint of a smug smile on his face. Setting it back down, he stroked his fingers back through his beard. Still pretending he didn't notice anything wrong. "But I am still a bit confused about the nature of your relationship. Maybe that is where we can start, yes? We have to know where we are starting before we can determine the best path to where we want to be."
Zahir stiffened slightly, though the only real sign of it was the faint jingling of the bangles that decorated his arms as his fingers curled into a tight fist for a brief moment. Almost instinctively, Lapis reached out and laid her hand on his shoulder for a moment, before she remembered herself and quickly snatched it back.
Her attention returned so quickly to her lemonade, cheeks warm, that she didn't see the djinn look to her for the gesture, didn't see the way his expression softened fractionally and he started to reach out as though to brush an errant braid back from her face—then dropped his hand back into his lap before the movement could even properly be seen.
Frowning, Zahir turned his attention back to the perfumer. "...How much did she tell you?"
Lapis almost choked on her drink, looking up at him with wide eyes. He was...actually entertaining this?
Huh. Perhaps there was some hope for them after all.
"Enough, but also not nearly enough," Fahru admitted, playing with one of his rings thoughtfully. "You are both very cautious about the nature of your relationship. I can understand. Not all pairings are seen as equal in the eyes of the general masses." He thought back to the Adelan men he had helped sort out their feelings and find a way to be together without earning the ire of their community. That had been a tough one, admittedly.
"But it is not my place to judge who one's heart pulls one to, or the nature of their relationships. My task is only to see that broken hearts get mended and that people can love themselves as well as others."
He smiled in mirror to Zahir's frown, and gave a small nod. "You seem wary of me, sir. Was it not you who said that only time and continued my continued unexpected manner would earn your trust? Then please, let me take the time to continue my unexpected manners."
Zahir snorted for that, but Lapis thought he was starting to seem more amused than irate, which was always a step in the right direction.
"Hearts don't exactly factor into it," he said bitingly, shooting a quick, narrow-eyed look at Lapis. The scholar ducked her head again, absorbed in her slice of babka. "When fate--or your goddess, as you might claim, I suppose--mandates that two paths cross, they cross. And when whatever that damned force is decides your paths will keep crossing, they do. Regardless of the will of your heart."
Lapis jerked her head up. That was...an odd way to put it. What was that supposed to mean?
Never mind. She could worry about it later. "Zahir." It was more sighed than spoken. "The fact is, we are stuck together, no matter what either of us wants. Isn't it worth listening just to try to figure out, well...how to coexist? Or at least not want to kill each other most of the time!"
The djinn blinked at her. "I don't want to kill you most of the time."
She blinked back. His tone was surprisingly flat and even. "Er--"
He smirked. "Maybe about half."
She closed her eyes and bit back a sharp retort. Aaaaannnd, there it is.
Fahru sighed and shook his head, then smiled and laughed a bit.
"You two say you're not together, but you do actually bicker playfully like a married couple." He turned and focused on Zahir, his eyes closing briefly. "I understand that you are not a believer. That is fine. Your wording is interesting however..."
Steepling his fingers, he leaned his elbows onto the table and looked between them. "If you are willing, I would like to hear your story. As much as you can remember and are comfortable with sharing."
Lapis flushed for his description of their banter and instinctively muttered a defensive, "I'm not sure there's enough affection for it to be considered such."
Zahir laid a hand on his heart and shot her that kicked-puppy look that he was bizarrely good at--really, for a man who dressed the way he did, he should not be able to pull that off so well. "My dear mistress, you wound me. Cut me to the core."
He sobered quickly, snapping from lazy teasing to an intense wariness as his gaze fixed once more on Fahru's face. "Our story? Or just mine?" His voice was still an easy, bored drawl, but his eyes had sharpened again.
Lapis stared at him. That was a very good question; not even she knew as much about Zahir as she would like. If this was her chance to learn more--hells' bells, it was strange, but she'd take it.
"As I said, as much as you are comfortable telling. I find that knowing where we started and where we have been are good ways to find ourselves on the map of life. And once you know where you are on the map, you can better know where you should be going."
Looking at his guests, Fahru hummed softly and glanced at the babka and lemonade. He stood up slowly, "We might need something a bit stronger than lemonade. I'll put on some tea. Strong herbs, good for clearing the sinuses."
"But please, just begin wherever you please. Don't mind me while I work," he said as he grabbed a kettle and some dried herbs to hang on the hook above his hearth.
Zahir stared at him for a long, quiet moment. He was thinking.
Then, in a quick, abrupt movement that actually startled her a little, he snapped his eyes back to Lapis and gave her a definitive sort of jerk of his head.
"Show him."
She blinked. Then she realized what he meant. "What--wait...really?"
He snorted and rolled his eyes, but just gave her another sharp nod rather than a cutting remark.
Lapis eyed him a little warily, then shrugged and reached into the front of her tunic to pull out the amulet that she had been wearing now for the better part of a year.
It was simple enough, a finely cut blue stone set in gold on a gilded chain, and clearly very old. Very very old, though still somehow shimmering gently in the light. Carefully, Lapis lifted the chain from around her neck and placed the amulet on the table.
"That," Zahir muttered, casting a poisonous glance at the piece of jewelry, "is the source of our contract. Does that mean anything to you? Any particular thrummings?"
"Zahir," Lapis protested quietly, but she honestly wasn't sure if he was trying to antagonize Fahru or if the question was genuine.
Fahru watched the exchange, noting the hesitation and the resignation in each of them in turn, the slight apprehension that they both had. This was a sensitive subject for the both of them, perhaps as or even more sensitive than Lapis' own former slave status. Or, he at least assumed she used to be a slave.
Pursing his lips, Fahru left the tea to simmer as he went over to inspect the amulet more closely. "May I?" he asked, holding out his hand to the necklace tentatively. If Zahir was being glib when he asked about any thrumming in Fahru's chest, he had no idea. The larger man put his hand over his heart, right up against the skin under his shirt.
"Yes, I do in fact. It's quite strong. And if this old thing is what I think it is, it does at least confirm my earlier assumption. Zahir, my dear boy. I hate to ask, because I know the connotations that it generates. But are you, in fact, a Djinn?"
Zahir stiffened, but nodded his acquiescence when Fahru reached for the ancient necklace. Lapis watched the exchange warily, ready to jump in if either the perfumer made an unexpected move or Zahir suddenly decided this was a terrible idea after all.
She was not expecting Fahru's question, and nearly choked on what she'd been attempting to pass off as a casual sip of lemonade. Are we really that obvious?
That was disconcerting.
To her surprise, Zahir did not react nearly so strongly. He just gave the larger man a tight smile and a brief, sharp incline of his head. "Well done, Craftsman Fahru."
Lapis swallowed thickly, eyes darting about in instinctive wariness. Then she focused on Fahru again, a little wide eyed. "That doesn't...bother you?"
The stories about djinn were many, and wildly varied. Some claimed they were spirits of desert fire, forces of cunning and destruction. Some said they were minor gods, or touched by gods, to keep humanity on a guiding path. Others said they were simply devils, given human guise to better corrupt the well-intentioned with seemingly guileless wishes--wishes that always turned sour.
"How I feel about your being a Djinn is not really relevant to the situation, now is it? I offered my assistance to you both, my heart is thrumming with the will of Hakeshna. That is all I need to know or concern myself with."
Fahru spoke so matter of fact as he picked up the pendant and turned it over in his hands. It did create a strange rhythm in the thrumming, making it feel more like the strings of a harp attempting to mimic a heartbeat.
"I don't know what this is, but it is clearly important to your problem. Obviously you both knew this. I can't say I know much about magic or the Djinn firsthand. Mostly just what I hear from the religious authority. Tell me, how did you two come to be bound together by this necklace?"
Another glance was exchanged between the djinn and his mistress, a silent, near instantaneous conversation. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Lapis wondered if she should be concerned that she didn't need to actually hear his voice in her head to know what he was thinking.
Slowly, she released a breath and looked up to Fahru. Both she and Zahir were visibly more tense while the perfumer held the pendant, but she was too timid to ask for it back and Zahir was either too proud, or didn't care as much as she'd thought.
"I am...I was an...apprentice, of sorts. To a scholar," she started slowly. "Back when...before I was a freewoman. When he died, he willed me my freedom, and all of his work. He w-wanted me to continue what he did--"
Zahir rolled his eyes. "He doesn't need your entire life story, ka-riin."
She flushed and glared at him. "Anyway." She looked back to Fahru, and all of the awkward fumbling had vanished in the wake of her irritation. Behind her back, Zahir's lips twitched in the ghost of a satisfied smile. "I did that, for a while. I traveled, and I learned. My main field of study is arcane artifacts. Like that." She nodded toward the pendant Fahru still held. "I didn't expect to find it. I stumbled across it in a sort of...antique shop, and I recognized that it was...old. Older than almost anything I'd come across before."
Her eyes narrowed slightly as she chewed absently at her bottom lip. "I've never had any gift for magic myself, but I've trained nearly all my life to recognize the arcane. I still don't know what that thing is, exactly, but, well..."
"She decided to play with it."
"Experiment!" Lapis protested with another glare at him. Zahir smiled innocently. With a huff, the young scholar shrugged angrily and gestured toward the pendant again, then her smirking companion. "And, well...he happened. I don't--I still don't know how. If he does, he's not telling."
Zahir lounged a little more pointedly in his seat, head cocked and one eyebrow quirked. "How much do you know about djinn, exactly, Craftsman Fahru?" he asked as Lapis fell quiet.
"I know what everyone knows," Fahru admitted after listening to Lapis' story. She had lived a very long life despite her youth, and it saddened him a bit as it always did when he heard of or saw people in chains. He set the pendant back down onto the table and returned to his seat and his tea.
"That is to say, not much concrete. Everyone hears the stories of temptation, of destruction, but also the ones of wishes and mutual aid. But regardless of what I have heard and what I have read, I decided a long time ago that my first instinct should be to reserve judgement until I know more. After all, most would regard the scorpion and the viper as an evil upon the world. Yet their venom, when properly treated, create wonderful medicines and perfume binders."
He wasn't sure what to make of all of this. It was by far the furthest out of his comfort zone any pull of his heart had taken him. And so close to home too. Strange how that worked. "If I may however. I think that the two of you have grown complacent in what you both clearly consider a bad situation. Neither of you seems to truly want to be together, but you are stuck with one another. And to that end..."
Fahru's gaze fell onto Zahir, his face turning into a stony, paternal expression. The kind that he often used to guilt those who tried to cheat him into being honest with their dealings. He had no illusion that it would work on a Djinn, but it was his automatic response and so he defaulted to it.
"Do you know more than you are telling your companion? Why would you keep parts of your nature from her, when you so clearly would like to be rid of her? Could being honest not help achieve that goal?"
Every inch of Zahir's body had grown gradually sharper, harder as he listened to Fahru speak. Lapis didn't even think it was anger, or his pride, not really. It was...wariness. The kind of tension held in a hunted animal.
Which was more than a little surprising. And confusing. She had always seen the djinn play the lion, never the gazelle he chased.
She almost shrank back herself under the perfumer's suddenly stony gaze, and was only save from doing so because that look was not directed at her, but rather her companion. She watched, wide-eyed, unable to say anything--and what would she have said, really? Nothing Fahru had said about their complacency seemed wrong.
"...It would hurt her."
She jerked as though Zahir's words had physically struck her, and without thinking yelped, "What?"
But the djinn wasn't looking at her. He hadn't moved from his carelessly sprawled pose in the chair, but his jaw was tight as he fixed his eyes on Fahru's face. "Djinn...we are bound. By contract, by blood, by magic, by all three at once. Even the worst of us, who seek to destroy, may only do so through careful plotting, countless tiny loopholes in their agreements to exploit." He shrugged, and for a moment seemed as though he wanted to look away, but then drew in a breath and held his gaze. "My contract forbids my from harming the one who holds it. And the truth would hurt her."
Lapis gaped openly. Zahir still wouldn't look at her.
"We serve. Badly sometimes, dangerously even, but we are servants. Nothing more. And...if the truth...were that I did not want to leave her service...for reasons even I cannot fully understand..." He spoke so slowly, carefully, refusing to look at Lapis--and she realized he was doing exactly what he said. Working around the contract. He wasn't telling her a truth that could hurt her.
What does he mean by that...?
"If it were true that she has been...a rare spot of compassion in a long, long life, I still could not tell her. Because even service to a kind master is service coerced through contract, and that is--"
"Slavery."
Lapis felt a yawning pit open in her stomach. She covered her face with her hands and bowed forward as the realization struck her. And oh, he was right. It did hurt. And it hurt worse for being obvious, if she gave it more than a passing thought. More than a moment of frustrated pondering.
Because if she had known, if she had understood, she would have done anything to free him. And...that was not what he wanted. He would never be free, not really, merely left to waste away in a magic amulet until the next master picked it up. And who knew if that person would be kind.
Zahir was still not looking at her, all the easy, sloping grace of his body hardened into broken edges sharp enough to cut. "So yes, Craftsman Fahru. Honesty would make things clear. But to understand would bring her pain, and so I could not speak the words unless to one who understood what I am, and who asked...even knowing that should she hear, it would hurt."
Finally, he looked to her, though she could not see it. She was huddled in the chair, still covering her face, shoulders shaking as she clearly fought back sobs. His expression softened, just a bit. "And even if my contract did not bind me...that was never something I wished for her."
Fahru was quick to stand back up, walking around the table and reaching out with his massive arms to pick both Lapis and Zahir up in a big, fatherly hug. He didn't ask to do this despite his earlier insistence on their comfort above all else, because like Lapis he was absolutely overcome with emotion at the story he was hearing. His eyes watered endlessly as he embraced the two of them, pulling them close to his perfumed beard.
"Don't talk," he whispered to them, closing his eyes. His grip was firm enough to hold them close but loose enough that if they wanted, they could easily break out. "These feelings - the pain, they are good. Catharsis, a philosopher once told me, can only come through a cascade of emotion. Don't fight it. Cry if you must. That is why we are here."
The second he was pulled from the chair, Zahir vanished in a slight golden shimmer and brief puff of saffron-scented air. He reappeared almost instantaneously just a few steps away, scowling and twitching like a horse trying to rid itself of a fly.
Lapis, for her part, tried valiantly to dry her eyes--subtlety was a bit of a lost cause, as she was pressed into Fahru's chest, but she did her best to keep her face averted as she swiped at the tears.
The hug was nice. She almost didn't want it to be, she really didn't feel like she deserved it after what she'd just learned, but it was. She sniffed and allowed herself to lean into the perfumer a bit. She couldn't look at Zahir.
"So." The djinn folded his arms. He was still tense, glowering, but he didn't try to rebuke Fahru. "Now you know. I'm sorry for any discomfort it may cause you, but there is really nothing else to be done for us. Perhaps your...divine gift...sensed our turmoil, but it is not something that can really be fixed." He glanced away, scowl deepening, and muttered, "As I should have known."
Lapis managed to pull herself together enough to protest, "Zahir, we can't--there has to be something!" Her voice was still thick with tears. "I won't--I can't--"
The djinn stared at her, expressionless. Her voice died in her throat and she quelled under his gaze, ducking her head again.
Fahru wanted to laugh, to make a comment about how Zahir's response to the hug was like a cat being given a bath. But Lapis needed the comfort of both his arms, so he hugged the girl tight until she was ready to be let go. When that immediate task was done, he turned his attention back to the djinn.
"I wouldn't say that. I have never met a problem that I couldn't solve with enough time and ingenuity. And cooperation from the people involved," he added with a sly look between the two of them. Fahru wiped the stray tears from his eyes, drying his hands on his silks before pulling his pipe back out to smoke.
"I have opinions, of course. But they are just my opinions and I don't think either of you are keen on the first thought that pops into my brain. Still..." he said with a puff, letting a small cloud of fragrant smoke billow and disperse around his head. "I think that you might be looking at this the wrong way. You seem to think that the only solution would be to break the magic that binds you. And that may be true in the strictest sense. But what is it that Hakeshna teaches?"
Fahru waited for a moment, not really expecting an answer from either of them. "They teach us that we all have our place in the world. That fate, for whatever reason, puts us where it means us to be. Tell me Zahir, tell me. Are you happy, being in the service of your young miss? Does it make you glad to be with her, even under the circumstances?"
"I—"
The djinn stopped, frowning. His lips drew into a tight line, and Lapis winced a bit as she pulled back from Fahru and tried to swipe at her eyes in an attempt to pull herself back together. Gods, that was embarrassing.
She didn't exactly have the attention to dwell on the embarrassment though, as Zahir was just sort of...looking at her. Not quite glaring, but almost.
She shivered under the strange, sudden intensity of that look, flicking her eyes around the room—anywhere but at his.
"...Happy," Zahir finally said, slowly, "is perhaps not the word I would use. Happiness requires freedom...But as that is not a phenomenon within my grasp, I would say I am...content enough."
Lapis jerked a bit, staring at him in turn now. What? He was—well he certainly never acted like it!
And no matter what he said, she heard what was unsaid as well; he didn't think freedom was a possibility, and so had settled for—for not awful. For a relatively compassionate master, even if she had been ignorant of her true role in their contract.