Shimmer (12 page)

Kora smiled to herself at the look on David's face. Humans were easy to impress. She quieted her mind. It didn't take a lot of magic to do it but it did require concentration. Luckily, although she had been only seven at the time, it was one of the most vivid memories from her childhood. It was the day she had performed her first royal duty and seen her first real human. And the memorable day had ended dramatically with the birth of her baby brother.

Her heart sang as an image of her father appeared. He was looking at her with such love in his eyes.

‘Is that your father, Kora?'

Her throat felt tight so she just nodded.

‘It's strange,' said David. ‘I can actually see he adores you.'

‘You are seeing a memory,' explained Amurru. ‘So you are seeing the emotions of that memory as well. Although you are also correct — the Emperor does adore her.'

Kora stared at her father on the screen. How well she remembered that day. It was the first time she had been out on official duty with her father, and she had been so proud. Her father was dressed in his formal red coat with the Genesian royal emblem embossed in gold on the front. Kora had also been wearing the royal emblem that day, embossed into the golden scarf that had held back her long, shiny hair.

It was a Genesian custom that every month her parents would travel together through the streets of the city on the royal flying carpet, waving to the people of Genesia, both to be seen and to see for themselves that all was well in their beloved city. This day her mother, who was heavily pregnant with Atym, had decided not to go, and her father had taken her along instead.

Kora sat on the front of the carpet, then snuggled back against her father's chest as they took off from the palace. It was an exhilarating way to travel.

Beside her David gasped as he watched the changing images on the screen. From the palace the carpet whizzed up and out over the rooftops. It was hard for her to imagine what it must be like for him, seeing Genesia for the first time. The glittering golden, domed rooftops glinting in the warm sunshine, and the immaculate paved streets below. The slim golden towers of the palace stretched far into the sky, reaching so high that puffy, white clouds were clustered around the tips. On the rooftop of the palace itself were stone figurines of tiny, winged demons that periodically sprang to life, travelling about the roof in fast little bursts shooting flaming arrows into the air.

Formidable stone walls surrounded the palace's extensive gardens, and sculptures of famous Genesians were carved into each pillar. At the entrance to the palace compound solid gold arches curved majestically over gleaming, polished wooden gates.

The blurring images on the screen slowed a little as the flying carpet soared down and along the city streets, just above the heads of the people. The roads were paved with red and yellow cobblestones, and filled with genies that shimmered in and out of view as they went about their business.

There were buildings lining the streets that drew the crowds, but unlike humans, Genesians had no need to shop. Most of the buildings were meeting places where genies gathered to socialise, eat and be entertained.

They had only zoomed down a few streets when a deafening alarm blared from the screen and genies appeared and disappeared in coloured mist like firecrackers.

‘The city alarm goes off when there is trouble at the gates,' said Amurru. ‘The Empress is showing you the first time we met Vennum.'

The image on the screen shimmered and dissolved, and in that moment they were no longer hovering in the bustling city streets. ‘We shimmered instantly to the city gates when the alarm sounded,' said Kora.

Stretching away on either side into the distance were the towering, solid silver walls that protected the city. Kora glanced at David. ‘That wall you can see surrounds the entire city, and is the edge of the Genesian Protection Zone. There is only one set of gates into the city, and this is it.' She waved her hand at the imposing barred gates that stood closed in front of them, preventing the small family on the other side from entering the city. ‘What you can see beyond those gates is the beginning of the Genesian wilderness.'

A cleared, barren strip of land stretched for several kilometres on the other side of the gates, beyond which the edge of the forest could be seen. Thick, black clouds were gathering in the sky and lay heavily over the forest. They spread darkly from the horizon to the city's edge where they banked up as if against an invisible barrier. In spite of the storm brewing all around, the vast circle of sky above the city remained a stunning azure blue, and the people in the streets below basked in the warm, golden sunshine.

Hundreds of guards in bright red coats stood in front of the city's barred gates. David pointed at the family standing outside the gates. ‘Who are they?'

A teenage boy stood close by a tall, dark-haired man. An unconscious woman lay in the man's arms.

‘The boy is Vennum. He is with his human mother, and his Genesian father, Scarvenn.'

Scarvenn dropped to one knee in front of the Emperor. ‘I beg of you, Emperor, to give permission for the Slaytians to save my dying wife. Their forest medicines are my last and only hope.'

The Emperor's face looked like it was carved from stone. ‘Already you have been banished from Genesia, and now you dare not only to return, but to also bring a human here. Both are crimes punishable by death.'

‘I have already suffered so much, and my family is all I have left.' Scarvenn glanced at his son. ‘We cannot live without her.'

‘Her death is inevitable.' The Emperor's voice was grave. ‘All human lives are short.'

‘If our friendship ever meant anything to you,' implored Scarvenn, ‘then you would make this one exception.'

The Emperor stood taller. ‘You dare to speak to me of friendship after you tried to trick the Imperial Empress into marrying you?'

‘Scarvenn wanted to marry Kora's mother many years ago,' whispered Amurru. ‘If he had succeeded he would be the Emperor of Genesia now.'

David frowned. ‘So Kora's mother is the Empress by birthright?'

The memories paused on the screen. ‘She is,' said Kora. ‘That is why she is called the Imperial Empress. But under Genesian law, once married both the husband and wife rule equally.'

Kora resumed the memory viewing.

Kora's heavily pregnant mother stepped into view and everyone looked towards her.

‘Imperial Empress,' said Scarvenn. ‘You have shown me great mercy in the past. I beg this one last request.'

Kora's mother hesitated, her wild hair shimmering around her as she contemplated the scene in front of her. And then the woman in Scarvenn's arms coughed. Blood trickled out of the corner of her mouth and her eyes fluttered open. She reached out a grasping hand for Vennum and he went to his mother, a terrified son watching his mother die. She looked weakly from Vennum to his father. ‘I love you both,' she coughed again. ‘So much.' She drew a last rasping breath and then fell limply back. The gold bands around Scarvenn's wrists and ankles that harnessed him to his human wife vanished. She was dead.

‘She was the first human I had ever seen,' said Kora quietly. ‘And then, still so young, she just died.'

The image on the screen continued. Vennum and his father were both looking down at the dead woman and then Scarvenn lifted his head and David shuddered. Tears streaked Scarvenn's face, but there was a torturous blaze in his eyes that was fearsome. ‘You have taken from me, denied me, everything I have ever wanted.' Slowly, purposefully, he looked at the Imperial Empress and then his eyes fell and lingered on Kora. ‘It will be your turn now, Emperor, to know loss and grief.'

Vennum glared resentfully through the gates and reached for his father. He put his arms around him and they both fell back in pain and shock.

Vennum clutched at the blistering purple burn on his arm and his father once again had glowing bands at his wrists and ankles. Everybody was dumbfounded, and then Vennum and his parents simply vanished.

‘A half-human, half-genie cannot harness,' spoke Rihando, in disbelief.

‘Well, this one can.' The Emperor raked a hand across his face. ‘Take an army, Rihando.' The Emperor hesitated for a moment, and looked at his wife and then at Kora. ‘Kill Scarvenn for his treason and banish his half-blood child from Genesia.'

Rihando bowed his head to his Emperor and then he, too, vanished.

The screen went blank and with a wave of Kora's hand it disappeared.

‘So what happened to Scarvenn?' asked David. ‘Was he killed?'

‘We do not know. No one has ever reported killing him but he has never been seen again, either.' She shrugged. ‘I guess he either died or Vennum wished him unharnessed.'

‘And now Vennum wants the revenge that his father promised,' said David.

‘It is more than a want.' Amurru spoke quietly. ‘It has become his life's obsession to watch all of Genesia suffer the way that he has.'

‘He was just a kid,' said David. ‘Not much older than us, and now … he is a madman.'

Kora stiffened. ‘He is insane,' she said. ‘And he becomes more evil with every passing day.'

‘Watching that memory of you with your father, I can see how much he loves you.' David sighed. ‘And yet he sent you here to Earth.'

‘I know that my parents and the High Council were just trying to protect me, but I would have given anything to stay at home on Genesia.'

‘It is not all bad, Empress,' wheezed Amurru. ‘And you would have had to come to Earth in two years' time anyway for your Earth duty.'

David rubbed a hand across his chin. ‘I don't suppose any genie ever wants to come to Earth.'

‘No, not the royal genies and certainly not the banished ones.'

‘So all royal genies are sent to Earth?'

‘The High Council of Genesia usually sends us in our sixteenth year. They believe that we must first learn how to serve to learn how to rule.' She sighed. ‘It is a lesson they like to see learnt young and learnt well.'

‘What about the other genies that are banished here?'

‘They are our worst criminals, who have been sentenced to death,' said Kora, ‘but if the Emperor intervenes to grant them mercy, they can instead be banished to Earth for the remainder of their lives. That is the reason so many genies are described as mean and evil in your old stories and legends.' She shrugged. ‘They are criminals.'

‘So Scarvenn was a criminal?'

‘Yes. He went to the Slaytians to ask them to use their mind power to influence my mother. It is a most serious crime to negotiate with a Slaytian without royal approval, but to be caught attempting to have a Slaytian influence the thoughts of an Imperial Empress, that is treason.'

David let out a long breath. ‘Sounds like Vennum's father was power hungry.'

Kora nodded. ‘And when he brought his human wife to the Genesian gates he broke a second law. No genie is allowed to bring a human to Genesia.'

David rubbed the burn on his arm. ‘I feel sorry for any poor human that harnesses an evil genie.'

‘Understand, David,' said Amurru, ‘that you always have your own free will. And that just as evil thoughts lead to evil deeds, noble thoughts lead to noble deeds.'

‘Or in Vennum's case,' said Kora, ‘vengeful thoughts lead to vengeful deeds.'

‘Let us hope, then, that he does not manage to harness you, Empress.' Amurru's round eyes blinked slowly at them. ‘Or Vennum will indeed get his revenge and Genesia as we know it … will be gone.'

‘Why is Marcia taking so long to leave for work this morning,' Kora snarled. Rodney always left home at first light, but Marcia didn't start work until 9.00 am.

Amurru sat quietly in his chair. ‘David's mother is not leaving any later than usual, Empress,' he croaked. ‘It is only your impatience that makes it seem so.'

‘But we have much to do today, Amurru. And I have had an idea that I need to discuss with both you and David. That is, if his mother ever leaves us alone.'

Amurru smiled at her, about to reply. But then he stopped to listen, hearing something that Kora could not. His ears twitched and swivelled toward the bedroom door.

She waited, listening for a moment, until she could hear what Amurru's sharp ears had already picked up. David's mother was heading down the passage to his bedroom. That was unusual. Normally she simply called out a quick goodbye as she raced out the front door in a flap.

Kora and Amurru turned to look out of the globe. David sat on his bed, listening to his iPod. He seemed relaxed but Kora could tell that he was just as eager for his mother to leave as she was. His brow was furrowed and the fingers of one hand drummed restlessly against his knee.

He glanced up in surprise when his mother appeared in the doorway. He yanked the earphones out of his ears. ‘Mum. What's up?'

‘I'm just heading off to work.' She smiled uncertainly at him.

Kora laughed. ‘I wonder what bombshell she is going to drop this time!'

Amurru barked out his strange, coughing laugh and nodded. ‘Something that will not please David, it seems.'

David waited for his mother to continue. ‘There's something I wanted to discuss with you before I go.'

‘Okay,' he replied, his voice wary.

Marcia wrung her hands together nervously then blurted out her news. ‘Tyra will be coming to stay with us for the rest of the summer holidays.'

David sprang to his feet to object, but Marcia put her hands up to silence him. ‘I know what you're going to say, David, but Tyra is Rodney's daughter and as such is welcome here anytime.'

‘But why, Mum?' He shook his head in disbelief. ‘She lives with her mother!'

‘Tyra's grandmother is very ill. Her mother has to travel to Europe for a couple of months to care for her.'