Magic Banquet by A.E. Marling

Author:A.E. Marling
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: dragons, food, disability, diversity, people of color
Publisher: A.E. Marling

Eighth Course, Part II:

Drinking Stars

These stars were brighter. They were closer and all around her. Not shining points but halos of brilliance that beamed outward in spokes. The nearest light came from the moon. The knife-edge crescent swerved around them as the carpet passed by. They left all sight of land behind to fly deeper into the night.

The stars had no blackness between them, only fainter lights of different colors. And Aja believed she was seeing clouds beyond the stars. Misty drifts of mahogany and pink pinched together in an hourglass shape. To her left, a teal spiral surrounded a sparkling center of crimson.

The empress sat up, gazing. “Look! A whirlpool of stars.”

“And there!” Aja pointed. “Like orange dye spilled on veils. What are they?”

“This,” the lord said, “I have never seen.”

Aja crawled to the front of the carpet. It was broad enough that she didn’t have to squeeze by anyone or lean too close to the shining plunge. She asked the djinn politely, “Auntie, will you tell us what those are? The star clouds.”

The djinn squinted at Aja as if considering whether or not to answer. Lifting the edge of the carpet, the djinn turned them in a new direction. Aja flailed her arms. Magic seeped out of the carpet to restore her balance. Not even a chalice fell.

“In your language,” the djinn said, “they’re called galaxies and nebulae.”

“And in yours?” Aja asked.

“We think of them as Celestial Sands and Star Beds.”

“Those are lovely names.”

The djinn banked the carpet left. “You asked for my name, before.”

“Oh,” Aja said. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

“Your mouth flaps couldn’t pronounce it,” the djinn said and nodded to the night lights, “but in spirit it’s Starlight on Dunes.”

“That’s your name?” Aja imagined a hill of sand grains glittering like diamond dust. “It’s beautiful.”

The djinn made a sound like a fire popping from a wet log. Maybe it wasn’t scorn. She raised her voice to speak to all the guests.

“I crafted your glasses to catch starlight. Hold them up to the flavor of light you most desire.”

Aja raised her glass in front of a nebula that looked like fog flowing around towers in the sunrise. The ice water now appeared to be milk. Specks of light chased each other along the rim of the glass. As Aja turned it, her drink seemed to thicken. Only when she lowered it below her chin could she be certain the liquid had changed.

The chunks of ice twinkled. The cloudy drink flowed around them with the consistency of pudding.

“Starlight on Dunes,” Aja said, “this must be your favorite drink.”

“I only drink the wind,” the djinn said, “and my favorite is breeze flavored with burning cedar forests.”

“The Chef didn’t mention this drink,” Aja said. He seemed to like to hint at danger. “Does that mean it can’t hurt us?”

The djinn didn’t answer. Flame patterns pulsed over her face.

“Can you tell me if this drink has ever hurt a guest before?”

“Sometimes the glasses catch the essence of a dark star.

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