Mark of the Djinn: A Young Adult Urban Fantasy Romance by Shiulie Ghosh

Author:Shiulie Ghosh [Ghosh, Shiulie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aero Productions
Published: 2020-08-31T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty

He was gone when I woke up. I hastily pulled on my combat trousers and boots, and went downstairs for breakfast.

Dhav raised an eyebrow as I came in.

“Finally. I thought you’d be snoring until midday.”

“Snoring?” I was indignant. “I don’t snore.”

“No, actually, you don’t. You do talk in your sleep though.” He looked at me appraisingly, and I wondered uncomfortably what I’d said. Hopefully nothing about him.

“So we’ll go see the cairn-witch today, then?” I said, trying to change the subject. Dhav nodded.

“Kiran knows where she lives. She’s very excited about going to see her. Apparently the cairn-witch makes all kinds of natural, herb-based potions and our little sprite is fascinated by that.”

“Really? Well, I guess that’s only to be expected. Kiran doesn’t know any other magical people, aside from me. Her cousins are great and everything, but I supposed she feels a bit different from them.”

“Isn’t being with family enough?”

“Sometimes, no.”

I thought back to my childhood. If gran hadn’t been there to take me in, I don’t know how I would have turned out.

Never seeing anyone else like me, never being able to talk about it with someone who understood – that would have been hard. I totally understood Kiran’s excitement.

We retrieved the bag of diamonds and gave Maeva and Deelan their cut. Disappointingly, Dhav firmly shook his head when I held out my hand.

“What good’s a diamond out here?” he said reprovingly. “You think too much about money.”

“Says the prince.”

“Don’t be petulant. I promised you sapphires, didn’t I? You’ll be rich when we get back to Ashfahaan. And since that’s all you care about, that should make you very happy.”

His tone was cutting, and I was stung into silence.

Kiran looked from one to the other of us.

“Do you two need a minute?” she ventured. I stood up jerkily, more hurt than I cared to let on.

“No. Let’s go.”

The cairn-witch lived out beyond Maeltor, where the forest grew. The desert seemed a distant memory as we entered the dark woodland. Sounds dropped away as trees and shrubs cocooned us.

It was like no forest I’d ever been in. The atmosphere was creepy. Dark shapes slunk among the trees, and I felt like we were being watched.

Once or twice I span round, convinced someone was behind us. There was never anyone there.

Strange hooting noises filtered down to us from the trees. I peered up but in the dense foliage, it was impossible to tell if they were coming from large birds or small monkeys.

Here and there, large purple flowers bloomed, their heads swaying even though there was no wind. I went over to see what they smelled like, and Kiran grabbed my arm.

“Don’t touch that, it’s hellebris. Its pollen puts you to sleep.”

“What about that one?” I asked, pointing to a small blue blossom.

“That one’s okay. Except for its leaves.” I withdrew the hand I’d been stretching towards it. “What’s wrong with the leaves?”

“They’re poisonous. Unless you boil them with nutmeg and bergamot. Then they make a lovely tincture that cures headaches.

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