Oh, well.
If she’d known birthday kidnapping was on the table, she would have traded carefully hoarded favours years ago. Or at least sooner than now. Father Vinnie had donated the restorative sleep, and Luc had helped with getting them to the Lighthouse to meet up with the ship. They’d made the travel to the High Umbra before Jay was any the wiser and of course there was that half an hour or so of murderous threats made at Beth, some of which were particularly creative and would have bothered her if Jay weren’t her sibling from another cribling or however that phrase goes.
She was pretty sure that any real protest died away when they came up on the fabled Djinn domain, and the City of Brass gleamed out over the barge’s deck.
Beth reminded her to wear the enchanted amulet to be able to survive the heat that radiated from the copper and brass streets. Reminded her of the rules such as no guest may kill or seek to harm his host, and those guests to the City should bring a gift for their host. And whatever else is said… The Caliph’s word is absolute.
And why bring her into the Invisible Worlds and this place, dangerous to magi? Because here, being held to view for a few hours -even Beth cannot afford the price asked for purchase- are fragments of the tablets of Ma'at. And enchanted papyri that she might make a copy of the ancient relic.
And a feast.
And a cake.
But really, it’s the fragments that Beth thinks will be the stunner here.
“Before we settle into our quarters,” she murmurs, “you gotta promise me you’ll nevah mention dis to Tall, Dark, and Batini.”
Belated Answering Birthday things for Jayden.
The sleep was the fourth best present that she had gotten. The third was the ship, and the fact that Luc and the Good Father had a hand in helping Beth. She was overjoyed, after getting over being upset about the tiny betrayal from Beth and the rest of the Cabal. That burst of negative emotions only lasted about three whole seconds. The rest of the time was because she had appearances to keep up.
The second best thing was the enchanting view of a place notoriously for being a danger to the lifespan of people similar to themselves. The glittering streets, the wealth of life steeped in in Magic. The vast array of various shades of Reds, Oranges, Yellows, and Golds. Even the waters, or what looked like water, shimmered with the similar hues. Hand to heart, thumb caressing the protective warded amulet while breath caught in Jay’s chest. The sight alone would have been the height of a gift.
Rules were shared, Jayden for once, on her extreme best behaviour so against how she usually presented herself. The feast was one that authors could only dream to describe. The cake, a more human touch that made Jay cling to Beth’s thin arm in affection.
Those alone were something so cherished that Jayden may have actually cried for a minute or two without shame. This embrace came with possible accidental crushing force. Jay’s face bent to hide the glossiness of her eyes, a hiccuped breath to regain control over herself that drew in a faint salty ocean breeze even in a place like this. A kiss pressed to the older woman’s temple. Time would have to be taken to carefully transcribe what she was allowed. But all of it was priceless when compared to the thoughtfulness of Beth.
“Tell him what? I’m deaf and you don’t speak English, remember?” It was a joke carried over a decade of getting out of trouble both made up and sometimes, rarely very real.
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