"Close the door," Shay said quickly as she beckoned Maeve into the room.
Maeve swiftly shut the door behind her and hurried over to the witch, stealing a quick glance around the massive suite as she did so. The walls were covered in small mosaic tiles of deep clay colours, rich reds and forest greens that formed intricate, geometric patterns. Larger gold patterns criss crossed the ceiling and wound there way down the columns of the archways that led out out onto a wide balcony that overlooked the palace grounds and the city beyond. The polished wood floor was covered in thick, tasseled rugs with bold geometric designs and large terracotta pots containing broad ferns and sprigs of blue wisteria were dotted about the room. There was a central sitting area with three low sofas arranged in a 'u' shape to face the balcony, a beautiful carved mahogany desk upon which sat a chessboard made from polished ivory, and at the far end of the room there was a vast bed set beneath an ornate frame of painted wood and stylised gold leaf. Silk curtains in deep, rust orange hung over the crisp linen sheets of the bed and over the archways of the balcony, their hems stirring in the breeze created by the fans that cooled the enormous room. If this was what Shay's room was like, Maeve could only wonder at how incredible Sheik Junda's room must have been.
Shay led Maeve to the edge of the bed and sat down beside her. Her eyes travelled over Maeve's body, admiring the gold chains that were draped across her breasts and the wisps of sheer cloth that hung from her golden waist chain.
"You look beautiful," she said softly.
Maeve smiled appreciatively as she looked at the witch. The touch of the Mutes as they'd massaged the oils and glitter into her body had left her feeling more than a little frustrated and she wanted nothing more than for Shay to take her then and there, but she needed to tell her what she had seen first.
"I overheard the Sheik arguing with someone," she said. "They told him that he has been away from the city for too long and that he has not seen the problems that they have. It... It seemed like they were challenging his rulership, or at least implying that somebody else was."
"Did you see who he was talking to?" Shay asked.
Maeve shook her head. "Fazah hid me from them. But there was a man and a woman and they both called the Sheik 'uncle'."
Shay was silent for a moment, her expression one of deep thought. "Khatya and Rhan," she said eventually. "They are the Sheik's niece and nephew. Their parents were killed by a rival city not long after they were born, so Junda raised them himself."
"You know them?"
"They were still children when I was last here," she said. "Junda believed that they both showed signs of magical talent and asked me to train them. Part of the reason why I left was because I refused to do so."
"Why?"
Shay pursed her lips thoughtfully. "They were unpleasant children," she explained slowly. "They were cruel and vindictive and would constantly terrorise the palace staff. Junda did his best to teach them right from wrong... But some people are just rotten to their core. I feared what they would become if they were trained to use magic as well."
"Do you think someone else trained them?" Maeve asked.
Shay shrugged. "I don't know," she said. "Magic is rarer in Arridian blood and highly prized. Junda understood why I refused to train the twins... But I doubt it would have stopped him looking for someone else to do the job."
Maeve considered this as Shay stood and began to pace up and down in front of the bed. "You said you wanted to tell me something too?" she prompted.
The witch turned to her, her brow furrowed in a mixture of thought and concern. "Junda is worried," she said. "He told me in the carriage that strange things are happening all over the city. People are vanishing. And on the way to the palace I thought I saw..."
"What?" Maeve said softly as the witch trailed off.
Shay ground her teeth as she resumed her pacing. "It was difficult to see," she muttered. "There were so many damn people... But I thought I saw the mark of a Djinn."
"A Djinn?" Maeve repeated.
"They are an old Arridian legend," Shay explained. "Some believe they are daemons, others think that they are the spirits of the first people who walked the desert. They speak in riddles and half-truths and are believed to have the power to grant wishes to anyone who can capture them."
"Are they dangerous?" Maeve asked uncertainly.
"That rather depends on who their master is," Shay said grimly. "Djinn are neither good nor evil, but the magic that they are said to possess is virtually limitless."
"But they are only a legend?"
Shay laughed dryly as she looked at her. "In some cultures, witches are only legends. And did you not think the Fae were only a myth as well?"
Maeve chewed her tongue as she mulled this over. Shay had a good point. She had already seen so much that she would never have thought was true to begin doubting myths and legends now.
"Do you think the twins might be involved?" she asked eventually.
"It takes an incredibly cunning person to capture a Djinn," the witch said carefully. "The Katya and Rhan that I knew would not have been that powerful. But if they have been trained..."
"What do we do?" Maeve asked.
Shay was silent for several minutes. "We need to get out of here as soon as we can," she said.
Mave blinked in surprise. "What about the city? What about Junda?"
"Junda has an army to defend him."
