"Sometimes you either have to buckle down to risk it all or give it up completely. There are no shortcuts or half-ass answers, there is only truth. You can either do it or you can't."

- Jamil

Chapter Five: Shirini Tar

Narrowed green eyes trailed along the tower from his place upon one of the sand dunes, the earlier sandstorm having dissipated as if had never been there. Yunan sighed laying his staff along his lap, feet kicking at the sand.

"I sure hope I'm reading this right," Yunan whispered, his knuckles turning white around his focus staff, "Please watch over this one, Solomon… I feel as if she will surprise us all."

"Why are you hiding?" Yaqut asked the bundled blanketed form of Shirin, a curious frown on his face.

"Scary… where did the sun go?" Came the sniffled reply, the blankets falling around the girl's shoulders as her little hands moved to grasp at Yaqut.

"Are you scared of the dark?" The teen questioned in confusion, his arms rising to take the girl into his arms, tightening his hold as she seemed to shrink into him.

"I can't see…"

"Well princess, count to ten and breathe… if nothing gets you then you're fine." Yaqut teased the girl lightly, "I'm here… Nothing would get you anyways."

"I… okay…" The toddler form of Shirin closed her eyes, ticking each number off with her fingers before letting out a woosh of breath. She sat half-cringed into Yaqut, before slowly relaxing. "Nothing happened."

"Because nothing is there." Yaqut replied, pinky finger thumping her tiny nose.

Shirin couldn't tell up from down in the dark cavern, the only reassurance that Jamil was near was her grip on him and the puffs of his breath against her neck. The room was eerily quiet besides the splash of water, too fast to be a leak and too calm to be anything but a fountain.

"I'm scared…" Jamil whispered, his body curling further against her as if he could hide himself the smaller he made himself.

"I'd lying if I didn't say me too." Shirin sighed before she began to take careful steps forward, nearing the rukh that were bright in the darkness, but they seemed to refuse to light the way.

"Truth is subjective, time is inconsistent, and life is never certain." A voice rumbled through the room causing the duo to flinch at the sudden sound, "Answer this strangers, what is a certainty that never arrives, spoken but never seen? That inspires hope but never arrives?"

"Shirin?" Jamil whispered as the girl thought, her eyes closed trying to think it out.

"I… Tomorrow?" She guessed, "It's certain that after today is tomorrow… yet it never comes… uh.. You feel hopeful for tomorrow and yet tomorrow doesn't arrive because then it'll be the day of or today."

"Tomorrow… indeed," The voice spoke, the last syllable being highlighted as torches lit around the room exposing two passageways with a fountain sitting between them.

"So… which way do we go?" Jamil asked and Shirin sighed, letting the boy down and taking his hand in her own.

"I don't know." She sighed as she moved forward examining the fountain, guessing it was another riddle. The fountain had a horse geared up with it's powerful front legs ready to strike at something, the water falling from its mane into the basin. She saw coins in the water and along the mouth of the basin was a set of archers set up on horses with arrows aimed towards the left. As she leaned back she could see rukh fluttering around the right entrance, and she did always trust them…

"Right?" She guessed glancing at Jamil.

"But the arrows are pointing left?" Jamil asked.

"But what if that means we pick left and it's an arrow trap?" She wondered aloud to him and Jamil shrunk into her side, "The horse is leaning to the right, too."

"I don't know… I think your just guessing…"

"When in doubt, go right?" She questioned with a smile, but as she glanced around the rukh she seemed more sure. Keeping Jamil pressed close to her body, she moved along with him into the right passage. As they did so, the entrance-way sealed itself, bathing them in only the light of rukh once more. She swallowed and carefully moved, having Jamil pressed against her made her feel better in case she had been wrong. However, the further they moved nothing seemed to happen until the passage opened into a room. Oil was lit on either side showcasing a mirror.

A small teen stood with long wavy sooty hair, her fringe fluffed up and over her left eye. A bruise was cupping her cheek, a harsh red mark was growing along her shoulder as her tunic fell open a bit unseemly as it showed off her collarbone and the beginnings of her growing chest. Her legs were bare though scraped in places. Little Jamil was pressed into her side, a golden eye peering out at them. His straight hair was flipping up in places, his clothes still in tact.

"I sit before you, as you can see. Gods never find me, kings rarely see me. What am I, strangers?" Shirin swallowed as the voice appeared once more, the hoarse wisp like baritone came from all around them.

Jamil glanced up at her in the mirror she still watched, her hand moving to smooth down some of his rebelling hair as she thought. Before her sat a mirror, viewing herself.

Gods never find what's in front of me, and kings rarely do…

"An equal…" She answered, half sure and half scared she was just reading into things.

"You are clever stranger," The voice wondered out, the grittiness of it unsettling, "Lets see if you continue to be so."

The fire along the oil path died out as more torches illuminated the room, the right and left passage being cast with shadows from the flickering flames.

"So right?" Jamil asked curious as his eyes roamed around.

"No… straight." She nodded even before noticing the rukh fluttering around the mirror.

"But there isn't a path going straight!" Jamil protested.

"I don't think that mirror is real Jamil." She pet his head and led him forward. Her palm moving closer to the mirror before sinking through its surface causing Jamil to squeak in surprise.

"Ho- what!"

"He said to continue, there are no more clues but the mirror… and we have three paths. One to the right, the other the left. If we keep going right, we'll end up going in a circle. And going left could lead us right back to the path the arrows pointed at." She led him through the mirror as she explained. She didn't have to glance back to know that the path had been blocked as the torch light didn't extend into the passageway. The rukh were fluttering around in a carefree away around them even in the darkness, so she continued on.

"You have such pretty hair, Ya…" She praised gazing up at her attendant who had been admiring the sky, his hair lit by the sun in hues of brilliant red, vermilion, and even some pink. His bemused face glanced down at her, a smile quirking his lips.

"It's the pride of the Fanalis." He boasted a bit, puffing his small chest out.

"Fanalis?" She sounded the word out, rolling it around on her tongue, "What's that?"

"It's me.. Or well my people." Yaqut explained, "Like how your mom was a Heliohapt but your dad is a pure Samarian… you see?"

"So you come from a place called Fanalis?"

"Well no… I come from Katrag.. It's north of the Reim empire."

"Isn't that where the dark continent is?"

"Don't say that!" Yaqut snapped, his face turning slightly feral at the slight against his home, knuckles turning white, "It's nothing like that… it's a bad name for my home… just because it's not as 'sophisticated' as the southern realm doesn't mean it should be stained with such a blight."

"I'm sorry…" Shirin forced out between a sob, voice cracking as tears gathered in her eyes. Yaqut seeing how she began to cry began to soften, his face more remorseful than the previous anger.

"No… I'm sorry… your tutor told you that right?" Yaqut whispered, rubbing the tears from her eyes gently, "I shouldn't have yelled…"

"You were scary…" Shirin whined, choking on a sob.

"I'd never hurt you… Shirin, never. On my pride as a fanalis I'd never hurt you." Yaqut vowed as he pulled the young girl close, cradling her as she sobbed quietly, "I'm sorry I scared you... "

"Stupid Ya…" Shirin choked out, hiding her face into his chest as his hand rubbed circles into her trembling back.

"Yeah… I'm pretty stupid sometimes…" He admitted pressing a kiss to the crown of her head.

"I want out of here!" Jamil screamed as the duo ran down long serpentine hallways, the rushing of a large boulder following after them.

"Then stop trying to answer the riddle before me!" Shirin snapped as she dragged him along by his wrist, her longer legs keeping her just slightly ahead of the boy. The chamber was shaking, dirt crumbling around them as the boulder wreaked havoc behind them.

"I thought I knew it!" Jamil wailed, before screaming as he raced out after her only to fall over an edge, his body swinging to the right over the chasm due to Shirin's hold on his wrist. The boulder shooting past them into the open ravine smashing into the wall before falling and rolling down a path into the darkness below.

"Don't cry Jamil…" Shirin grunted out as she pulled the boy up from the ledge landing him in her lap. She combed her fingers through the shuddering boy's hair, hiccups escaping past his clenched lips.

"I didn't mean to…" He garbled out between his hitching breaths, before he froze his face pressed into the older girl's chest. Her palm cradling his head as she hummed softly, comforting him.

"It's okay Jamil… You're not hurt right?" She asked pressing a kiss to his hair startling the tears from him. He sniffed and shook his head mutely, leaning against her almost bonelessly.

"Then it's okay… We're both okay…" She whispered into his hair, the hand moving to rub his back soothingly.

"I want my daddy…" He sniffled face crumbling, "I wanna go home…"

"Me too…" She sighed out, rubbing his back as she rested against the stone wall, "Me too- AIIIIIIIIIIII!"

The wall she pressed against fell inwards toppling the duo over backwards through a sliding path, both screaming as they plummeted down. Arrows shot over their heads, fire shot out at one point, and Jamil was curled over as they duo barely missed the traps that were set off around them. As they hit the end they both flew off, Shirin tucking Jamil into her chest before they landed.

Shirin's vision darkened in the corners, hazy as she finally rolled to a stop.

"Shirin?" Jamil asked staring at her with a paling face, "Shirin! SHIRIN!"

"Father?" A young Shirin called as she entered the office of her father, her eyes glancing at the desk to meet the dark carmine eyes, "I finished the tests…"

"Don't you know better than to walk in on the king?" A snooty woman asked, her green hair wrapped into an impossibly extravagant hair style, braids and coiled golden wire prominent throughout leading into the large funneled bun on her head. Stray fringe pieces set immaculately around her face, framing it like a portrait of beauty.

"I…" Shirin paused, glancing at her feet and then her father who was studying her with a raised brow. She tilted her chin up, eyes defiant as she stared the pretty lady down, "My father, the king, requested my presence after my tutoring session to show him the results of my tests."

"King Ali Shar, has far more impor-" The woman began only to quiet as a hand was raised by the man, his lips curling into a faint smirk.

"So? Are they as expected?" He asked, hand moving back to cradle his jaw.

"Yes, Father." She toddled over, the papers in her hands neatly packaged as she sat them on his desk. She watched him finger through them, eyes tracing the marks and a few of her answers.

"As expected, well done Shirin." He smiled gently at her, eyes sparking with pride, "As expected as my oldest child. Hm… Have you met the Lady Gelt? She's my newest intended, Zumurud Gelt. She'll be queen soon, I suppose."

"Greetings Lady Gelt," Shirin replied to the woman, offering a curtsy, her heliotrope eyes pinning the slightly gaping woman with a predator's gleam, "I am Princess Shirin Samar, pleasure to meet you."

"Shirin?" A voice echoed in her head and she coughed out a gasp, her eyes flickering open to meet the relieved golden orbs of Jamil. A trembling hand moving to her aching head where her palm met a sticky substance against her face.

"I… Jamil…" She rasped as the boy helped her sit up.

"You protected me during the fall and the slide down, you're injured really bad Shirin, you're bleeding everywhere." Jamil worried, biting his bottom lip.

"I'm fine…" She grunted, barely stopping herself from shaking her head, "We have too keep moving."

"You need to rest!" Jamil protested, "You've got scratches everywhere and your arms are all scuffed up, your head is bleeding, and and… I thought you weren't going to wake up…"

"I'm awake…" She grunted, glancing at her sliced up arms, the sting of her legs letting her know that they weren't much better.

"For how long!?" Jamil snapped, "You shouldn't have protected me! You got really hurt! I can't do this on my own! I keep messing things up!"

"I'll always protect you," Shirin stated, her eyes lit like purple flames as she eyed Jamil who was cowed silent, "You're just a child, I'll always protect you!"

"I want to protect you too," Jamil whispered, his hands clenched, "You're just a dumb girl and you always pick fights with things bigger than you! I wanna be able to protect you too!"

The duo glared at each other, gold slanted against purple before a smile cracked open on Shirin's face and Jamil's lips quirked slightly. He shook his head at her, "Don't."

"Don't what?" Shirin teased him as her smile grew.

"That. Don't do that." He tried to keep his own lips from growing, trembling at the effort.

"I don't know what you mean?" Shirin sing-songed and Jamil huffed before the duo broke out into a large fit of laughter.

"You've come far…" The giant form of a seemingly blinded horse rasped out, his sightless eyes peering over them, it's giant maw barred as it didn't so much as speak but breathed out his words, "Not many have reached me, who will stand before me?"

Jamil was trembling as he hid behind Shirin, his eyes wide in fear at the creature before them. He flinched at a gentle touch to his hands and glanced at Shirin who was staring at him with determination.

"But you're already hurt…" Jamil swallowed, scared to admit that he was relieved that Shirin was going to be the one standing before the thing. He hated that...that cowardice curling in his gut.

"Jamil…" Shirin smiled at him, "Let me do this, okay? We're so close to leaving… soon we can rest…"

His fingers loosened on her tunic as she stepped away and walked to stand before the horse creature, her head held high as she stood before him.

"I stand before you." She declared, feeling slightly silly.

"Then the final trial will commence," The horse sighed, "Are you a true king's candidate or another failure…"

"So we'll see," Shirin stated feeling silly.

What's a king's candidate? It sounds… familiar…

"Then prepare yourself, for the truth." The creature raised its large hoofs and slammed them on the ground, "I am the Djinn Gamigin, the truth seeker, I am a Clairvoyance master of the Life Magic type. Tell me your truth."

What?

As the thought was finished she was suddenly engulfed with rukh, spiralling around her in flurry as purple tendrils touched her skin and then tugged. She wanted to scream as a faint image was ripped out of her skin. Soon she followed, her body crumpling like a marionette with its strings cut. She stared at her faint ghostly hands, glowing the same shimmer of the rukh a golden light.

"Who are you, little soul?"

I'm…

"I'm Shirin Samar… I'm the last of the Samarian royal family, I'm a fourteen year old girl and… I'm an ex-slave of the city of Sheeva." She found herself speaking, dazed almost.

"What is your deepest desire?"

Yaqut…

"I wish to find my friend… My best friend Yaqut of the Fanalis tribe." She could feel herself trembling but her image remained still.

"If you could have my power or your friend by your side, which would you choose?"

"Yaqut. Always, there's no question." She stated clearly, no longer feeling dazed.

"Between the boy's life and Yaqut's?"

"Jamil's life." She confirmed, her eyes steely, "Jamil is a child, if Yaqut got himself into a situation where he put himself and Jamil in danger, it will be Jamil's life I'd save."

"If you were to become my king, where would your kingdom be?"

"Wherever my people are, where Jamil is… where Yaqut is. A kingdom is not a slab of land, it is the people that make a kingdom."

"Clever child, brave child… that is my king. This trial is over, this dungeon is conquered. Do not disappoint me, King Shirin Samar."

I passed..?

It was a head rush as she was released from the magic of the Djinn, her body gasping upright as she held her chest. She gazed at the horse who stood above them, his muscled body creaking in oddly disjointed ways before it compressed and flew into the treasure, an eight pointed star inscribing into a circlet that glowed. She rose to her feet and stumbled her way to the circlet. It was a beautiful piece of interconnecting swirls of silver, the star inscribed into the jewel piece that would hand down towards the bridge of her nose. Picking it up she placed it on her head and stumbled towards Jamil who caught her hip with his body.

"You… you were a princess?" Jamil asked quietly.

"I.. yes… The Kou empire destroyed my home…"She sighed, "I was the princess of Samaria."

"The land of jewels!" Squeaked out Jamil, his eyes widening.

"Is that what they called it? It was just Samaria to me… it was home." She smiled at Jamil before she hit the ground on her knees, "Maybe… it's time for that rest."

"Yeah." Jamil laughed out, "maybe it is princess."

"Don't." Shirin pouted, "I'm not a princess anymore."

"No.. You're a Queen." Jamil nodded his head, "You have a crown and everything."

"It's a circlet, not a crown."

"Well Gamigin called you a King."

"He was a blind Horse, probably didn't even care that I was a girl or know I was one."

"So you didn't deny the Queen part." Jamil grinned and Shirin couldn't help the laughter that flowed from her mouth.

Author's Note: So that is Chapter Five done and done. Gamigin is the fourth djinn and from the "Lesser Key of Solomon", similar to the other canonically named Djinn, Marquis Samigina as its said or Gamigin. Looking up Clairvoyance Magic, it's a sub-type with no clear main type that it's derived from. So I made it a Life magic sub-type for this story, seeing as it deals with the connection of memories and even reading into the past or future. Something that Life magic can do as well, with the memories thing. Hoped you liked it.