FOUR

Nathaniel

Nathaniel watched Bartimaeus rant, smiling slightly. He had expected an outburst like this, but they had to do something.

"What?" the djinni screamed, rattling Nathaniel's eardrums. But perhaps that was the actual rattling of the room.

"Do you have any idea how humiliating that would be for me, Bartimaeus of Uruk, Sakhr Al-Jinni, Serpent of Silver Plumes? Even when I'm weak I try to maintain a nice form, something that isn't altogether embarrassing." Nathaniel stifled a laugh as he listened to the djinni accidentally reveal that he was weak sometimes.

"You're smiling! Enjoying this, aren't you?" Bartimaeus turned his iron stare onto Nathaniel.

"Admittedly, it's rather amusing to hear a de - djinni acknowledge to its weaknesses." The djinni's face fell; evidently he had not noticed this.

"Well, anyway, it's still so mortifying! The very idea of me making myself my most disregarded form…"

Kitty, who had been listening in silence up to now, spoke up. "Bartimaeus, Nathaniel's right. None of us actually love the idea, but it's our best shot." Nathaniel glanced at her, her determined, adamant figure silhouetted in the moonlight. A strange, foreign flush crept up to his face, but he couldn't imagine why.

"Why should I care about the fate of the human world, anyway?" Bartimaeus demanded.

"Because," Nathaniel said placidly, "Farrar will probably overuse you. And you'd never be able to live with the fact that you had indirectly killed us."

"What the-" spluttered the djinni, face becoming an interesting shade of red. "What makes you think you know what makes me uncomfortable?"

"You're soft-hearted, Bartimaeus. Deal with it." In the next instant the air evaporated from his lungs; a very angry djinni had knocked him to the ground and now sat upon his chest.

Bartimaeus's voice was fever pitch. "Don't you dare call me soft-hearted! I'll prove I'm not! I'll do what I haven't done all these years!" Without warning, Bartimaeus was yanked off of Nathaniel; Kitty stepped between the two as Nathaniel scrambled to his feet.

"Stop it. Stop it right now. We'll never get any closer to a solution if you two keep bickering like little children. I bet you've woken up Farrar now – I think I hear her in the hallway. Bartimaeus, do it."

The djinni's expression contorted to pure rage for a split second, then dissipated to resign. "Fine. But you'd better promise to let me hear the end of it. Never mention this extreme act of kindness again." The tan boy's shape melted into something like dirty water. Nathaniel stared down at the puddle but made no remark.

"What the blazes are you shouting about at eleven in the evening?" Farrar had suddenly thrust open the door. Her gaze traveled downward until it rested on Bartimaeus. "Oh." She stared at the puddle for a long time before speaking at last. "I might as well dismiss him, if he's that weak. Funny, I thought I was stronger. Oh well. I'm still going to make sure you two don't escape in the night."

She first dismissed Bartimaeus. Next, she secured Nathaniel in the chair again. Frowning, she looked around for something to bind up Kitty (so Nathaniel assumed) but found nothing. Farrar turned to rummage around on a shelf and Kitty slipped into the pentacle with barely a sound. Quickly, in a low voice, she recited the incantation to summon Bartimaeus.

Bartimaeus instantly shifted from the form of a whirling wind with some bones drifting through it into Ptolemy's shape.

"Send Ms. Farrar out the door, please?" Kitty asked.

"What?" stammered Farrar, but Bartimaeus was already shoving her out the door into the hallway. He grabbed the doorknob, forcefully pushed the door closed, and put a magical Seal on it.

Nathaniel stammered, "But…but…"

"But what? I got Farrar out, didn't I?"

"It's an iron doorknob!"

"Iron – what?" Bartimaeus jumped back from the door as if he had received an electrical shock. He frowned. "I don't feel any bad auras emanating from it. That's odd."

"Do you think," Kitty began slowly, "that this is something that resulted from when…you know? It might be a bonus for you, and maybe for Nathaniel, too, because the magician and spirit have to have a mutual trust for the relationship to work, and then the aftereffects are beneficial."

To this Bartimaeus replied, "Look, Kitty, I love how you always stop to philosophize, but we can philosophize later. Right now our main concern is getting out of here." He walked over to the window, opened it, both glass and insect screen, and frowned. "Farrar's being too overconfident - either that or she's being absentminded. There are no magical barriers whatsoever."

The dark-skinned boy sprouted wings, airlifted Kitty down first, then came back for Nathaniel. He set the magician down carefully next to Kitty and – was he looking concerned? "You're even lighter than Kitty. What exactly did Farrar do to you?"

"It doesn't matter," Nathaniel said tightly. Memories of his captivity swamped his mind and he tried to rid his thoughts of them. "Where do we go from here?"

"Back to London," Kitty answered. "The word must be spread."

Nathaniel felt weary already at the prospect of such a long journey; London was at the other end of England. "And how, exactly, do we get there?"

Bartimaeus made his wings vanish and took Kitty's hand. "She can teleport. Just take her hand."

"She can what?" Nathaniel was incredulous. It took a great deal of effort and concentration to perform the spell.

Kitty snapped at Bartimaeus, "I don't need you to speak for me!" She stretched out toward Nathaniel's hand. He realized his palm was sweaty and hastily wiped it on his pants before gripping her hand firmly. It was warm and hardened from her years on the streets, but there was a certain softness to it. Kitty closed her eyes –

Nathaniel's eyes stung; he blinked, adjusting as the flare of light passed. Street lamps flickered dimly along the narrow lane. He recognized this place.

"We're only a few streets away from my house." He paused. "That is, if the magicians haven't sold it or anything. We can stay there tonight if they haven't."

Kitty's eyes met his, glowing in the faint radiance of the lamps. "They haven't. They were going to sell it, but I think some of them were still hoping you would magically show up one day."

"Then let's go." Nathaniel walked toward the end of the lane with a slight, renewed vigor in his step. He turned to make sure the others were following him, then kept going.

The vigor faded soon, and left Nathaniel exhausted at the end of the walk. He dug a rusty, tarnished key out of his pocket, unlocked the front door, and ushered Bartimaeus and Kitty in. He dragged his feet up the stairs, stopping briefly in front of his study door only to remember that Farrar had made him dismiss all his spirits-in-service while she still had him in her power.

"The guest room is at the end. Kitty can sleep there," Nathaniel announced, gesturing vaguely in the direction. "Bartimaeus, if you need to, I think I can find a folding cot in my closet."

"Sure, sleep in your own bed, and give me the cot," the djinni muttered. However, he added, "I don't need rest. I'll alternate between guarding you two during the night."

"Alright, then." Nathaniel made his way down the hallway to his room, across from the guest one. He entered the bathroom adjoining to his bedroom, rummaged around in the closet, and tossed Kitty a toothbrush; she caught it neatly. "There's a bathroom joined to your room, too," he told her as he saw her out of his room.

In the space between the two doors, Kitty reached out and grasped his hand. "Promise we'll start working on the problem with Farrar tomorrow?"

Nathaniel allowed a tiny smile to enter his face. "Promise." Kitty returned his smile and said good night. Her hand lingered in his for a moment before she withdrew into her room and closed the door.

When Nathaniel had brushed his teeth, Bartimaeus was waiting in his room, sitting on his bed. Too tired to change his clothes or to reprimand Bartimaeus, the magician flopped onto his bed and stared at the ceiling. He heard the djinni's voice sounding from above. "You like her, don't you?"

"Who?"

"Kitty, of course."

"Well, she's a good friend. An ally."

"Stop avoiding the question. I know you have a crush on her."

Nathaniel felt his face and ears burning. "Do not."

"Do too."

"Shut up." Nathaniel rolled over and dragged the pillow over his head, shutting his eyes.

"Don't deny it, Natty boy. You like her."

"Be quiet. I do not have a crush on Kitty." Why on earth was the djinni poking around this topic?

"She likes you too, you know." Nathaniel chose to answer this with silence, but he noticed Bartimaeus's voice lacked its usual teasing tone.

"Can't you leave me alone for once?" He wanted to sleep desperately, before the djinni said anything else.

"Fine. But if you love her, why don't you just tell her?" Bartimaeus got his final two cents in before the magician finally found rest.

YES Bartimaeus is being annoying again. And this time it really matters to Nathaniel...But what am I talking about.
REVIEW.

MaiWishes: Ahahaha. I hope so...and I lied earlier. I meant chapter 5. Keep your eyes peeled.

Thanks to all my other reviewers! Your reviews encourage me and bring smiles to my face.

**EDIT**: I was rereading Ptolemy's Gate today and realized that Kitty told Nathaniel whose form Bartimaeus is always wearing. -gasp- The error is fixed now.