Vizir

Yasmina

Yasmina stepped aside and Junior came from all that way in the past to stand in her shoes, as the Kairos sometimes says. He kindly kept up a glamour, so he looked, sounded, and even acted like Yasmina, though it was actually Junior in her place.

“Be free,” he said simply to the governor, and the governor became instantly free of the enchantment. The governor shook his head once and looked up and shouted. “Badroul!” She and al-Din were presently kissing. Then, everyone came at once. Suffar and a handful of guards came from the palace, because, through his sorcery, he was able to perceive that something was happening in the garden. The Jinn came to see what disturbed his spell over the governor, and he took one look, and despite the glamour, he shrieked and tried to run away.

“Stay,” Junior said, and the Jinn froze in mid-air, about two feet off the ground.

“I have sent the guards to the gates and to the docks,” Suffar bragged. “There will be no escape for you.”

Al-Rahim pulled his sword. Ziri joined him, though he faced three on one until Harun and al-Asad came up from the other side. Ziri got stabbed, but then it was four on six, and Aisha made it five on six and would fight like Yrsa the She Bear. Al-Din, if he could tear himself away from his girl, would even the odds.

Two men came at al-Rahim at once, but the old soldier easily drove them back and cut one in the arm. Ziri, Harun, and al-Asad each took a man, though Ziri was already finished.

Al-Suffar had no patience to let things play out. He fired something like sorcerer’s poison at al-Rahim and struck the old retainer square in the chest. Al-Rahim’s heart skipped a beat. He clutched his chest and stumbled. Suffar grinned, but Aisha arrived, and the two guardsmen had no better luck against her than they did against the old man. Aisha cut the other one with her knife that flashed out at super speed.

Al-Din pulled his sword and moved to defend his love, and Junior moved with him, looking like Yasmina now dressed in her armor. Badroul would have followed, but Junior made sure she felt a sudden need to see to her father who stayed on the bench and looked stunned. He stared at the Jinn frozen in mid-air. He kept trying to figure out how the trick was done. He did not see any rope or wires or anything.

“Enough,” Junior said in Yasmina’s voice. “You have misused the gift of magic given to you. Besides, the Prophet has condemned sorcery, so let it be taken from you.” He waved his hand, and suddenly Suffar was the one who clutched his chest.

Al-Rahim got up and faced his man. Aisha faced the other guard and made quick work of the man. Al-Din arrived and faced Suffar who pulled his sword and tried to defend himself. Their swords crossed twice, and al-Din slipped and stabbed Suffar in the chest. Al-Din was the lucky one. It could have gone either way.

Ziri did not survive, and Harun would now limp like his friend, al-Asad, but the guards were all put down. Junior nodded and returned to the Jinn. He lifted his hand and the lamp appeared.

“Please. Give me another chance,” the Jinn begged.

Junior just shook Yasmina’s head and crushed the lamp. The Jinn faded, yelling “No. Please,” until he vanished altogether. A great flash of light appeared, and Yasmina rubbed her eyes and asked, “What happened?”

“You killed the wicked Jinn and set my father free,” Badroul said.

“You killed him?” Aisha asked as she walked up, helping al-Rahim, who pushed away her help.

“He is free from the lamp, but he is now on the other side in the fiery land of the Jinn where he will live out the last of his years, unable to return to this earth. Junior checked. He does not have many years left, and the sad thing is he knows he could have lived them here, in the land of the living, but he simply could not resist being wicked.” Yasmina rubbed her eyes some more and found some tears, but they were from the flash of light, not sympathy for the Jinn.

“We must get to the docks,” al-Rahim said suddenly, taking everyone’s attention. Suffar and the Jinn sent the army to the docks and al-Din’s men and others are prepared to defend their ships. Men will die on both sides.”

“Governor?” Yasmina asked to stir him from his staring at where the Jinn used to be.

The governor looked at her in her armor and looked at Badroul. He looked at al-Din and threw his hands up in surrender. He said to Yasmina, “You look like a Roman, all immodest with your face and hair uncovered.” He shook his head, and it looked like a what is this world coming to kind of shake. “We must hurry,” he finished.

When they arrived at the docks, they found there had been one attack, but the guards were badly outnumbered at first, so they withdrew after light casualties on both sides. Clearly, the guards did not expect resistance. They probably imagined marching in and simply taking control of who came and went. They had to get reinforcements, and brought up men from the caravan camps, and some from the gates.

Fortunately, the governor was able to put an end to further bloodshed. It helped that the guards no longer felt compelled to interfere with lawful commerce in the port. The men of al-Din were glad to have him home. The men from Amalfi were glad they did not have to fight. Only a couple of Vikings were unhappy and said things like, “You call that a fight?”

“They sound like dwarfs,” Yasmina whispered to Aisha just before Francesco ran up.

“I was so afraid for you.” he said as he took hold of her.

“I was afraid for you,” she said, wrapping her arms around him.

“No, I knew what I was doing. You might have been walking into a trap and I would have lost you just when I found you.”

“No. I was afraid you would do something heroic and stupid and get yourself killed and make me a double widow before we even got married.”

“No… and anyway, besides Lady Kristina and your spirit maid, who I see clearly now. Do you have any more surprises?”

“Lots,” she said with a big grin.

He nodded. “Good thing I like surprises,” he said, and kissed her briefly before they caught up with what was happening.

Al-Rahim sat on a chest; the same chest Yasmina sat on earlier. He said he could not stand. His legs were numb.

“Lady?” Aisha asked. It was a serious question. Aisha had gotten in the habit of calling her by her name or calling her princess. Lady was a reference to the Kairos and Yasmina understood what she was asking with her having to ask. She shook her head. The truth was people died and even the gods were not allowed to change that truth. She began to cry just thinking about it, but al-Rahim reached out and grabbed Francesco by the shirt. He pulled the man close.

“You better take care of my princess and always love her and treat her like the precious flower she is, or I swear I will come back from the grave and haunt you.”

Francesco was not disturbed by the rough handling. “I will. I do. And it is my desire and plan to respect her and treat her well for as long as we shall live.”

“Good,” al-Rahim said. “Just so we understand each other.” With that, he closed his eyes and slipped off the chest. Yasmina and Aisha cried. Badroul and al-Din found some tears. Omar, Ali, and Sulayman, who came to join them, stayed silent with Francesco. Only the governor said something.

“I think he was a very good man.”

Kirstie

Kirstie packed her things. She dressed Soren to travel, and Hilda said Hodur would cry and miss his friend. She hugged Erik and told him to stay out of trouble. She also told him to take care of his mother and brother while his father Thoren was away.

“And if you need anything, food or anything,” she told the boy. “You find Inga or Yrsa and let them know right away. They will help you with whatever you need.” Erik nodded, but Kirstie was not sure he exactly understood, so she asked Alm to have someone keep an eye on the situation. There was no telling how long Kare might stay away now that she divorced him. And that meant it might be a long time before Thoren came home.

“Don’t worry about the farm or the tenants,” Alm said. “You have good people in your tenancies, and Thomas and Gustavs are doing a good job running the farm. Gustavs is content. He says if he did not have the work to keep him busy, he might join a monastery. He is a true believer. As for Thomas, I may talk to Sten, Captain Harroldson’s man up by the Varnes River. He has a young thrall that cooks and cleans and all that sort of thing. Her name is Lyall, from the border of Strathclyde and Pictish lands. She is very unhappy where she is, so maybe Sten might sell her for a reasonable price.”

Kirstie smiled at the thought of Thomas and a girl being in love. “Whatever you think is best,” she said. She knew her little ones were very perceptive in the ways of love. It came from hanging out with Mother Freyja over so many centuries. Mother Freyja loved on the little ones even before she had her Nameless son.

Yrsa stepped up dressed in her leather, a knife at her side. “Ready to sail,” she reported.

“No. Wait.” Kirstie responded. “We are going to meet Wilam’s family. This is not a dangerous mission. No need for you to go.”

Yrsa looked at Alm, but Alm’s expression did not change. Yrsa spoke. “You have a four-year-old and a new husband. You can use the help. Besides, it is practice for when Alm and I have a son.” She looked at Alm again and he smiled at that suggestion.

“But we will be gone a whole year. We won’t be back until next spring.”

“I know, but Alm and I have hundreds of years to live together. We are not short livers like human mortals. Besides, I got my muscles ready for rowing.” She lifted her hand to show off her skinny little arm.

“This is a two-decker ship. I don’t know how much rowing they do.” Kirstie put her hands up in surrender. She really could use the help.

Yasmina

It took some honest effort on Yasmina’s part to drag al-Din out of the pit of depression he had fallen into, but finally, one evening over a campfire, al-Din opened up enough to explain what happened.

“It was my servant girl,” he said. “She is a very kind and good person, always trying to do good for others. She is what my Christian friend, Francesco would call a real saint. You remember Francesco?”

“Yes,” Yasmina said in a small voice. She had thought of him regularly over the last four years of her “captivity” as she now thought of her time in the palace of Mahdiya. She felt bad for al-Hakim. He had been a nice boy despite being a servant of the Masters. But, yes, she remembered Francesco. She remembered his kiss. She thought she might like to see him again. She thought she better pay attention.

“So, the merchant offered new lamps for old ones, and it never occurred to her how senseless that was.”

“Not senseless,” Yasmina objected. “The old lamps—many are solid copper. Most new lamps are cheap tin with a copper coating to make them look good, though they are cheap. Good copper is worth way more, so not entirely senseless.”

“Huh,” al-Din said. “I never considered that.”

“So anyway…” Aisha wanted on with the story.

“So, she traded the lamp of the Jinn for a new tin one. She did not know. All she knew was the dirty old lamp was impossible to clean.”

“That was Suffar,” Yasmina said.

“What?”

“According to the story a thousand years from now, the lamp dealer was Suffar, the Sultan’s Vizir disguised as a poor tradesman.”

“What’s a Sultan?” Aisha asked to the side, but Yasmina waved off the question.

“That makes sense,” al-Din said. “Because Suffar ended up with the lamp and he ordered the Jinn to get rid of me. You see, I asked twice if Badroul would marry me, and twice she said yes. The first time the governor said she was still too young. The second time, he said he would think about it. But I know Suffar asked on behalf of his son and I believe the governor told him the same thing, that he would think about it.”

Al-Rahim spoke up. “I have not had the pleasure, nor the headaches, but I believe it is a natural reaction for a father to dislike their daughter’s boyfriends. I suspect he will always say no until the daughter says she is going to marry the boy anyway, so he might as well say yes.”

“What about me?” Yasmina asked. “I’m like a daughter, or a granddaughter anyway. I give you headaches.”

Al-Rahim nodded. “You are right about that.”

“So anyway, I think Suffar had the idea that the Jinn would kill me by accident or by design. But what he did was whisper in the governor’s ear that I would be a good addition to the diplomatic group. Considering my interest in his daughter, I suspect he did not take much convincing.”

“What about the diplomatic mission? Did someone honestly believe the Mahdi would be interested in peace?” Al-Rahim asked since he did not get the straight story.

“As I understand it,” al-Din answered. “The Caliph sent a letter to the governor of Egypt that said make peace with the Fatimids. The governor of Egypt sent a letter to the governor of Alexandria saying, make peace. The governor of Alexandria told his advisor, go and make peace, and I got caught up in the mission.”

“And what will you do when you get home?” Yasmina asked, kindly changing the subject before al-Din once again turned morose.

Al-Din looked at her with blank, staring eyes before he made his pronouncement. “I will marry that girl no matter what.”

“Hope,” Yasmina said. “Hang on to that. As long as there is life, there is hope.”

Al-Din smiled briefly before he turned it on her. “But what about you? What will you do?”

“My needs are simple,” Yasmina said. “All I want is a safe place, a place I can call home. So far, every place I have been has failed to provide that.”