Release
The
desert of the Simhara was hot, as all deserts are. The air was stiflingly hot
and dried out Reiss’s throat as he took in a deep breath and walked up the
steps and into the crypt.
Matt
and Adette waited outside in the shade.
“Do
you think he’ll be alright?” Matt whispered to Adette as he wrapped his arms
about her shoulders gently.
Adette
nodded slowly. “I do, she let him
find her. She’s ready, but for what...” Adette sighed as she briefly touched
Matt’s hand on her shoulder. “I don’t know.”
The
both sighed watching Reiss as he leaned on the wall just inside the crypt’s
doorway.
Inside
the crypt was much cooler than outside. Reiss stood silently taking in
everything that remained of Kiren’s family; it seemed from the special urns
that they even had a cat and a unicorn as pets at one point in their lives.
The
jars of her family’s remaining essences sat beside urns, the urns may have been
empty but the jars beside them said everything and even more.
Kiren
had been standing crying softly, she was wearing traditional genie morning
clothes of black silk embodied with golden thread. A platinum gold bracelet
around one of her wrists showed at even though she was no longer a slave to her
bottle, she was still bound under the laws of genie magic.
She
sniffled seeming to finishing crying for the moment and turned to Reiss, her
eyes still slightly wet and red from days of crying.
“I’m still mad at you.” She folded her
arms aggressively and leaned on the wall giving a small huff; it was cool
against her skin and caused her to give a slight shiver.
“Well, I’m not.” Reiss stepped further
into the crypt turning to face her properly; she looked more beautiful than he
had ever seen, even in the dim light of the crypt. “In fact, I owe you an
apology as well as a thank you.”
She stood silent and unmoving, as if she
had turned into a statue.
Reiss shifted slightly. “We eventually found
Jasper, he was barely alive on one of the remote islands of Isle Paradiso; took
us three months but now he and Melanie are in a gaol, they can’t hurt or
communicate with anyone ever again.”
He smiled hoping Kiren would react in
some way to the news, but she stayed unmoving watching him with an
expressionless face.
Feeling that Kiren’s childish ruse
needed to be put to a stop, Reiss strode over to her feeling slightly annoyed
at her.
He lent in close making her lean back
against the wall, she still kept her arms folded, but he could hear her heart
beating rapidly like a loud drum.
“Tell me why then, if you’re still so mad at me, did you finally after all
this time, let me find you huh, why?”
Her heart beat faster and louder, her
eyes never left his and from her breathing he could tell she was struggling to
keep her calm, controlled demeanour from falling apart.
Her struggle didn’t last very long
though as she let out a frustrated sigh.
“I’m done being upset Reiss; my mourning
time ends tomorrow and...” She paused seeming unable to get out what she wanted
to say.
Reiss smiled and a soft laugh came from
him.
“So, you’re still mad at me, but you’ve
also discovered that...” Now he stared intently into her eyes, trapping her
into not being able to look away from him, her bottom lip quivered slightly.
“Damn you, don’t do this Reiss. You know
what I want to say, I can see it all over your stupid face.”
“Then say it, what is it that I know you want to say to me?” He spoke
softly which was the opposite of what she had been expecting; he could see it
in her eyes as well.
Kiren wanted him to
yell at her, any excuse to be able to push him away from her again, even though
she knew that he could tell she wanted him so very close.
Unable to contain herself, Kiren pushed
off the wall and leant into Reiss hugging him, she rested her head on his
shoulder and after a moment of being slightly shocked by her actions, Reiss embraced
Kiren in a secure and comforting hug.
“I’ve missed you very much.” She
whispered closing her eyes as she breathed in his scent.
“Really? I couldn’t tell.” Reiss smiled
as Kiren nuzzled her head into his shoulder and neck. “You know, I had the
agency fly me here with Adette and Matt to find you. You’re not going out of my
sight again, you know that right?”
Kiren laughed slightly enjoying the
moment.
“I thought you might say something like
that, but it’s not that simple, you know...”
There was a sudden clearing of throats which
stopped her talking and she opened her eyes.
Adette and Matt had come into the crypt
to get out of the scorching heat of the afternoon.
Kiren thought Adette looked amazing in a
white lace and silk outfit with matching hat, Matt still wore basically the
same style of clothes and looked slightly sunburnt.
“Well, so glad you two reunited... now
can we go somewhere that isn’t going to test my sunlight abilities and burn my
darling to a crisp?” Adette had a slight chiding tone as she spoke; her eyes
glanced about the room giving her eyes a slightly sad expression though.
Kiren nodded.
“Alright, we can go to my home, it’s in
a small oasis just past the pyramids.”
Slowly she moved out of Reiss’s arms and
led the way to where she lived.
By the time they reached Kiren’s small but
elegant house, the sun was beginning to set behind the dunes casting a peach-pink
glow across the desert sky.
Adette and Matt took a seat on a small
couch that overlooked the small oasis that seemed to be Kiren’s front yard;
they seemed to be entranced by the atmosphere of the landscape and each other
and were making the most of the entrancing atmosphere.
Reiss and Kiren leaned
on the railing a bit away from them so they could talk.
“So, this is where you live. Quaint but
not quite what I imagined you would give yourself.”
Kiren looked down at the ponds rippling
waters that shimmered and danced with the skies light on its surface.
“It suits me, no one comes out here and
being dressed in black, I’m considered untouchable, a bad luck genie. I’ll have
a nice quiet life here” She gave a small huff.
“So is that what you meant before by ‘it’s not so simple’? Seriously Kiren, come
with us back to Moonlight Falls, you’ll be safe amongst others like us, you
won’t be considered anything but a normal genie.”
Reiss seemed to be almost pleading with
her; Kiren shook her head and gently pushed herself off the railing.
“Let me show you something...”
With a small snap of her fingers Kiren
transported both her and Reiss to a sand dune that overlooked the three Great
Pyramids of the Simhara, the flood lights shining up on them made them glow
magnificently against the fading soft pink dusk light of the evening sky and
the paleness of the surrounding sand dunes and hills.
“Reiss, I grew up here, playing amongst
the dune with my brother and sister and it’s in my blood as much as the magic
that runs through it. How can I just leave this entire life and everything it
means to me like it means nothing?” Kiren gazed over at the great landmarks,
her eyes sparkling like emeralds. “I was ripped away from here once before, when
I came back I swore that I would never happen to me again.”
She faced Reiss as he gently touched her
arm.
“Kiren, I never said if you came with us
that you couldn’t come back here.” He glanced at the pyramids then looked back
at Kiren again. “I know this sounds really stupid but, I’ve been unable to
think, sleep or even eat properly since I’ve began looking for you.”
Shaking her head sighing slightly Kiren
looked down so she didn’t have to look at Reiss.
“You thought that in coming here and
telling me all of this would just make me pack up everything I’ve just re-connected
with and leave it behind? That’d we’d disappear into the sunset and live
‘happily ever after’ like some silly fairy-tale?”
Reiss knew talking wasn’t going to help anymore
with making Kiren see reason, her emotions were all over the place and Reiss
wanted to put them in order for her.
Firmly but gently he wrapped his arms
about her waist and before she could say another word Reiss kissed her
passionately; now he let out all of his emotions, from how much he discovered
he truly loved, missed and needed Kiren since she disappeared out of his life
four months ago. All of it he let out to be expressed hopefully in this one, breath
catching kiss.
Kiren made a small surprised noise in
her throat, her finger tips touched and recoiled from his shoulders as she
tensed up against the kiss, but Reiss didn’t let go until she allowed herself
to finally kiss him back with just as much fervour.
When they finally parted, Kiren stood
trying to catch her breath as well as seeming stunned by Reiss releasing her almost
as suddenly as he had kissed her.
“We um... I mean you could...”
Reiss smiled as he just stood in front
of her letting her fumble over her words for a moment.
She shook her head and a smile came to
her lips which spread to her eyes.
Kiren stepped forward and put her arms
around Reiss’s shoulders, her smile grew as he slipped his arms about her
waist.
“I’m going to say yes, we’re going to
have the ‘silly fairy-tale’ ending
and I’ll even be as bold as to say that you’ll be coming back to Moonlight
Falls with me?” Reiss kissed the tip of her nose quickly making her laugh and
sigh as she shook her head slightly at him.
“Well, if I’m correct, wasn’t it you that said I would make the ‘cutest little house wife’?”
Reiss laughed rolling his eyes. “I knew
that would come back on me one day.”
With a small sigh, Kiren took one last
look at the pyramids, the sky had grown dark enough for the stars to come out
and hang like jewels above them.
‘Well, I guess we should we get going
then?”
“What about Matt and Adette?”
Kiren smiled and gave her fingers a
sharp click.
Looking over at the Great Sphinx, Kiren,
Adette, Matt and Reiss enjoyed the cooling night air and the sounds of the
rivers water lapping on the edge of its banks.
“You could have warned us you know...”
Adette poked Kiren in her side making her laugh.
“True, but then it wouldn’t be as fun, now
would it?” She smiled stepping forward a little and took in a deep breath.
“So, we ready to go? It’ll be dawn soon
in Moonlight Falls judging from my estimation.” Matt looked at his watch for a
moment then took Adette’s hand.
Kiren nodded, a small smile danced on
her lips. “All in good time; just, let just stay here for a few more minutes.”
A stiff breeze scattered the loose sands
of the dunes and rustled the palms leaves, and they stood together in the
silence of the evening, for just a few minutes more.
FIN.
