Ch. 54 Comet

Chapter 54

As the cold wind blew through the jinn's hair, Heyder stood on the roof of the palace and gazed up at the three comet like beings floating in the far away sky. They shun like stars, harmless and perfect, ready to grant wishes.

"What are they doing?" Clare asked as she slowly stepped up next to Heyder. She gazed up at the sky and frowned.

"Nothing," Heyder said with a sigh. "Just hovering and circling around."

"What do you think they are waiting for?"

"For Zubair to give the command," Heyder said.

"What is he waiting for?"

"The right opportunity," Heyder dropped his gaze. "I know how that man's mind works. He's waiting for the next time Heyden is compromised. I'll be distracted, Maya will be unguarded."

Clare didn't speak. She continued to gaze at the jinns in the sky and assess each and every single one of their movements. Beside her, Heyder's anger and frustration sparked like exposed wires. She knew he was struggling with the decision that was already made.

"You know they will never stop," she said, quietly. Her eyes dropped from the skies to the man standing beside her.

"I know," Heyder confessed.

"Heyder?" Clare turned her body completely to look at the jinn. "I know Zubair is like a father to you....."

"I never knew my father," Heyder said.

"You're about to be a father," Clare reminded him.

"I know, I know," frustrated Heyder ran a hand through his dark hair. "Just look after Maya and Heyden."

"You know I will," Clare frowned. "What do I tell Maya?"

In the darkness, Heyder turned to look at the young girl beside him, "Tell her that I am doing this for her and Heyden."

Clare nodded. She could feel the jinn's anger and frustration as he flickered his finger and a portal appeared. The sadness that swam in Heyder's eyes made Clare's heart shrink. Under all that anger and fire, he was an extraordinarily being who had spent his whole existence searching for an ordinary dream to believe in.

"Wait!" Clare called to the jinn before he disappeared into the portal.

Heyder looked over his shoulder as Clare raised her hand. His eyes flickered up to her in the darkness and she urged him to accept. Slowly, Heyder raised his hand and placed it against Clare's.

"Thank you, Clare," Heyder said sincerely. "For everything."

"You're welcome," Clare smiled.

With one last look at the sky, Heyder vanished into the portal. The bright light that greeted him in the veil had the jinn squint as he raised his arm up against the snow storm.

"Heyder!" The gatekeeper exclaimed. "How wonderful to see you? Where Maya?"

The muscles in his jaw jumped as he glared at the copper haired woman.

"She's never coming here as long as I am alive," he said.

The gatekeeper, with her porcelain skin and ruby red lips, frowned, "But I liked her. She was so much like her father."

Heyder didn't wait around to chat. He raised his hand and summoned another portal to the Tyveer court. He could feel the gatekeeper watching him as he moved across the heavy snow.

"I've never wanted nothing but the very best for you, Heyder," the woman said.

"Why?" Heyder paused, a bit surprised by her confession.

The woman didn't answer. She stared at him with an odd smile on her lip as if she was waiting for the answer to bloom in the jinn's mind. But Heyder was a very impatient man. He shook his head and without another glance, disappeared into the portal.

The Tyveer court was always busy. There was never a moment in history where the place stood still or didn't function. Like wheels on a clock, the parts moved, using gravity and the earth's motion to keep itself alive.

As Heyder appeared in the golden halls, he immediately felt the sharp eyes of a thousand land on him like knives. The whispers were sharper than the knives. But when had Heyder ever been bothered by whispers and stolen glances?

He walked through the halls as people parted for him to pass. They stopped to stare at the man who had married a fey. But no one dare say a word to him. They knew Heyder wouldn't tolerate anything against his wife. And Heyder made sure they remembered that lesson as he peered into their eyes and frowned.

By the time he had walked to the grand hall, word had spread like wildfire. Zubair and Maaz waited by the raised pedestal at the front of the hall, waiting for their visitor to enter. All the other attendees waited with eager eyes and sharp ears to see what would conspire.

"The winds of this house can travel very far," Zubair said, locking his eyes with Heyder as he entered. " But they always come back to this courtyard."

"Zubair," Heyder bowed his head slightly.

"I hope you have come to your senses," Zubair looked down at Heyder from where he stood two steps above on the pedestal. The simple gold band around his head caught the light from the endless sunlight outside and shimmered.

"I have," Heyder nodded. "I have a family now. A wife, a son."

"Heyder," Zubair sighed. "Son, you know we can not allow your child to live."

Heyder didn't speak. He stared at Zubair before shifting his eyes to Maaz.

"And if we don't then the thing will kill himself," Zubair finished. "We can not risk such a mix to exist."

"You want to kill my son," Heyder tested out the bitter words on his tongue.

"We want to put him to rest before his suffering starts," Maaz said.

"Why did you force the marriage then?" Heyder asked.

"The marriage was your idea," Zubair's eyes darkened.

"You knew about Heyden. From the start you knew about him."

"When have we ever taught you that the future was written in stone?"

Heyder felt a shiver run down his spine. He could feel Zubair's eyes on him and it was starting to make his chest tighten.

"You can still have your family, Heyder," Zubair insisted.

Heyder didn't speak.

"You know I've always wished for you to marry my daughter," Zubair continued. "You've always been like a son to me. I couldn't ask for a better match for Hafsa. She will make you happy. She will give you many children. Many jinn children. Healthy.....sane."

"I have a wife," Heyder said calmly. "Zubair.....Maaz.....please."

For a brief moment, shock flashed across Zubair's eyes. He had never heard Heyder beg for anything in his life. He wasn't the type to ask for permission or seek approval. He took what he wanted.....but here he was. Ready to bend on one knee in front of the whole court.

"If only you had asked me for something else," Zubair said. "If only you had asked for Hafsa like that."

"I don't want Hafsa," Heyder said, his voice as even and controlled as ever. "I have a wife."

"I can give you the word," Zubair sighed. "I am willing to look the other way and pardon all your crimes......ask me for anything else."

"Please," Heyder said. "Maya and Heyden are innocent."

"Perhaps," Zubair confessed. "But not the evil in them."

"They're not evil!" Heyder took a step forward. "You haven't seen the way the fey protects Hayden. Or the way it protects me."

"Fey magic is wild magic," Zubair shook his head. "And wild things can never be trusted."

"Maaz," Heyder turned to the man who stood silently. "Please......I'm begging you. I'm begging all of you."

Heyder turned to face the court. All eyes were on him as the jinns stood silently. No one would dare speak against Zubair. Once Heyder realized, he turned back to look at the man.

"Please, Zubair......." he said. "We will never come here. I'll take them someplace far away. Just call off your men."

"Heyder," Zubair sighed. He lifted his hands and took off the gold band from around his head. Setting it aside on a pillow one of the many servants carried, he took a step down from his pedestal. "You don't understand. There is nothing you can do or promise me that will make me give up trying to get rid of the evil you want to protect."

Heyder's heart felt as if it had broken into a million pieces. He didn't even know if the useless thing still worked or if he was seconds from collapsing on the floor with grief.

"Zubair," Heyder tried once more. "Please.......I......I've never wanted anything else as much as I want my wife and son."

With his forest green eyes, Zubair looked into Heyder's brown ones. He could see the darkness in them swirl like storms. But for the first time ever, there was something else beside anger in the boy's face.

Desperation.

Zubair took in a deep breath and placed a hand on Heyder's shoulder.

"I really wish you had come to me for something else......anything else," and with that, he patted Heyder's shoulder and began to head for the door.

Heyder stood motionless as Maaz passed him with sympathy in his kind eyes. The men's footsteps echoed in the large hall like thunder. Heyder wanted to scream every time he heard them take a step. The sound was so loud. So very loud.

You're about to be a father.....

Clare's words began to echo in Heyder's mind. His breathing slowed and his hands chilled. For a second he feared his flames were giving up on him. But as he lifted his gaze and watched Zubair's happy smile greeting the jinns at court, rage and panic filled his empty heart.

"Zubair," Heyder called the man.

Zubair and Maaz looked over their shoulders. Zubair raised a brow at Heyder's tone and waited for the jinn to continue.

"Yes?" He asked.

"You will never lay a finger on my wife or son," Heyder said. "Call off your men and get rid of this idea in your head that I will let you take them from me."

Zubair's eyes narrowed. He let go of the hand he was shaking and took a step forward. Heyder watched the man's anger rise as he opened his mouth.

"No," Zubair said.

"You can't say I didn't try," Heyder said.

"I don-"

Like thunder striking across a dark sky, Heyder shed his human form and switched to his smokeless flame. He shot forward like a comet and ripped through Zubair, causing the jinn to ignite in flames that exploded like a dandelion blowing in the wind.

A terrifying shrill pierced through the hall as Heyder landed on the marble steps of the pedestal. His blue flames were traced with red, making him pulse like a beating heart. Horrified eyes watched as he bent down and picked up the crown Zubair had set aside. Heyder swallowed the lump in his throat and pushed aside the tightness in his chest as he turned to face the shocked audience.

His eyes immediately landed on Maaz and for the first time, Heyder saw fear in the jinn's eyes. They all watched him as he raised his hands and placed the crown on top of his head.

As soon as the gold touched his flames, his human form began to return. Like a veil falling, he shed his flames and took on his human appearance.

But his eyes never changed.

The hundreds of guards and jinns at court could not look away from the way Heyder's eyes were glowing ruby red.

"No one is laying a hand on my family," Heyder said, his voice daring them to question him.

As the hands on the clock ticked, and time moved forward, one by one the jinns began to bow their head to their new supreme.

THE END

There will be an epilogue.

What did you think? What are you thoughts on what Heyder did?