Page 90 of Silver & Gold
“Nicely,” Raider emphasized.
“I can be nice.”
“I know that you can be. That doesn’t mean you always choose to be.”
Seth stroked his spine again. “Did he know anything about your father?”
“No. I gather that what he did, seducing my mother, isn’t uncommon. But it doesn’t always result in offspring. Basically, he doesn’t know I exist, and I would never have any way of knowing who he is. Which is where I was before, so it doesn’t really matter.”
“So he could be here?”
“Or anywhere. There are other garden cities. Jannat is the biggest, but I guess it’s not even the oldest.”
“Speaking of that … I need to talk to you about something.”
Raider leaned back from Seth so he could see his face, which looked unpleasantly serious. “I’m not going to like this, am I?”
“Well, I don’t like it, so you probably won’t either.”
“Oh, gods, what is it?”
“Don’t you think it’s strange how Ulam supposedly vanished? Cities don’t vanish. Even after thousands of years, something remains. Always. And yet, no one has ever found its ruins. Supposedly.”
“You keep saying supposedly.”
“That’s because I don’t think Ulam vanished at all. I think we’re in it.”
That took a moment to sink in. “What?”
“Jannat is Ulam. The signs are everywhere. Arcane symbols, the way half of it’s in ruins—”
“Seth, that is a truly wild theory.”
“Not really. Something happened between the djinn and the humans. Something that resulted in all the humans being wiped out.”
Raider’s skin tightened with cold, as though the temperature in the pool had dropped. “You’re saying the djinn killed all the humans.”
“That’s what it looks like.”
Raider shook his head. “I don’t believe this. The djinn aren’t aggressive. And look at this place! It’s peaceful.”
“I don’t trust them.”
“Yes, you’ve made that abundantly clear.”
“Raider,” Seth protested as Raider slipped out of his arms.
“I want to swim,” Raider told him.
“You’re angry.”
“I just don’t understand why you can’t simply enjoy something. Why do you have to pick everything apart?”
Seth looked hurt. “Ignoring the truth doesn’t change it. You of all people know that.”
“You know what I also know, Seth? Humans can be really cruel. I’m not sure I’d blame the djinn for wiping them out.”
CHAPTER 27