Page 93 of Silver & Gold
CHAPTER 28
GUIDED BY MOONLIGHT, Seth climbed the endless stairs that spiraled upward around the tower. They weren’t in great condition, and his heart had leaped into his throat more than once at a missed step. The climb would have been easier in daylight, but Seth hadn’t wanted to argue with Raider. There was nothing new to say.
There had been no djinn (at least none visible) in the garden or pool on the lowest level, and the only sounds were of Seth’s scuffing footsteps and the spill of water from one level to another.
The moonlight spearing in through the windows lay cool against ridges of stone that must once have been shelves. This, Seth was now sure, had been a library—and what an incredible one it must have been. What a store of ancient knowledge must have been lost in Ulam’s destruction.
Seth’s legs were burning by the time he reached the top, where the stairs rose straight through the partially open roof. Seth bent over, bracing his hands on his shaky thighs, and recovered his breath. Then he looked out over Jannat to take in the view that his climb had earned him.
Painted with moonlight, Jannat’s rooftops and fragments of stone stood out pale against the darker greenery. Water sparkled everywhere. The view was simply a beautiful, moonlit version of everything he’d already seen. He wasn’t high enough to see beyond the green-studded cliffs hemming the city in.
Seth walked along the intact crescent of the rooftop, heading toward the cliff over which the waterfall was spilling. To his surprise, he found a set of steps cut into the rock.
So many steps—and the djinn didn’t need them. Humans needed them. Humans had made these.
Legs burning with fatigue, Seth made the zigzag climb to the top, emerging on a rocky shelf. He arrived facing east, where the sky was paling just enough for him to see, in the distance, beyond Jannat’s enclosing cliffs, the rolling sands of the desert.
Relief swept through Seth at the sight of the desert, at the reassurance that Jannat did not go on endlessly, somehow blotting out the rest of the world.
Though hidden, it was a real place. The human world, Seth’s world, lay just beyond its edges.
Seth turned to take in the rest of the view—and froze.
At first, he thought the figure in the river’s midst was simply a man standing still. But it wasn’t. It was a statue. A golden one.
This was the gold that had caught his eye yesterday when it had flashed in the sunlight. The only gold in Jannat.
Seth walked through the tough grasses growing in the thin soil to the water’s edge. The golden figure had none of the serene grace of most statues. Standing eternally against the current, the man’s posture was one of agony. One hand was clutched to his chest. The other was reaching for something, or maybe pleading with the gods for mercy. The figure’s head was thrown back, and the mouth was open in a horrific scream.
Seth shivered.
“Admiring the Alchemist?”
Seth spun. Golden eyes glowed in the dark, eerily suspended, then a form solidified around them: the djinn in the red sarong. The one with a turban of blue smoke, who had stared at Seth and Raider so intently.
Seth reached instinctively for his sword. His hand met empty air above his shoulder.
The djinn chuckled. “Your kind are so predictable. But fear not. Oath or no, I would not harm you. A single human would hardly be worth the effort. What use to kill one fly on a dung heap? Besides, you’ve been supremely useful.”
“Who the hell are you?”
“My name is Soroush.”
When nothing more was offered, Seth demanded, “What do you mean, I’ve been useful? Useful for what?”
“For helping your kind act according to their nature.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
“You have a lot of questions, human. But then, your kind always does. The tower was once filled with questions and answers. It would have been better filled with silence.”
“What happened here? To Ulam?”
“Humans acted according to their nature.”
“You keep saying that. What does that mean?”
The golden eyes flashed. “You are human. You should know very well what that means.”