not<\/em> grand that morning. Morning light spilled through the huge windows that overlooked the bay to cast rays on the detritus of the previous night\u2019s soir\u00e9e. Overturned tables and chairs, spills and stains on the carpets, half of the draperies ripped from the windows, and above it all, the smell of stale champagne and spilled booze.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cYou ever notice,\u201d Karl asked, \u201cthat the richer the party, the worse the mess?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sera knew what he was getting at, but she\u2019d let him explain himself, again, in order to keep the peace. It wasn\u2019t that she hated him, but he often pushed her close to it. \u201cHow so?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe union workers that had their thing here last week, for instance. There was some spillage where the kegs were, but all the trash was in the bins, and they even cleaned off the tables and stacked the chairs up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She nodded. Their efforts had been appreciated, but still made more work for them to take all the chairs down to clean them properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBut look at this,\u201d he said, throwing his arms out wide, as if she\u2019d been ignoring it all along. \u201cSome wizard politician and all her rich cronies come in here, lording it over everyone like they\u2019re the most civilized and elegant people in the world, and what do we get? Destruction. Damn wizards.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cShe\u2019s not a wizard,\u201d Sera countered, \u201cshe\u2019s an elf. I don\u2019t know where you get this idea.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWell, yeah, not all<\/em> elves,\u201d he said. \u201cI mean, you\u2019re<\/em> not a wizard, or else you wouldn\u2019t be cleaning up after \u2018em with me. You\u2019re one of the good ones.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe sigh of exasperation left Sera\u2019s lips before she could stop it. \u201cKarl, you really need to check yourself before you say things like that. Jik hears you, it\u2019ll be a trip to HR, and not a happy one.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYeah, well, boss is a wizard too, so I wouldn\u2019t be surprised.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWait, so now Jik\u2019s a wizard too? Because he\u2019s an orc? What do you think a wizard is? Anyone that\u2019s not a human?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo, of course not. Most elves are, and I saw boss making a coin disappear and reappear; showing off for his kids.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFirst, some<\/em> elves, not most, have some latent magical talent. Same with all the other races, including humans. That does not make them wizards. Being a wizard is about life-long study and mastery. Second, most actual<\/em> wizards are humans. And third, the boss does sleight of hand tricks, not magic. Hell, he could probably teach you how to do it this afternoon if you asked.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cNuh-uh, no way, no how. I\u2019m not messing with anything<\/em> magic. Too dangerous.\u201d Karl ended the conversation by busying himself collecting all the bottles for recycling.<\/p>\n\n\n\nSera began collecting the wine stems, champagne flutes, shot glasses, and other assorted dishes into bus tubs. By the time she\u2019d finished, Karl had removed the remaining drapes to be washed and was gathering the tablecloths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As they worked, they piled lost items on the table farthest from the door. It would be the last to be folded and carted out, and they could run them to lost and found then. Sera sprayed the chairs with disinfectant and placed them in ten chair stacks near the large doors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Karl flipped a coin. \u201cHeads or tails?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTails.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They watched the coin land on the floor, heads up. \u201cSorry,\u201d Karl said, \u201clooks like you\u2019re spot-cleaning the carpet while I stack tables on the cart.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sera was through nearly half of the ballroom. Most of the spots came up fine, but there were a few that stubbornly refused to be cleaned. \u201cI don\u2019t know what this purple stuff is, but it\u2019s not coming up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSo much for stain-proof carpeting, eh?\u201d Karl made notes on the work order. \u201cWell, if they have to replace it those wizards can afford to pay for it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rather than get back into that<\/em> discussion again, Sera finished up the spot she was working on. \u201cIt\u2019s lunch, let\u2019s take a break.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cCoffee?\u201d Karl asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSure.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He left and returned with two cups of coffee from reception. \u201cAnd I think I\u2019ll spice mine up a little.\u201d Karl picked up a whiskey bottle with two fingers left in the bottom. \u201cFound this under one the tables.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cReally? In the middle of the day?\u201d Sera shook her head. \u201cNone for me, thanks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Karl shrugged and poured the remnants of the bottle into his coffee and took a sip. \u201cThat\u2019s<\/em> a nice cup of coffee.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nSera looked over the table of lost items while she ate her brown-bag lunch. Two cellphones, a leather clutch full of makeup, a device that resembled a toothbrush with a cloth head that she knew was a tusk polisher, several key cards from the hotel, a pair of women\u2019s undies, an expensive strappy stiletto, and an odd dark glass bottle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cLooks like Cinderella was at the ball, huh?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Karl looked confused. \u201cWhat are you talking about?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She picked up the shoe. \u201cCinderella, like the story?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cExcept it\u2019s not glass,\u201d he said around a mouthful of egg salad sandwich.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sera finished her pot noodles and looked over the items on the table. The bottle kept calling to her. \u201cI wonder what\u2019s in the bottle.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cProbably some perfume that costs more than we make in a year.\u201d Karl belched. \u201cThe kind that stinks to high heaven, but rich old biddies splash it on like it\u2019s the best smelling thing ever.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve got a real problem with anything expensive or anyone rich, don\u2019t you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNah, I just wouldn\u2019t be all \u2018look at me\u2019 about it if I was rich.\u201d He belched again. \u201cWouldn\u2019t change the way I act at all.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI can believe that.\u201d Sera picked up the bottle. It felt cool in her hand, too cool. \u201cFeel this,\u201d she said, \u201cI don\u2019t know what kind of glass it is, but it\u2019s cool to the touch.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Karl put his hand on the bottle. \u201cDoesn\u2019t feel cool to me, just cold glass. Nothing cool about that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sera pulled the stopper out of the top, curious about its contents. A mist rose from the bottle, and they felt it grow even colder in their hands. Out of the mist came a feminine figure and strident voice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDamnit, Horace! You promised<\/em> me….\u201d She stopped short and looked around. \u201cWho are you? Where\u2019s Horace?\u201d To appearances she was a slight human woman with a dark, Mediterranean complexion and tightly curled dark hair. Dark circles under her deep brown eyes hinted at exhaustion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cI\u2019m Sera, and this is Karl. We were cleaning up and found this.\u201d She held up the bottle. \u201cWhat\u2019s your name?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know. Can\u2019t remember.\u201d She walked around the room, looking behind the cart of folded tables, the stacks of chairs, under the table with the other lost items, her movements becoming more agitated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat are you looking for?\u201d Sera asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe\u2019s really not here?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo, it\u2019s just the two of us. Who is Horace?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cA fat, ugly, good-for-nothing wizard.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSee?\u201d Karl pointed at the woman from the bottle. \u201cI told you! Damn wizards!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sera ignored Karl\u2019s outburst. He\u2019d be insufferable for the next week at least. \u201cWhat is his relationship to you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAs of now, nothing. He left me behind, you found me. I belong to you now.\u201d She sat cross-legged on the floor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d Karl asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI was cursed, nearly three thousand years ago, to be trapped in this bottle. I\u2019m cursed and belong to whomever owns the bottle, until they lose it. Part of the curse is that my powers must be used to grant one wish from every person that opens my bottle.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSo, since Horace lost you, doesn\u2019t that mean you\u2019re free?\u201d Sera set the bottle gently back on the table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo. You two found and opened it next, so I belong to you now.\u201d She lay back on the floor. \u201cHorace likes\u2026 liked to pass me around at functions, trading wishes for influence or future favors.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe pimped you out.\u201d Sera\u2019s jaw tightened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat\u2019s a very gentle way of putting it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Karl butted in before Sera could speak. \u201cI wish to be rich enough to retire right now!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDone.\u201d She raised a hand holding a stack of papers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s all this?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis is a real estate flyer for a foreclosed off-grid cabin in the Yukon for two-hundred dollars, a list of supplies you\u2019ll need to survive, and a thirty-percent off coupon for all purchases at the outfitter in Whitehorse to get all those supplies.\u201d She gave him a cold smile, her eyes closed. \u201cThat\u2019s an easy one. You already had what you wished for, I just showed you how.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Karl\u2019s face drained of color. \u201cThat\u2019s not what I meant,<\/em> and you know it!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nSera laughed. \u201cBe careful what you wish for, lest you get it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The small woman rose and looked at Karl. \u201cI\u2019m not the one who made the rules. The king\u2019s nephew who cursed me, however, had a warped sense of humor.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCan you explain?\u201d Sera asked. \u201cUnless you don\u2019t want to talk about it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt was a long time ago.\u201d She sat on the table next to her jar. \u201cI was a consort to the king of a small nation bordering the Kassite Babylonians. As a djinn, I was expected to do the king\u2019s bidding.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sera stopped her. \u201cYou\u2019re an actual djinn? Like the myths?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo, that was my title. I was a court mage. So was the king\u2019s nephew.\u201d The smile that crossed her face was sad. \u201cI refused to kill the Kassite king with my magic, so he locked me up until his nephew could imprison me in the bottle and force me to do the king\u2019s bidding. It was his nephew that made the one wish rule, no bringing back the dead, and to follow to the letter the wish.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhy all the weirdness with the rules?\u201d Karl asked, waving the bundle of papers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe king\u2019s nephew was next in line for the throne, unless the king\u2019s son were to be resurrected, or the king wished for a son, or the king wished the nephew dead.\u201d She shook her head. \u201cHe also blocked most of my memories, except for denying the king\u2019s order, and everything that came after. Still, I found a way to rebel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe king\u2019s wish was, \u2018I wish for the Kassite king to die.\u2019 So, I declared it done and was pulled back into the bottle. When he next came to me, furious that his enemy was still alive, I reminded him that his wish was already true, the king will<\/em> die, as will everyone else.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cWait,\u201d Karl broke in, \u201ccan I change my wish? I know how to say it now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSorry, one shot is all you get.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Karl threw his half-eaten sandwich in the trash and downed the rest of his spiked coffee. \u201cDamn wizards.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sera sat on the table next to the small woman. \u201cIs there any way to break the curse?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYes, but I can\u2019t speak it, write it, sing it, or act it out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sera sat quietly pondering the woman\u2019s plight. She pursed her lips, her eyes staring into nothing in the middle distance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re not going to make a wish, could you order me back into my bottle, please? I\u2019m exhausted after the way I was used last night.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sera put her arm around the slender shoulders of the woman. \u201cI want to help you. No one deserves to be locked up and used for any reason. Especially for refusing to kill. How can I help you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2014I can\u2019t tell you how.\u201d Tears streamed down her face. \u201cEveryone else who tried eventually gave up, except Horace. He knew how, but thought I was more use to him as a wish factory. Thank you for thinking of me, but please make your wish and allow me to sleep. Then hide me away for a century or more?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think I know how to handle this.\u201d Sera took her hands. \u201cI wish to have, right here, right now, all the knowledge, skills, resources, and power needed to remove your curse.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Karl let out a yelp. \u201cWhat the hell? I\u2019m glowing! So are you!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sera felt the power flowing through her. She saw the curse placed on the woman… Anunit was her name. \u201cKarl, get your wizard ass over here and help me out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2014I\u2019m a wizard,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYes, you are. Now get over and help me.\u201d Sera placed her hands on Anunit\u2019s head. \u201cI need you to put your hands on my back, let your energy flow through me and mingle with mine. Whatever you do, don\u2019t let go until it\u2019s over.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Karl did as she directed. The room grew increasingly bright. Sera\u2019s ears rang with a high-pitched whine that threatened to deafen her. Anunit\u2019s memories flowed through her hands, back into the place they belonged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnunit, daughter of Urbau, I declare your penance paid in full and release you from your prison. By the power of all the king\u2019s mages, you are free.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The bottle shattered into hundreds of shards and Anunit collapsed. Karl dropped to his knees, exhausted, while Sera panted, trying to catch her breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou did it,\u201d Karl said. \u201cAnd we\u2019re both wizards now?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sera laughed. \u201cYeah, I guess we are.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Karl recovered faster than Sera. \u201cStand back, I\u2019m going to try something.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cUm, maybe you shouldn\u2019t…\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The remaining tables folded and stacked themselves on the cart. The shards of the broken bottle swirled into the air and dropped into the trash bag which closed and tied itself after.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSee, no big deal,\u201d he said. Karl reeled on his feet, then sat on the floor with a heavy thump. \u201cWhoa, woozy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo big deal, huh? And what about not wanting anything to do with magic?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHah, had to try at least.\u201d Karl looked at his hands as if seeing them for the first time, a stupid grin plastered on his face. \u201cI\u2019m a wizard.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sera helped Anunit sit back up. \u201cAre you okay?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2014I am.\u201d She hugged Sera. \u201cI wish I could repay you, but….\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo, no. I think we\u2019ve all had our fill of wishes today.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Anunit nodded. \u201cThank you, anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDo you have a place to go?\u201d Sera asked. \u201cNo, of course not. You can stay with me until you get on your feet.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019d like that,\u201d she said. \u201cI need to learn more about the current world anyway and create an identity for myself. It may take some time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTake all the time you need.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Anunit patted Karl on the shoulder. \u201cWell, now you can learn all about money management and savings and use that knowledge to power the magic you need to get the kind of retirement you\u2019re looking for.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Karl lay back on the floor and grunted. \u201cDamn wizards.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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