The Fire Wish by Amber Lough

almost impervious to heat. In fact, we could use this kind of rock to outfit our soldiers with—”
    “How? Have them wear little balls of this hanging on their armor? It’s too heavy; it wouldn’t be worth it.”
    Kamal shook his head. “No, Father, we would crush it, then find a way to bind it into the fabric. It would work—”
    Crushed-selenite armor? That was brilliant, actually. It would repel our fireballs better than anything they were using now.
    “Kamal, I know what you’re trying to do.” The caliph sat up and faced his son. “I know why you’re here.”
    Kamal straightened, then looked down at the sphere. “I’m trying to help.”
    “No, you’re trying to delay the inevitable.”
    “Father, please. I have too much work to do.”
    “Hashim and I talked about this at great length before he left. The girl he is going to bring back with him will be good for you. She is from a tribe whose loyalty we will need in the coming months, and more importantly, she’s from Zab. Her presence will give the people in the city more resolve in the coming battles.”
    My skin prickled, and I didn’t know if it was because they were talking about Zab or because I was straining to keep my shahtabi going. Zab was where the chain of bloody events that had started the war had begun. It was just a village, but the humans believed we’d murdered two people there, and in a time when fear was running high, that sparked the end of the peace treaty between the races. I had been a baby then, but everyone talked about it like it had just happened.
    Kamal swallowed, and when he spoke, his voice was strained. “When are they due to arrive?”
    “In a day or two. Until then, you can go back to your rocks.”
    Kamal’s eyes flashed at his father, but he bowed his head. Then he turned around and I had to sidestep to avoid getting run into. He pulled the door open and I followed, afraid to stay behind, alone with the caliph.
    He ran down the hall, past the doors to the Court of Honor, and kept going, but I slumped against the wall, releasing the shahtabi. The Eyes of Iblis would want to know about this girl from Zab.

I GRIPPED THE edge of the bed platform until my fingers ached. The barge had set off, and we were drifting down the canal. Someone was piloting, but I couldn’t see who it was. Probably one of Hashim’s guards. At least one of his guards had taken a position on the bow. He stood facing downstream, ready in case anyone tried to leap off the shore onto our barge, or come up on us from another boat. As if there was any threat of that happening. The land was flat as bread all around us, and even from the little window, we could see for miles. Not down the canal, though. The view ahead was blocked by Hashim’s barge, and I tried to avoid looking at it. The first hour of our trip, he caught me watching him and he just stood there, staring with his river-water eyes until I sank back into the darkness.
    Rahela and I had unpacked a few things and set them on the crate beside the bed. She took out her lap loom and began to thread it with yarn, a process that took longer than you’d think. I stretched my legs out. My toes could touch the door.Our room was too small for two girls, especially on a trip that would take days.
    “What does he expect us to do in here?” I asked Rahela.
    She shrugged and continued with her loom. She’d gotten one color set into the frame and was selecting a second color.
    “How can you do that right now?” I asked.
    Rahela wrapped the chosen yarn around her fingers. “There’s nothing else to do, and it calms me.”
    “I thought you were going to do something to the green dress.”
    “I was, but right now I don’t feel like it. I’m still irritated that you ruined the red one.”
    I pushed my toes into the door, not wanting to talk about the dress. After I had come back with Yashar, Mother and Rahela had ranted at me all afternoon about the dress. They wouldn’t stop until I told them