Passion by Kailin Gow Page A

clasped and unclasped his hands
repeatedly.
    “Calm
down…”  He looked expectedly at the young man.
    “Alex,
sir.”
    “Alex,
I have no title as such.  You can call me Liam. Have you taken it upon yourself
to lead this band of djinns?”
    “I’m
sorry, sir.  I didn’t mean to usurp…”
    “I
think you’ve done a wonderful job.  Everything seems in order and everyone
appears happy.  I’m going to need a few good, strong and smart captains, men and
women who aren’t afraid to lead.”
    “Whatever
you need, sir… hmmm, Liam.”
    “Okay. 
Who here is as strong and competent as you are?”
    Alex
looked around, consider the options, and finally pointed to a djinn; a small
stocky male.  “Hugley is a tough cookie.  He’s smart and all the other djinns
like and respect him.  I know he has a lot of fight in him.  He’s been here for
a long time and he has a strong sense of justice.”
    “Justice
or revenge?”
    Letting
out a little chuckle, Alex looked at Liam.  “I’ll admit he might have a little
taste of bitterness where Catchers are concerned, but I believe him to be
fair.”
    Liam
smiled and gave Alex a reassuring pat on the back.  “I guess I can live with a
little bitterness.  It beats complacency.”
    “There’s
also her.” Alex pointed to a dainty but agile female. 
    Her
skin glowed bright pink and a halo of violet plumes seems to follow her
wherever she went.  She darted about from bottle to bottle and I was amused and
warmed by the treatment she gave every prisoner.  Despite the hatred so many
djinns reserved for the Catchers and Rogue Magical Ones, she smiled at every
prisoner, even winked.  Occasionally she offered a kind word of encouragement. 
    “That’s
Denia.  She has the heart of a saint, the speed of a hornet and the ferocity of
a puma.”
    “Ferocity?”
I said.  “She’s just short of being a fairy princess.  How ferocious can she
be?”
    “Surprisingly
so.  Don’t get me wrong; she’s a true djinnatarian.”
    “A
what?”
    “What
you would call a humanitarian.”
    “Oh,
okay.  So where does the ferocity come in?”
    “When
she’s wronged.  She has a definite, clear cut and inflexible vision of what’s
right and what’s wrong.”
    I
looked at her as she continued to visit one prisoner after another.  Coming to
the bottle of a young Magical One, she sat, cross legged, and spoke in a quiet
and soothing tone.
    “These
prisoners all did wrong to all of you.  They betrayed djinns; they imprisoned
and enslaved their own.  How can she be so quick to forgive?  To look at her
you’d think she was soothing her own fallen colleagues, not the enemy.”
    “For
all the hardships she and her fellow djinns have endured, she has a profound
understanding of those who went Rogue.  I have to admit I’m not sure I share
her forgiving nature, but she assures us most of these Rogue Magical Ones were
forced into this.”
    Listening
to him I thought of the young Magical Ones I’d confronted in the ward.  He’d
seemed so sincere and it was easy to imagine many of these prisoners had had
their arm twisted into going Rogue.
    “I
understand her,” I said.  I looked at Liam and shrugged.   “Maybe it’s a female
thing.  Anyway, I want her on our team.  I think she’d make a great captain.”
    “I
agree.”
    Alex
let out a strange and shrill whistling sound, catching Denia’s attention.  Her
eyes lit up and she instantly darted her way to us.
    “What’s
up, Alex?”  She eyed him with open interest then turned a more reverent gaze to
Liam.  With a nervous twitch she nodded, curtsied then bowed.
    “I
need a few good people to head several small…”  He hesitated and seemed
uncomfortable with his choice of words.  “Armies.”
     As
Liam spoke to Denia, Alex waved Hugley over.  The short djinn took his time
getting to us and eyed us with suspicion.
    “We
can’t underestimate Dr. Sanz’s desire to win this war.  I think you all know
how