Chapter 1 – What is your bidding?

Kayden barely glanced up from his computer screen as his cell phone rang, begging him for its attention. Not peeling his light blue eyes away from the monitor, he grasped it and flicked it open without a second thought, bringing it cautiously to his ear.

“We’re home, darling!” his mother screeched, her voice dripping with over-enthusiasm. “Come down and see the wonderful gift we brought you!”

“Could you send it up?” Kayden replied dryly, shutting the phone without wasting another word. He logged off his instant messaging program and stretched. He was tall and lean, with a sheen to his blond hair that looked perfect, almost unnatural. His thin figure betrayed his strength, acquired entirely from the fitness room he visited to escape his annoying parents and sisters.

A moment later there came a knock from the wooden doors that marked the entrance to his room. He pulled it open slightly, enough for him to see the eldest maid, Harriet, waiting impatiently.

“You have some nerve!” the gray-haired lady asserted, thrusting an object into his arms that was wrapped in newspaper. Even with the door open only a few inches, she still managed to slam it on his face rudely. His parents always sent Harriet when the felt their son lacked respect. They were under the delusion that he actually respected his old nanny. The thought made Kayden chuckle to himself as he sat down on his water bed.

What trinket from far-away lands had his parents brought him this time? He started pulling off the paper, his curiosity growing. His parents were always leaving their family to travel the globe. Where had it been this time? Egypt, or Lebanon, or Saudi Arabia? Some place like that, with lots of sand and not enough water. He had no idea why anyone would want to vacation there of their own free will, but then again, he was starting to question himself and why he chose to pay money to go to college on his own free will. The occasional bags under his eyes did nothing for his complexion.

Out of the wrappings, he examined his gift. Slightly odd, he had to admit as he turned the golden lamp around in his long fingers. He had always been fond of shiny objects, of which the lamp was not. He frowned as looked at the unpolished artifact he held. It was covered in a thin layer of dark dirt that made the gold look murky. His thin lips curled into a smile as he pulled his sleeve toward it to rub off some of the grime, half-expecting the theme from those blasted Disney Aladdin movies to begin playing in his head.

As he wiped it all away, the curtains to his balcony started to sway bit by bit. How aggravating, he thought as he got up to close the door and stop the draft. When he turned around, he noticed that the lamp wasn’t just shining; it was glowing.

Cautiously stepping forward, he nudged it off his bed so it fell on the floor. The lamp began shaking, and from its curved spout a red mist began to pour. It started gushing suddenly, faster and faster, whirling up and taking a murky shape. As it contorted and expanded, its color slightly shifting in places, it almost looked like-

A girl! It most certainly was a girl, Kayden concluded, his eyebrow slowly raising as the figure finally took shape. The mist disappeared and she was all that was left standing before him, eyelids shut tight, and totally motionless.

Her skin was universally tan, and her wild black hair was held behind her by a golden band that could hardly contain it. She really did look like she belonged in a different age, with her bright red silk clothes and fluttering translucent fabric. Long sheets of misty red cloth fell between her top and her wrists, latched to two thick golden cuffs. Her stomach was bare but her pants were large and lose, leading down to her small feet in their scarlet, curved-toe slippers. Her face had a red veil before it, and around her head was a golden headband that draped a ruby onto her forehead.

Kayden barely noticed that he was slowly stepping closer. His hand was faintly extended, almost as if he wanted to touch her to make sure she was real, not some mere illusion. Before he had the chance, her eyes shot open. They were dark brown and had an eager fire to them.

“What is your bidding, my master?”

Author’s Note: I’m posting Chapter 2 right away because… I feel like it? The title is a working title, so I know it sucks.