The wind outside howled like wolves in mourning. Inside the stone barn where Lia and Maru now hid, shadows danced across the cracked floor, their flickers caused by the dim fire they'd built from old crates. The glow of the embers caught on the bronze lamp, now resting carefully beside Lia.
Maru tugged at her sleeve. "What happens now?"
Lia didn't answer right away. Her mind was still caught on what she'd done. Cray's face—twisting, spilling every secret he'd buried behind sneers and velvet—haunted her thoughts.
"I made him a prisoner of his own truth," she muttered.
Mister Genie stood in the corner, his form barely solid in the firelight. "You struck fear where blades could not. But power, even truth, has weight."
Maru frowned. "We should leave this town."
Lia shook her head. "No. If we run, Lord Brenner will chase us. He'll want the lamp. He'll want revenge."
The barn doors creaked.
All three turned.
A cloaked figure stepped in, brushing off snow. Her face was hard, weathered. It was the baker's wife, one of the few kind faces in Dustwater.
"I saw them searching," she said. "Cray. His men. They're tearing through homes. They think you cursed him."
"Not cursed," Lia said quietly. "Revealed."
"Same to them," the woman snapped. "You have to hide better. Or leave."
Lia stood. "We can't. Not yet."
The woman tossed a bundle of bread on the table. "Then keep that brat quiet," she said, gesturing at Maru. "He cries in his sleep."
When she left, the silence returned.
Maru looked up at Lia. "Do you think… Papa would have believed us?"
She paused. "I don't know."
"I miss him."
Lia knelt and pulled him close. "Me too."
Mister Genie's voice was quiet. "Some truths cannot be wished away."
Later that night, Lia awoke to a sound—voices outside. Angry ones.
Through a gap in the wood, she saw torches. Guards.
"They're here," she said.
She grabbed the lamp and Maru's hand. But it was too late. The door burst open.
Lord Brenner himself stood there, flanked by six guards. Cray was beside him, face pale but furious.
"So this is the girl," the lord said.
Lia backed away.
"You took something that belongs to this town," Brenner continued. "That lamp… I want it."
Mister Genie began to appear, but Lia squeezed the lamp hard. "Don't," she whispered.
Brenner stepped forward. "Hand it over. Or I take the boy."
Two guards grabbed Maru.
Lia's heart thundered. She had two wishes left.
She looked into Maru's eyes.
"I wish," she said, breath trembling, "that no one can touch this lamp except me."
A ripple of golden light burst outward from the lamp.
The guards recoiled. One reached for it—and screamed as his hand sizzled and smoked.
"Witch!" Cray spat.
Brenner roared. "Kill them if you must. I will have that lamp!"
Lia pulled Maru close and whispered, "Run."
They bolted into the back of the barn as chaos erupted behind them. Mister Genie formed in front of them like a shield, deflecting blades with invisible force. They slipped through a broken wall into the snow-covered woods beyond.
As they vanished into the trees, Lia clutched the lamp tighter.
Only one wish remained.
And it would have to count.