Outside the king’s chamber’s room, out of options, Poppy just leaned on the wall not knowing what to do. Soon after she heard footsteps, turned around and saw Ius.

He walked up to her, smiling, holding up a scarabaei pin in his hand. "Found it!"

She screamed, ran, and hugged him. " Oh my God, I thought I was lost, and you weren't coming back."

He laughed. " Of course, I was coming back. I saw the group heading toward the Queen’s chamber room so I hid until they were all out of sight. And I knew you’ll be waiting for me in the King’s chamber.’’

Poppy smiled.

‘’ Here, this is for you. I thought you might like it. I can't believe I almost lost it."

She gasped and smiled. " Thank you, it's beautiful," then she hit him on the arm, " this is for leaving me alone."

"Sorry, it won't happen again. So, what did you do while you were waiting for me?"

Her eyes lit up, " you will not believe what just happened to me!"

He leaned toward her when they heard a deep pitch. "What is going on here? Why did you stay behind?"

Poppy and Ius jumped. A furious Selma was approaching them.

What? Seriously? Again? Is that woman stalking us or what?

When she got close enough, she placed her fists on her hips and said, " The Queen's chamber tour is over, and you two missed it. I would like to know why."

Poppy and Ius looked at each other, and Ius answered, "Sorry. I lost my pin, and we were looking for it."

Selma raised one eyebrow, wrinkled her nose, and scoffed. "Yeah, right!’’

She shrugged. ‘’ Anyway, I don't have time to play babysitter, so I suggest you and your little girlfriend keep up with us or I will inform your guardians."

She then turned around and started walking at a quick pace.

Poppy took a step in her direction when Ius extended his arm and stopped her.

"What did you want to tell me?" he whispered.

She was about to answer when they heard, "Are you serious? What did I just say? Get over here IMMEDIATELY! Come on, let's go!" shouted a furious Selma while tapping her fingers.

Poppy and Ius answered simultaneously, "Okay, we are coming!"

Telling Ius will have to wait. Maybe it's for the best, thought Poppy as they rushed to follow Selma and rejoin the group.

After a long day visiting the other pyramids, the group finally went back to the hotel. Poppy wasn’t sure if she should tell her uncle about her finding. She was still deciding when she heard the toilet flush and hid the lamp in her bag. She then started getting ready for dinner.

Ius and Poppy had planned to meet in the dining at least one hour before dinner time. She spotted him sitting on the terrace. She smiled, ran to him, and took his hand. “Come with me!”

She led him into the garden at the back of the property near the pond where they met the first time.

Ius barely had time to sit on the bench that Poppy, jumping straight into the subject, narrated the King’s chamber’s events to him.

Ius listened attentively and was about to speak when Poppy pulled out the lamp from her bag and handed it over to him. She then rubbed it — but nothing happened.

Poppy was puzzled. She took back the lamp from him and rubbed it again, hoping to get Mokhtar to appear—but he did not.

She gasped, frowned and said, “I don’t understand. There was a jinn attached to this lamp; I swear it. He appeared to me in the chamber; his name is Mokhtar. He even promised me three wishes.”

Ius couldn’t keep a straight face anymore and burst out laughing.

Poppy frowned and gently pushed him back. “Stop laughing! I am not lying!”

Ius was staring at her with a grin on his face, and one brow raised.

Poppy shook her head and added in a cold tone, “Fine, don’t believe me!”

She got up, took a step forward, but Ius grabbed her wrist.

“I’m sorry. Please stay,” Ius said in a calm tone. “It’s not what you think. I wasn’t laughing because I didn’t believe your story. I was laughing at the ruse.”

‘’What do you mean by the ruse?’’ Asked Poppy with a frown while sitting back down next to him.

He took a big breath. “Okay, I’m going to tell you something, but you have to promise me not to freak out.”

‘’I won’t!’’ She said swiftly, ‘’Tell me.’’

“I believe everything you said and by what you just told me, it sounds like you have met an Ifrit. They are a group of Jinn known for their trickery.’’

Poppy frowned and asked, ‘’ And you know all that how?’’

He shrugged, ‘’Easy! I am a Jinn as well.’’

She sneered, then shook her head and rolled her eyes. “Ius, you are a special kind of moron. And the worst thing is that you think I am one as well. I’m leaving.”

Ius grabbed her wrist, “a tami mi do fewa ma na (do you think I am lying to you)?”

Poppy put her hands over her mouth and stared at Ius with wide eyes. She shouted, “You speak Fula?”

“Told you! I’m a Jinn! We speak all languages,” answered Ius.

She looked at him sideways, then said, “Humm, I don’t know, I mean, you could have learned the language.”

He smiled, “Ok, I guess I’m going to have to up the stakes. Look at me, Poppy, look at my eyes.”

His clear blue eyes started glowing. Poppy jumped, but he was not done.

He extended his arm toward the pond and recited, “From liquid to solid, take form in front of me.”

The water started bubbling immediately, and soon after, tiny bubbles came out of the water, creating a human-like form in front of them.

Poppy pulled back, opened her mouth, and raised her eyebrows. She couldn’t keep her eyes off the form until it utterly popped.

She turned back toward Ius, her eyes still double their size and say, “Oh … My…God”

Ius started giggling while Poppy was shaking her head.

‘’ Do something else!’’ she said excitedly. ‘’ No, never mind. Can you grant me the three wishes like the Jinn in the lamp?’’

Ius shrank his eyes. “Yeah, about that. Jinns do not grant wishes. Not one, not two, and certainly not three.”

Poppy pulled back and raised a brow. “What?”

Ius nodded, then grimaced. “Well…Technically, we could if we wanted to, but we rarely do. And we don’t live in lamps either.”

“Uhhhh, what about the guy that was in the lamp then? How did he get there?” asked Poppy.

Ius giggled. “ He must have conjured up the lamp just to get you to free him. He is a trickster! That’s what Ifrits do!”

Poppy’s eyes grew, and she raised her shoulders. “A trickster? Like the fox in Aesop’s fable, the fox and the crow?”

Ius let out a chuckle and nodded. “Exactly…It sounds to me you were the cheese.”

Poppy’s face flustered. “I am such an idiot. Wait, did you say freed him? He was imprisoned?”

Ius made a face. “Yeah, probably otherwise, he wouldn’t have contacted you.”

She dropped her shoulders and covered her face with her hands. “Oh my God! What have I done?”

Ius placed his hand on her shoulder and said, “Hey, you didn’t know; you did nothing wrong. He probably went too far with one of his pranks and was punished for that. I’ve heard that we have many jinns imprisoned in your realm.’’

She furrowed her brows. “hold on, it just occurred to me you used a spell earlier. Why? Mum taught me that jinns were conjurers.”

He nodded. “We are, but for Jinns in training like me, we have to use a spell to perform magic successfully.”

Poppy raised her brows and nodded. “So the more you advance, the less you will use spells?”

Ius nodded again. “By graduation day, I should be able to practice magic without the need of any spells.”

‘’ When is your graduation day?’’ Asked Poppy.

‘’ When I turn fifteen. But I would still need to pass the final exam.’’

Poppy sighed, “Hey, it just occurred to me that the Ifrit got very lucky. If you had not lost my gift, you would have known he was a Jinn.”

Ius wrinkled his nose. “About that; I didn’t lose my pin. I lied.”

Poppy gasped. “Excuse me?”

Ius made a face again and said, “uhhh, everything started when we were about to enter the King’s chamber. I heard an echo and checked it out. But I knew that if you had known, you would for sure want to come with me, and I couldn’t explain to you how I was hearing it and not you. I’m sorry.”

She waved her hand and said, “I understand.’’

Poppy couldn’t be mad at him even if she wanted to. Internally, she could feel that there was more to come and she couldn’t wait to ask him even more questions.