Chapter 44

                                    

                                          
Emmett's POV: 
                          
It wasn't two minutes in telling us about her first master, Sultana Nenatte that the rest of the family came back into the room and sat down on the couch and chairs surrounding us. She told us about each of her masters in the order of the names that went down her back. 
                          
It wasn't until she got to Pharaoh Cleopatra that her beautiful voice starts to waver a bit and a few tears slip out of her eyes again. I see Jasper smile a bit seeming to understand her hesitation, no doubt due to still feeling her emotions. 
                          
"Was she a good master?" (Em)
                          
"She was the best, a master that a genie can only hope to get once or twice in their lifetime. She had wished me every form of freedom that she could think of as soon as I came out of the bottle. I never went back inside while serving her. She was less of a master and more of a cherished friend." (J)
                          
"And her romantic escapades with the romans?" (Rose)
                          
"All true. She had an eye for things that glimmered, like the Romans uniforms, hence why I love gold so much. It was something that I picked up from her while serving her." (J)
                          
I couldn't help the chuckle that left my lips at that, knowing that she did love gold an awful lot. She told us all about the good times she shared with Cleopatra, a sad smile when she talked of her passing lingered on her face for a moment before she moved on to the next master. 
                          
I held her close to me as she talked for hours, well past the morning hours and back into the evening hours of Saturday. She had barely mentioned Emperor Nero or Master Smith and I knew that it had to be bad because even Jasper made a face at the emotions coming off her. It was well past midnight on Saturday when I carried her upstairs to my room and laid down with her on the bed. 
                          
"Emmett....no matter how long we lay here I will not be able to sleep." (J)
                          
"I know Jeanie, it's just.......are you ok? I know that talking about your past masters must be more painful than you're letting on. Especially some of the less pleasant ones." (Em) 
                          
"I just don't want you to think less of me Emmett." (J)
                          
"Oh Jeanie, I could never do that. I'm more worried about you thinking that of me. I should tell you that I don't have a flawless track record with the vegetarian diet, I fell off the wagon when I met my singers once." (Em)
                          
"It's amazing that you are able to defy your very nature in any amount, to be strong enough to live off animal blood Emmett for any amount of time, falling off the wagon once does not make me think less of you." (J)
                          
"Then whatever happened to you with another Master will not cause me to think less of you." (Em)
                          
I saw her close her eyes before she snuggled closer into my chest and took a deep breath. I slowly began to run my fingers through her hair and she opened her eyes and looked up at me. I held her closer to me as I could almost feel the tension coming off of her. 
                          
"Emperor Nero was as heartless as history portrayed him. The night that Rome caught fire......he had wished for it to happen. I had no choice but to grant it and since he did not sleep that night neither did I." (J)
                          
I felt her stiffen in my arms against my chest, and I held her tighter as she seemed to be drawn in by the bad memories that raced through her head. I ran my fingers through her curls as I waited for her to continue, I wasn't going to push her though. If she didn't want to walk about it I wouldn't make her. 
                          
"I heard the screams and the yells when they began, and I could do nothing to stop it. He stayed awake the entire time the city burned. Sometimes drinking, other times he played the fiddle. The entire thing was but a joke to him as people lost everything including their lives." (J)
                          
"That doesn't make it your fault you know. Just because that monster wished for it to happen and you had to grant it, it doesn't make it your fault." (Em)
                          
"I have had many friends, both genie and non to tell me the same thing. But it still feels as if it is my fault." (J)
                          
"Well then I'll have the rest of eternity to tell you otherwise. Nothing that anyone wishes for is your fault Jeanie. I wish you knew that." (Em)
                          
I watched as she pulled away from me a bit before she folded her arms and bowed her head. I realized my mistake as soon as she did that, as I had wished for something. I hadn't meant it like that and I realized that until one of her relatives came to let her out of the bottle I would have to watch what I said before I said it. 
                          
"That was a low blow Em." (J)
                          
"I'm so sorry Jeanie I didn't even catch myself saying it." (Em)
                          
I was ready to apologize for the next few hours after my slip up until I felt her shaking in my arms. I looked at her immediately, worried that maybe she was getting sick or trying to defy me again but then I saw her holding back a laugh. I realized she had been messing with me then and I can't help but pout a bit. 
                          
She rewards my own antics by laughing out loud before leaning up towards me. I smile for a moment thinking she's about to kiss me when it seems her entire body freezes and jerks her back down to the bed. I watched her freeze for a moment before she looked back up at me with a look of sorrow passing over her face.
                          
"I cannot express my feelings for you in such a way, I had forgotten. You make me forget what I am when I'm with you." (J) 
                          
"I'm sorry, I don't mean to." (Em)
                          
"No, never be sorry for that Emmett. I have never felt so free and alive as I do when I am with you. I can only imagine this is what free genies feel like all the time." (J)
                          
"That's funny, cause that's how I've always felt when I'm with you. You make me feel human again Jeanie." (Em)