Delta wakes to a normal sort of morning for her, that is to say cold and hungry. Both she ignored, or at least tried to. There was little she could do about either. However that ring she had found yesterday... What could she do with it? Sell it? It looks really valuable, but of course she has no way to judge. More important, who could she sell it to? Everybody would think she had stolen it and would just take it from her, if she were lucky. If she were not, the punishment for thieves is severe, scary so. As long as she just stole food to live, she could get off with just a beating or so [A couple of the merchants will even let her keep the bread, saying it was now too filthy to sell.], but if she were found with a valuable ring like this... nobody would believe she had not stolen it and ... No, she can't let anybody know she has the ring, not unless she can find somebody really trustworthy, and those she knows are very much not that. Still, if she can find somebody even a little trustworthy, she might be be able to sell it and buy all the bread she can eat, maybe even some cake. Such riches are not to be thrown away even if they are risky. So it is placed in what amounts to a pocket, being idly brushed as it is made secure.
Instantly the annoyed dhinn is present. Really this idea of letting somebody find her ring is looking worse and worse. Granted it was dull out in the wilds, but now she is at the beck and call of fools, and now a child of all things, And this will get worse when they learn how to control her. Now if she were only a pure djinni, she would take joy from a job well done, but as just a half-djinni, she has the compulsion to obey, and the resentment for having to obey from her human parent. Well, she will have to feel sorry for herself some other time. Right now she needs to find what her little master wants. "Yes?"
"Oh, hi." Delta answers as her fear dies down. Anybody might attack her, but most of those that do so do so right away. So the lady seems safe, unless she is very dangerous indeed. Since Delta has a good lead if she must run, she can relax, but to be a bit safer... "Please tell me your name." She knows the names of several very dangerous people and innocently assumes this lady will not lie to her.
"Jenny", Now what is this, the djinni is not named Jenny. She does not have a name at all... Or rather didn't. But the command of her master somehow gave her this name, which Jenny realizes she likes, even if she has no idea why. She also likes the reduction of the compulsion to obey that follows.
Delta in the meantime is vaguely remembering a Jenny. She remembers no face or anything else, but somehow she remembers this Jenny was trustworthy, which must mean this woman is trustworthy too, which means she could buy the ring... Fishing in her clothing, Delta presents the ring, "Would you like to buy this ring? It's really valuable."
Jenny finds herself tongue-tied and unable to answer. She mustn't touch the ring, or deprive her master of it. The very idea is abhorrent. But her master is commanding it, and she must obey her master. Who promptly makes her problem worse by saying, "You will really like it." This is true anyway. Her ring is the center of her life and Jenny can almost be said to worship her ring, but the "command" does make her agony of indecision all the worse. What can she do?
"And what are you thieves up to? Selling stolen goods?" Jenny turns to see a member of the town guard, a distinctly hostile menber.
Delta sees even more. This guard has it in for her even worse than most people. Still, she can't resist saying,"It's mine! I found it!" even as she acts in a guilty manner.
"Right. Found it in somebody's pocket, I'll bet." the guard sneers, "This time you are for it, you little brat. And you girl, you are under arrest too, unless you want to ... Jenny is not sure what is being suggested, beyond that it is nothing she wants to do. Delta, despite her time in the streets, is not that much clearer, but she is sure no lady [or least 'decent lady'. whatever that means] should be subjected to it, and some to save her friend [who might buy the ring], she lashes out.
The kick is surprisingly effective, and painful. Later Jenny can wonder if she somehow augmented her master's unspoken wish or not, but right now she must obey the command, "Run! We have to get away." And so she must follow Delta.
It is not long before she catches up to a sobbing Delta, "We've got to run, far. He'll be after us and I don't know where to hide! Please! Can you hide me? I wish I was way far away from here."
If Delta were looking at anything other than the front of Jenny's dress her face is buried in, she might have wondered if she were jumping from frying pan to fire, for Jenny's smile is downright vicious. Such a lovely set of vague and confused commands. She would be able to twist them in any ways she desires, Any very painful way...
But even as she starts to, she finds herself hesitating. Delta had been trying to help her, not taking advantage of her. Is it really fair to take advantage of her?... Well, maybe not, but she was still commanding Jenny and that arouses her ire all by itself. Delta would pay for that, even if Jenny can not be as nasty as she would like to be. "I have an idea. We can go thru that door there..." which had not existed a moment ago and would not exist in another... "And then we can run thru a garden. You will have to run fast so we don't get caught."
The two girls rush, Delta in terror, Jenny in concentration. As a half-djinni, her powers are rather weak and erratic, not to mention she is not skilled in using them. She would have to be very careful to succeed in "granting" this wish. Still, she should be able to manage it.
And she does. She does have to gasp as she says "We can stop now. He will never catch you here. You are safe from him.", but she had done it, and she is telling the exact truth. The guardsman will never leave the city, certainly not to come to distant mountains.
Of course all the dangers of the mountains are quite another story...