Chapter 4 #2
“It’s a reminder,” Dhoona said. “A cautionary tale to prevent an uprising.”
“The Danava now work for the Asura, Leela,” Erabi said.
“And those steeds pulling Kalani’s carriage, those majestic chaysavar, belonged to the Danava. They were once mighty warriors but are now relegated to basic transport.”
“Fuck…” I shook my head. How were things so messed up?
“There will be time enough to put things to rights,” Erabi said. “Chandra will help you. I know these are all issues that he has been fighting to change, but without the full power of the throne…” She sighed again. “It has been a futile battle.”
Not any longer. In a month’s time, reform would begin. I climbed up into the carriage, the move elevating me enough to see over Dhoona’s head.
My gaze locked with Kalani’s, and my blood ran cold at the pure, unadulterated hatred in her eyes.
Hatred aimed at me.
I met her vitriol with a nod and a smile. Her eyes flinched, and she looked away. Probably confused by my reaction to her death glare.
Ha, she’d probably spend the next few minutes wondering if she’d miscommunicated her distaste.
I ducked into the carriage, a warm kernel of satisfaction in my chest, and settled beside Bina. Opposite us, Dharma and Joe arranged one of the blankets over their laps. A moment later, we were airborne.
Joe whooped, and Bina grabbed the sill, muttering something under her breath. Dharma stared out of the window wide-eyed as we gained altitude. And it hit me that here, high above the city, surrounded by sky, there were no spying ears to listen. This was the epitome of privacy.
I waited for the awe and novelty to wear off a little, for them to sit back in their seats and relax, then spoke.
“I have something to tell you all.”
Silence reigned for several minutes after I finished recounting Pashim’s message and Araz’s revelation: the truth that a bond between Asura and drohi could be broken and that not all drohi children were given to the Asura willingly.
“I knew it,” Dharma said. “The way they treat the drohi…and then making everyone believe it’s a choice for the djinn to give up their offspring.
And they tried to wipe Araz’s memories? Can you imagine how awful to have to live here and comply with the Asura when he remembered what they did to his family? ”
And I’d been brought here just before he was about to be freed. His hatred of me hadn’t been personal. He’d seen me as another cage, and he’d had every reason to want to break out of it.
“I don’t blame him for wanting war,” Bina said. “Not after everything he saw and went through.”
Neither did I. “I hoped to find a way of changing things without bloodshed.”
“There will be no choice but war now,” Bina said. “The primordial evil won’t negotiate. It will take what it wants by force.”
“What do you know about it?” Dharma asked.
“I’ve heard stories,” she said. “They say it came from the stars. A hunger. A disease. One that wanted nothing but to devour. The deva fought it. Caged it. Even then it found a foothold.”
“The devouring force,” Joe said.
“Yes.” Bina looked out the window. “There will be war. But we’ll be by your side when you bring the evil down.” She looked at me. “By earth and rock, I vow it.”
My stomach clenched. I’d have to stab Araz through the heart.
No.
Not Araz.
The thing wearing Araz’s body.
It wasn’t until Dharma reached across to touch my knee, her face etched in lines of concern, that I realized how fast and shallow I was breathing.
“It will be okay,” she said. “You won’t be alone. We promise.”
“I know.” I covered her hand with mine. “Thank you.”
“If we’re gonna be with you, then we’re going to have to take some flying lessons,” Joe said.
The Authority had removed the need for the air trial and expedited the labyrinth to try to get rid of me, which meant my friends would need some training on a thunderbird’s back.
“I’ll speak to Chandra. You guys will get whatever you need.
But now that you know the truth, now that you understand what’s possible, it will be tempting to share this with your drohi.
To treat them differently and break away from the current dynamic.
You know the whole they serve you vibe. But you can’t.
You can’t tell them, and you can’t change your behavior too much or they’ll suspect something. ”
“What?” Dharma frowned. “You want us to keep this from our drohi? To lie? Why?”
“I know it feels icky but think about it. They’ve been raised to serve.
Raised to believe that they were given to the Asura.
That their families were complicit, and maybe for some of them that is true, but we don’t know…
We don’t know how they might react to finding out the truth.
To discovering that they may have been stolen from their families, ripped away from their mothers.
And we have no idea what kind of failsafes the Asura put into place in case of a drohi rebelling, even subconsciously.
Araz was different. Maybe because he came later, or maybe because he was an Agni djinn, I don’t know.
But we need to move carefully. The last thing we want is to trigger something that might hurt them or have them taken from us.
Once you ascend, you can set them free.”
Dharma nodded. “I don’t like it, but okay. It makes sense not to rock the boat this close to ascension.”
“I’ll do whatever it takes to keep Mahira safe,” Joe said.
“I agree,” Bina added. “We must move forward with caution. If the Asura realize that we know the truth, then they may stop our ascension altogether.”
“Good point,” Dharma said.
The carriage dipped. Bina gripped the sill again, letting out a shaky laugh.
“Gods, it’s amazing,” Joe said, his gaze on the view outside the carriage window.
Dharma pulled the blanket up to her shoulders, snuggling down. “It’s also fucking freezing. Chaya usually warms me up.” She grinned cheekily, but her smile died when she met my gaze.
My heart sank. “Don’t do that. Don’t dim your joy because of me. We’ve both had loss.”
She pressed her lips together. “It’s strange. The loss of Priti…it’s so fresh, but sometimes I forget. I forget and I laugh. Or I get this burst of joy, and then I remember, and this wave of desolation washes over me, but it’s accompanied by guilt.”
“Grief is a fucked-up thing,” Joe said.
“It is indeed,” Bina agreed. “You never forget; you just learn to live with the loss.”
“Who did you lose?” Joe asked her bluntly.
She smiled, not surprised by his forthrightness. “There was someone here once that I cared for before Thanil and I were bonded. He died in a training accident. He was a mountain dweller too. I think that’s what drew us together.”
“Wait, are you one of the ice mountain dwellers?” Dharma asked.
Bina smiled thinly. “Yes. I was. My mother was one of the tribe leader’s daughters.
They say that my Asura sire visited once, and she was smitten with him.
That they had a liaison, and I was the result.
But Mother always changed the subject when I asked her about it.
She’d tell me to go chop wood or darn socks.
Sometimes she’d lash out and strike me. I soon learned to stop asking.
“When I came of age, my sire came to collect me. But Mother took to bed, sick and unfit to greet him. I didn’t get to say goodbye to her, and now I wonder…” She looked out the window, her brows pinching.
“What?” Joe asked.
“I wonder if the liaison was consensual.”
My heart sank. “Oh, Bina…”
“I wonder if the Asura have been taking what doesn’t belong to them, not only from the djinn, but from the native humans too…” Her lip curled. “I’m wondering how much of what we’ve been told is true at all.”
Yeah, I was wondering the same, and I sure as hell was going to find out.