Chapter 7
THIS CAKE COMES WITH NO ICING
Yudh and Dhoona drove me to the Phavvarra the next day. It wasn’t a long journey to the fountain, or the bowels of the domain as Erabi had called it. And with the meeting set for high sun, we left a little after breakfast.
Chandra accompanied me this time. There was no vote to be cast today. The throne would decide my fate, and Chandra didn’t have to stand above me on the balcony, waiting for the Authority to decide what to do with me. This time he’d stand beside me, and I was grateful for his presence.
The vortex took us down, directly to the level we needed.
Chandra explained that only authorized Asura could access the vortex. I imagined it like an executive lift that operated on essence code or something. Was my code mystically programmed into it now, or was it operating because Chandra was with me?
I sat back in my seat on descent to avoid being blinded by the dazzling vortex light surrounding us.
“Did you have any more dreams last night?” Chandra asked from the seat opposite me.
“No. Not that I recall.”
He pursed his lips for a beat. “Good. Maybe it will leave you alone now. If not, then feel free to summon me.”
“I’m not going to wake you every time I have a nightmare.”
“You won’t be waking me. I don’t sleep much anymore.”
“Insomnia?”
He let out a soft chuff. “No, Leela. Gods don’t need sleep. Not in the same way a mortal might. We drift to integrate. But the longer we live, the less we need to do that. The nights can be…lonely.” The corner of his mouth lifted, and he exhaled softly through his nose.
“How come you’ve never married?”
He blinked sharply, then let out a soft laugh. “No one has ever asked me that question so bluntly before.”
I winced. “I’m sorry. Broken sleep seems to have softened my filter.”
“It’s all right. It’s…refreshing. And to answer your question, I plan to marry for love. That has not happened…yet.” A shadow crossed his face, and he fixed his gaze out of the window.
“Wait…you’ve never been in love? Like…ever? You’re how old?”
He let out a bark of laughter and shook his head.
What was wrong with my mouth today? “Sorry.”
He chuckled softly. “No, don’t be. Don’t be.”
The carriage began to slow, and my stomach dipped. “I think we’re here.”
Chandra sobered. “Yes. We are.”
We came to a smooth halt a moment later, and Yudh opened the door to let us out. Chandra descended first, sunlight highlighting the streaks of silver in his dark hair and making the gold embroidery gleam against the dark material of his tunic.
He exuded power and confidence, and it calmed the nervous knots in my belly.
He held out this hand, and I took it, allowing him to help me out of the carriage, careful to lift the skirts of my simple sky blue lehenga—an outfit chosen for the occasion by Erabi.
“You must look the part when you go about the domain,” she’d said. “First impressions are lasting.”
She’d pinned my hair back in a simple knot at my nape and applied kohl and a little rouge. I looked fresh and innocent. Pliable. Good. Let the Authority see me as a puppet they could maneuver.
The obsidian mountain in which the throne rested was wreathed in an aura of amber light where the sun reflected off its glistening surface. This was the foundation from which the domain had sprung. My bones hummed, just as they had done the last time that I’d approached this place.
Chandra lightly squeezed my hand, his long fingers warm and secure around mine. “Are you ready?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be. Let’s do this.” At least I didn’t have to walk in alone this time.
We crossed to the epic golden doors, then slipped through the gap which was wide enough for us to walk in side by side.
A red glow bathed my skin as we entered the mouth of this place, and a shroud of silence settled over us.
The entrance arch waited up ahead. The space between the stone pillars was a blanket of stars that we’d have to step through to enter the throne’s resting place.
Chandra paused to look at me, waiting for my cue. I smiled and nodded.
We stepped through into the chamber beyond, heels clipping on stone.
I’d forgotten how intimidating this chamber was with its shadowy high ceiling and walls.
But the most impressive feature, the throne, sat at the center of the space.
A precious, ancient relic. The gray stone seat shimmered as if it contained the light of a billion teeny stars.
The backrest reached for the ceiling, the crimson artery bisecting it pulsing softly, lighting up the many veins fanning outward from it.
“It feels you,” Chandra said. “It’s awakening.”
I felt it too. Like a caress to my senses. An iron tang filled the air. Earthy, like damp moss and life. A low vibration seeped through my soles and up my legs.
The balcony above us lit up, and my attention strayed to it briefly, to the shadowy figures of the Authority watching us, before quickly returning to the throne in time to see the glyphs along its base light up and begin to move.
Yes, the throne was waking up all right.
I released Chandra’s hand. “I’ve got this now.” No need to wait. I was ready, and the throne needed to know that.
He smiled with his eyes and stepped back to give me space.
I exhaled sharply as a stronger wave of primordial power brushed my senses.
A calling.
A summons.
I answered, crossing to the throne and laying my hand on the armrest.
An icy zing skated over my skin. But it wasn’t invasive this time.
The chill abated, and the stone beneath my palm heated in welcome, but I held myself tense, waiting for the intrusion of communication.
The grinding sensation that had filled my head the last time that I’d touched the throne.
Long seconds passed, and the discomfort didn’t come; instead, something at the back of my mind relaxed and eased.
Like a breath. Like a sigh. A shiver tightened my nape as if disembodied fingers had grazed my skin.
“Well?” My voice echoed around the chamber. “I’m ready. Are you?”
Another shiver skated across my nape, and the base of my skull tightened suddenly. I inhaled sharply as words filled my mind, alien and incomprehensible at first, repeated over and over until they took form. Until my mind untangled them.
Fractured not broken. Forged in flame. Ready to reign? We shall see…
Hot air blasted my skin, and the throne lit up in starlight glow.
An image bloomed in my mind. A gray and silver landscape, a night sky filled with throbbing balls of gas, some large, some smaller, and in the distance an epic structure made of metal and shaped like a spiral set on its side.
The image filled my head until it was no longer in my mind but all around me.
Until my boots were pressed to dark earth and the cosmic lightshow of throbbing stars was hanging above me.
A sob swelled in my chest, and tears sprang to my eyes.
The stars were dying.
Why were they dying?
I blinked, and the terrain shifted, leaving me standing at the base of the monolith spiral.
Whoomp. Whoomp. Whoomp.
The vibration beat against my skin. My scalp prickled in awareness of the presences around me. I wanted to turn to look at them, but my body was immovable. All I could do was stare ahead and listen to the grinding voices that rose around me.
Feel the signature…
True…
Home…
Yes. We are ready.
Yes. We accept.
An invisible force wrapped around me and yanked me back. The world whizzed away, shrinking as darkness filled my field of vision. I jolted back to the throne chamber, the stone beneath my hand now cool. The glyphs stopped glowing.
The throne slept once more.
I peeled my palm from the stone, pulse racing.
What had I seen?
What had I experienced?
“Leela, you did it,” Chandra said softly from behind me.
I turned to him, my mouth dry, mind still scrambling to make sense of what had just happened and was met with a beaming smile.
“You did it…” he said again.
I’d done it? I’d really fucking done it. The throne had accepted me.
After everything I’d been through—the trials, the loss…I’d believed myself ready, but there’d always been the slight chance that this sentient entity would see something it didn’t like. Something I’d missed.
But it had accepted me.
My shoulders dropped. The decision was made. The crown was mine.
“The throne has spoken,” Chandra said, addressing the Authority above us. “We will crown Leela on the equinox and—”
“One moment, liege.” Asura Rajni stepped up to the balcony rail and looked down his nose at us. “The Authority has a request for Leela Vijayroodra.”
“What request?” Chandra demanded, his tone laced with suspicion.
“There have been rumblings of an uprising for some time. If we are to crown a monarch, then we must ensure there is no doubt as to her claim. No way for them to assert that we have planted a pawn in a position of power to unlock certain royal precedence.”
I looked to Chandra. “What is he talking about?”
“There are certain laws that only a true monarch can apply,” Chandra said, his expression troubled.
“But if the throne says it accepts me…If it allows me to sit on it, then surely that will prove I’m legitimate.”
“The people do not see you sit on this throne. The ceremony involves you being crowned. The crown itself is an extension of the throne, and once you have worn it, you will have access to the throne’s power because it has accepted you. The throne the people will see you sit on is simply a seat.”
“But if that’s the case, you could have given Chandra the crown, simply claimed he was the heir.
Even if the throne wasn’t channeling any power to it.
You could have pretended and unlocked the precedences that way?
Surely people realize if you wanted to use these laws, you could have done it easily.
Why would you have waited all this time? ”