Chapter 13
SO THIS IS HOW THE GODS TREAT A JEWEL
Erabi had the perfect outfit picked out for me: a jade sari with gold detailing and gold slippers embedded with green jewels. It didn’t take long for her to dress me and deliver me to Keyton, who was waiting in the hallway outside my room in a jade kurta, the shade a perfect match for my sari.
He’d swept back his dark hair, and for a moment, he reminded me of Araz. My heart pinched, and I looked away, exhaling to dispel the ache.
“You look beautiful,” Keyton said with a smile.
“You both look beautiful,” Erabi said. “Now hurry, the carriage will be waiting. Chandra said he would meet you there.”
Keyton offered me his arm, and I took it, allowing him to guide me down the stairs and out of the building.
I adjusted the pleats of my sari, remembering Erabi’s instructions to kick out slightly when walking to ensure I didn’t step on them, but she’d pinned them in place at the waist to prevent them from getting pulled free.
I felt pretty tonight. My hair was in a French braid with wavy, face-framing tendrils to soften the look.
We rounded the palace, and the royal carriage came into view, its white surface gleaming silver in the moonlight. Dhoona was already seated in the driver’s seat, and Yudh stood by the door.
Chandra appeared around the carriage as we approached, his powerful frame wrapped in a cream and gold kurta that screamed royalty.
His icy blue eyes warmed as they settled on me. “You look striking. Regal. Like a queen-to-be.”
“You don’t look so bad yourself.”
He grinned, the smile giving him a boyish air. “Oh, really? You approve?” He did a slow turn, showcasing his outfit.
I tapped my chin. “You’ll do.”
“That means so much to me.” His eyes crinkled at the corners, suggesting mirth, but his tone was soft and sincere. He offered me his hand, and I took it, allowing him to lead me to the carriage.
This was my first dinner invite as queen-to-be, and I’d make sure that it wasn’t a wasted opportunity.
The Danava domain was less than an hour away, located somewhere below the Shahee Kshetra. I snuggled under a blanket with Keyton beside me to keep me warm, while Chandra took up the seat opposite us.
“The dinner party will be a small gathering,” Chandra said. “Consisting of Arpita herself, the royal advisor, chief of security, Arpita’s daughter, and her niece.”
“I would have thought she’d want me to meet some of the raees that live there.”
The corners of his mouth dimpled as he pressed his lips together. “There are no raees in the Danava domain. The few that have been elevated to that status reside in the Shahee Kshetra. The Danava domain is…It is not what it once was.”
“What do you mean? I know the Authority took it over after the royals were…after the incident. Have they not maintained the domain?” Speaking of the incident sparked another thought. “Chandra, you killed the Danava king, and now you’re headed to dinner with his descendants. Isn’t that…strange?”
He stilled. “So you’ve heard the stories. In which case you should know I had no choice but to end his life.”
The stories said that the Danava king had set fire to the ballroom using an eternal flame, killing all the Asura royals. “Why did the Danava king do it? Why kill everyone?”
Chandra shook his head, his eyes dark. “I do not know, and I have pondered the same question a million times. That night, he was like an Asura possessed. There was no talking to him. He attacked me, and I defended myself. During the scuffle, he fell into the very flames that he had created.”
“So Arpita holds no grudge against you?”
“There is no grudge to be held. Justice was served.”
We fell into silence for a little while, and I dropped into my thoughts.
My life had changed so much over the past few months.
One blow after the other. Constant change.
The need to pivot…There was a part of me that was exhausted by it all.
That wanted to curl up and sleep forever.
It wanted to mourn, grieve, and feel sorry for itself.
It wanted to shut down. But there was another part of me, a part that had been buried for a long time that was now awakening.
That part of me was in its element, craving the challenges and changes ahead, and if I embraced it, then it would keep me alive.
My stomach dipped as the carriage dropped altitude.
“We’re almost there,” Chandra said. “You can see the domain below us.”
I clutched the blanket to my chest and peered out at the fine mist swimming beneath us. “I don’t see it…”
Chandra leaned close, looking out with me. “Ah…Wait a moment. The mist will part and…There…There it is.”
My breath snagged in my chest as an oval land mass made up mainly of water peeked out from the mist. A palace floated in the middle of this sea domain. The building was connected to smaller structures via bridges.
The mist parted further, unveiling a larger land mass beneath the first. Water from the upper mass spilled into it, surrounding a city that was made up of buildings connected by bridges.
Boats bobbed in the moonlit water. There were barely any lights on in the tiny buildings, save a few dotted here and there.
The closer we got, the less opulent the domain seemed.
Scaffolding and crumbling ruins formed the city, creating a picture of poverty and neglect.
We veered toward the upper domain and the palace, where not a single light was on. The building to the left of it, an estate that held a mansion, blazed prettily.
I looked across at Chandra. “I thought the Authority was taking care of this domain?”
“I said they took it over, not that they care for it. The Danava domain is where our rice and fish come from. The Asura provide wheat and fruits in exchange. There was trade once, but now the Authority takes what they want and provides only what they wish to.”
“How can you stand to be a part of it? To work with the Authority? To let them do this?”
He sighed. “Things would be a lot worse if I didn’t work with them. I do what I can to help the Danava, but I do not have the power of the throne. You, however, can change everything if you choose to.”
The carriage dipped again as we made our descent toward the estate, leaving the palace in the distance.
It was obvious that Arpita wasn’t able to maintain the structure.
Her royal home. Her birthright. Yes. Things would have to change.
And soon because it wasn’t just the drohi and the pari and the rakshasa that were under Asura control; the Danava were too.
The balance of power was skewed, and it was my job to fix it.