Chapter 26
AND AT LAST, I SEE THE LIGHT
I’d expected sleep to be evasive with a stranger in my bedroom, but I drifted off quickly, waking to the smell of coffee and a low melodious humming that was achingly familiar. It stopped before I could discern why.
“And she finally awakens,” C’ael said. “The water is hot, there are fresh towels in the washroom, and breakfast awaits. The sooner we start the day, the sooner it will be night and you can claim the rest of your answers from Araz.”
I wiped the sleep from my eyes and stretched. “Iblees. His name is Iblees.”
He sighed. “Iblees. Araz. Same difference. I believe he explained that to you. Several times. So either you’re stupid or you’re being stubborn, and I doubt Iblees, the god of the djinn, would have a moron for a twin flame.” He arched a brow my way. “So which is it?”
I closed my eyes and slumped back against the pillows. “It’s not so easy to wrap your head around.”
“I know. But you will because you must. Now up you get. We have a whole day of exploring to do.”
I climbed out of bed and slipped my feet into the fur-lined slippers he’d given me last night. My nightgown slipped to my ankles as I stood, covering me nicely from neck to foot.
I glanced about for my clothes.
“Fresh clothes in the washroom,” C’ael said, picking up an earthenware mug and sniffing it. “Mmmm, good coffee. Better hurry before it gets cold or before I drink it all.” He made to take a sip, but I snagged the cup off him on the way to the washroom.
“Yeah. Not happening. I need my caffeine.”
I shut myself into the small bathroom and took a sip of the coffee. It was earthy and strong but sweet and milky. It looked like C’ael took his coffee just the way I liked it.
I still wasn’t entirely sure what he was, but I couldn’t deny that he made me feel safe in this strange new place. And he made good coffee. I took another sip and then stared at my bedhead in the mirror.
If Blue was here, he’d have plenty to say about it.
He was probably worried sick about me. But he was safe, and that’s all that mattered.
He’d understand why I’d given myself up, and when I found my way back to him, hopefully it would be with a better understanding of the true history of this world.
The revenants were kept deep in the mountain in a place they called the stables.
It was a chamber lined with stone cells, bars so thick I wouldn’t be able to wrap my hand the whole way around one.
The creatures had their own access in and out of the camp and were taken care of by djinn called keepers.
We were met by a woman named Sassa, a tall, slender djinn with winged eyebrows and a defiant expression.
“Come to stare at the beasts?” she asked with a wry smile. “The oath-breakers are well taken care of. Fed and watered and never mistreated.”
I stood in the aisle in the center of the stables. There were only a few lanterns hanging above us, enough to light up the aisle, but the cells themselves were left wreathed in shadow.
“They prefer the dark,” Sassa said. “They sleep most of the day, probably dreaming of when they were gods.”
“Can they be…turned back?”
She shrugged. “No idea. But they can be tamed. Given some kind of peace…purpose.”
“To attack and kill people?”
She shot me a sharp gaze. “To seek revenge on those that caused this to happen. I assume you’re here so you can understand what your people have done, am I correct? I can only assume that’s why Iblees asked for you to see the stables?”
I had no idea why he’d wanted me to see them, but now that I had, I wanted to know more. To understand. Maybe that was what Iblees had hoped would happen.
I nodded. “Yes. I wasn’t born in this world, but I’m here now, primed for a position of power. I want to know more.”
Her shoulders relaxed. “I suppose that’s something.
These gods became revenants because of the dishonorable actions of the few that signed a peace treaty on behalf of all Asura and Danava.
Those few were the first to turn once the treaty was broken.
They then infected many more. And the rest of the Asura now hide in the sky to avoid a curse that they unleashed with their betrayal and duplicity. ”
“Did they know they’d be cursed if they broke the treaty?”
“I highly doubt it,” Sassa said. “The treaty was drawn up by the deva; the curse was probably woven into the terms by those gods.”
“Do you think they suspected the Asura would betray the djinn?”
Sassa shrugged. “I don’t know, but it certainly seems so.”
I approached the nearest cell, peering into the gloom.
A hulking shadow lunged at the bars, teeth barred, maw wide and snapping.
I reared back, bumping into C’ael. “Fuck!”
His hands landed on my hips, a chuckle reverberating across my back. “You’re safe, Leela. They can’t get to you.”
Two revenants skulked out of the shadows to join the snarling one, flanking it.
“Hush,” Sassa, the keeper, said, stepping forward. “Alliani, oath-breaker, you are safe. You are seen.”
The revenant’s growl tapered off, and it backed away, its body relaxing as it melted into the gloom of its cell once more. Its companions followed.
“Strange,” Sassa said, her arched brows pinching in a delicate frown. “They don’t usually get so aggravated around demigods, not unless instructed to attack by Craven.”
“She’s not just a demigod, though, is she?” a gruff voice said from behind us. “This is a royal blood. A deva blood.”
A man with a dark, bushy beard and angry eyes joined us. His long hair was braided down his back, and his dark brown skin shimmered with motes of gold where the lamplight touched it.
“General.” Sassa inclined her head. “I was instructed to show our guest the stables.”
“I know.” He looked me over. “So this is the Asura queen-to-be.” Was that a hint of disdain in his tone? “Come to see the evidence of deceit and dishonor?”
“I’d watch your tone, Craven,” C’ael said, his voice deeper and colder than I’d ever heard it.
Craven’s brows flicked up. “You have no authority here, egregore. You exist to serve Iblees.”
C’ael stepped away from me and toward Craven.
“And who do you exist to serve, Craven?” He tipped his head to one side.
“We are not so different, you and I. Aside from the fact that I get to enjoy a better view.” He looked back at me with a cocky smile.
I wasn’t sure whether to be flattered or irritated that he was using me to make a point.
Craven inhaled through his nose, exhaling sharply with a nod. “I suppose I must concede that point. But I would also remind you that the prettiest flowers are often the deadliest. Best to pluck them before they can mature and seed their poison.”
“That deadly flower also happens to be Iblees’s twin flame,” C’ael said. “Try to pluck it and you’ll find yourself very dead. Very quickly. And it won’t be the flower that kills you.”
Craven froze, his cheeks paling. “What?”
“Oh, did he not share that piece of information with you?” C’ael said with a shrug. “I’m sure he was planning to at some point.”
Craven’s jaw tensed. “Yes. There is a briefing in an hour.” His gaze flicked back to me, a wariness in its dark depths now. “I apologize for my earlier tone, blood of Vijayro—”
“Look, just call me Leela. Please. And it’s fine.
I get it. As far as you’re concerned, I’m the enemy, and until yesterday, I was certain you were mine.
But now…I’m not so sure.” I took a step toward him.
“I have so many questions. Why are you attacking human settlements? Why send revenants to kill innocents?”
He shook his head, a wry smile on his face. “Is that what you have been told?”
“I’ve seen it. I was attacked by revenants when I arrived on Svargana, and I was also attacked by a pishachas. Twice.”
Sassa and Craven exchanged glances, but it was Craven who replied.
“We do not control the pishachas, and we do not have control of all revenants either. Yes, we have a stable of them. Ones we have captured and helped to tame their baser instincts. To work with us. But there are many still loose in the wild. They attack because they are hungry for life. For the divine light that has been taken from them. As for killing innocents…we do not do that. We fight for one purpose only.”
“And what is that?”
“To enter the sky world, gain access to the obelisk in the Shahee Kshetra, and free our people.”
“How will this obelisk help free your people?”
“Because activating it is the only way to call home the deva and end this war.”
End the war.
The words resonated inside me. This is what I wanted. Peace. Freedom. And gods, if there was a way to call the deva back to us, then it would certainly tip the balance in favor of the righteous, whichever side that was. And if what I’d learned so far was true, it wasn’t the side of the Asura.
“Do the Asura know that there’s a way to call the deva back?”
“The Authority does,” Craven said. “But calling deva back to Svargana would not be to their benefit. They would lose everything.”
My heart sank. “So this war…all this time it could have been stopped?”
“Yes. But they have not made it easy for us. They stole the seat of power and took it into their sky city, built a royal domain around it, then locked all the portways that would allow access to the sky domains.”
“Wait, there are portways to Aakash Sansaar?”
“Several here on the ground and one in the ocean too. There are a couple that we may be able to reactivate if we could obtain access for long enough, but the Asura have posted heavy troops at those locations. Troops which they replenish regularly with made gods. More recently, they have built settlements and housed humans there, making it impossible for us to access the ports without harming innocents. So we are now at an impasse.”
Was this truly how the Asura had chosen the locations of the human settlements? And there was a sixth in progress…Oh gods, this was real…The Asura were the fucking bad guys in more ways than I could ever have imagined.
“You truly had no idea, did you?” Craven said, his tone softening. “What will you do now that you have this knowledge?”
I met his gaze with a level one of my own. “I’ll do whatever I can to put things to rights.”
His eyes narrowed, dark gaze boring into mine for several beats. “You may be blood of Vijayroodra, but your soul is of the ancient flame of Raknara. I trust your word and your intention. You shall have my sword.” He inclined his head. “You have my vow of protection.”
Raknara…a fission of knowing surged through me, a warmth in my chest and behind my eyes that felt like a welcome. A coming home.
Sassa sucked in a sharp breath, her attention flitting from me to Craven. “Raknara?”
Craven smiled thinly. “That is a truth for Iblees to share with his twin flame. I have said enough. I look forward to aiding you in bringing peace to our world, my queen.”
“Come,” C’ael said. “We have much more to see.”
I allowed him to lead me away, the word Raknara echoing in my mind. Craven had answered many of the questions that I’d planned on asking Iblees, but he’d also spawned new ones. Tonight couldn’t come soon enough.