Chapter 27
WHAT MY HEART WAS HOPING FOR
C’ael took me through two chambers with apertures in the ceiling that let in sunlight: one where chickens and cows were housed, and another that was a lush garden filled with vegetables and herbs.
An old lady shuffled down one of the aisles toward us, muttering under her breath.
“Wahida, are you all right?” C’ael asked.
She waved a hand, making a sound of irritation. “I can’t find the unima herbs. I picked them, and I put them somewhere…” She shook her head and let out a frustrated sigh. “I tell you, I’m getting old. I need an assistant. I can’t be making all the tinctures for the settlement by myself, you know.”
“Then we shall get you an assistant,” C’ael said kindly. “And I’m sure we can find those herbs too. How about I come help you look later?”
She reached up to pat his cheek. “You’re a good boy, you know that?”
“Only to people I like.” C’ael winked.
“And you like this lady, hmmm?” She peered up at me. “Pretty. I see why you’re enamored. Now off with you. Go have fun, and don’t forget to come help me later.” She wandered off down a different aisle. “And find me an assistant!”
C’ael watched her go with a smile. “She’s a character, that one, but she is getting a little scatterbrained. She makes all the medicines for the camp. The unima herb is used in the most powerful tinctures, but it has to be handled with care. It can be toxic.”
“And she’s misplaced it?”
“Yeah, I know.” He rolled his eyes. “I’ll find it later. I’m sure it’s somewhere in her shack. If I can’t find it by sight, I’ll follow the scent of aniseed. Come on, let’s get back to the market. It’s almost time for lunch.”
We spent the rest of the day in the market with the children at the school. I took lunch with them, then played a game of carrom before heading to a small stall where they made chai and fresh jalebi. The fried sweet treat was a favorite of mine.
Farida, the stall owner, offered us seats, then chatted amiably as she served me and C’ael, clearly delighted at having us visit her stall.
“Deeti will be so jealous when I tell her,” Farida said. “Oh, she harps on and on about her barfi being the best in the market, but I told her, my jalebi will beat your barfi anytime. And it is delicious, is it not?” She watched me take a bite.
I smiled and nodded. “So delicious.”
C’ael sat back with a smirk. “But surely, Leela must now try Deeti’s barfi if she is to ascertain the validity of your claim.”
Farida blinked sharply. “Yes, yes, we must test. I shall be right back.” She hurried off.
I slid a glance C’ael’s way. “Seriously?”
He shrugged and sipped his chai. “She brought it up. Besides, I much prefer Deeti’s barfi.”
I polished off my jalebi just as a couple of Asura joined us. I could tell what they were by the slight glow of their skin. They were both older men with silvering hair and tired eyes.
“Blood of Vijayroodra,” one of them said, bowing slightly. “We heard of your arrival and wished to meet you. To assure you that you are safe, and that you are now among the just and righteous. My name is Javed, and this is Colin.”
The other guy raised a hand in greeting. “I think you and I may be from the same world,” he said with a smile. “Although it’s been a while.”
I set my cup down. “What made you leave the Asura army? I mean…How did you know what they were truly doing?”
“We were stationed in Sunahara, a location where an ancient temple once stood,” Javen said.
“The attacks on our Asura troops were relentless until the settlement was built, and once the humans arrived, they stopped. The devouring force retreated.” He looked at Colin before continuing.
“We’d suspected for some time, but when they refused to hurt innocents, we knew our suspicions were correct. ”
“Our only regret in leaving is that we could not bring our drohi with us,” Colin said. “They are bound to the Asura.”
“But their bond to us has since been severed,” Javed added. “All the ascended here have similar tales to tell. There are many of us.”
Oh gods…My stomach clenched. Maybe the ascended weren’t being killed off as we’d been told. Maybe the whole point of creating anchors was to force them to come back, like the drohi were forced to go back.
“You’ve gone pale.” C’ael sat forward, his brows pinching. “Leela, are you all right?”
“I’m fine.” I picked up my cup and sipped my chai. “Thank you both for coming and speaking with me.” They took their leave, and I turned to C’ael. “I don’t understand why I have to wait till tonight to see Iblees.”
“He’s integrating, Leela. And before you ask, that means that he is allowing his soul to fully knit into one.
When Iblees usually manifests, it is a smooth process.
The sliver of his soul living on this plane as djinn will happily integrate with the whole because it recognizes home.
There is no conflict, no trauma as Iblees awakens in his new body.
But with Araz, the circumstances were less than ideal.
He was under duress, terrified for your safety.
The merger has not been smooth, and so he takes time to rest. To drift.
To integrate. He’ll be himself soon enough. ”
“Himself?”
He smiled. “The drohi you fell in love with is Iblees. The stiffness to his attitude will shift as he fully integrates.”
“How do you know so much? You said you came from nothing. That Iblees called you forth.”
He considered my question for a moment before replying. “I think we’re connected, he and I. In a way. I feel his emotions sometimes. His longing.” His gaze slid my way. “His desire to protect you.” He exhaled. “I guess that’s how I know things.”
Farida returned with another woman in tow who was carrying a plate of barfi. Deeti, no doubt.
C’ael chuckled softly. “Time for the taste test, Leela. This should be fun…”
I was expecting dinner to be in a dining room, but C’ael led me outside onto a balcony hewn into the side of the mountain. I sucked in cool air, tipping my head back to the stars. I’d lived surrounded by the sky for months, and yet I never tired of seeing it.
Fire pits sat on opposite sides of the balcony, and a table for two was set between them already laden with domed dishes.
Iblees stood looking out at the view, his powerful frame encased in a cream kurta that hugged his muscled frame becomingly.
I swallowed past the sudden dryness in my throat because I knew that body intimately, had been wrapped in it every night for almost as long as I’d been on this particular earth, and now…
He was here. Standing mere meters away, and I couldn’t bring myself to touch him.
“I’ll be back to get you later,” C’ael whispered, his breath warm against my ear. “Try to have fun. Relax.”
He drifted away, and Iblees turned to face me, his lips curving in a smile that made my insides warm. “Leela…” He approached and held out his hands, looking down at me with an expression that held such vulnerability it made my heart ache.
I placed my hands in his, the sensation familiar and safe. “Hey…” I met his gaze as he searched mine.
“How was your day?”
“Good. I learned…a lot. And you? How was the integration?”
He blinked and then let out a soft chuckle. “C’ael told you?”
“A little. How are you feeling?”
“More like myself than ever.” He smiled, his topaz eyes warming. “Are you hungry?”
“Ravenous.”
“Good. Come sit.” He held out a chair for me and once I was seated picked up a plate and began to load it with food. “A little of everything,” he said. “You need to keep your strength up.”
I watched him serve me, my breath coming faster. “Why are you serving me?”
He paused and looked down at me with a frown. “Ah…” He chuckled again. “Old drohi habits die hard, I suppose.” He pressed his lips together. “But I want to. I want to serve you, Leela. I want to take care of you. To protect you.”
“Because I’m your twin flame?”
He exhaled. “Yes, but also because you’re Leela.” He reached out and ran his knuckles down my cheek. “My Leela.”
My breath caught, and my eyes fluttered closed. “I want to believe it. That it’s you…” I opened my eyes to find him crouched beside me, his regard sincere and warm.
“Then trust your senses. Trust your heart.” He touched my cheek with his fingertips, his gaze dropping to my mouth and lingering before dragging back up to meet my eyes. “Let’s eat. No pressure. Just us. Present. Together.”
I nodded. “Okay.”
There was a little of everything on my plate from curry to spicy lamb bites. It all looked and smelled delicious.
He took the seat opposite me, and I reached for his empty plate, catching myself before I made contact. What was I doing? I didn’t need to fix him a plate. That ritual belonged to Araz and me, not him…not this version.
“It’s all right,” he said. “I understand.” He began loading up his own plate. “Let’s eat.”
One bite and my hunger took over. We ate in silence for several minutes before he spoke.
“You met Craven today?”
“Yes, I did.” I set my fork down. “He called me something…Raknara? What is that?”
“A bloodline. One that was wiped out a long time ago. You were a princess back then. Your people were aatma rakshak. Spirit users. Powerful beings who carried flame in their souls. I met you as Ilyarien. Back then, your name was Vayelle.”
A bubble of emotion swelled in my chest at the mention of the name, and I blinked back tears. “I’m sorry, I don’t know why I feel like crying.”
“I do. Your soul recognizes that name. You may not have the memories of it up here.” He touched his temple. “But they reside here.” He touched his heart. “Just as they always did for me as Araz.”
I stilled. “What do you mean?”
“It’s why I didn’t forget when they took me from my home and killed my family.
It’s why I knew I had to be free so I could free my people.
Even as a sliver of my true self, I knew injustice must be stopped.
They killed my mother in the royal domain.
In the cells. I heard her screams as they tortured her. ”
“You…you didn’t tell me that…”
“I know. I…I wasn’t ready to share it. To revisit it.”
“But you came to the royal domain with me when I was called to go…”
“I would go to the ends of the earth with you, Leela.”
My throat pinched, and I closed my eyes. It was him. I felt it in my gut. In my bones. In every part of me that had been held and loved by him. But I needed time. More time.
I exhaled and opened my eyes to find him watching me with a wistful expression. He knew. He understood my conflict, and I was grateful for that.
I licked my lips, composing my thoughts. “You knew the devouring force was made up of djinn, didn’t you?”
“All the warriors know,” he said. “But they believe those djinn to be the enemy.”
“You were planning on joining them once you were free, weren’t you?”
“Yes.”
“And now you’re here. Their leader. Their god…”
“I am not a god. Not here. Not now. I am a leader, though. And I am your Araz. Always.”
“I need time.”
“I know, but I need you to call me by my name. Not my divine one but the one that I have lived for the last hundred years. Will you do that for me? Please…Leela. I need to hear you say it.”
His name stuck in my throat. I shook my head. “I’m sorry.”
His shoulders dropped on a sigh. “I understand. Time. We have time for that, but…we are running out of time to save our people.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’ve received word that the liege will be taking the throne at the equinox in two days’ time.”
“Wait, what? How can he do that? I’m still alive.” I shook my head.
“The throne cannot sense you while you are here.”
Chandra was my friend. At least I’d believed him to be.
Why would he take the throne? He’d said he didn’t want it…
unless…Had it all been a lie? A ploy to stay close so that he’d have my ear.
And the attempted assassinations? Had he planned them?
But why? To make himself look like a savior?
Or had he expected his assassins to succeed?
Gods, could I really have been so wrong about him? “I need to get back and stop him.”
“I agree, you do. But you cannot go alone,” he said.
“It’s too dangerous. They will kill you.
But you can take me with you. Me and an army of djinn to protect you as you claim your birthright and as we claim peace.
” He leaned across the table, his expression earnest. “You were right, Leela…there is no need for war. There is another way.”
“The obelisk?”
“Yes. We work together. You claim the throne, and I activate the obelisk and summon the deva.”
It was a solid plan, but there was only one flaw. “The royal domain is warded. There is no entry unless by invitation.”
His eyes bloomed with the light of triumph. “I know. But you have a standing invitation, and through you, so can I and the devouring force.”
“How?”
“Through a ceremony called the Aatala. It’s a binding. One that solidifies our twin flame bond and connects our souls so that the wards will see me as you and you as me and the devouring force as ours by will and resonance.”
“A binding?”
“We were bound against our will once, Leela. Let’s bind again, this time by consent.
I know you need time to call me Araz. I understand that we must build on our intimacy.
But saving our people cannot wait. Once liege Chandra takes the throne, it’s over.
There will be no way to take it back. He will be too powerful. We must act. Now.”
My pulse hummed. I had no idea why Chandra would take advantage of my being gone like this.
Maybe he planned to use the power to save me.
But even if that was the case, what then?
Could I trust that he would free the drohi and the pari?
He was part of the Authority that kept the deva away.
He must know about the obelisk, and yet he had done nothing to call the deva back and stop the war.
“Leela, will you help me?”
I met his gaze across the table. “Yes. I will.”