Chapter 40
FORTY
Zarya and Rabin opened the gate to the back of the house to find everything as quiet as usual. She knocked on the door, and it swung open to reveal Ajay, who greeted Zarya before his eyes narrowed at the sight of Rabin standing behind her.
“What’s going on?” he asked, taking in Zarya’s smile. “Do you have good news?”
She nodded and pushed past him with Rabin on her heels. Ajay closed the door, and Zarya swung around. “I controlled my nightfire. I think I can use it to break the collars.”
Ajay’s eyes widened. “Are you sure? How?”
“I think so.” She went on to explain the process of the Bhandan.
“ He’s your paramadhar?”
“He is, and my magic is completely different now.”
Vikas appeared around the corner. “Zarya?” he asked. “You did it?”
He looked thinner, his skin ashen and dark circles ringing his eyes. It was obvious how much the worry about his parents was weighing him down, and she hoped this news would make a difference.
“But I need to try it on a vanshaj collar to be sure.”
Vikas spread his hands in a gesture of helplessness. “We’re trying, but no one will listen.”
She blew out a frustrated huff. “ How do we convince them we only want to help?”
Her question went unanswered as Yasen barged through the back, his hair flying wild and his chest expanding with shortened breaths. Behind him came Suvanna and Apsara, both bearing grim expressions.
“The palace,” he said, panting with his hands on his knees. He was so meticulous about his training that Zarya didn’t think she’d ever seen him winded. He must have run very fast.
“What about it?” Vikas demanded, already picking up on the gravity of the situation.
“The prisoners,” Suvanna said. “They’re about to be executed.”
“What?” Zarya said as her blood ran cold. “We have to stop it!”
She wasted no time and went tromping out the door.
“Zarya!” Rabin called, chasing after her. “What are you planning to do?”
“I don’t know,” she called over her shoulder. “But we have to do something.”
She didn’t wait to see if anyone followed, but she knew Rabin was right behind her as she wound her way through the streets, her skirt bunched in one hand, running as fast as her legs would carry her.
Eventually, the others caught up as they made their way into the heart of Ishaan. Using the twisting alleyways as a shortcut, it didn’t take long before they rounded a corner and came to an abrupt halt.
The palace courtyard was packed full of people, standing elbow to elbow, shouting and screaming, as the entire mass writhed like a snake without a head. She jumped up and down, trying to snatch a glimpse above the crowd.
“I can’t see anything,” she said to Rabin. “Can you?” He was a giant. Surely that was useful for something. Not waiting for an answer, she charged ahead. Her feet carried her past the wide gates and into the courtyard. Against the wall, she spotted a drainpipe and hoisted herself onto one of the brackets for a better view.
“Zarya, you can’t stop this,” Rabin said as he held out his hand and helped prop her up a bit higher.
“I know,” she said, taking in the incomprehensible sight spreading across her view.
The plaza was a sea of dark hair and colorful scarves, where hundreds of vanshaj stood shoulder to shoulder with the free citizens of Ishaan. Against the wall of the palace stood a raised platform where a dozen shaking men and women waited with slack nooses looped around their necks. She recognized Vikas and Nitin’s parents as she wiped away the sweat building on her forehead. This couldn’t be happening.
The royal family stood on a high balcony stretching across the palace’s front facade, observing the chaos like they were all nothing but scuttling insects to be crushed under their boots. That same conflicted tug she always felt in their presence pulled deep in her chest. Her plans had gone entirely off course when she’d arrived in the city, and the family she’d so desperately wanted to meet now stood as her greatest enemies.
She watched her half-sister Dishani approach the edge of the balcony, placing a delicate hand on the railing as she surveyed the crowd with a detached, imperious tilt to her chin. On her other side stood Miraan, the second oldest and her closest advisor. He stood with his hands behind his back and his spine stiff, his expression completely blank. Kabir, the king consort, came up a moment later and whispered something in Dishani’s ear that caused her to nod.
Zarya returned her attention to the prisoners before scanning the plaza.
“Rabin, what should we do?” she asked.
“I’m thinking.” His jaw hardened as he looked out across the scene, calculated thoughts flitting over his expression. Yasen, Vikas, and Ajay now stood on her other side.
“Vikas,” Zarya said, reaching out a hand. He took it, and she could feel how cold it was. He was shaking from head to toe, and she wondered if they should get him somewhere else and away from all of this.
“Any ideas?” she asked the others as her gaze wandered back to Dishani.
Zarya then noticed Apsara and Suvanna slip onto the balcony before Apsara approached the princess. She could tell by their hand gestures and body language that they were having a heated discussion. Apsara gestured to the prisoners and then swept an arm over the crowd as Dishani shook her head.
Vikas looked at Zarya, having also noticed the confrontation. Zarya held her breath, wondering if Apsara could convince the princess to cease this madness but then Dishani dismissed her with a wave of her hand. Zarya’s shoulders sagged as Apsara peered out at the crowd, searching for them. When she found Zarya and the others, Apsara shook her head gently. There would be no stopping this.
The crowd continued pushing and shoving like waves rippling over the sea. The noise was deafening.
Dishani turned to face the plaza and raised a hand. Slowly, her signal filtered through the masses until everyone fell into an almost eerie silence.
Then the princess looked down at the platform and nodded to a group of waiting soldiers as she lowered her hand.
It snapped a spell she’d cast over the plaza as everyone began shouting and screaming even louder. The prisoners were shaking and crying, a few collapsing to their knees, inadvertently pulling their nooses tighter.
Zarya stopped thinking as the world around her dimmed to white noise, and her surroundings ground into slow motion. She leaped off her perch and dove into the crowd, shouting as she elbowed bodies out of her way. She heard Yasen and Rabin calling after her, but she ignored them. She had no idea what she was planning to do, but she had to do something .
“Zee!”
“Zarya, stop!”
She halted and spun around, glaring at Rabin and Yasen. “Just fucking help me!”
Rabin’s eyes flashed before he pushed past her, pressing through the crowd using his much larger frame to clear a path while Zarya and Yasen followed closely behind.
But this was taking too long. They’d barely covered any distance and wouldn’t reach the prisoners in time. What they needed was a distraction.
With the crowd jostling her from every side, she scanned the clear sky. Knowing this was beyond reckless, she lifted a hand and blasted out a stream of nightfire, striking the palace right above where the royal family sat.
She winced as the wall exploded to the sound of panic as the crowd’s energy swelled, ballooning to dangerous proportions. It felt like the very atmosphere was on the verge of collapse. Rabin turned to look over his shoulder with a what the fuck did you just do expression on his face.
“Move! Now’s our chance!”
Wasting no time, she flattened her hands on his back and pushed , using him like a battering ram. He resisted for only a second before they continued shoving through the crowd.
“Almost there!” she shouted as Rabin continued to bulldoze his way through the panicking throngs. She chanced a glance up at the royal family, wondering if she’d hurt anyone. She’d been careful to ensure it was only a small explosion. She didn’t want to hurt Apsara or Suvanna, after all. They were covered in dust and were brushing themselves off but appeared no worse for wear.
With one eye on the royals, Zarya continued fighting her way to the front. She watched as Dishani recovered from her shock, one hand gripping the railing as she cast a suspicious gaze over the plaza, seeking out the culprit.
Zarya ducked her head, hoping her half-sister wouldn’t notice them fighting their way to the prisoners.
Then Dishani turned and started shouting orders, her hands flying.
“Faster!” Zarya screamed before they finally burst through the edge of the crowd, coming to a stop in front of the platform so abruptly that she almost tripped. The guards slowly turned their heads.
For a split second, they all stared at one another.
Making use of their surprise, she grunted as she dashed up the platform, yanking the noose off the first prisoner.
“Zarya!” Rabin roared as she continued to the next, uncomfortably aware of how stupid this was. She couldn’t save them like this.
Guards stormed up each end of the platform a moment later, closing in on both sides. She held out her hand over her head. “Stay back or I’ll bring down this entire palace.”
Again, she’d caught them off guard, but all it took was a second before they started laughing. Gritting her teeth, she fired out another blast, aiming for a high tower. It exploded in a spectacular shower of stone and marble. That set off another wave of panic as the crowd pulsed, the noise reaching a thunderous crescendo before it surged dangerously close to where Zarya stood.
The royal family was watching her now, a mixture of confusion and surprise on their faces. Yasen and Rabin valiantly battled dozens of soldiers as a gate opened at the side of the palace. Another stream of guards came pouring out, surrounding them on all sides. They were officially and woefully outnumbered.
Zarya, Yasen, and Rabin were seized, their arms wrenched behind their backs before they were all cuffed in iron. Zarya felt the tears of frustration pressing the back of her eyes as she was forced to her knees. She breathed in and out as a wave of sorrow threatened to consume her. She shouldn’t have just run out here. She hadn’t saved anyone, and now, they were trapped.
“Show me her face,” came a deep voice, and then a rough hand gripped her hair, yanking her head up with enough force to make her gasp.
She came face to face with Miraan, her older half-brother.
He cocked a head as he raked her up and down, and Zarya couldn’t understand what she read in the shadows of his dark eyes.
He stepped towards her before slowly sinking on his haunches as he studied her face. His cheeks went pale, and his eyes widened with the barest hint of surprise.
Then he reached out a hand. Zarya jerked, trying to move away, but he held it up in a gesture that implied he meant no harm. She blinked as Miraan touched the turquoise stone Zarya always wore around her neck, exhaling a soft, strangled breath.
“Mother,” he whispered.