7. Leela #2
“Yes, Tanmay?” Rajesh said, eyes still locked on Leela.
“We need to escort the dead to the Awakening,” he said. “What should we do with the others?”
“Do the ritual,” Rajesh said. “I’ll be along shortly.”
Tanmay glanced at Leela and his captain before he shook his head and ran off.
Leela had no idea if Jaya was still beside her or had left to attend to the wounded. She was too busy staring at her ghost she barely registered tears sliding down her cheeks until they were at the end of her chin and chilly, shocking her back into reality.
Why couldn’t she speak? Why couldn’t she bring herself to talk? She had talked endlessly with Rajesh, through the nights they were meant to be sleeping, knowing they had early shifts in the fields in the morning. It wasn’t like she didn’t know him. She knew everything about him.
Beside the one obvious thing.
He was alive.
And he hadn’t come to find her.
Rajesh cleared his throat. “Are you injured?”
His husky voice sent a shiver of desire right through her.
But she reminded herself that last time they spoke, he didn’t love her.
That she couldn’t ever be anything more than his soul mate.
A silly series of rituals the village believed would create greater bonds by connecting children at the age of sixteen and then assessing their bond over the next few years.
Leela and Rajesh had passed every one. Walking over the flames without a single burn or mark, a symbol that the Flames were at their mercy.
Or the time they had to embrace one another for a whole day to appease the Ravens, known to know the inner workings of the heart.
His arms had been Leela’s safest place.
Now despite him standing there, all she wanted was to run in the other direction. He left her. Had he even tried to find her?
Did you, mortal?
Leela jumped. She’d forgotten about the Flame—again. What if he found out about the Viperess? Would he regret ever finding her? Blood thundered in her ears, and she bit her lip, trying to focus.
“Leela?” he stepped forward, reaching for her.
Leela instinctively stepped back.
It was enough for Rajesh’s hand to hover before falling to his side.
She rubbed her arm as thoughts hammered at every part of her mind. Why hadn’t he tried to find her? What had happened to him since they split? Did he remember the last time they saw one another? The last thing he said to her…?
“We should talk,” Rajesh said, glancing at the ground. “I can take you to safety, and we can talk there. Then, I can take you home.”
Leela flinched. “Home…?”
He nodded. “An underground cave born from the ribs of a Flame. It’s safe. We can heal, and I’ll protect you.”
Leela didn’t know what she wanted to do.
She could go back with Rajesh, but did that mean she’d have to talk to him about the last six years?
Could they fall back into their old habits?
A lot happened the night of the attack, but he couldn’t take back the things he said.
He had trampled on her heart almost as much as the lustisha had smashed the village wall.
“I suppose I have some explaining to do.” Rajesh rubbed the back of his neck.
Leela bit her lip but met his gaze. Her chest tightened at the way his eyes met hers. “I guess you do.”
“Can we get out of here first before more drakion appear? Then you’ll have every opportunity to do whatever the look in your eyes is telling you to do.”
“How could you know what I want?”
His lips twitched. “It’s only been six years, Leela.”
“Six years is a long time. Or have you forgotten what happened that night?”
Rajesh flinched. “How could I?”
Leela knew better than to let the pit of dread swim in her gut, but how could she get over the fact that he was here?
A part of her wanted to forget everything and run into his arms, but heartbreak was a tender thing, and she wasn’t someone to easily forgive and forget.
Sure, it was great that he was alive. He looked almost healthy.
But that hurt even more.
Rajesh plodded off, swinging his blue blade and nestling it on his shoulder.
Leela followed, careful not to look at the damage around her. She knew, through the putrid smell of organs and blood, where she was and what had happened. She knew the sight without needing to see.
Too many thoughts kept her occupied anyway. The voices mingled together, pulling her under. Why didn’t he find her? Or had he, and given up? What if he had lost hope? What if he never looked at all?
Leela shut her eyes, trying to push the incessant thoughts back. She didn’t have time to dwell on them. She needed answers, but not here. No, she needed to be alone with Rajesh. To try to understand where he’d been the last six years. What sort of man had he grown into? Why hadn’t he looked…?
Rajesh led her over to a ship. Other people dressed in red shirts and black pants continued to move bodies into the engulfing fire, where the flames ate at their dead skin, and the smoke wafted with a morbid smell.
A man stood near, calling to their Flames above.
He thanked them with a simple scripture that Leela could recall in her sleep.
To thank the Elephant for protecting the memories into the Awakening, as the Camel rides them into the Flames’ grace.
To thank the Tiger for her quick release and the Hawk for shielding them with wings of strength.
To thank the Fox for their endless guidance in the dark and the Bat for their guidance in the light.
To thank the Raven and Peacock for sensing the danger, moving with stealth and deciphering the secrets of the forsaken.
To thank the Scorpion and the Viper for protecting those with poisons latched onto their mortal lives.
Rajesh stopped at a ship, which loomed well over Leela’s head and cast her in darkness. A sickening thought churned her stomach as she wondered if Rajesh had noticed her new attachment. She would have to try to stick to the darkness as close as she could.
Rajesh grabbed a rope ladder and offered it to her. “Take it.”
Leela craned her neck all the way to the railing of the hovering wooden ship which blocked out the moons above. If she was quick enough, she could get there before the light cast her shadows. She reached for the rope, her pinkie finger brushing against his.
Her breath hitched.
She was fervently glad for the dimness so he couldn’t see the obvious heat on her cheeks. Quickly, she shifted the ladder away from him and scurried up but stopped when her stomach lurched, and she looked down.
Shit.
Scared of heights?
Maybe.
Oh mortal… What am I to do with you?
Leave me alone? Find someone else who is a better fighter and not scared to fall to her death?
Cannot do now, unless you wish to die.
Leela froze. What did you just say?
You are stuck with me until you die, and by getting rid of me, well, sadly, it does not end well for you.
How do I kill you, then?
The Viper hissed. You don’t. I can find another Vessel if I really must.
Then do it. Leave me alone.
Not until you we both get what we want. I waited too long for you.
Fear choked her, blanketing her mind with an endless void. She shut her eyes and told herself to breathe, and to just get off the ladder and get somewhere safe. Then, she could fathom exactly how much shit she was in.
Leela kept her eyes forward, too scared to look down and imagine falling.
She scrambled over the railing and landed on the deck.
A flag flapped in the wind. At the base of the mast, a woman with long black curls spread her hands before her as if she were pushing the sails forward.
Her shadows bled into the shape of a peacock, and Leela’s eyes widened.
Rajesh landed with a gentle thud by her side. “Come.”
Leela glanced at the woman whose eyes were darkened by a tinge of emerald sparkling within.
The woman furrowed her brows, eyes narrowing with a flash of warning before shifting to Rajesh.
For a second, their eyes connected, and a silent conversation sparked between them, leaving Leela feeling like she was intruding on something private.
Leela caught up to Rajesh, trying to hide in the shadows as the captain’s quarters loomed ahead.
She had never seen a sandship so big and grand.
Most sandships scoured the dunes with Vessels to keep trade routes open across the three kingdoms. While there was tension among the kingdoms over how they provided for their own, they were still reliant on each other to access valuable resources.
Although some sandships belonged to devious pirates.
A faint slice of terror cut through her. What if Rajesh was a pirate? What if he was acting the hero by saving those who were attacked, only to pilfer them later?
No. Even though it had been six years, Leela knew Rajesh, and he wasn’t a callous person.
Six years is a long time.
Ignoring the Viperess and getting lost in her thoughts, Leela barely registered that they were inside the captain’s quarters until the door clicked.
She jumped. Despite the outside being small, the room was as grand as one of the rooms in the palace.
As if she had walked through a doorway into another place, instead of a ship.
Long, arched windows stood against the wall, cut with silken curtains tied with a golden thread at each side.
A four-poster bed with detailed edging stood across from her, with too many pillows to count.
Scattered papers sat on a desk in the center, the moonslight glinting off the splotchy ink.
Floral designs and circular finishes decorated the ceiling.
There were too many finer things for this to be a pirate ship.
She was thankful for the minimal light and shuffled over to the darkest corner of the room, acting as if she were interested in the maps strewn across the table.
Rajesh wandered over to a wardrobe and plucked out a black coat. He shuffled it onto himself, the collar poking upright and the hem ending at his knees. It hugged his figure, now more muscular, and his broader shoulders.