I search Kali out across the table, eager to leave, but Indah and the admiral have engaged her in conversation. “Thank you, but I’m obligated to stay here.”
“Is your pining stare for the kindred an obligation?”
Gemi is too perceptive. “You aren’t told no often, are you?”
“You’d be the first,” she says, and I exhale a laugh.
“General Naik,” Ambassador Chitt says from my right, “may I have a word? It’s about your family.”
“Go on, Deven,” Princess Gemi says, her mouth upturned. “I’ll watch over the kindred.”
Kali overhears the princess and narrows her eyes at us. I lift a finger to her as I rise, indicating I will return momentarily. Chitt and I stroll down a pebble pathway toward the inlet.
“On my order, Pons has flown to Tarachand to find your family,” Chitt says.
As a Galer, Pons can ride the skies on a wing flyer, the fastest form of travel. We have not had access to the flying contraptions since leaving Iresh. I appreciate Pons’s and the ambassador’s assistance. “Thank you.”
“We’ll keep looking until we find them,” Chitt says. Although we just met, I am inclined to trust his word. He stops at the inlet, the palace lights shining onto the still water. “My friend from Janardan contacted me. A platoon of elephant warriors and bhuta soldiers escaped the demon rajah and are hiding. I may be able to convince them to join the battle in Iresh.”
Manpower from the Janardanian army would be advantageous. “Do you think they could meet us in time?”
“They should. Their troops travel by land barge,” Chitt explains. Tremblers power the stone-wheeled barges that are big enough to carry a herd of elephants. I have never seen one myself, though I have heard they are a sight to behold. “I’d leave in the morning to reach them.”
He sounds uncertain about going. I question why and then realize two things: I am the general of the imperial army and he is offering me his assistance, and he does not want to leave in case my mother and brother arrive. “You should go. We need all the troops we can gather.”
“Do you need to consult with Prince Ashwin?”
“No.”
“Then I’ll leave tomorrow.” Chitt’s gaze skitters to the cove and breaker, then back to me. “One more thing. The sea raiders were spotted offshore west of here. We have increased our lookout guards, but I thought you should be aware.”
I, too, examine the breaker from afar. “Can they get through?”
“There are ways,” Chitt admits, “but Captain Loc doesn’t wish to engage our entire navy. The admiral is aware and has put precautions in place for the voyage. You’ll be safe. I hope and pray that you—” He halts and bows, a swift change to formality. “May the gods be with you.”
“And you, Ambassador.” I watch Chitt go, curious what he stopped himself from saying. I never had a proper father—mine wanted nothing to do with his bastard son. Brac and I have always had that in common. I am not sure how I feel about that changing.
When I return to the terrace, a platter of fruit and yogurt dip have been set out, and Kali, Indah, and the admiral have gone. Princess Gemi is the only one left.
“You just missed them,” she says. “They took the kindred on a tour of the palace.” I start to leave to find Kali, but Gemi grabs my forearm and brushes a finger across my skin. “Stay and have dessert. You hardly touched your supper. You must be hungry.”
I am, in fact, starved. The threat of seasickness prevented me from eating much on the riverboat, and tomorrow, I will be back on the water.
Gemi wears a sly smile as she tops off my wine chalice. “Nush,” she cheers.
In Tarachand, it is rude to refuse a host’s offer of food or drink. Besides, Kali is safe with Indah and the admiral, and I have an unobstructed view of the breaker from here to keep an eye out for the raiders, should they try anything. Picking up my chalice, I return to the table and eat.
5
KALINDA
Shadows swathe my bedchamber. Natesa and Yatin are shut in her antechamber, their supper scraps left on the terrace, deserted beside a lit lamp. I envy their freedom to shut out the world and lose themselves in one another.
Deven has not yet returned. I did not want to leave him behind, but Indah and the admiral suggested they show me more of the palace, and I could not stand Princess Gemi a moment longer. She sat so close to Deven during supper she was nearly in his lap.
A warm gust grazes my ear, but a blizzard rages inside me. I gravitate to the lamp and lean over nature’s flame. My soul’s reflection takes form—a fire dragon. I study the small, serpentine figure for changes since the Voider poured his cold-fire inside me, but it gazes up as usual and awaits my command.
You’re a lovely sight. I reach for the fire dragon, seeking its warmth. I am not afraid of a burn or any other reprisal. Both of us are born of fire, though only one of us is the master.
My hand touches the flame, and the dragon recoils. Shh. I am fire, and fire is me. The dragon bares its fangs and then flies down into the center of the flame and vanishes.
The lamplight flickers in the breeze. My soul’s reflection has never retreated from me before. I suppress a shudder, the cold inside me seeming to snicker at my failed effort to elude it. What are my powers good for? Tarachandians believe I should be stoned or locked up. The sultan believed bhutas should be slaves. And the datu treats our gifts like sideshow displays. I did not master nature-fire or learn how to scorch and parch soul-fire to entertain people.
But I have always flouted convention. My fevers made me an outcast at the temple, and my disgust for Tarek made me an outcast at the palace. My uncommon Burner powers make me unusual even among bhutas. I was born a rogue. I am the daughter of a Burner and a rani. Two people that by all rights should never have fallen in love. I came into this world with a purpose, to finish what my parents began. The Voider can steal Tarek’s identity, our army, and our people, but he cannot take away my birthright.
I wave my hand, and the flame puffs out.
Darkness rushes in, and a heavy, burdensome premonition prickles at me. Someone is here. I draw one of the twin daggers strapped to my thighs and peer into my shadowy room. Out of the darkness steps a man not of flesh and bone. He consists of the vile parts that are left after a body decays. I throw out a heatwave and illuminate him.
“Tarek?” I whisper.
He shields his eyes. “Put out the light.” Tarek’s voice wrenches me out of my shock. I push more soul-fire into my fingers. He shies from the radiance. “I’ve come to warn you.”
“You’re dead.”
“Kalinda, I will not see my empire fall. Tarachand is my legacy.”
Every pain he caused me fires off inside my head and heart. I want to let the past go, put all this ugliness behind me, but my memories shackle me.
“Your legacy is of fear and hatred.” My hands burn brighter. Tarek cringes, and his indistinct form begins to fade. “Go away. You’ll find no mercy here.”
He peeks out from behind his blurry fingers. His haunting voice roughens. “Kalinda, I still love you—”
I hurl a heatwave at him. His hazy shape shatters into a thousand oblivions that shower down, hit the floor, and disappear.
Light. I need light. Shaking all over, I rush around, lighting every lamp until the chamber is aglow. I slump down onto the bed.
I still love you.
I rap my fists against my head to bang out his voice. “Leave me alone. Just leave me alone.” In the abrupt silence that follows, my clarity sharpens to an unbearable point. “I hate you,” I whisper to him, wherever he may be. But my abhorrence is irrelevant. To the gods, our marital bond ties my soul to his. I will be Tarek’s wife for eternity.
Someone touches my shoulder. I whirl around with my dagger, and Ashwin lurches out of striking distance. “It’s me.”
I drop my blade. “You snuck up on me.”
“I knocked before I came in. Are you all right? You’re shivering.”
“I . . .” Not knowing where to begin, I start to cry. Ashwin enfolds me in his arms. I clutch him close and rest my cheek against the hollow of his neck. A steady current of heat flows off him and into me. “You’re so warm,” I push out from between chattering teeth.
“What happened?”
“Tarek was here.” My tears flow faster. “Why couldn’t Jaya have visited me? My soul should be tied to hers, not his.”
“Kali, you’re making no sense. You saw Tarek?”
“He was a shadow, but it was him. He said—he said—” My voice hitches, and I press my cheek hard against Ashwin’s collarbone. He rubs my back, his heart drumming near my ear. “Do you think I’m bound to him forever?”
“No one can rule your heart, not even the gods.”
“But our matrimony vows—”
“Marital bonds cannot last past death; otherwise every marriage in every life would be honored. Think of the tangle of nuptials.” He runs his hand down my hair. “As I understand it, souls aren’t bound by wedding vows but by love.”
I swipe my forearm across my damp nose. “Tarek repulses me. Don’t you despise him?”
“He angered me sometimes . . . but mostly he made me sad.” Ashwin pauses and then whispers, “We were both a disappointment to each other.”
I do not share his rationale. “I hope Tarek suffers an eternity of darkness for taking Jaya from me.”
Ashwin leans back until we are eye level. “Tarek hasn’t taken Jaya away forever. Have you heard the tale of Inanna’s Descent?”
“Once.” Non-deity myths were not part of my studies. I am in no mood to listen to childish stories, but Ashwin wants to cheer me up, so I oblige him. “Inanna went into the Void to search for her lost intended.”
“Her intended was not lost. A demon seduced him. Demons have corporeal bodies like you and me, though they’re monstrous. This particular demon had the power to assume a mortal form.”