He sat back with a small smile. “Yes, you do hit hard, and I have faith in you. I will do everything in my power to ensure that you are protected.”
I believed him. “Thank you. But what about you?”
“What about me?”
“You can’t leave Aakaash Sansaar? Ever?”
His smile grew wistful. “It has been a long time since my feet touched the Earth.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. Once you claim the throne, I will take my first trip to the ground.”
“Wait…once I take the throne…” Realization dawned. “I won’t be able to leave the sky domain again, will I?”
His ice blue eyes darkened. “No, Leela, you won’t. Once you take the throne and open a channel to its full power, you will be much too valuable. You will be protected and loved, and?—”
“Caged.”
“Safety is not a cage.”
“Really? Says the Asura aching to set foot on the Earth.”
He opened his mouth to speak, then snapped it closed again with a sigh. Yeah, he had no counterargument for that.
“What about trapping the primordial evil? I can’t do that from here. I’ll have to go to land for that.”
“And you will have an entourage of powerful Asura protecting you in that instance,” Chandra said.
“And you? Do you honestly think you’ll be given freedom when I ascend?” I shook my head, answering for him. “If anything happens to me, you’re next in line for the throne and its power. The Authority won’t let you go that easily. At least not until the primordial evil is locked away for good.”
He leaned in, his icy gaze hardening with determination. “Then it’s up to you to change the dynamic before that happens.”
My pulse skipped several beats. Maybe Chandra was more of an ally than I’d anticipated.
Still, it didn’t change the fact that I’d be caged just like he was now. Tied to this domain. A channel for immense power. But that couldn’t stop me from being a catalyst for the liberation of others.
Freeing all the beings currently enslaved would be worth my own freedom; in fact, it would be downright liberating.
Chandra droppedme off at the palace and left me with Yudh and Dhoona, claiming he had business to attend to. Yudh walked me to the east wing, while his brother settled the moona in the royal stables.
“I assume it went well?” Yudh said, his silver eyes filled with questions.
“The throne part did.”
“So youwillbe queen.” His voice shook slightly.
I slowed my pace as we rounded the side of the palace to look at him properly. His face might be immovable and stony, but his eyes spoke volumes, and right now they were filled with hope.
“Yes, Yudh, I will be queen. I’m determined. I just have one more test to do before the equinox.”
“What test?”
I filled him in on the Authority’s request as we approached the east wing. “They say bringing back a gem will quell an uprising.”
“Therehavebeen rumblings…”
“Yeah, I figured. It’s why I agreed to do it.”
