“Dhoona and I will accompany you on your journey. No harm will befall you on the way.”
I smiled across at him. “I know you’ll keep me safe, and I can fight, if need be, but I’ll be alone inside the cavern. I need to train more with my axes. I’m strong, and I can pack a punch, but I had to hold back in training, so I’m not sure of my full capabilities.”
He lifted his chin. “Then let us train you. You will not need to hold back with me and Dhoona. You will hit us as hard as you can.”
I raised a skeptical brow. “I don’t know…I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Trust me. We can take it.”
Araz had told me of the brothers’ skill on the battlefield. They’d been formidable. Twin powerhouses. Maybe they were exactly the trainers I needed. “All right. Yes. Thank you. We can start first thing tomorrow.”
We entered the warm confines of the east wing entranceway. I wanted to get out of my lehenga and into something more casual, take my hair down and run my fingers through it, and mentally go over everything that had happened before I filled my friends in.
I headed for the stairs, but laughter and the buzz of conversation coming from the sitting room drew me across the hallway. I guessed I could wait to change my clothes, and thinking over stuff was overrated anyway. “You coming, Yudh?”
He shook his head. “I will go tend the moona.”
“All right. I’ll see you tomorrow for training. What time?”
“We train before breakfast, on an empty stomach.”
“Really?” I wrinkled my nose.
He chuckled softly. “You cannot be sick if there is no food in your belly.”
“Now that sounds ominous.”
Another chuckle. “I will knock for you at dawn.” He retreated, leaving me to join my friends in the sitting room.
I entered to the cozy scene of the drohi gathered by the hearth and my demigod friends lounging on the cluster of sofas. I zeroed in on Lola curled up on Joe’s lap. Ida was stretched out on the floor by Dharma’s feet, and Garu lay along the back of the sofa where Bina was sitting.
Oh gods, I’d been so focused on the throne stuff that the fact the anchors were arriving today had totally slipped my mind.
My heart leapt as I searched the room. “Where is he? Where’s?—”
“Gotcha!” Blue leapt onto my arm then clambered up to my shoulder. “Did ya miss me?”
I turned my head as he nuzzled my cheek, his whiskers tickling me. “Always.” I gently plucked him off my shoulder and held him on my palm so I could look at him properly. “How was the trip here? When did you arrive?”
“Woke up here about an hour ago,” Blue said. “No idea how we got here.”
“What?”
“Lola said the same,” Joe said. “They woke up in the nest in the palace grounds, and Jahira brought them in.”
Strange, but all that mattered was that they were here. That Blue was here.
I lifted him and hugged him to my cheek again.
He held on to me with his tiny paws for a beat before pulling away to fix his dark gaze on me. “What happened with the throne?”
“Ah yes, the throne…” I carried him over to the sofas and sat down with him on my lap. “So looks like I have one more test to pass…”
I filled them all in on the encounter with the throne, describing the vision of the strange world I’d been pulled into. I’d forgotten to ask Chandra about what I’d seen but made a mental note to ask him later, continuing with my story, and how the Authority had asked me to complete another test. They all agreed the Authority’s request was bullshit.
“We’re coming with you,” Dharma said.
I shook my head. “You can’t come into the cavern. Vasuki will kill you.”
