“What? Me?” I laughed. “I was crap with the bow and arrow in training.” I dropped my voice to a whisper. “And that apple is no easy target.”
He frowned. “Humor me, Leela. Show me…”
“You want to see how crap I am?” I chuckled. “Fine.”
I stepped forward, and the stall owner gave me a patronizing smile, handing me the bow and an arrow. “Here is the Dhanush. Would you like me to show you?—”
I rolled my eyes and took it from him, expertly nocking the arrow and holding the bow up in what I knew to be perfect form. It was the aiming that was an issue, except for some reason, this time as I drew back the string, a sense of calm swept over me. A sense of knowing…A confidence that if I let the arrow fly, it would hit its mark.
The people around me continued to chat, but their voices faded to background noise, a low hum that was almost white noise. Chandra’s cut through it, smooth and warm.
“Trust yourself,” he said.
I released the arrow.
Thunk.
The apple fell to the ground, my arrow embedded in it.
A pin-drop silence followed, and then exclamations filled the air.
The stall owner stared at me as if I’d grown two heads.
“Beginner’s luck,” Chandra said, offering the man a few coin. “Keep the fruit; we have plenty at home.” He put his arm around my shoulders and steered me away from the stall, away from the people who were now staring at me with open curiosity.
My pulse thudded in my throat and in the palms of my hands that had just held the Dhanush.
Beginner’s luck?
No; in the moment when I’d let that arrow fly, it had felt like I’d been shooting my whole life.
The talisman stallwas set away from the others. It was a small tent with a table of pretty trinkets set outside the door flap. Chandra ignored the table and ducked inside.
I followed him into the lantern-lit interior, where a young man with closely cropped brown hair sat at a small table fiddling with silver and gold beads, a look of intense concentration on his face.
He looked up as we entered, breaking into a smile as he spotted Chandra.
“Old friend.” He abandoned his task and hurried over to greet Chandra. The males embraced, patting shoulders before stepping back.
“How are you, Silva?” Chandra asked, his tone warm with inquiry.
“I’m well. And you? It has been a while since you visited.”
“I know, I know. Things have been busy of late.”
Silva’s gaze flicked to me. “Busy,hmmm?” He arched a brow. “Isthatwhat you call it now?”
“No, no, this is not…She is a friend.”
“A-huh. It is not often you are seen witha friend.” Silva smiled knowingly.
I kept my mouth shut. Let him believe what he liked. If Chandra wanted him to know who I was, then he’d tell him. Heck, this guy hadn’t called Chandra by his name yet, so hemight not even know who Chandra truly was. It was best to keep quiet and let Chandra do the talking.
“So to what do I owe the pleasure?” Silva asked. “A social visit or something more?”
“I’m looking for a talisman to protect the dreamspace of the wearer. Do you have something like that?”
Silva’s expression grew serious. “For you or your…friend?” He looked over at me again, his gaze narrowing slightly.
