“Why do ya call it a stable? I thought it was a roost,” Blue asked.
“It’s a label the Asura have placed on the sentinels that are on active duty at any one time.”
We continued past nests and bridges, the branches thicker here, extending out farther. A denser canopy blocked out the sunlight, leaving us in cool gloom surrounded by the scent of nature.
“Keyton, you will not be able to come into the hollow,” Garrit said. “Leela will be admitted due to her bloodline, and I am duty bound to the hollow so have admission.”
“What about me?” Blue asked from his perch on my shoulder. “I’m wiv her?”
“As Leela’s anchor, the hollow will recognize you as a part of her. So yes, you may enter.”
The elevator came to a halt at a spot where the branches first began to sprout. Below was nothing but a sheer drop to the vast floating landmass where the tree was rooted. A sturdy bridge extended from the elevator to the trunk of the tree, to a doorway built into the wood so seamlessly that if I didn’t know to look for it, I wouldn’t have found it.
Garrit placed his hand on it, and the seam glowed a pale blue before the whole doorway dispersed into a blue haze.
A portal?
A shield?
“You can wait here,” Garrit said to Keyton. “I doubt we’ll be long.”
I arched a brow his way. “You think the hollow will deny my request?”
“I don’t know, Leela. What I do know is that the laws here are absolute.” He smiled with his eyes. “But I commend you for trying. Come now.”
I followed him through the blue haze, a tingle of awareness washing over me as I stepped onto a floor made up of knotted wood and entwined branches.
A thick braid of wood, at least five feet wide and pulsing with green light, rose from the floor to the ceiling.
“Whoa…” Blue whispered softly in my ear.
Garrit stepped forward. “Great Hollow, I bring Leela Vijayroodra for an audience with root and truth.”
The air hummed, and a soft vibration filtered through the soles of my boots.
A voice like the depths of the ocean and the echo of time filled the chamber. “We feel her, keeper. We acknowledge her claim.We speak to her now. Welcome, blood of Vijayroodra, blood of the deva. Ancient one. We see you. We feel you. Your bond is sacred. Your sigil is alive.” An image burned in my mind, the spines of a crown connected to a line that sliced down diagonally to create the number seven before climbing up and across, bisecting the original line to add a triangle to the symbol. “This sigil will call to your bonded. It will call to us. But I sense that there is more you wish to ask of us.”
The sigil to call Pakshiraj. Of course, I needed that, and now it was seared into my mind. But the hollow was correct. I hadn’t come here to ask about the sigil. “I do have something else to ask you. I want you to forgive Ilara for…for what she just tried to do. Please don’t kill her.”
The green power pulsed brighter for a moment. “You have the blood of a warrior and yet you carry compassion in your heart for one who wished you dead.”
It was a statement not a question, and yet I felt compelled to answer. “She’s grieving. We all do fucked-up things when we’re in love. And she’s young. Give her a chance to redeem herself. She was…his.” My throat pinched. “They were bonded. The severing must have hurt. The loss…” My eyes burned with the threat of tears. “Please…have mercy.”
A soft breath filled my mind. “You are correct. She is young. She grieves deeply. We feel it. We understand. But although you may forgive her, we cannot abandon our laws. She must be punished.”
I looked over at Garrit, who was watching me with a soft frown. I’d hoped I’d be able to convince the hollow to let Ilara off the hook completely, but if that wasn’t possible then… “If you have to punish her, then banish her. Don’t kill her. Please. Let her live.”
A deep silence fell, the only sound the rustle of leaves around me. I waited, pulse throbbing in my throat as the hollow decided what to do.
“Yes,” it said finally. “Banishment will allow for redemption in the future. You bring hope, little one. Hope and a valiant heart. Go now. We are watching. We see you too.”
The green glow dimmed to something soft and dormant.
My audience was over.
I wantedto see Ilara and speak with her, but Garrit made it clear that would not be possible. Ilara’s banishment had taken place immediately upon the hollow deciding it. The thunderbird was gone. Transported somewhere far from Aakash Sansaar.
The journey back to the royal domain was a silent and reflective one. I’d saved Ilara’s life, but I’d had her banished. Would she survive alone away from the protection of her peers?
