“—such a thing.”
The gate parted and we entered Alaka. Vikram cleared his throat and started pointing to the places and people. Some of the stories I remembered from Maya. Others I had no recollection of, and treated the tales as I would any gathered intelligence before a battlefield. It was all something to wield for later. But even as he spoke, I felt the weight of what we’d seen and said, that tendril of understanding that I didn’t know how to hold on to.
At the end of one path, a garden unfurled at our feet, studded with pillars of diamonds. Vikram pulled me back before my feet could touch the grass.
“Nandana,” breathed Vikram, bending to touch the grass. “This is part of the courts of the King of Heavens.”
All the Otherworlds are linked.
The gods were watching. He gestured for us to slip off our sandals as a sign of respect. Only after our feet were bare did we step into the grass. The land hummed.
One test passed.
In this labyrinth, the beautiful and savage walked with their faces tilted toward a sky where stars drifted in a black ocean. Wave upon wave of comets and clouds, eclipses and nebulae rolled above us.
“The audience chambers of the King of Heavens hosts all the stars,” said Vikram. “That must be where we are.”
Out of habit, I glanced above me, searching for Maya’s and my constellation. It wasn’t here.No matter where we are, we’ll always share the same sky.My throat tightened. Maya had lied. There were places where one sky ended and a universe unfolded. Places where I couldn’t follow her. What sky was my sister looking at?
The Nandana gardens flowed seamlessly into a hall of ice. Ghostly lotuses floated in the air. From their cut stems dripped a sweet and fragrant liquid that drew a small crowd.Yakshiniswith glass wings or the jeweled tails of peacocks, took turns drinking the liquid and singing.
“This is their city,” said Vikram, pointing at the beautiful men and women.
I knew that much from Maya’s tales.Yakshasandyakshiniswere the guardians of treasure hidden in streams, forests, seas and caves. Around us, music filled the hall of ice. The songs had no words but gusted images through my head—a lace of ice across a palm, winter blooming on a mountain, the pinched and sallow feel of a sky empty of rain.
“What else?” I muttered back. “Any weaknesses? Strategies in case we need to fight them?”
Vikram frowned. “The stories always said they don’t like reminders of the mortal realm.”
“How helpful,” I said, rolling my eyes.
I tried to move us quickly through the hall, but one of the women saw us. Or rather, saw Vikram. She smiled widely. One blink later, and three of them were standing before us.
“Would you drink with us, Prince?” asked oneyakshini.
At her throat lay a crystal necklace where a miniature dawn and dusk warred for sovereignty. Across the silk of her sari, a thousand rose-gold mornings bloomed and retracted.
“Drink with us, sweet prince,” said anotheryakshini.She was feral and beautiful, as savage as a fire raging through the woods. “And if you find the drink not to your liking, perhaps you will find the company sweeter.”
“Yes, do,” said a third. This one had blue skin, and ice trailed across her wrists. “You look so tired. So thirsty.”
Theyakshinislaughed. My irritation slid to fury. WhereVikramwas offered a nice, cooling drink and possibly more, I was standing here parched and forgotten. On top of that: I was starving, dressed in a men’s jacket so encrusted with dirt and I don’t know what else that it should be burned for the safety of the public, and I couldn’t sayanythingbecause they had more power in one eyelash than I had in my whole body. I was grimacing, looking down at the dirty sandals I carried, when an idea flashed in my head.
“Excuse me,” I said, stepping forward. “You must have noticed that we werebothwalking side by side through this garden.”Be polite, Gauri.“May I also have something to drink?”
The blueyakshiniblinked and stared at me.
“I agree.” Vikram grinned. “Everything you offer me, you must offer to my companion too.”
“I don’t think I want everything they offer you.”
“One never knows until one tries.”
I threw the sandals on the ground. “Would this be a fair trade? Shoes for a drink?”
Theyakshinisrecoiled, disgust written across their features as they stepped away from the shoes and disappeared.
“Come on,” I said, grabbing the sandals. “Let’s seek our deaths in this Tournament.”
