Curious, Aru took one of the cakes and popped the whole thing in her mouth. Instantly, her feet stopped hurting. She felt as if she’d just woken up from the best nap ever and still had a whole lot of afternoon left before dinner. It tasted delicate and floral, like one of those expensive rose-flavored cakes her mom brought back from her Paris trips.Waybetter than an Oreo. Mini ate hers, too, and a moment later looked like she was glowing.
“Well?” asked Spring expectantly.
“They’re…edible,” said Aru, taking the bakery box. “They will do.”
Monsoon cast a waterfall in front of them, then whispered a few words that shrank the waterfall into a gray pendant. Monsoon presented it to Aru.
“This is my gift to you, Pandava. Just as water can go anywhere and reach anything, this pendant, when thrown, will be able to hit any target, no matter how far away. But be warned: regret will always follow. It is the price of aiming true. For sometimes, when we take the deadliest aim, we are nothing if not reckless.”
Aru didn’t think it was fair that only her magical item came with strings attached, but it wasn’t like she was in a position to refuse it. The necklace floated from Monsoon’s hands and gently encircled Aru’s neck. It was cold and a little damp against her skin.
Summer bowed before Mini. “Pandava, please accept our offering as well,” they said.
The air shimmered. Thin flames erupted from the ground. They spiraled into coils and then braided themselves, forming the prettiest headband Aru had ever seen. It looked like it was made of beaten gold, complete with delicate roses and a glittering butterfly whose wings reminded Aru of stained glass.
“My season is one of lazy heat and forgetfulness ripening under a burning sun,” said Summer theatrically. “Forget can be a powerful tool for distracting an adversary. It can leave them feeling scorched and barren. Whoever wears this will forget something important.”
“But, um, can—” Mini stammered as she stared yearningly at the headband.
“A Pandava may wear it without fear.”
Mini nodded slowly, and Aru thought she could see a neon sign flashing above Mini’s head that saidMINE! IT’S ALL MINE! MWAHAHAHA.
The headband was nice and all, but Aru wouldn’t be caught dead wearing one. Headbands made her chin-length hair fan out weirdly around her face so that she ended up looking like a frilled-neck lizard.
By now, they had arrived at the end of the Court of the Seasons. Boo was staring at Aru, stunned. Mini kept touching her new headband and grinning.
Aru patted her necklace. “These things will do,” she said rudely. “If we find them to our liking, we will—”
“Recommend you to everyone we know,” finished Mini, smiling, before she realized she wasn’t supposed to smile. “But only if we like them. Which we might not.”
“Oh, thank you!” said Winter. “Can we, perhaps, get a selfie…you know, for the Instagram?”
Do it for the Insta!Also known as the rallying cry of half of Aru’s classmates.
“I hope they haven’t changed the algorithm.Again. My likes are plummeting,” moaned Spring.
“Sorry,” said Aru. “No photos.”
Winter’s shoulders drooped. “Of course, of course. Thank you for accepting our gifts. You’re most kind.”
“Most generous,” said Spring.
“Most lovely,” said Summer.
“Most…clever,” said Monsoon.
Out of the four of them, only Monsoon held Aru’s eye for a moment longer than necessary. But when she smiled, it was with approval, not suspicion.
Aru waved her hand like a pageant queen—rotating it slowly at the wrist—before the three of them ducked through the large gateway markedEXIT. The moment they crossed the threshold, the entrance to the Court of the Seasons closed up behind them. They were left standing in a tunnel covered in vines. A crowd of people shuttled back and forth around them. On their right, an exasperated winged woman screamed into her phone and then incinerated it in her fist. At the end of the tunnel, a herd of wild grocery carts ambled past.
Boo ushered them to the side of the tunnel. A mechanical golden insect whirred to life above them, opening its stained-glass wings and hovering so they were lit as if standing under a Tiffany lamp.
“That wasawesome, Aru!” squealed Mini. She held out her elbow and Aru bumped it, grinning.
Aru felt a little better, and it wasn’t just because of those Spring cakes. At least now she knew that if they had to see that starry-tailed monster anytime soon, they weren’t totally unprepared.
Boo fluttered to Mini’s shoulder. “Well, that’s not how the legendary Arjuna would have done it.”
