“Well. It does not for me, at least,” said her grandmother. “You might be different.”
“How will I know if it’s telling me a truth?”
“You’ll feel it, my jewel. If you lie, it will tighten, ever so slightly. Like someone’s hand squeezing yours. And if you tell the truth, it shall not move at all.” Her grandmother kissed the top of her head. “Now go. You’ve spent too much time with me. Go talk to your sister. You won’t have much more opportunity to do so.”
Hira slid off the couch, her fingers tracing each individual scale of the necklace.
She couldn’t wait to tell Meghana all about the story. Maybe they could test out the snake necklace before she left! Or maybe they could just sit beside each other. Hira was fine with that too.
She told her grandmother good-bye, and then raced out the door. As she did, she whispered to the snake:
“I will not live a life of adventure and magic.”
Maybe it was just her imagination, but Hira could have sworn that she felt the barestsqueezeright where the snake’s tail looped over her collarbone. It felt like her grandmother’s hand reaching down to guide her and say:
Oh, my love, you have no idea what magic awaits you.
EPILOGUE
It was right before dawn when she saw him.
Gauri had spent the day standing regally in the shadows, watching the ceremony for her grandchild’s wedding. She loved weddings. She loved the dessert, and the laughter. She loved how the bride and groom snuck bewildered glances at each other. And she wished her family a life of joy. But after everyone had been embraced and alternately scolded or praised, she had retreated to her Garden of Swords and Sweets.
She could not lift a sword any longer.
Nor did she have any wish to do so.
It was enough to sit quietly on her stone bench and watch the sweets sway above her, and imagine a kingdom full of story birds. She did a lot of imagining these days. Which was why she almost dismissed the sight of him.
Vikram.
Sitting beside her on the bench.
He looked just as he had in his youth. Tall and lanky. Black curls falling over his forehead. His dark eyes touched with amber so that when the sunlight hit him and he smiled, it looked as though his eyes were made of topaz. Stunned, Gauri reached out to touch his face. Years had passed since she had touched him, and she had almost forgotten the hot silk of his skin. One touch and she remembered. She looked down at her own hand, this one flesh and not glass. It was unlined. Callouses gone. She was young once more.
She smiled, delighted to find herself in this dream.
Vikram clasped her hand to his face and grinned.
“I am almost too handsome to be real,” he said. “It has clearly boggled your mind.”
“You’re not real,” sighed Gauri. “I’m going to wake up and you’ll leave again.”
The smile vanished from his face.
“Not this time, my love.”
“I’m tired,” she said. “You’ve been gone a long time.”
“I know,” said Vikram guiltily. He ran his hand through his hair. “It wasn’t like I had a choice. But I watched you… every day I slept beside you. Did you notice?”
She had, but she always thought it was a dream.
“I met your sister, by the way,” he said. “She laughed at my jokes. I don’t think her husband was particularly enthused, but he let me stay and wait for you. I refused to go without you.”
Maya,thought Gauri. It had been even longer since she had thought of her sister’s name. A door opened in her memory. Her sister both excited and resigned to see her again. Now she knew why.
“To a new life?” asked Gauri.
