Yelping and the scratching of paws greeted me the moment I walked inside the palace. My hounds snuffled the folds of my cloak, whining loudly.
“Souls are not chew toys.” I sighed.
They huffed, slinking away to the shadows. If they were upset now, they would soon forget. My hounds were my usual representatives to the worlds above and surrounding Naraka. They fetched the souls too stained to lure me aboveground. They’d taken queens from their deathbeds and maidens from the throes of childbirth, soldiers in war and priests at their altars. I was certain they’d find a murderer among the dead to rend and chew with perfect contentment.
I envied them. They could forget what had upset them. But I saw the reminder of what had unsettled me in the empty hallways and silent vestibules, in the solemn and in the eternal. Everywhere.
Envying a mortal and now a beast? Pitiful.
Gupta walked into the hall, his arms full of parchments.
“How was it?” he asked.
“Normal. Less tears than I expected. The wife could see me, though, and she asked for a boon.”
“Did you grant it?”
“I’m undecided on whether I should.”
Gupta stepped back, brows crumpling. “You look—”
“—preternaturally handsome?”
“No.”
“Record keeping is ruining your eyes.”
“Impossible.”
“Well, one can hope.”
“If anything, record keeping has made me more observant,” said Gupta.
We started walking down one of Naraka’s halls. A thousand mirrors glittered around us, reflecting cities and ports and seas. I never bothered to look at them anymore. There was nothing new to see in this world or any other.
“And what do you observe?”
“Emptiness.”
The woman’s parting words flitted to mind.What would you do for someone you loved?
“Don’t let that trouble you. Probably just the reflection of your own mind.”
Gupta primly rearranged his papers. “When you decide to stop being a churlish infant, and talk to me about what’s bothering you, you know where to find me.”
“I am not bothered.”
“You are irritated for some reason,” he said loftily. “But I’m sure you’ll find the answer in the Tapestry.” He glanced down at his parchments, checking off names and underlining cities. “Anything else to tell me?”
“You have ink stains on your nose.”
Gupta shrugged. “Admittedly, I can be too close to my work.”
“Exactly how close? Do you roll around with the parchment afterward, murmur love songs to the paper, and profess your undying love for the written word?”
“I would never roll around in my parchment. It would get wrinkled.” Gupta turned to walk away before pausing. “Oh, I forgot…”He snapped his fingers. Ink splashed on my face. “You’ve got something on your nose.”
And then he stuck his tongue out at me, and disappeared.
