We LiterallyJustWent on a Quest
Aru couldn’t breathe.
Memories wiped …
Pandava no more …
Banished forever …
If they failed, all those men turned Heartless would stay zombies! It seemed like a fate worse than death. Plus, if this generation’s Pandavas were exiled, who would stop the Sleeper?
She glanced over at Mini, who looked like Aru felt:stricken. And then she realized that, if theyfailed, she wouldn’t even remember Mini. This whole life would be erased. This tiny claim to magic, this sense that, for the first time, she could breathe easy because she had found her home … It would all be taken from her. Simply because Queen Uloopi refused to believe the truth.
Aru couldn’t let that happen.
Vajra, now shaped like a humble bracelet, crackled against her wrist. She could feelher temper seething inside her chest, a hot pressure on her lungs that made it difficult to breathe. Fromhisthrone—which had transformed into a single golden tree branch suspended in the air—Boo made tinydon’t-do-it!gestures with his whole body. Aru ignored him. She opened her mouth to speak….
But someone beat her to it.
“Are youserious?” demanded Brynne.
Aru looked over at her. Therewere tears in the other girl’s eyes. All the color had drained from her face.
“Tasked as I am with maintaining law and order in the Otherworld, I find no reason to joke about these matters,” said Uloopi coldly.
The rest of the Council looked grave and solemn. Even through her own fury, Aru could sense that Uloopi took no pleasure in this. But the person beside her—Takshaka—didn’t seem to mindat all. The corner of his mouth twitched.
“Do the Pandavas find Queen Uloopi unmerciful?” he asked with a sneer. “Hersss was the deciding vote in allowing you to prove your innocence. The witness’s photo didn’t fool me.” He flicked his tongue in Brynne’s direction. “I know firsthand how manipulative anyone ofasuralineage can be, even if she isss a Pandava.”
Brynne’s lower lip trembled forjust an instant, but she quickly set her jaw and glared at the serpent king.
So Brynne was part asura. That would explain why she could shape-shift—only asuras and rakshasas had that ability. While being an asura or rakshasa didn’t automatically make someone demonic, it did make them harder to trust. Aru had seen Otherworld people act suspicious—even cruel—toward them.
But if Brynne reallywasthe thief, she wouldn’t look so upset. And Aru had to admit that Fake Aru had been convincing. Itwas… possible … that Brynne reallyhadbeen trying to catch the true culprit.
Aru quickly shared her thoughts with Mini, whose response was brief:I don’t think she’s the thief.
“Don’t worry, Pandavas. If you fail, a new batch of warriors will come along,” Takshaka said. “It doesn’t matter.”
It doesn’t matter. Aru felt those words clang through her. She didn’t matter.
“You’re wrong,” she said quietly.
Mini sniffled, nodding fiercely. “We’ll prove it.”
Uloopi looked at Aru, Brynne, and Mini as if she were seeing them for the first time. Finally she said, “What a strange vessel for such a soul,” eyeing Aru. She sighed, sounding as if she had needed a nap for the past five thousandyears. “I have a great-grandson your age.”
Aru’s eyebrows skated up her forehead.What?
That wasnotwhat she had expected Uloopi to say.
But maybe raising her eyebrows was the completely wrong thing to do, because Uloopi’s face darkened.
“What?” she spat viciously. “Did you think that because my son with Arjuna died in battle I was supposed to mourn for the rest of my days? No! I had a kingdomto rule! People who looked up to me! I was not just someone’swife.”
Aru glanced between Brynne and Mini. Mini shook her head likeI have no idea what is happening.
“Um, I never said that you—”
