Mini touched her arm. “We can’t do that.”
A thought tickled the back of Aru’s brain….
“Actually,” said Aru, “I can.”
Aiden lifted an eyebrow, and from the look in his eyes, Aru could tell that he knew. He laughed. “I see you, Shah.”
Aru, Mini, and Brynne lined up, careful to keep some distance between them.
“We’re ready to take the steps,” said Aru.
Kubera’s laughter echoed through the halls.
“Silly, silly,” he started to say, but Aru had stopped listening.
Instead, she concentrated on Tara’s promise to answer if Aru was ever in need. It felt like something molten in the center of her heart. Aru mentally called upon the queen.Your Majesty, mind if I use that power now?
The transformation took place instantly. Aru felt as though a thousand needles swept over her skin, and there was the slightest stretching sensation in her arms and legs as her bones lengthened, her clothes sized up, and her stomach bulged. The floor pulled away from her in a matter of seconds, and the top of her head nearly poked out the open ceiling. From up here, Kubera’s throne room looked like part of a glamorous dollhouse. Aru swayed, careful not to move her feet as she caught her balance.
“THAT IS SO COOL!” Brynne yelled up to her.
Aru knew ithadto be a yell, but from where she stood, it sounded like a faraway squeak. She bent down and held out her palm so her sisters could step onto it. Mini, looking faintly queasy because she hated heights, clambered on first. Then Brynne. Off to the side, Aiden snapped some photos.
Close your ears,Aru said through the mind link.
Her sisters clamped their hands over their heads.
“First step!” said Aru, lifting her foot.
The golden floor blurred beneath her. In one step, Aru was fifteen feet away from Kubera’s throne. He had stopped laughing, and his one eye was wide. Biju the mongoose had reappeared, and when its jaw dropped open in surprise, a chunky sapphire tumbled to the floor.
Brynne?
On Aru’s palm, Brynne hunched down and Mini climbed onto her back as if she were about to take a piggyback ride. In a flash of blue light that looked from Aru’s height like nothing more than a match catching fire, Brynne transformed into an elephant. Aru lowered her to the ground, and Brynne took one lumbering step forward.
“Second step!” Brynne trumpeted.
Now Kubera’s throne was less than three feet away. Mini balanced on top of Brynne’s back, swaying a bit.
“Step three!” she yelled, springing forward. Mini’s fingers caught the edge of the god’s throne and she pulled herself up to stand on the armrest. She raised her Death Danda high in the air.
“We took our three steps.” Aru’s voice boomed, shaking the golden walls of the palace. “And in those three steps, we reached your throne. So we can claim whatever we want that you control,” she said. “Here’s what we want…”
“You’ll return Hanuman to us,” said Brynne.
“And Urvashi!” said Mini.
Aru leaned over to stare Kubera in the eye. His throne looked like something she could pinch into a coin.
“And when we finish your trials, youwillgive us the astra, along with your golden army.”
“That was…delightful!” said Kubera, clapping.
Delightful?
Aru deflated, both emotionally and physically. Within seconds, Tara’s blessing melted away, and Aru felt as if someone were slowly reeling her in like a kite. Her bones shrank and the floor rose to meet her as she returned to her below-average height of five foot one.
“Handing over the multiverse’s most powerful weapon to adolescents with undeveloped prefrontal cortices?” mused Kubera. “Chaos. I love it. Yes, yes, you can have it…. But only if you get through my trials, of course, so—”
