“Oh really? So you didn’t choose to leave the splendid halls of the House of the Sun?” The shadow-gowned goddess tossed her hair. “If you don’t like being here, you can leave again, and like last time, I’m sure no one will notice.”
Aiden looked alarmed. He muttered to Brynne, “I thought they’re sisters?”
Brynne smirked, her gaze flicking to Aru. “Sometimes sisters fight.”
True, thought Aru. But not like that. Not like every word was a knife shaped out of ice.
“We’renotsisters,” said Saranyu viciously.
Aru frowned. If they weren’t sisters, then how come they had the same face?
“You look identical, though?” said Rudy.
Saranyu snorted. “Merely because she is my shadow.”
The goddess in shadows scowled. “Perhaps I began that way, yes.”
“If you’re just her shadow, then—” started Brynne.
The goddess whirled around, her face contorted in fury. “Justher shadow?” she spat, darkness pooling underneath her. “I am Chhaya, goddess of shadows and second queen to the Sun Lord, Surya. I am the Mother of Shani, Lord of the House of Saturn, and Tapti, the incomparably beautiful river goddess.”
Shani!Aru remembered meeting the Lord of Saturn on their last quest. He probably would’ve been pleasant to be around if not for the burning-gaze-that-incinerated-everything-in-its-path thing.
“But how did you…?” Mini started. “No offense, but…” She trailed off.
“How did I go from being a reflection to being a queen?” asked Chhaya, lifting an eyebrow.
“You mean how did she go from a temporary replacement to a usurper?” demanded Saranyu, crossing her arms.
“Um…” said Mini. “Sure?”
“Like this…” said Saranyu.
She swept aside a swath of clouds and stomped on the gold floor. Images shimmered on the ground, showing Saranyu standing beside Surya, the god of the sun. Aru squinted. It was like catching the sun’s reflection in a mirror. In the images, Saranyu looked as if she was always wincing and rubbing her eyes.
“My husband was so resplendent he radiated an eternal source of heat,” said Saranyu. “He was, in truth, too hot to bear.”
Aru waited one second…two seconds…and then started choke-laughing, which is what happens when one tries not to laugh but the laugh wriggles out your throat anyway.
“I understand that,” said Rudy solemnly. “At least, Idid, before someone ripped off my mustache out of jealousy.”
“It wasahair,” Aiden said with a sigh.
“There would’ve been more!” said Rudy. “Eventually.”
Brynne swatted both of them.
“I had to leave or I’d burn up,” said Saranyu. “But I didn’t want him to notice. And so I left behind a decoy.”
She swiped her hand in the air and the images in the floor changed, now showing Saranyu staring at her shadow and making some complicated gestures over the shape. The outline of the shadow quivered before peeling off the ground. It shook itself once and then crumbled, revealing Chhaya beneath. Afterward, Saranyu stole out of the palace with nothing but the cloak she was wearing.
“It worked for a time,” said Saranyu, sighing. “But eventually I was found out.”
“My fault,” said Chhaya, raising her hand. “Saranyu is allergic to chickpeas. How was I supposed to know? It was the chickpeas that gave it away, not my face. He found me quite pleasing to look at.”
“You are a mere imitation of me,” said Saranyu dismissively. “And so, Surya brought me back home and I promised to wear sunglasses more often.”
Chhaya reached up and adjusted the crown on her head. “Worked out quite nicely for me, too. I got to be royalty.”
