Rudy dropped his voice to a whisper. “It’s part of mydisguise.”
“What disguise?” asked Brynne.
From somewhere behind Rudy, they heard a woman’s voice call out, “Beta?Who’s at the door?”
“NO ONE!” shouted Rudy. “JUST A DELIVERY OF MY ART SUPPLIES!”
He pointed down one of the outdoor walkways and whispered, “Meet me down there! I’ll let you guys in through the back and fill you in on what’s going on.” He sniffed at the air. “And maybe I’ll get you some towels so you can shower, too. You guys—except Mini—smell like two-week-old potatoes, if I’m being honest. You know, the kind Brynne sometimes forgets about in that closet where she spends all her time.”
Brynne raised an eyebrow. “The pantry?”
“Yeah!”
“Nice to see you, too, Rudy.”
As Rudy led them through his palace, Aru kept getting distracted by the artwork lining the walls. Some of the paintings she recognized from her textbooks. Others were posters from concerts long ago—1964,THE GANDHARVAS AND THE BEATLES, PERFORMING ONE NIGHT ONLY ON THE ASTRAL PLANE, SPONSORED BY LUCY IN THE SKY WITH DIAMONDS.Another poster showed a trio of beautiful women wearing golden gowns with elbow-length gloves. Aru paused. The women’s skin was tintedgreen. The headline of the enchanted poster floated off its surface:
THE PRETTY POISONS ARE COMING TO LANKA! AND THEIR HITS ARE POSITIVELYDEADLY!
Those women werevishakanyas…poison maidens.
They were subtle and deadly, trained in all manner of arts and fed from a young age a special diet of poisons so that anyone who touched them would fall sick and die, her mother had once told her.In the ancient times, they were sent to kingdoms as secret assassins, disguised as courtesans or artists.
Aru had loved the story. How cool would it have been to sayTouch me and die, mortal!Once, she’d even tried to turn herself into a vishakanya by chewing and spitting out a poison-ivy leaf.
That was…a mistake.
Hurry up, Aru!called Brynne’s voice through the mind link.
Aru ran to catch up to the others. At the end of the gallery hallway lay the entrance to Rudy’s chambers, marked by a pair of great silver doors. He waved his hand before the doors and they swung open. A jellyfish sentinel detached from one of the walls, floating down before the door and bearing a sign that readDO NOT DISTURB, ARTIST AT WORK.
Rudy’s “room” was the size of a small but cozy house. Inside, hundreds of rocks lined the shelves on the walls, along with thousands of music records. Rudy’s parents, despite being royalty, ran a jewelry business. Rudy, who was color-blind, didn’t have the same talents in gemology as his parents and brothers. But while he couldn’t spot the difference between some colors, he could see something else entirely—strains of magic. With that perspective, Rudy could make beautiful music that could throw off opponents and create force fields of noise.
Aru refused to tell him, but it was a pretty cool gift.
Rudy plucked one of his rocks, an egg-size piece of rose quartz, and stuck it under the door. The rock started emitting sighs and groaning things in Rudy’s voice likeWhy must I suffer to create?andNo, Mother, I cannot eat! I need to be alone with the crushing splendor of my dark thoughts! FOR MY ART!
Aiden frowned. “Rudy, what is that?”
“It’s part of my disguise!” said Rudy. “I figured you guys would come find me when you, naturally, needed me to rescue you—”
“Rescue?” asked Brynne.
Rudy continued. “And news has trickled down to the underwater kingdoms that the Pandavas must be left entirely alone before the big battle, which didn’t sound right, so I made up this whole disguise just in case. This way my parents won’t go looking for me when I run off with you Potatoes.”
“What exactly is your disguise?” asked Aiden.
Aru glanced between the two boys. With his dark hoodie and hair pushed in front of his eyes, Rudy kind of looked like—
“You. Duh,” said Rudy. “The whole tortured artist, et cetera, et cetera. It’s really convincing. My mom keeps having the courtiers leave huge feasts outside my door. It’s great! I came up with the idea after I noticed how your mom is all ‘Oh, beta, don’t let me disturb you when you’re daydreaming’ and all that.”
Aru howled with laughter while Aiden turned bright red. “WHAT?”
“So!” said Rudy, completely ignoring Aiden’s meltdown. “What do you need?”
“I don’tsoundlike that!”
“Yes, you do.”
