The five of them huddled, standing back-to-back as if that might offer some protection. Aru had just raised her hands to her face, bracing herself for impact, when a shadow fell across her.
“Loose Teeth, what are you doing?”asked The Lady in a shrill voice.
Aru peeked between her fingers to see the needles hitting the horse’s wings, which were spread in front of them like a shield. Loose Teeth neighed, her forelegs kicking at the air as the needles settled once more onto the ground. Mini broke away from the group and patted the horse’s shoulder. The night mare grinned.
“No matter,” said The Lady. She snapped her fingers and a black root snaked out of the ground, heading straight for Mini.
“Move!” yelled Aru.
“Mini!” screamed Brynne, spinning to cast her mace.
But it wasn’t Aru or Brynne who reached Mini first.
It was Rudy.
The naga prince darted out, transforming in a flash into his half-serpent form. His eyes glowed red, and his red-and-gold-banded tail slapped the root away as he snarled at The Lady. He looked surprisingly formidable. And it wasn’t missed that he had tapped into his own power to protect Mini. Her eyes widened.
Rudy opened his mouth. Clearly he was going to say something epic and awesome, and maybe even romantic….
“What about Plushy Scales? I’ll get nightmares without Plushy Scales—” Rudy slumped to one side. The bed of pine needles zoomed over to catch him. His tail curled up, and within seconds he was snoring.
Never mind, then, thought Aru.
“Plushy Scales?” asked Aiden, raising an eyebrow.
“Why are you doing this to us?” Mini asked The Lady. “You’d better not hurt him!” Her face blazed with fury. Beside her, Loose Teeth stamped the ground.
“There’s a war on the other side of this realm, and we have to be there—” started Brynne.
The Lady laughed humorlessly. “I have heard it all. I know all about the wars that end all wars, and the truth is, nothing changes. People die. Lives are sacrificed. And who bothers to remember? No one.”
The Lady gradually began to descend. Black debris swirled around her feet once more. Brynne raised her wind mace again and Aiden fumbled with his scimitars. The edge of one of his golden blades touched the ground, and it seared the grass with ahiss. A small pile of leaves briefly caught fire. Aiden watched it, his brow furrowing as if he’d just had an idea.
Aru’s eyes flicked from the burned leaves to the grinning Lady. “But this time it might actually be different,” Aru said quietly. “This time, we have the chance for true change. The chance for a life in which no one needs to be sacrificed…or hurt. Or forgotten.”
The last four beds inched closer, and Aru felt a terrible drowsiness wash over her. She swayed on the spot until she felt a warm hand close around her wrist, and she looked up to see Aiden staring at her. The starry flecks in his eyes held her steady.
“Don’t you dare, Shah,” he said. “Stay with me.”
His words helped Aru shake off her drowsiness. Aiden let go of her hand, and Aru imagined she felt sparks chasing one another across her skin.
“Whoareyou?” Mini demanded of The Lady.
“I am Urmila.”
She stared at them and Aru felt a stab of guilt when she looked at the woman’s face. Urmila’s eyes looked vengeful, but there was also the faintest trace ofhopeon her face. As if this might be the moment someone recognized her.
Urmila’s shoulders sank. “But of course you wouldn’t know.”
“Then tell us,” said Aru. “What do you want? Maybe we can help?”
Urmila waved her arm, and the scene around them changed. They were standing in the front hall of a beautiful palace, and there were three people before them—a man with sapphire-colored skin and a bow and arrow slung across his back, a dark-complexioned woman with a queenly bearing despite the plain cotton sari she wore, and another man with a bow and arrow, the color of his skin like sunlight hitting bronze.
Aru recognized them instantly. Rama, the god king; Sita, his wife; and Laxmana, his brother. She also knew what was about to happen based on the tales her mother had told her. Rama, Sita, and Laxmana were on the verge of their exile in the forest, and soon the demon king Ravana would steal Sita away and ignite a war.
A fourth person appeared in the scene, running into the hallway breathless and tear-streaked—Urmila. She wore a diadem of amethysts around her head, and she was dressed in rich purple silks.
“Sister, why have you come?” asked Sita. “Go. Return to the palace. Our fate is not for you to bear.”
