“I knew it the moment you saved Sima. When you moved—you moved like you’d walked on the Hirana before, like the groundknewyou.” Meena swallowed, visibly. Then she said, “You’re a temple daughter. Or you were, once.”
“You’re mistaken,” Priya said.
“How many times did you pass through the waters before the council died? Are you once-born? Twice-born?”
“Meena,” Priya said gently. “You’re addled. Go to the kitchens, now.”
“I’m not,” Meena said firmly. “I’m very sure. I know you’re a temple child. You were raised here, in this temple. Raised to rule our faith. And then the regent burned you all, didn’t he? You and your elders. But you survived, somehow. Hiding in plain sight. You’re not the first I’ve met.Hetold me what to look for. Iknow.”
Meena crossed the triveni. She took hold of Priya’s arm. Her grip was like iron.
“Look at this,” Meena said, voice firm, fierce. So Priya looked.
In Meena’s left hand, half-concealed beneath the drape of her sari, was the shape that Priya had thought was kindling.
It was a mask. It must have been hidden among the bundle Meena had been carrying on her back. The guards would not have noticed it when they checked the maidservants for weapons. It was, after all, not a weapon. It was no more than wood, deep and dark, bent and carved into crescents that stretched from a central hollow. But it was beautiful, and familiar, and every inch of it was carved from the boughs of sacred trees. Close to it now, Priya could feel the warmth of it, rich as a bloodied heartbeat.
A crown mask.
The bead of wood at her wrist didn’t hold even a shadow of such power.
Priya flinched, despite herself.
“You recognize it,” Meena said, and her shaky voice was full of triumph.
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“Please, Priya. You do. I know you do.” Meena took a step closer. “You can help me find the deathless waters. You have to. We need their strength to free ourselves from an empire that has always hated us, from rulers that want us to roll over like dogs for the crime of being better than them.” Her grip tightened on the mask. “They’ve stolen so much from us. Our language. Our elders. They deemed our culture filthy, they let usstarve. We need the waters, Priya, we all do, before it’s too late.”
“You’re hurting my arm,” Priya said steadily. “Let go of me. And we’ll return to work and forget any of this happened.”
“Aren’t you listening to me?” Meena’s face was a picture of despair. “This mad emperor will burn us all. We need to be strong. We need to be what we once were.”
“I am listening to you,” Priya said levelly. “And I think we should return to work. I think you want something from me that I can’t give you.”
There was a sound, beyond the triveni, as two maidservants passed, chattering to one another. Priya stiffened, utterly silent.Do not come in here, she thought.By soil and sky, please, do not.
They passed. Their voices faded.
Meena was watching her, intent as an animal gazing upon prey. But she trembled, and trembled, as if her own instincts terrified her.
“Show me the way to the deathless waters,” Meena said in a quicksilver whisper. “Just tell me how to reach the waters, simply tell me, and I’ll leave here. I’ll cause no trouble.”
“What do you mean, ‘trouble’?” Priya asked.
Meena swallowed. Her gaze was unflinching.
“Being strong means being ruthless,” said Meena. “I know that. And I am—not afraid. To do what needs to be done.”
“Strong,” Priya repeated. Oh, she remembered what strong had meant, when she was a girl. “Do you mean that you’ll torture me? The other maidservants? Do you mean that you’ll kill them, to force me to show you the way?” When Meena remained silent, Priya smiled at her—a fierce, hard smile. “There would be no point, anyway. I don’t know the way.”
“Don’t lie to me,” Meena said, voice suddenly high and thin as if she could not control it. Her grip tightened. Ah, that hurt. “I’ve asked the others. You’ve lived in the regent’s mahal since you were a girl. If anyone knows the way, it’s you.”
“Meena,” Priya said, in the calmest voice she could muster, even as her heart raced, “if I had the power of the deathless waters at my fingertips, do you truly believe I’d be toiling in the regent’s household? Wouldn’t I be more than a maidservant? Think sensibly.”
“I think you are a coward,” said Meena, suddenly viperous. “I think you’re willing to lick the regent’s boots, and you disgust me. You’re nothing likehim.”
Priya could not ask her whohewas—could not say a word—because Meena released her and clasped her face instead. She dug sharp nails into Priya’s jaw; tightened her hand like a vise. For a small woman, she was strong. There was a feverish light in her eyes.
