There was a knife flecked with heart’s shell under Malini’s own pillow. She slid back and grasped it with a flick of her hand. For now she kept it concealed, and kept her eyes on Priya’s.
“I could run,” Priya said. “But nothing has changed. I let myself be caught. I don’t want to leave until I’ve bargained with you.”
“Then bargain with me,” Malini said.
Priya moved away from the window and began to walk toward her. She’d always walked quietly. That hadn’t changed. Her shoulders were squared, her gait confident. The mocking sharpness had left her, and she was just Priya again, strong and clear-eyed, and it made Malini’s blood burn.
“If you want to negotiate with me,” Malini said, “why do you carry a knife?”
“I have to be able to protect myself.”
“You have your power again. You have no need for a weapon. There was only one moment when you needed a blade, and I paid the price.” Malini kept her eyes on Priya’s. “Put it down.”
She saw Priya’s hesitation. Saw Priya’s body bend, as she moved to lower the blade.
Malini surged to her feet, heart’s-shell knife in hand. Priya swore as Malini stabbed the blade toward her. She caught Malini’s wrist, her grip iron, her thumb pressing the bones of her wrist so precisely that Malini dropped the blade with nerveless fingers. Malini tried to wrench her hand back, and when that failed, she drew a plain dagger from a band of cloth bound to her waist. It was unmarked by heart’s shell, but it would do.
“You sleep with two knives?” Priya asked, incredulous.
“I sleep with three,” Malini corrected, and slashed at the arm holding her own.
Priya released her, shoving her back. Malini stumbled, finding her feet, as Priya fled the bedchamber.
Malini had an empress’s rooms—multi-chambered and vast, with so many shadows for Priya to dive into. But she did not need to see Priya to know where she was. She could suddenly feel her, that tug of magic binding them a guiding star. She ran after her as Priya crossed the room—as Priya grasped the movable lattice at a window, wrenched it open, and jumped. Malini went to the window and looked down.
Below were Malini’s private gardens.
Malini didn’t think.
She jumped out after her.
It should have hurt. But the ground met her softly, grasped her and held her steady. She straightened and kept on running, following Priya, who was quick, quicker than Malini could hope to be, who turned, her tangled hair whirling with her, and cried, “I’m not trying to fight you but I won’t let youcarveme—”
“Surely it’s my turn,” Malini snapped back. The ground rumbled under them. The knife was jolted from her hand and she was darting forward, reaching out hands to grasp at Priya.
Priya froze, stumbling. Going still. Malini had grasped her. But not with hands.
There were green stems rising out of the soil, tangling up Priya’s arms, holding them together. And Malini’s skin was thrumming—her chest ached, livid and sweet.
Priya’s eyes were wide.
“Malini,” she whispered.
PRIYA
The only thing holding her arms were flower stems—longer than they should have been but still fragile. Priya should have been able to break them easily, but somehow the magic—Malini’smagic—had knotted them together in a frantic tangle, a web that ran from her fingers to above her elbows.
“Malini. Let me go.”
Malini’s hands were visibly shaking. “I…”
“Breathe,” Priya said soothingly. “You can do it.”
The panic was beginning to recede from Malini’s eyes. But she didn’t lower her hands, or release Priya from her power.
“Is this why you truly came?” Malini’s voice shook. “Am I the yaksa’s creature also—changedby you? Because I refuse that fate.”
“No,” Priya said immediately. “I don’t know why you’re like this. But the yaksa didn’t do this to you.” She could see the doubt in Malini’s eyes, and the horror, so she pressed on. “Do you dream of a place where three rivers meet? Where stars live inside and outside the water?”
