“She captured Priya,” Lata said.
A sense of yawning inevitability, as vast as the voice of the nameless, filled him. Both temple elders were here. Two halves of Ahiranya’s wholeness lay in imperial hands.
He wondered if the others—Sundar or Bhumika or her guard—had heard. There was a sharp look in Jeevan’s eyes. Rao ushered Lata farther away, where they could speak in relative privacy.
“Is she still… alive?”
“Yes,” she said. “Elder Priya is fine. And I think… as safe as she can be. But never mind that. Malini wants to meet you now.”
“Is Sima well?” Rao asked. He kept his voice low.
Lata’s nod was brief but emphatic.
“Come now,” said Lata. “You can meet her later. First—Malini.”
Malini was waiting in a private receiving room, with only her guards around her. Two of her guards ushered both Rao and the priest Sunder in, shutting the door securely behind him. In the corner, a scribe was writing, head tilted over their work.
He bowed low, as did Sunder beside him.
“I have another gift for you, Empress,” he said. “Another answer.”
“You have a rare gift for discovering truths, Prince Rao,” said Malini. But she was listening, with light in her eyes.
He thought of Aditya’s death, and the way the fire had bled into his own eyes, and followed him still; the ache in his skull was like a fissure in his mind, in the world.This is where you must go.
“I go,” he said, “where the nameless wills it.”Where Aditya wills it.
Then he told her what he’d learned from Bhumika.
When he had finished, Sunder stepped forward and spoke eloquently of what he had witnessed in the monastery—and of the sacrifice of one of his priests.
Malini’s expression was unreadable.
“Your priest died at her hands, then,” she said to Sunder. “I am sorry to hear it.”
“Ishan died for faith,” Sunder replied. His voice shook with feeling. “I am grateful to the Ahiranyi woman, Empress. It was no murder. It was a gift. In your service, we will see the yaksa destroyed and the empire saved.”
“A death by faith. I see that we must honor this Ishan’s memory, and revere him,” Malini replied, compassion warming her voice. “Rest now, priest. I will speak with you privately later. We must ensure that your monastery is celebrated and thanked for your service.”
After Sunder departed, Malini dismissed her scribe, then turned to her guards.
“Shri, Sanvi. Wait outside the door.”
One of the guards frowned, but they both bowed obediently and left the room.
Now they were truly alone.
Malini exhaled, a rush of emotion flitting across her face.
“Faith powerful enough to kill the yaksa.Faith.Rao. You truly believe her? Can we trust her?”
“I saw a yaksa die with my own eyes,” he said. He realized, his heart aching as he looked at her, what this meant. She did not have to burn after all.
“Tell me everything,” Malini said, hope raw in her voice.
“Elder Bhumika doesn’t know herself,” he said. “Whatever she did to gain the knowledge she has—she believes it came at a price. Her memories. Maybe even her sense of self. She took a great risk to share this gift, and she may never be Elder Bhumika again.” He hesitated, then said, “She claims she has a greater power. She could help us destroy more than individual yaksa.”
“The rot?” Malini asked.
