She had already watched a fragment of this fire gutter and die upon her blade. Now she took what remained, a small and weakened thing, a flickering, writhing, obviously unnatural thing, with only the barest strength left within it. In the faint breeze moving through the tent it bristled, coiling like a serpent.
“My lords, you are wise in scripture. Your ancestors were present when the mothers of flame burned for us all. So you will know, as I know, that the fire of the mothers was relentless. It did not falter. It did not dwindle. It climbed onto swords and arrows, and turned upon the yaksa until all our enemies were dead. Only then did it perish.”
She held the fire up before her, the saber steady in her hands, allowing them to look at the flame: its smallness. The way it wavered, already diminishing before their eyes.
“This fire must be carried in the ashes,” she said. “It moves, yes, with strange power—but it does not move as mothers’ fire did, with holy intent.” She spoke confidently. There were no priests here to disagree with her, after all. Only Aditya, who served the nameless, and would not. “And the fire dies,” she went on. She drew her sword in a sharp arc—and watched the last vestiges of the flame sputter away into nothing. “This fire is not the fire of the mothers,” she said. “Whatever Chandra has created, it is a falsehood. A shadow at best.”
Silence. Then, a roar of noise from the highborn, as the last wisps of smoke curled away from her saber, leaving the blade bare and gleaming.
She did not meet Mahesh’s eyes but oh, she wanted to. She wanted to.
“I will never disobey the messages of the mothers,” announced Malini. “Through the nameless, they gave me my crown. If this fire had been the mothers’ fire, my lords, I would have obeyed their will and bowed my head to the rightful emperor. But I know what I am to the mothers. I know the mothers.” A pause. “That has never,” she said with emphasis, “been in doubt. The throne is mine, by the faceless and the nameless and by the mothers alike. I hope that eases your doubts in me. I can understand your fears today, my lords. But I will not be so understanding again.”
The men were still speaking, talking to one another or trying to gain her attention. But Malini simply kneeled at her seat. Lifted a hand and quelled them once more to silence.
It was time to return to the business of war.
“The maze fort cannot be sieged,” she said. “Despite Lord Mahesh’s belief in this path, the inhabitants of the fort cannot be contained. They have been clever enough to use both their fortress and the short-term strength of their false fire to their advantage. There will be brief, savage attacks on us in the future, of that I have no doubt. And the longer we remain here, the fewer our number will become.”
I have trusted in the guidance of Lord Mahesh,” she went on. “And he has served me wisely. But his failure is a message from the mothers, and one I cannot ignore.” She saw Mahesh’s chin dip forward. The subtlest indication of shame. “We cannot remain here. We must continue to Parijat, and to the capital Harsinghar itself, and overthrow the false emperor.”
“Empress.” Lord Prakash was the one who spoke, then. “If I may.”
“I would be glad of your counsel, Lord Prakash,” she replied.
“Though the fire is not mothers’ fire, it is still a great danger,” he said. “Many of our men are dead. If we leave this enemy behind us, I am certain we will be crushed between the High Prince’s forces and the false emperor’s, as Lord Mahesh feared when he recommended the siege.” A murmur of agreement from the listening lords. “It is my belief, Empress, that the battle here must be fought. The High Prince’s forces must be restrained. But how it may be done…” He shook his head. “That, I do not know, Empress,” he said heavily.
“We will go to Parijat,” said Malini. “Because we must. Because it is time.”Because I have the blessings of the mothers, and I command it, Malini did not say, but she knew the men understood all the same. “But some of our forces must remain here to keep the High Prince pinned.”
“Do you expect this battle to be won, Empress? Or do you ask your loyal men for a sacrifice of their own faithful warriors upon Saketa’s pyre?” This was asked by Khalil, who had a thoughtful expression on his face.
“I desire the former, but am prepared for the latter,” Malini said, with an incline of her head. “We have seen the High Prince’s strength. I ask for someone willing to take a risk on behalf of our campaign, to hold the High Prince’s forces at bay long enough for the war itself to be won, and Chandra dethroned.”
“Give the task to your Ahiranyi,” Ashutosh snapped, even as Narayan frowned, placing a placating hand on his arm that was swiftly shrugged off.
Malini could almostfeelPriya behind her. The shift of her body. The scent of the smoke still on her beloved skin, her hair.
“You were provided justice, Prince Ashutosh,” Malini said, barely managing to keep the frost of her irritation from her voice. “And I require a full force of soldiers: infantry, horses. Weapons. These are not things Ahiranya’s representative can provide. I require a willing noble, ready to act on behalf of his empire.”
Malini looked across the tent, at all the highborn who had vowed to serve her. She did not gaze directly at Mahesh. He would do what was needful for his honor, and for Parijatdvipa. It was merely Malini’s duty to give him the opportunity.
“Will none of you make this sacrifice?” She raised her head high. “Will no one step forward and do what is needful to protect Parijatdvipa from Chandra’s rule?”
An uneasy rustle of movement. Silence.
“I will do it.”
Mahesh’s head turned, eyes wide. From the back of the tent, from a fall of shadow, Aditya stepped forward.
He was still in his priestly blues. His hair was loose—a sheet of black against his back. He did not look like a warrior. He did not look like a prince.
He bowed low. The bow of a supplicant before an emperor. Then he straightened once more, looking at her with his dark, steady eyes, his expression so very calm.
Malini was not calm. She held herself still and stared down at him, her heart hammering. She had not planned this. Oh, her fool brother.Fool.
“I will need men,” he said. “And an able general to guide me.”
“Prince Aditya,” Mahesh said swiftly. “I will serve you. In this, as in all things.”
