I’d expected them to say no, but a part of me had hoped that maybe I’d be able to change their minds. But if staying meant potentially being the primordial evil’s bitch, then yeah, best they leave.
Kalani caught my eye, her brows pinching as she waited for me to execute my plan. A plan that might still work.
“I understand. You can’t stay, but can you give refuge to innocents? To the djinn and Asura civilians left orphaned by the death of the devouring force? They have nowhere to go. Please…can you take them with you?”
I’d learned this negotiation tactic from Chandra: Go in with the big ask first, knowing you’re unlikely to get it but acting as if it’s everything, then once rejected follow up with the real ask—one that now looks smaller and almost insignificant in comparison. You were more likely to get a yes.
The elders exchanged glances, sorrow and pity etching their features. My heart sank.
“We would gladly take all if we could,” the stormbound said. “But they would not survive in our world. The air would kill them in a matter of minutes. I am sorry. If there was some way that we could help, then?—”
“Elder Sorell, if I may?” Zarael said. “We could offer them a sky ship to take them to Shantivan. Distance might keep them safe.”
Sorell seemed to consider this, then shook his head. “A sky ship needs a vayujaari to steer it. Any who stays will risk becoming beholden to evil.”
“Not if they are excised from the collective,” Zarael said.
A buzz of alarm skimmed over the gathered.
Sorell raised a hand, and the room quietened once more. He stepped closer to Zarael, looking down at her with a look that was filled with shadows. “Who would accept such a fate?”
Zarael smiled up at him, her gaze softening. “I would.”
“Zarael, what are you saying?” Jaantor asked, striding over to join us. “You’d excise yourself? For them?” He sneered at me. “For her?”
Zarael balled her hands into fists. “Yes. Yes, I would. I was forced to walk away once. To turn my back on my friend and watch her die. I would ask for the opportunity at redemption.” She looked to Sorell now. “Excise me. Please.”
My pulse pounded. I didn’t understand the magnitude of this moment, but Ifeltit. “What’s going on?” I looked from Zarael to Jaantor.
Jaantor’s jaw flexed. “An excision is tantamount to death. Your friend is asking for a slowexecution.”
“Aging is not an execution,” Zarael snapped at him. “Mortality is not a curse.”
Wait, she was giving up her immortality to stay here? With me? “Zarael, I can’t let you do this.”
“I’m not asking for your permission, Leela. I am asking for the redemption of my soul.” She looked to Sorell. “Please. I ask you now, not as elder but as a father. Please, give me this boon.”
He closed his eyes. “Then you shall have it…daughter.”
Zarael’s face broke into a smile. “Thank you, Father.”
Jaantor’s shoulders dropped. “Then I stay too.”
“What?” Zarael stared at him. “No. What are you talking about?”
“If Zarael stays, then so do I.” He looked to the elders. “I petition for excision too.”
“Jaantor, no, you can’t do this?—”
“Without you,immortalityis the curse,” Jaantor said softly.
Zarael searched his face, her eyes welling.
“We will be excised, Zar. We can be together, however long we have.”
“Begin the ceremony now,” Sorell said. “Excise them both and prepare the ship.” He turned to me. “If you wish to recruit allies, I suggest a visit to the nagrata. They sleep now, but they will awaken for the blood of Raknara.”
“Why would they do that?”
