His expression sobers, and his topaz eyes dim. “What I did? I took back what was rightfully mine.”
“What? The palace? The royal domain?”
“No, little one. The throne. I took back my throne.”
Chapter 9
IT’S TIME TO VENT
LEELA
The ship hovered over the chamber housing the ancestor pillars. A ramp made of clouds reached for the earth. Djinn and Asura climbed slowly to the deck, carrying packs of essentials. The ship had no kitchens, but Jaantor had offered to use his emberflame to light the fires needed to cook a meal, and carts filled with large cooking pots and the tripods to suspend them on were carried on board now along with crates of vegetables and meat. Zarael assured the people that there was a cold spot on the ship where the meat could be stored. The cloud ship was fast, and whereas it had taken us a week to reach Shantivan on turtleback, it would take the cloud ship four days if the weather held.
The revenants were gone just as Alliana had promised they would be. I had no idea where, but I hoped to the gods that they were out of the primordial evil’s reach. The possibility that he might be able to control them hadn’t occurred to me until now. All I could do was hope he didn’t find them.
Watching the people board, knowing that they’d be safe for a time lifted a weight off my shoulders. I could focus on the task at hand now. On gathering muscle. Allies so I could fight my way to a portway and get into Aakash Sansaar. Kalani and the stone-faced brothers helped to load up the ship.
“You did it,” C’ael said. “You promised them sanctuary, and you provided it. You came back.”
A flash of irritation lit up my chest. “Why do you keep saying that, as if you can’t quite believe it?”
His brows pinched, and he shook his head. “I…I’m not sure why.”
The soft vulnerability in his tone curbed my annoyance. I turned to face him and lightly gripped his shoulders, looking up into his handsome face. “C’ael, if I say I’m going to do something, I do it. The only thing that would have kept me from coming back here was death or a logistic issue. In which case, Zarael would have told you where to find me. I won’t leave you behind.”
He sucked in a breath. I’d obviously hit a nerve.
“Do you promise?” he asked.
I smiled up at him. “I promise.”
His shoulders relaxed, and a gentle warmth unfurled in my chest. C’ael might be sassy and snarky, he might be authoritative and protective, but he was also vulnerable in a way I had yet to understand. And he was mine…at least for now.
He exhaled and dropped his gaze. “So we recruit nagrata?”
Ah, back on solid ground. I liked it. “Yep, that’s the plan.”
“I don’t recall Iblees…I mean, the primordial evil mentioning them.”
“Good, then maybe he didn’t know about them. We can only hope.”
Zarael came down the ramp toward us, past the last of the djinn and drohi making their way to the ship. She paused hereand there to speak a few words to the passengers. Reassuring them, no doubt. Jaantor remained on board, his flame hair rippling in the breeze, arms crossed over his broad chest as he watched the ship fill up.
“Leela!” Dodi came running up to me, wrapped his arms around my waist, and began to sob.
“Hey, you.” I stroked his head, looking up at Falima as she hurried over. “What happened?” I tried to pull away from Dodi so I could look at him, but he clung tighter to me.
“He had a bad dream,” Falima said. “That’s all. See, Dodi, Leela is fine. She’s safe.”
“I saw her falling,” Dodi said. “Falling through the sky.”
I tensed, no doubt in my mind that the boy had the gift of prophetic vision. First the dream of Iblees with the crown and now this. I’d only accessed the prophetic ability once when I’d seen my grandmother killed by the pischacha. My visions since then had been memories of a past life. But this boy saw the future, and he’d seen me fall.
I gently prised him off me and crouched so we were eye to eye.
“I’m all right. Ididfall, but Zarael caught me.” I pointed across at the vayujaari headed our way. “She saved me.”
He sniffed and wiped his eyes. “You’re sure? It…it already happened?”
