Malini stumbled backward, away from the fight, and felt the earth shift beneath her, carrying her farther as if on a green wave. Priya had not turned back, but of course Malini knew it was her hand in that moment of strangeness.
Run. Even the earth was saying it, speaking in Priya’s voice.
But Rao.
It was not her finest moment. It was not an act of subtle politics or cunning. It was only this: her hands clenching into fists as she sucked in a deep, deep breath and yelled with all her might.
“Rao!” She nearly winced at the sound of her own voice, so shrill and sharp. “Rao, I am here! Rao!”
“Stop.” A voice. Rao’s voice—a whipcrack of command, achingly familiar. “Peace, brothers. Peace!”
It should have done nothing. But Priya swore, and then the earth moved, the soil sinking, holding all their feet fast.
Everyone froze.
As the chaos settled, Malini took in the sight before her. Men with swords. And there—Rao.
Rao, with Jeevan’s sword tip beneath his chin. The two of them were caught by the earth, fused into the moment before the cut of the blade.
Here was the moment when she would know if she was a hostage after all.
“Let him go, Commander,” Malini said. “Lower your blade. These men are my brother Aditya’s.”
A pause. “Are you sure,” Jeevan said flatly.
“Yes,” said Malini. “In honor of the vow I have made. Yes.”
“Jeevan,” said Priya. “Come on. Lower it.”
Clearly conflicted, Jeevan finally let the tip of his sword fall. And Malini looked at Rao—that pleasant face, that dark unbound hair—and nearly shook from the familiarity of it. Of him.
“Hello, Prince Rao,” she said.
“Malini,” Rao said, by way of greeting. He blinked at her. “I—Priya?”
“Lord Rajan,” Priya said. “How nice to see you again.”
“Priya is my ally, Rao,” said Malini. “I think there has been a… misunderstanding. These Ahiranyi have allied with me. With Aditya.”
“Of course they have,” he said, the strangest smile gracing his face, for only a moment. “Stand down. All of you.”
His men lowered their own weapons, with a reluctance mirrored by Jeevan’s own soldiers. After a moment, the ground rippled, releasing them all, and Jeevan stumbled back with a curse. Carefully, Rao took a step forward. Another.
And then he was before her. He did not touch her. He merely bowed his head and touched his fingertips to his forehead, in a gesture of love and respect. Malini held her hands out before her, glad they did not shake.
“Prince Rao,” she said. “I know you waited for me. Sought to save me.”
“I did. I’m sorry I did not accomplish my goal.”
“No matter,” she said softly. “But tell me. Why are you here, upon this path?”
“Our scouts brought news of people here. Women, men, and children. And I hoped, but I didn’t know, couldn’t be sure… ah. Malini.” His voice lowered. “I am glad you’re here at last.”
He took her hands in his own. Looked at her, as if her face were a blazing light, as if she shone brighter than a statue of a mother.
“I’m here,” he said, “to take you to your brother. Your brother is here, Malini. He’s here.”
PRIYA
“Go back to Lady Bhumika,” Jeevan said quietly.
“And if they turn on you?”
He gave her a sidelong look. “Go back to her,” he said.
Priya understood. She gave him a nod of assent and turned back to the camp.
She could feel the Parijati men watching her as she walked. Her back prickled. She wondered if they saw an enemy when they looked at her. She did, when she looked at them.
Malini… Malini hadn’t looked uneasy when she’d entered the Parijatdvipan camp. Instead she’d stood taller, her chin rising. There was a sudden, new grace to the way she’d crossed the ground. For a moment, Priya saw the Malini who had glided across her prison, her hands hovering over Priya’s own, as she’d tasted her first moments of freedom from the needle-flower. Looking at her now, though, Priya realized that she had never truly seen Malini in her element, a royal surrounded by those who venerated her for her blood. What Priya had witnessed in the intimacy of the Hirana, in the lantern light, had only been a shadow of this woman.
Priya pushed her sudden yearning to know this Malini—as she’d known the one who had kissed her beneath a waterfall—away.