Priya shook her head, startled, her mind still trying to catch up. “Only—only the guards at the doors of the temple, I think, my lady. Is something wrong?”
Pramila strode over. There were high spots of color upon her cheeks. “There has been a terrible attack upon the city, on the home of one of the general’s advisors—and no one has yet heard from the general himself—oh!”
Priya heard the whisper of Malini’s footsteps behind her before she saw her, standing in the door of the northern chamber.
“I’m sorry,” Priya said, cursing inwardly. She didn’t want to break Pramila’s fragile trust so soon. “I left the door open, I’m so—”
“Something is burning,” said Malini. “Please. Tell me I’m not dreaming.”
A deep slow breath brought an acrid scent to Priya’s nose.
Priya went to the edge of the triveni, standing at its lip with nothing but the cracked surface of the Hirana below her to catch her, should she stumble. But she wouldn’t stumble again. The Hirana was hers, and she belonged to it in turn. It was changing for her.
The temple ground held her as she looked out.
Below them, she saw yellow and orange flame.
Something was indeed burning.
The rebels had attacked.
PRIYA
Priya whirled without thinking, running toward the doors. Down the corridor. Beyond the lit lanterns. Then the guards caught her, shoving her back into the temple, slamming the gates behind them. One swore, fumbling with his blade—if he’d reflexively been trying to knife her, he’d done a piss-poor job of it—and the other held her by the upper arms and murmured urgent nonsense at her. It took a moment for the sound of his voice to become more than white noise.
“… no one can leave the Hirana. Our orders haven’t changed. I know you’re afraid, but you must be calm.”
“I’m calm,” Priya forced out, stilling her body. “I’m calm. I won’t run again.”
The guard released her and she edged back. Away. Walking until the guards and the gates weren’t in sight any longer.
She couldn’t escape via the doors.
Another hand grabbed her arm. Priya was already on a knife edge. She whirled, pinning the owner of that hand against the wall.
Malini gave a quick exhale. She met Priya’s gaze without flinching.
“Let me go,” she said. “We’ve no time.”
“Where is Pramila?”
“I don’t know. I ran after you. Come on. I want to talk to you alone.”
In the end, Priya was the one to lead the way, dragging Malini down a rarely used side corridor, and from there into a cloister room. The room was small, intended only for meditation and prayer, but once the door was shut behind them, Priya tried to pace back and forth in the limited space afforded to her anyway. She thought of everyone in the mahal, panic gripping her lungs.
“I need to go,” said Priya. “I can’t remain here. I—”
“The guards stopped you,” said Malini. “You think you can get beyond them?”
Priya shook her head, but it was no true answer. She could only think of Sima and Rukh and Bhumika, of the smell of fire, and her own blood seemed to sing a song in her veins: run to them, run to them, run to them.
“Priya,” Malini said. Her voice was slow, deliberate velvet. “Listen to me. Calm yourself. Do you think you can get beyond them?”
It took a moment for Priya to realize that Malini was not trying to reason with her. She was genuinely asking if Priya could force her way past the guards. Priya’s racing thoughts paused. Malini took her by the hands, threading their fingers together, grounding her to stillness.
“I don’t want to ask this of you now,” Malini said. “I truly don’t. I thought perhaps in time… but there won’t be a better opportunity, and we must seize it while we can. You could kill the guards, if you wanted to. You could remove Pramila. You could release us both. Couldn’t you?”
“You overestimate my power,” Priya said carefully. “I’m not—like that.”
“You’ve done so much for me,” said Malini. “I know you’re attempting to save my life. Do you care for me enough to do more?”
Priya thought of pulling away. She tried to untangle her fingers from Malini’s and felt Malini’s grip tighten, drawing Priya in closer until there was no distance between them, and Priya was looking up into Malini’s face—into the shadow gray of her pleading eyes.