Subodh places a paw against the water: It glows, turning for a brief moment into a human hand, then a hoof, then a bird’s foot with talons. He raises his head and makes a terrible shrieking sound. The surface of the water turns silver. For a long moment, there’s utter silence. Then:
A hum in the air, which sends a shiver down my spine.
The water begins to churn, concentric and swirling, sinking deeper and deeper to allow a figure to rise from within. My breath catches.
It’s a simurgh. A Pashu with a woman’s face and an eagle’s beak and wings. Peacock feathers curl around her, gleaming like jewels, fanning out like a cloud. If Subodh’s eyes are suns, hers are the night sky: black and deep, glittering with infinite stars. A small crown rests on her head. Not only a simurgh, but also a queen. Over twenty gunnysacks are clutched in her beak and her claws. She rises in the air above us and then drops them gently onto the ground.
“Food. To last you for the next three months,” the simurgh says, perching before Subodh. She is nearly as large as he is, and her voice sounds like several birds singing at once.
“Rani Sarayu,” Subodh says, bowing. “You honor us with your presence and your gifts.”
Without even thinking, I sink into a bow as well. Beside me, I see Kali, Cavas, and Esther doing the same.
“Raja Subodh.” Sarayu bows in front of him and tilts her magnificent head to acknowledge the rest of us. “I am only a regent. The land of Aman and the Pashu still await their true king.”
“I have never been a good ruler, Rani Sarayu.” Subodh’s voice is grave. “But I do hope to return home. You said you have news.”
Sarayu says nothing for a long moment. “We do have … news. The message was delivered by one of my birds, three days ago, shortly after the new king, Amar, was crowned. There was a meeting going on between the new king and the palace vaid. My bird overheard the vaid telling Raja Amar about how he found traces of poison in the old king’s body. The poison was likely being fed to him over years at a time. The vaid mentioned that the new general, Shayla, had been responsible for overseeing Raja Lohar’s security, including his food. The information made Raja Amar furious.”
There’s a crawling sensation in my belly.
“Later, when my bird delivered the letter, she ensured that Raja Amar read the whole scroll. He sent back a letter in return, asking if he could meet you.” She holds up a scroll but does not hand it over.
“What happened to him, Sarayu?” Subodh growls. “What are you not telling me?”
“There was a coup that night. I found out through my other birds only this morning.”
I don’t want to hear what Sarayu says next. But I can’t make myself walk away.
“The Sky Warriors, led by General Shayla, ambushed the new king when he came to see his mother in Rani Mahal. The chase led to the servants’ quarters in the palace, to a hidden passage. The Sky Warriors were shooting atashbans at him. Raja Amar jumped out of the window, over two hundred feet to the palace grounds.”
My heart sinks. Next to me, Cavas curses out loud.
“Did he survive?” Subodh asks urgently. “Did you check?”
“My birds saw no traces of blood in the area. But a funeral was held for Raja Amar the next day. Perhaps the Sky Warriors found his body before we did. Or perhaps they used a false body in his place. We don’t know for sure.”
A drop of over two hundred feet. Amar could have floated above the ground, the way some magi children in my village did when I was younger. The way I finally did, after I dropped into my mother’s arms.
Or perhaps he couldn’t.
Magic doesn’t work the same way for everyone. I think back to how Amar could conjure daggers and bees but not a shield to protect himself. And falling from that height, at that speed … As much as I want Amar to be alive, I know the possibilities of his surviving that fall are slim to none.
“General Shayla declared Raja Amar’s death a suicide—the unfortunate aftermath of his father’s and brothers’ murders,” Sarayu says. “She has also declared a bounty of five thousand swarnas for the heads of the new leaders of the rebellion.”
Sarayu raises her wings, revealing two faces within: Cavas’s and mine.
It’s my fault, I think, feeling nauseous. I made up my mind to kill the king. I infiltrated the palace without thinking of the consequences of what would happen after he died.
Others have paid the price for my thoughtless actions. Juhi and Amira, who are now being tortured in captivity. The marked girls, who are still locked up in labor camps. Amar, who is now dead. I don’t dare look at Cavas, who is now part of a war he never wanted to fight.
A pair of voices echo in my head:
You must be a leader when all hope is lost.
We’re your army. Ready to fight at your command.
A small, selfish part of me longs to go back into hiding. To forget everything I’ve done.
But you are not that girl anymore, a voice in my head reminds me—my own. Even if you hide from other people, you will never be able to hide from yourself.
The knot in my chest unravels.
My reprieve here in Tavan is temporary. The time will come when I will have to go back to Ambarvadi. When I will have no choice but to face Shayla, regardless of what happens next.
As if sensing my thoughts, Queen Sarayu’s beautiful, terrible eyes find mine again before she makes her final pronouncement:
“The Sky Warriors, the army, the ministers, the courtiers, and Lohar’s three queens have unanimously accepted General Shayla as the protector of Ambar and sworn fealty to her.
“She was crowned queen by the head priest this morning.”
A QUEEN AND A HOUND
41SHAYLA
“No
