“So the prophecy is true, then,” I say, wishing my voice didn’t shake so much.
“It is true. But no prophecy is ever complete, daughter. Even the gods aren’t sure about what will happen once the current Ambarnaresh dies.”
“What do you mean?” I demand. “How can you not know? Don’t the gods plan for the future?”
“Yes, we do, but the future can go in many directions, child. This is why you must listen carefully to what I say now.”
The goddess’s voice magnifies as she speaks the last sentence, echoes within itself, until it’s a chorus of many other voices. “Raja Lohar’s rule is coming to an end. What will follow will be more terrible than you can imagine—if you don’t accept your destiny. The king’s death will not save Ambar from destruction. Only you will. You must be a leader when all hope is lost, lighting paths that have been left in the dark. Cast your pride aside, for it can lead to your downfall. Ask for help when you need it. Accept love, no matter how barbed it may look. It is the only way to restore balance in the world. Raise your hands, my daughter. Accept my boon.”
With a single flick of her wrist, she sends the chakra spinning toward me in a spectacular golden arc.
I jerk into wakefulness. The cot’s netting pokes through the sheet, scratching the skin of my arm. The girl sleeping in the cot next to mine grunts, and slowly, the events of the previous day sink in again.
The cage. The mammoth. King Lohar staring at me with murder in his eyes.
Winning at the cage means that I am free to come and go between the Rani and Raj Mahals, to continue living in Ambar Fort or leave it, if I wish. Or so the king said, right after I was released from the cage.
As he spoke the words, I spotted Prince Amar, his eyes widening ever so slightly. For some reason, the expression on the prince’s face reminded me of Cavas’s, standing outside the palace, watching as I stepped out with the king.
“The Ambarnaresh is kind,” I replied with a lowered gaze. “But I am only a serving girl. My duty is to my rani and to you, Raja Lohar. I have nowhere to go.”
The last part, at least, is true.
Though my answer seemed to please most of the court, four faces stood out: the king, Crown Prince Sonar, Prince Amar, and Major Shayla. The king and crown prince looked like they had been force-fed cow dung. Amar gave me a smile and a quick nod, and this, for some reason, relieved me. Major Shayla was the only one whose expression I couldn’t understand—her initial bloodlust replaced with calculation.
I force myself off the cot and head out of the servants’ quarters, to the washing area near the kitchens. After long days in the Ambari heat, the well water is lukewarm, but I still shiver after splashing my face.
What now?
Pickpockets and assassins work best unseen. Winning at the cage may have saved my life, but it has also brought me unwanted attention. Did you think this was going to be easy? I ask myself. That you were going to stroll in, stick a dagger through the king’s throat, and stroll out?
The king’s death will not save Ambar from destruction, the sky goddess said in my dream. If that really was the sky goddess. There are stories of humans’ seeing the gods after years of meditation or having visions of them after inhaling lines and lines of Dream Dust. But I’m no holy woman, nor was I drugged. What I saw had to be nothing more than a vision concocted by my overwrought mind.
Then why did it feel so real?
I wish Juhi or Kali were here now to give me advice. I even miss Amira and her sharp tongue. I’m so lost in my thoughts that it’s only when she’s standing in front of me that I realize I’m not alone.
“Good. You’re up early.” Yukta Didi looks as polished as she always does, even though it’s dawn, her braided hair perfectly in place. “I was just coming to fetch you.”
I frown. It’s still far too early to begin chores, but who knows? Maybe the blood bats are back. “I’ll get dressed—”
“There’s no need.” Yukta Didi’s eyes scan me from head to toe. “I’ll be dressing you myself today. It’s not every day that a girl—even a freed one—gets to join the king and queens for an afternoon meal at Raj Mahal.”
The brass mug I was using to wash myself falls to the ground with a metallic clang. I bend quickly, hoping Yukta Didi didn’t see the shock on my face.
But the old supervisor misses nothing. “Yes, it’s not every day that a girl gets an opportunity like this. I hope you realize how lucky you are.”
Her tone says: I hope you realize how quickly your luck can change.
“Goddess be praised,” I say.
“Goddess be praised.” Yukta Didi nods. “You are wise to keep your position here at the palace, Siya. If you work hard, perhaps someday you will be where I am today. Yes,” she goes on after witnessing my surprise. “I won my own freedom at the cage many years ago. At the time, Rani Megha was reigning, of course.”
“The cage was there at that time, too? I thought Raja Lohar … I thought it was more of a recent thing.”
“The cage was there since before I was born, since before the current Ambarnaresh was born. It has always been there to resolve crime, to pass judgment. I came to the palace as an indentured laborer, bought at the flesh market for the things I could do.”
She bends down to pick up a stray feather lying on the ground. When she waves it in the air, birds erupt from it, flutter into the sky above us. “Rani Megha found me amusing,” she says coolly. “She indulged me more than
