“There are many living specters. They can touch things and even people if they want to. Latif used to bring me coin, sometimes sweets,” I say, remembering. Gul and Kali are listening to me with rapt expressions.
“I can see living specters clearly in my dreams, but not all of them will show themselves to me when I’m awake. They can choose to remain invisible in front of half magi as well. Latif told me that if a specter’s deepest desire is fulfilled, then nothing remains to bind them to the living world. If that happens, the specter fades, never to be seen again. So there is no guarantee that one will answer, even if I call for them.”
Like my mother, for instance.
“That said, there is another specter I know of. Gul heard her voice, too, in Chand Mahal,” I add, and see Gul’s eyes widen with understanding.
I pull out the swarna from my pocket and rub it, picturing the specter’s young face in my mind. Somehow, I recall the name Latif had mentioned only once before:
“Indu, are you there?”
The coin in my hand grows warm, glows bright green. Indu appears as I pictured her in my mind, face first, one body part after another. I know I’m not imagining things when the lightorb above the specter starts flickering. Gul and Kali grow quiet, their eyes on the space where the girl specter now stands, sensing her presence.
“You called for me, Xerxes-putra Cavas,” Indu says.
My father’s name feels like pincers on my skin. I speak quickly through the pain of it: “Indu? Kali here thinks the specters can help us. You have to take us to a city that—”
“Yes, I know. It’s called the City of Shadows.” Indu sounds bored. “I can’t guarantee they will let you in, though.”
“What is this place?” Gul asks. “A city of shadows? Is it some sort of place the spirits live in?”
Her words spark sudden hope within me. Spirits. A city full of them. Perhaps I’ll find Papa there. Perhaps—
“Specters, yes. Spirits, no.” Indu continues watching me expressionlessly, but there is a hint of sympathy in her voice.
“Is there a difference?” Kali asks.
“Of course there’s a difference. Living specters are chained to the living world in a way that spirits aren’t—though there are few who have the gift to see us, either. The living world calls them seers—and you are lucky you have one among you.”
My face flushes. I know Gul and Kali are watching me now, but I can’t bear their fascination or their interest in this so-called gift of mine. “This city, then. It’s for the living.”
“For the living and those of us still chained to the living world. Magi have mostly forgotten it, of course, the way they always do things that are inconvenient. It is called—”
“Tavan.” The word leaves my mouth by instinct, a fable and a hope, hanging crystalline in the air.
“Tavan?” Kali sounds incredulous. “But that’s a myth. A tale for children.”
“And there’s the amnesia I was referring to,” Indu says sarcastically.
Gul bites her lip—I have a feeling she’s trying to suppress a laugh. Despite everything, I want to do so as well.
“I will let them know you are here. That she is still alive.” Indu gestures to Gul. “Get to the end of the tunnel. I’ll meet you there.”
“Hold on,” Kali says. “Juhi told us Latif was supposed to tip off Ruhani Kaki, an old woman in the tenements. She has our horses. I don’t know where this tunnel ends, so—”
“Wait, Ruhani Kaki?” I interrupt. Horses? “What does Ruhani Kaki have to do with this?” I glance at Gul, but she seems equally confused. How many people are involved in Juhi’s escape plan?
Indu doesn’t seem perturbed by Kali’s instructions. “I’ll take care of everything. I suppose you’ll want them saddled.” She sounds so much older than her age that, for a moment, I am disoriented. She’s a living specter, I remind myself. Dead for the saints know how long.
“Yes,” Kali continues, as if I haven’t spoken. “Now tell us about Tavan. Who’s living there? What—”
“No time. You’ll find out soon enough.”
And with those final words, Indu disappears, the flickering lightorb above us announcing her absence.
“She’s gone, then?” Kali asks me.
“Yes,” I say quietly, staring at the empty space where Indu’s body stood.
“What’s this talk about horses?” Gul asks sharply. “And who is Ruhani Kaki?”
“She’s an old lady who lives in the tenements,” I answer before Kali can. “She’s been living there for years. She … she always helped me and Papa, when no one else would. She knew Juhi as well,” I say, suddenly remembering.
“She did,” Kali agrees. “The Way of the Guard, which Juhi had used to escape the palace years ago, ended in the tenements itself—behind Ruhani Kaki’s hut. She was part of the old resistance against Raja Lohar. That was all I was told by Juhi. She said nothing about Tavan, though.”
“You and Juhi went to the desert looking for someone,” Gul speaks slowly as if thinking out loud, her voice growing angrier as she went on. “And you got injured by dustwolves. Were you headed to a city? Was it Tavan?”
“Maybe. I can’t be sure.” Kali sounds uneasy now. “Look, Gul—”
“She should have told you! She should have let you know what she was leading you into!”
“Or maybe she didn’t know about Tavan,” I interrupt. I have my own doubts about this, but I don’t want to listen to them argue. “The specters don’t always reveal everything.” I think back to my encounters with Latif, my mother’s silence, and swallow back bitterness. “Either we trust them or we don’t.”
Neither of us speaks for several moments. Kali sighs. “Well, I suppose we should get some sleep. Or at least you two should. I’ll keep watch.”
“I can do that,” I say. Underneath the streaks of ash, I see that there are bags under Kali’s eyes. “I won’t be sleeping anytime soon.”
I try not to look at Gul, who is still watching me,
