Page 20 of The Divine Lies We Weave

Her mind turned to Rajesh. She had pushed thoughts of him down as far as she could. She refused to remember the line of his jaw or the way his curls sprang back after he washed them. The way his fingers caressed the back of her ears as she fell asleep on his chest.

She shoved down what he told her the night of the attack into the furthest depths of her mind. There was no point in reopening old wounds, especially when they were still tender. No matter how much time passed.

Grief was unforgiving.

Heartbreak was heartbreak.

“You are a Vessel,” Jaya finally said, voice steady.

Leela tensed and eventually sighed. What was the point in lying? And Jaya had been so helpful. “I am.”

“To the Golden Viperess,” Jaya said, a tiny gleam in her gaze. “What is she like?”

Leela wished she knew. She didn’t know much about the Flame now harnessing her body or what she was capable of. Yet, the Viperess had somehow taken her across the desert and got her here.

“If I’m being honest, I don’t know. I know she split the realms,” Leela whispered, worried the other villagers would hear. She searched Jaya’s eyes for signs of fear, but there was only an overwhelming tenderness.

It reminded her of Anika.

Jaya only nodded. “The Viperess is said to seek a centuries-old revenge. Hopefully, that revenge has not led you to us.”

Leela frowned. “What else do you know of the Viperess? She doesn’t tell me much.”

Hisssssss.

Leela pushed aside the rattling inside her skull and focused on Jaya.

Jaya shifted on the log beside her. “I know the Golden Viperess is the cause of the sandstorm and the war between the Flames. She had a lover, but she was set to marry another Golden Viper, you see. Her lover’s name was the Purple Scorpion, who lived in the Awakening. When the Viper found out, he cast her out to the Netherworld to rot, telling the Scorpion she had chosen to marry the Viper. The tales say she tried to ascend back to the Awakening and find the elixir of immortality to live with the Scorpion forever. Others say she wants to kill him for believing the tales. But no Flame has ever gone from the Netherworld to the Awakening.”

Leela listened intently. Is what she said true…?

The Viperess remained silent.

Jaya cleared her throat. “In order to get back to the Awakening, the Viperess unleashed the sandstorm, and with it, several items appeared. Artifacts with unique gifts.”

“And the monsters, then, I assume?”

Jaya nodded. “The monsters ascended from the Netherworld, and the rest, you are aware of, I am sure.”

Oh, Leela was aware. The sandstorm unfolded from the Netherworld and, with it, brought destruction across the lands. When the monsters first appeared, the Flames from the Awakening came down to the mortal world and killed them. But eventually, the Flames were outnumbered and they were killed, left to rot across the globe. Some were still spread across the sands, bones sticking out of the earth.

Is it true? Leela pressed.

Believe what you want, mortal. Tales are always spun from things.

You are unbelievable. You harness me and yet can’t tell me one thing?

The Viperess slithered back into the pits of her mind.

With every fiber of her being, she hated the Viperess, and she needed to work out how to get rid of her, fast.

Leela pondered the tale for a moment longer, wondering what the Viperess truly wanted. Had she waited this long to possess a suitable mortal to enact a centuries-old revenge? And if so, why Leela? Leela wasn’t special.

“You must sleep,” Jaya said. “Here. You can sleep in my hut, and I will stay out here.”

Leela shook her head. “No, I cannot take anything else. Please!”

Jaya smiled. “I insist. You are a living Vessel. In my eyes, you are a Flame. And I believe the Flames will prevail once again. Whether they’re from the Awakening or the Netherworld.”