Page 74 of Heart of Night and Fire

“Are you sure? That binding was clearly meant to restrain magic that someone must have thought you possessed. Dhawan’s theory was that it had been building up inside of you all these years and finally released, triggering this episode.”

Inwardly, she cursed. Everyone was so close to discovering her truth, but she couldn’t let it happen yet.

“I don’t feel anything, Kindle. I’m sorry.”

The deception withered on her tongue, but Row had been explicit: her magic must remain hidden. Had his attempts to coax more out of her for all those years really been a ruse? Had he actually wanted to conceal it so much that it had almost killed her? On an already lengthy list of grievances, this seemed one offense too many.

If Zarya ever saw Row again, she’d kill him on the spot.

Kindle made a sound of frustration. “Row, where are you?” he said softly, speaking into the distance. He slumped back in the chair and covered his hands with his eyes. “What haven’t you told us?”

She wondered what would have happened if Rabin hadn’t found her in the forest. How long would she have suffered, wasting away to nothing because of Row and his secrets?

“Why does any of this matter to you?” Zarya asked, growing suspicious of Kindle’s continued interest in her magic. First the incident in the haveli and now this. “What do you want from me?”

There was a reason her magic meant something. Kindle had mentioned her when she’d eavesdropped on the Chiranjivi. They all wanted something, and she wasn’t sure if she could trust them with her secret yet. Or secrets, rather. Zarya was starting to gather them like keys on a ring, each one unlocking another door to her present and maybe her future.

“Row and I have been friends for a very long time. Well, inasmuch as men like us can ever be friends,” Kindle said, his tone dry.

Zarya thought she understood what he meant, given Row’s imperiousness and aloof disposition, and almost laughed.

“But he never whispered a breath about a girl he had locked in a cottage by the sea. Who are you? Row does everything with a reason. And now he’s been missing for months, and I fear the worst. But there is a reason he kept you there, and I’m sure it’s important for us to find out what that is.” He looked Zarya directly in the eyes, searching her face like she was a puzzle to solve. “I think everything may depend on it.”

TWENTY-SEVEN

“I want to go for a walk,” Zarya declared a week later as she dropped the book she hadn’t actually been reading on the bed next to her. “I’ve had enough of this room.”

Aarav looked up from where he was studying a hand of Rani’s Cradle with a deck of cards on a table in the corner. Thanks to the constant stream of food and attention from the kitchens and Koura, her strength had noticeably improved. But she was going stir-crazy.

“I don’t know.” Aarav leaned back in his chair, his posture loose. “Koura said you needed to stay in bed.”

Zarya narrowed her eyes, though there wasn’t any heat in her annoyance. Aarav’s disposition had shifted since she’d been ill, and he seemed to have altogether abandoned his role as her constant shadow. It appeared that nearly dying on the wall every night made him far more pleasant to be around. She couldn’t help but notice the way he carried himself ever since that first night with the vetalas. It had clearly awoken something that had been sleeping inside of him. A new confidence and purpose.

Zarya had been banned from the wall herself until Koura deemed her one hundred percent fit to fight, and she couldn’t wait to get back there. Reports had been streaming in that the demons had been battering the Khada with more ferocity than ever. Did they know that Rani Vasvi was weakened? Or were they just getting bolder? Either way, none of it spelled anything but trouble for Dharati.

“What Koura doesn’t know won’t hurt him, will it?” Zarya said, tossing her blanket off and climbing out of bed. After regular walks through the palace gardens, along with guided exercises, her legs were much steadier, and she was ready for more.

“Just a short one, I promise. Let’s go to Rupi’s—I’m dying for a gulab jamun. Or three.” She pressed her hands together in mock prayer, imploring Aarav. The nearby bakery was one of the city’s most popular, with a line out the door every day. “Oh, please, kind sir. Just there and back. I’ll be ever so thankful.”

“Fine,” he said with a huff, probably realizing she wouldn’t give up. Zarya smiled in triumph and clapped her hands together.

“Good. Now leave so I can get dressed.” She made a shooing motion, and he threw her a half-hearted glare before leaving the room, her laughter following him out. Even if friendship was still an elusive idea between them, perhaps they could find an amicable middle ground.

Zarya turned to the closet and dug out a pair of black leggings and a green angrakha, a garment similar to her usual kurtas with a crossover neckline. She left Row’s sword where it sat propped up in the corner, reasoning it wasn’t warranted for a trip to the bakery, and she was still too weak to use it, anyway.

With the sun hanging high in the sky, Dharati was at the height of its midday bustle. There had been no further daytime attacks since the kala-hamsa had assaulted the city, but Zarya sensed a wary unease in the air. It was getting harder to ignore what was out there, and that wall would only protect them all for so long.

Along their route, they were stopped constantly. Or rather, Aarav was. Groups of men called out his name, shouting from rooftops, market stalls, and taverns as they walked by. They grinned and pointed, mimicking Aarav’s moves on the wall. Sword chops, fist punches, and high kicks.

“The Tiger!” A man came up to shake Aarav’s hand and clap him on the shoulder. Men followed behind, slapping him on the back and asking when his next shift on the wall would be as they growled and held up their hands, forming mock claws with their fingers.

Aarav lapped up every drop of their attention like a kitten with a saucer of milk. “I’ve got the next few nights off,” Aarav said to a chorus of boos. “But word is that a new nest of vetalas have been stirring in the southeast corner of the swamps.” The boos turned into oohs and whoops from the men as they mock-walloped each other.

Though she still wasn’t a fan of these men gambling on the Khada’s lives, Zarya watched with a smile, truly delighted Aarav had found something he could be proud of. She recalled Aarav’s claim that Row had cared nothing for him and wondered if she wasn’t the only person Row had wronged. Perhaps he had both of them to answer to, if and when he returned.

“Can we go now?” Zarya asked with her arms crossed, feigning impatience. “You became a local hero in my absence. How can I be in your presence? I am not worthy of this greatness. Aarav the Tiger. My, my, whatever will Row say?” She cocked her head. Aarav gave her a dry look and gestured for her to keep walking.

As expected, there was a line out the door at Rupi’s—her sweet fried balls of cheese soaked in rose syrup were the stuff of local legends. Zarya leaned against the building at the end of the line. With one foot propped against the wall, she closed her eyes and tipped her face to the sun.