Page 1 of Dance of Stars and Ashes

ONE

The soon-to-be queen of Daragaab snuggled peacefully in her massive green and gold bed, not the least bit aware that she was about to be kidnapped.

“She looks so sweet—just like a baby lamb,” Zarya said, standing over Amrita. “It almost seems a shame to disturb her.”

“This was your idea,” Yasen replied, his arms crossed as he looked down his nose at Zarya before he directed his gaze towards Amrita. “You want to do this or not?”

Zarya nodded with a firm bob of her head. “I do. She deserves a chance to explore herself and live a little. None of this is fair. The seeding takes place tomorrow, and then—” Zarya mimicked a knife slitting her throat with a finger.

Perhaps Zarya was being a touch dramatic. Amrita wasn’t actually dying, but in a few more days, her life as she knew it would be over. Amrita would undergo a series of rituals that would see her transition from the relatively everyday existence of a princess living in a palace to that of a sentient tree dedicated to the ruling of her queendom.

Zarya hated that Amrita had never been allowed the opportunity to have fun and let go. She’d been sequestered within these walls like a prisoner for her entire life. Forced to make herself small and retreat into the contained sphere of her reality.

What good was being a princess when you weren’t allowed to have any fun?

She remembered when she’d first arrived in Dharati and met Daragaab’s princess, believing Amrita’s life must be so full of freedom and choice.

How very wrong Zarya had been.

Yasen shrugged as though none of this made a bit of difference to him—his signature move—and then jerked his chin towards the bed.

“So, wake her up. This night isn’t getting any younger.”

Zarya grinned and shook Amrita’s shoulders gently. The princess mumbled something incoherent and rolled over to her other side, a tumble of dark curls falling across her face.

“Amrita,” Zarya said, planting her knee on the mattress and shaking her harder. “Wake up.”

Amrita groaned again before she rolled over, her eyelids fluttering open before they slid shut, and she continued sleeping like a baby, making a soft snoring sound.

Yasen snorted before Zarya tossed him a dirty look.

“Apparently, Her Majesty is a heavy sleeper,” he said. “Maybe we should cut our losses before we’re responsible for stirring up a continental incident?” He lifted a silvery grey eyebrow, his expression dripping with I told you this was a bad idea.

Zarya glared at him. “No, we’re doing this. She’ll thank us. Trust me.”

Zarya climbed onto the bed and bent over Amrita.

“Wake up!” she said, louder this time, and shook Amrita firmly, who groaned again. Finally, her eyes peeled open, revealing the bright amber of her irises. She turned onto her back, her dark eyebrows drawn with confusion and the haze of slumber.

Amrita blinked heavily a few times before she frowned at Zarya and Yasen, obviously clueless as to what the pair was doing standing inside her bedroom.

“Zarya?” she asked, rubbing a hand against her forehead. Her eyes were red, and the skin around them swollen, like she’d been crying before falling asleep. “What are you doing here? What time is it?”

“It’s the ungodly hour of eleven o’clock at night,” Yasen said. “What time did you go to sleep? You’re like a newborn.”

Amrita frowned again, sitting up as she attempted to smooth down her wild tangle of curls. “I was tired.”

“Perfect,” Zarya said. “Now you’ve had some rest and are ready to come out with us.”

Finally, the cobwebs of sleep cleared from Amrita’s expression as she scanned her bedroom. “What on earth are you doing in here? How did you get past my guards?”

Yasen smiled. “We didn’t. We entered by more unconventional means.”

He gestured towards the balcony where they’d climbed up, using the vine-covered lattice that clung to the palace wall. Amrita’s guards were stationed outside the door, and Zarya knew they’d never let her and Yasen take Amrita out of the palace without a hundred grizzled warriors surrounding them.

Given the traumatic events of the joining ceremony two days ago, Vikram and Gopal Ravana had both insisted Amrita remain inside the palace under all circumstances. Everyone believed the demon attack had been a maneuver designed to harm Amrita, knowing her magic could protect the city once she took her place inside the Jai Tree.

Amrita’s eyebrows pinched together. “Perhaps it’s time to hire new guards,” she said. “Was no one watching that entrance?”