Page 27 of Dance of Stars and Ashes

Amrita shrugged, and Zarya sensed there was something different about her friend, though she couldn’t put her finger on what.

“How did you feel during the seeding last night?” Zarya asked. “Was it okay for you in the end?”

Amrita nodded with a vacant smile. “It was. Vikram put me at ease, and it was really no big deal. Once I was in the water, I realized how silly I was being. He’s now the most important person in my life, and I will have no more secrets from him.”

Zarya pressed her lips together but said nothing. She thought that sounded like a horrible fate, but she didn’t want to make Amrita feel bad by saying so.

“I’m glad it was okay. That you’re okay,” she said instead, and Amrita smiled. “How are you feeling now?”

Amrita tipped her head as if considering the question thoroughly. The silence stretched, and Zarya leaned over. “Amrita?”

“Hmm?” she asked, turning towards Zarya. “Yes?”

“I asked how you were feeling,” Zarya said.

“Oh. I feel… different.”

“Different how?”

“Like I’m less… present.”

Zarya waited for Amrita to expand on what that meant, but the princess was humming to herself as she watched the mehndi artisan trace a floral pattern down the line of her index finger.

“Amrita?” Zarya asked again. “Are you okay?”

Amrita nodded. “Of course. I’m ready,” she said. “This has always been my destiny. Now or ten or twenty years from now makes no difference.”

“Are you sure?”

Amrita’s mouth pinched into a sour pucker, the strange loftiness in her expression settling.

“Yes, I’m sure,” she replied with her voice harder now. “This is done and set into motion. I must protect the city, and it’s time to step into the duty I was brought into this world for.”

Zarya leaned away, taken aback by Amrita’s sharp tone, but supposed her friend was undergoing a lot of stress right now. It only made sense the princess was anxious about her future.

“Your Majesty.” Before them stood a rakshasa female, decked out in gold and jewels, wearing a vibrant yellow sari. She dropped to her knees with her hands pressed together. “Is there anything you need? More sweets? Perhaps more wine? Is your pillow fluffed to your liking?”

Amrita shook her head. With that same dreamy voice as before, she gestured to Zarya.

“No, I’m fine, Priya. Perhaps Zarya wants something.”

Priya’s lips fused together as she tipped her head towards Zarya, who wasn’t sure what she’d done to earn this woman’s ire. She considered asking for something outlandish just to see her reaction but decided to pretend she was mature.

“Thank you, but I’m fine,” Zarya said, and Priya nodded, again pressing her hands together before she shuffled away and joined her friends, all of them casting furtive glances their way.

“What… was that about?” Zarya asked.

Amrita frowned as her amber eyes darkened.

“They’ve suddenly remembered I exist,” she said. “Now that I’m close to becoming queen, they’re attempting to curry favor. That one,” Amrita said, pointing with her free hand in a way that was so obvious that Priya had the grace to blush and look away, “wants me to grant her a massive estate sitting empty along the coast because the blight swallowed hers.”

“Oh,” Zarya said. “And you don’t want to do that?”

Amrita looked at her with a small smile before she lowered her voice.

“I haven’t decided yet, but right now, I don’t need these nobles consuming resources and manpower to decorate their fancy houses. I need everyone here to help rebuild the city and the wall. This is our priority, but these nobles only care about their selfish desires.”

Amrita raised her voice at the end of her sentence, speaking loud enough that several heads turned their way, guilt passing over their expressions. Zarya covered her mouth, trying not to laugh, though part of her was concerned by these abrupt shifts in Amrita’s demeanor.