Page 35 of Dance of Stars and Ashes

Zarya slid down against the wall, wrapping her arms around her knees and bowing her head against them.

“I just need a moment,” she said into her folded arms. “I can’t breathe.”

“Okay,” he said softly, and then she felt his hand wrap around her forearm as he held on, letting her sort through her thoughts.

“Can you tell me what’s happening?” he asked after a minute.

“I don’t know,” she whispered.

This had to be connected to her sixth anchor. She needed to unburden herself with the truth, but she couldn’t stand how Yasen might look at her if he knew what she was carrying inside her heart. He might think she was a monster herself. Maybe she was.

“I’ve been under a lot of strain.” She wiped a tear from the corner of her eye and then stood up. The army still waited, completely silent, staring at the city. Prickles climbed over her scalp, and she rubbed it before she scrubbed a hand over her face.

“You still don’t see them?” she asked.

“Sorry. I don’t.”

“Then let’s go. We need to tell Vik and the others right away. This is a warning. Something is coming.”

TEN

Zarya and Yasen rushed back to the city, pushing their horses as fast as their hooves could fly. Her heart thudded in her ears as she continued to cast looks over her shoulder. The silent army stood and stared at the city, making her skin crawl with an eruption of gooseflesh.

What were they? Why couldn’t Yasen see them? Why could she?

She tried not to think about what it meant.

Maybe this was all in her head. She would almost welcome it. Better for her to be losing her mind than the alternative.

They burst into the palace and thundered towards the steward’s quarter, where Vikram had recently taken up residence, overseeing his duties as Daragaab’s commander along with a list of new tasks as its steward. He looked up from a pile of papers on his desk. Seeing the looks on their faces, he stood, pressing his hands to the surface. “What is it?”

Yasen waited for Zarya to offer an explanation. She opened her mouth and closed it, having no idea where to begin.

“We saw something in the forest,” she said finally. It was a woefully inadequate description for the horror lurking in the trees.

“What? Tell me,” Vikram demanded, looking between the two of them.

“I’m not sure. An army,” Zarya answered. She sounded insane.

“A what?”

She went on to describe everything as the color leached away from Vikram’s face. Zarya and Yasen’s sudden entrance had called everyone’s attention because several others had also been drawn to Vikram’s study while an eavesdropping crowd of servants gathered in the hall.

“Zarya, what’s going on?” Row asked, coming up beside her. She explained again, turning to face Dhawan and the other Chiranjivi, who had also arrived.

“And you couldn’t see it?” Kindle asked Yasen, who nodded. Yasen looked at Zarya with an expression that suggested he was sorry for letting her down, but this wasn’t his fault.

“We need to investigate,” Row said. “Find out what it is.”

“We’ll gather the queen’s guard immediately,” Vikram said.

“You can’t just send them out there,” Zarya said. “There were hundreds of them.”

“Gather all the Khada, too,” Yasen said. “Sound the alarms. We’ll need everyone.”

“But what if it’s nothing?” Zarya asked. She was starting to panic now. “What if it’s all in my head? What if it’s a diversion or a trap? We could be running straight into it.”

“What if it isn’t in your head?” Apsara asked. “Row is right. We need to understand what we’re up against.”