Page 23 of Queen of Shadows and Ruin

“This was a very skilled practitioner,” he said. “I feel how precise and clean the bond is. It’s very easy to botch the process. I really would have preferred for Kishore to handle something so important, but all things considered, it could have been much worse.”

Again, his voice held a hint of admonishment, and Zarya resisted the urge to roll her eyes. But maybe he had a point if they had messed up by not revealing her sixth anchor to Thriti.

Abishek then gestured to Rabin. “Come.”

He laid his hand on Rabin’s torso and once again fell silent. He began murmuring to himself again, and after a few minutes, he nodded.

“Yes, I am concerned,” he said. “It’s early days, but Kishore must examine this as soon as possible. The bond is corrupted and will require powerful magic to rectify.”

“Can he do it?” Zarya asked.

“Of course. There is little he cannot do.”

Zarya exchanged a wary look with Rabin and then nodded. “When is he coming back?”

“I’ll send word to return as soon as possible.”

Zarya pulled up her sleeve while Rabin tugged his kurta over his head. “And in the meantime, could I explore your library and see if I can find out anything about my visions?”

Abishek swept out a hand to encompass their surroundings. “What’s mine is yours, my daughter. And I will help you, of course. We can get to know one another better, too.”

“Thank you,” she said again.

“Wonderful,” Abishek said. “I hear your companions wish to return home due to the continued unrest in Ishaan.”

She blinked. “How did you know that?”

“Not much happens within these walls without my knowing, my dear.”

“Oh.”

“I’d be happy to arrange transport for them,” Abishek said.

“I can fly them,” Rabin added.

“I think you should both remain here for your safety. If something else should go wrong, then I can assist with keeping the bond stable. I’d feel better if you were close.”

“Is it really that serious?” Zarya asked, growing increasingly worried.

Had they made a grave error in binding themselves? What if she’d signed Rabin’s death?

Abishek smiled and laid a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “I’m not sure yet. But I promise we’ll get to the bottom of this.”

SEVEN

“I need to go home,” Miraan repeated for the hundredth time, pacing the length of the room.

Yasen sat with his feet kicked up by the fire and a bottle of liquor on the table. Perhaps it was a little early to be drinking, but that was entirely subjective.

And it wasn’t like he cared what anyone thought, anyway.

Yasen had attempted to take Miraan’s mind off things by coaxing him into a walk through the city, but the prince only glared at everyone and everything until Yasen couldn’t take it anymore and conceded defeat. They’d returned to his room, where Miraan paced, muttering to himself.

That was when Yasen had gone in search of the liquor cabinet.

“So you’ve mentioned,” Yasen said, and Miraan blew out a sound of frustration. “But let’s be smart about this, okay? Your sister will cut you into tiny bite-sized pieces and feed you to her fish.”

“She doesn’t have fish,” Miraan grumbled as he dropped into his seat with his elbows planted on his knees.