Page 40 of Queen of Shadows and Ruin

Rabin shook hands with Yasen as he asked in a low voice, “You promise to look out for her?”

Rabin tried not to be offended by the question, even if he understood its intention. No one would look out for her like he would. “With my life.”

Yasen paused and then gave him a careful look. “You take care of yourself, too, Commander.”

“I will, as long as you promise to do the same,” he answered.

Then Yasen spun on his heel and joined Miraan, hopping into the carriage.

Once they were gone, Zarya turned to Rabin.

“So I guess we have some stuffy nobles to meet,” she said as she shivered again.

He held out an arm. “Let’s get this over with.”

Zarya followed Rabin back into the palace and the warmth of its walls before he directed her through the corridors into a large salon. Like most rooms in the castle, it was adorned with colorful tapestries and rugs with massive crystal chandeliers dripping from above. Vanshaj, painted entirely gold from head to toe and wearing gold versions of their palace livery, wove through the crowd, balancing golden trays topped with golden goblets.

Unsurprisingly, the room was filled with Aazheri. Zarya had never been around so many at once, and she could feel the echoes of their power the moment she walked into the room. She stopped, sensing the potent thrum of their magic through her bones.

Suddenly feeling intimidated, a tiny quiver of fear fluttered in her stomach as she clung tighter to Rabin’s arm.

“Zarya!” came Abishek’s warm voice. “You’re finally here!”

He stood in the middle of the room, dashing in a black sherwani embroidered with glossy red thread, and his midnight hair slicked back from his face.

“Come and meet some people,” he said, gesturing for her to join him. She looked up at Rabin, her hand tightening on his arm again, seeking reassurance in his gaze. She could feel the weight of everyone’s stares and judgment as they progressed into the crowd.

Abishek’s smile was wide, and his eyes were uncharacteristically bright with excitement as they approached. “Meet Tanvi and Garu,” he said, introducing her to an Aazheri couple dripping with jewels and diamonds. They emanated a fresh, sweet scent that smelled rich even from several feet away. She’d never seen skin so lustrous. It was like Tanvi was an actual pearl dug up from the bottom of the sea.

“It’s so nice to meet you,” Zarya said, dipping her head, refusing to release her tight hold on Rabin.

“Is it true? You are paramadhar and masatara?” Tanvi asked, blinking her big dark eyes framed with the longest, fullest lashes Zarya had ever seen.

“It is,” she conceded. “We first met in the mind plane.”

“This is remarkable,” Garu said. “It seems the old magic is returning to our world. We must understand why the gods have chosen to bestow us with such wonders.”

Zarya remembered Thriti saying something similar when they’d completed the Bandhan. Why had they been chosen for this? To free the vanshaj? Or was something else also at play?

“It is quite an honor,” Zarya said, attempting to keep the worry out of her voice. Rabin dipped his chin though he remained silent, his expression bordering on ferocious. Tanvi and Garu eyed him warily as they turned to Zarya and smiled, obviously pleased with her response.

“The king tells us you’ve arrived from Ishaan,” Garu continued. “Were you caught up in the riots?”

“We were…” she said, wondering how much to reveal. With Abishek’s current reluctance to discuss the vanshaj, maybe this was her chance to appeal to a wider, and likely influential, circle.

“It was my magic that broke the collars,” she said in a rush as their eyes widened.

“Your magic?” Tanvi asked.

Zarya nodded and went on to explain the process using her nightfire, careful to leave out any mentions of the sixth anchor. Her magic was no longer a secret, but she wasn’t sure how others would react to the darkness. Did they know the king possessed six anchors? She glanced at Abishek, whose face remained expressionless.

“We must see this,” Garu said. “More than one kind of magic is returning. Change is coming to Rahajhan.”

He lifted his glass in a toast, and Zarya’s chest loosened at his words.

Change was coming.

“Yes,” Abishek finally said. “Zarya has promised to show me, but I don’t believe this is the time or place. We’ll invite Kamal and Mohandas to witness her demonstration in a private setting before we share this news more widely. We don’t want to repeat the mistakes made in Ishaan.”