Page 46 of Queen of Shadows and Ruin

Ajay and Row shared a careful look.

“None of it’s good,” Ajay answered. “The Jadugara have been given free rein to arrest anyone they believe is connected to the resistance, and they’re hunting down Taara Aazheri left and right. We’ve heard claims that anyone captured has been subjected to punishments too awful to name.” He fell silent. “But let me make us some tea, and then we can discuss everything.”

“My sister?” Miraan asked. “Have you heard anything more about her?”

“She’s looking for you. And for Zarya. She’s making no secret of it. You’ve both been branded as traitors of Gi’ana, and a steep price for treason is on your heads,” Ajay continued.

Miraan pressed his mouth together and nodded. “I figured as much.”

“They’re saying her injuries are severe. Her healers are doing what they can, but her scars were created by magic fire and thus are much more difficult to cure.” He hesitated before adding, “Koura has gone to the palace to offer his services.”

“What?” Yasen asked. “I thought he was on our side.”

“A Niramaya healer is duty-bound to offer help to anyone who requires it,” Row said. “It is a part of his code of honor. He could not live with himself otherwise.”

Yasen grumbled at that but had to concede that Koura was more noble than all of them put together.

“As long as he comes back if we need him,” Yasen said, and Row almost smiled at that.

“He’s still very much on our side.”

“What else?” Miraan asked, and then Ajay and Row took turns explaining everything as the sun rose over another bloody day in Ishaan.

FOURTEEN

A few nights after the party, Zarya awoke to the sound of dishes clinking and a pale, cold light. Her head throbbed, almost like she’d drunk too much wine, but she hadn’t touched a drop in days. Her first thought was to wonder if the Bandhan was affecting her, too.

After Rabin dragged her out of the room, he refused to say anything. She didn’t think she’d ever seen him that angry before.

He’d begged her to spar, and so they’d changed into their training leathers, and he’d dragged her up to that godforsaken mountaintop where they’d fought until they nearly collapsed.

When they’d had enough, they stumbled into his bed, wrapped in each other’s arms. Zarya half expected Abishek to storm into the room that very morning and demand to know why they’d left the party, but she hadn’t seen him in days.

It seemed he was keeping his distance, and after he’d very obviously tried to set her up with Amir, she didn’t mind. But perhaps she wasn’t being fair. For all Abishek knew, Zarya was available, and their own deception led him to that conclusion. She still didn’t appreciate being blindsided and wished he’d asked her about it first.

That left them with little to do as they awaited Kishore’s return. Zarya had even lost interest in the library after hours of searching had turned up nothing. Her only solace became time spent sparring with Rabin and Ekaja and the afternoons she stole into the city, where she continued breaking the collars of anyone willing.

After the day was done, she’d sit with Dav and Suria, who loved hearing her stories about the Rising Phoenix in Ishaan. In return, she loved hearing them talk about a future that looked very different than the one they had all accepted.

A democracy, they called it. Where representatives from every group had a voice, and the people all had the opportunity to vote on decisions that affected them. It sounded perfect. But it also sounded like a far-off dream.

With each passing day, Zarya slept later and later.

Dreams and nightmares plagued her slumber, interrupted by long bouts of insomnia, during which she stood at the tall, cold windows with her arms folded around her, staring at the still landscape, contemplating a thousand things.

Her thoughts were filled with smoke and fire. Screaming and death. She saw flashes of those demon armies marching over scarred, scorched earth, everything in their path left in smoldering piles of ruin and destruction.

She’d toss and turn until she finally collapsed from exhaustion sometime in the early hours of the morning. Occasionally, she’d cross the hall to find Rabin and take comfort in the warmth of his arms, but other nights, she’d stew in her loneliness, trying not to burden him as he continued to struggle with his health.

This morning, she rubbed her temples as her head throbbed. She sat up and blinked the sleep from her eyes. Urvi stood at the other end of the room, quietly laying food on the small table before the fire.

When she noticed Zarya was awake, she smiled. “I’ve brought lunch.”

“Thank you,” Zarya said as she pushed off her blankets. The room was cold despite the fire. The wind howled against the windowpanes, and the snow fell at an angle, swirling in gusts.

“It’s a miserable day,” Urvi added. “Perfect for curling up by the fire with a good book and some warm chai.”

To prove her point, she held up a mug for Zarya, who pulled a thick robe over her pajamas and belted it around her waist before stuffing her feet into a pair of slippers by the bed.