Page 6 of Between Ghosts and Gods

Yet what justice was there in taking his mother? Didn’t the gods have servants enough? What virtue was there in refusing to answer his prayers for information? He’d visited every temple in the country to beg the gods for answers and been met with nothing but silence. He had travelled to the dirtiest, seediest inns – bought and bribed his way in and out of trouble – all for a drop of information. He had spoken to fortune tellers and sorcerers and self-proclaimed shamans, and learned only one thing: his mother was not in the mortal realm.

That was when his search had turned to a way into the under-realm. If his mother had been kicked out of the heavens and she wasn’t in the world of humans, this was the only place she could be. Now he was here, and it was up to him to find her.

To bring her back home.

With his hand on the pommel of his sword, he threw out his chest and shouted at the top of his voice.

“My name is Arun, third prince of the Southern Kingdom of Bakrute!”

The girl looked around in panic, as if she thought a whole horde of demons might descend upon them at any moment, but Arun didn’t care who noticed. This was a declaration. It was a promise.

“I will not leave the under-realm until I find my mother.”

He would save her. Even if he had to tear down all of heaven and hell to do it.

Chapter Five Kasu

Kasu studied the mortal’s face – his tightly clenched jaw, his narrowed gaze, his incendiary expression. Something about the look in his eyes frightened her. In his anger she saw a recklessness that could turn from a spark to a blazing wildfire.

He was going to get himself killed.

“You said your mother … she was chosen to serve the heavens?” Kasu struggled to keep a tight lid on her jealousy as she imagined Arun’s mother – beautiful and noble – being deemed worthy in the eyes of the gods. Where had she been the moment she had been called? Had she known what was coming? Did she get the chance to say goodbye?

She couldn’t have been that noble if she was kicked out soon after. Kasu allowed herself the pleasure of that thought before a tidal wave of guilt swept over her. Even if the woman had committed some terrible crime, it was wrong to enjoy other people’s misfortune.

“And you really don’t know why she was exiled?”

Arun’s face twisted into a sour look. “I know my mother. There’s no way she could have done something bad. There must have been some kind of mistake, or—”

“The heavens don’t make mistakes.”

He glowered at her.

“Even if your mother is here,” Kasu barrelled on, “she was banished from the heavens for a reason. You should cut your ties with her and return home.”

She knew that Arun would hate her for saying so, but the best medicine was often bitter. She was only telling the poor human what he needed to hear.

“You don’t have to help me. In fact, I don’t want you to help me. I’ll find her on my own!” Arun looked every bit the spoilt princeling he was: too pig-headed to accept the truth.

Kasu had to bite her lip to stop herself snapping back. Here she was, trying to help this ungrateful mortal stay alive, and all she had received in return was suspicion and anger.

Good deeds are their own reward. If the gods only saved the lives of people who were grateful, there would be a lot more dead humans flowing through the reincarnation wheels. Be like the gods. Good deeds need no thanks.

“Ha! The human won’t be able to step foot in Ghost City without someone trying to eat him!” Ruo’s two tails swished back and forth in agitation.

“I’ve managed thus far.” Arun’s hand tightened on the pommel of his sword.

“But you haven’t been into the city proper, have you?” said Kasu. “The under-realm is a vast wasteland with Ghost City at its centre and a few demon villages dotted around the outskirts. The only reason you haven’t been eaten is because you haven’t encountered any demons yet, but the moment you step out there, out into those streets…”

“Meat. You’ll be nothing but tasty, tasty meat.” Ruo grinned.

Kasu would not have put it so crudely, but the cat was right; the shadow forest was dangerous, but at least there were places Arun could hide. In the city, where demons and ghosts crowded almost every street and lounged against the walls of every alleyway, he would be like a rabbit in a den of foxes.

“You should return home immediately. Back to the mortal realm where you belong. There must be people who are already missing you. The rest of your family, perhaps. Your father.”

At the mention of his father, Arun’s expression hardened. Though he had sheathed his sword, he still looked ready to fight at a moment’s notice.

“I am the third prince of the Southern Kingdom of Bakrute; I will not be sent away like some common servant!” he declared in a commanding tone that said he was used to getting his way. “And I will find my mother, no matter what a pair of lowly demons say to me!”