To Seduce An Assassin (The Omaja Series Book 2)(43)

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Jiandra had healed the sick for hours, all who managed to come to the steps of the shrine, carrying their children and escorting their elderly. Once the line of villagers was gone, Yajna glanced at her face with concern.

“You’re exhausted and chilled, Lahdli.” He hugged her shoulders and placed a protective hand over her belly, where their child grew. “Let’s go inside the temple here so you can sit and rest a moment before we make house visits.”

Jiandra nodded, leaning on him for support and warmth as he escorted her inside. The temple was a long, narrow building with benches in rows facing an altar to Tejeshwar down in front.

Yajna seated her on a bench toward the door, then leaned down to kiss her cheek. “I will go fetch a skin of water from our coach, and some bread.”

“That would be lovely.”

Once he was gone, Jiandra wrapped her cloak tighter around her body and closed her eyes a moment, enjoying the quiet and solitude inside the stone building. The Omaja stone suddenly vibrated insistently against her breastbone. She looked down at it. It was pulsating with a purple light, like it always did back at the waterfall where she met with Zehu outside Cobbleton. She frowned, then glanced up at the altar at the other end of the temple. It was hard to see what was down there, exactly, in the dim light filtering in through the narrow windows. She stood and wandered slowly down the center aisle, the Omaja thrumming with life and pulsing even brighter as she approached a stone pedestal. A bowl of water sat on top of it, and there was a high, smooth wall behind the pedestal, much like the wall of rock behind Zehu’s waterfall in Villeleia.

Zafira said this stone’s purpose was contacting the Old Gods. What could it hurt to try to contact Tejeshwar? Jiandra lifted the stone from around her neck and placed it in the bowl. The water swirled clockwise, illuminated with a glowing purple light. Jiandra’s heart leapt. If Tejeshwar appeared, perhaps she would be able to ask him about the curse on Nandala, and how they could lift it. When the water changed direction, a shadowy image formed on the surface of the wall in front of her.

He was tall, broad-shouldered, and cloaked. His hood covered his face, and he stood towering over her with arms crossed.

Jiandra shivered a little, and not because of the chill in the air. She whispered, “Who are you, my Lord?”

“They know me here as Tejeshwar,” he said, his voice deep and resonant.

Jiandra bowed low. “My Lord Tejeshwar. I have been eager to speak with you.”

“As have I, with you.”

When she looked up, he threw back his hood and smiled. Handsome, kind, bluish-green eyes gazed fondly down at her. He had long wavy brown hair and a close-cropped brown beard.

“Zehu!” She wanted to run to the wall and press herself to it. “What are you doing here?”

“Waiting to speak with you,” he chuckled.

“Did you say you are known here as Tejeshwar?”

“Yes.”

“Why didn’t you ever tell me this back in Cobbleton Wood?”

“I cannot appear as Tejeshwar in Villeleia. I can only present myself as Tejeshwar here, where my people the Nandals know me as such.”

“Tejeshwar, then,” she smiled, curtsying to him. “Please, Lord Tejeshwar, tell me how to lift Nandala’s winter curse.”

His expression grew serious. “It will not be easy, my child. Thakur brought the curse upon Nandala, and it will not lift until the last of his evil seed is destroyed.”

“Last of his seed? Thakur has descendants?”

“Yes. A son.”

“Where is this son? He has never come forward to challenge the throne.”

“He will, soon. He is gathering his forces even now.”

Jiandra’s breath caught in her throat, and she instinctively placed her hands over her belly.

Tejeshwar saw the movement. “Fear not, dear one. You and your unborn child will be protected by the stone.”

“What should I do?”

“Tell the Zulfikar twins their enemy will come to Darpan. They and their men should stay alert for his arrival. Do not leave the palace unguarded.”

“When? When will this enemy come?”

“Soon.”

“Will you help us be victorious?”

“I cannot fight this battle for the Zulfikars. They must purge Nandala of Thakur’s seed themselves in order to lift the curse and re-establish the Zulfikar House’s right to rule Nandala.”

“I understand.”

“No matter what happens, dear one, I will protect you. The stone came to you for this purpose—to deliver my people in two nations. You helped save Villeleia from its time of trouble, and now you will help deliver Nandala from its curse.”

“Yes, my Lord.”

His image faded, the water in the bowl stopped swirling, and the Omaja’s light went out. Jiandra bowed her head, took the Omaja out of the water, dried it on her skirt, and pressed a kiss to the stone. “Thank you for appearing to me, Zehu,” she whispered to it just as the temple door opened.

“Forgive my delay, Lahdli,” Yajna’s voice echoed through the chamber as he strode in with a basket. “A villager was speaking to the guards about some disturbing rumors he’d heard.”

Jiandra moved down the aisle toward him. “I bet I just heard the same rumor.”