The Library of Fates(57)

Kalyani sat down beside me. “I take it you’ve gotten some bad news. Come,” she urged me, eyeing my filthy clothes. “You’ve had a long journey. Let’s get you both a bath and some rest before we speak.”

Instantly, I remembered why I was there.

“No,” I said to her, squaring my shoulders. “We have to speak now. I’m here to tell you that you’re in danger. Shalingar has been attacked, and I fear the Janaka Caves are next.”

She nodded, unsurprised. “We’ve been preparing for this possibility for years,” Kalyani reassured me. “We can never thank you enough for the sacrifices you’ve made to come here. You must rest. Even if these people you speak of are able to find the caves, it will take them some time. As you can see, they’re very difficult to reach. Rest now, then we’ll talk some more. You’ll need all your strength for what’s to come.”

I looked at Thala, and she simply shrugged her shoulders at me.

I nodded, finally feeling my exhaustion, my muscles aching from our climb up the mountains.

“Are you the leader of the Sybillines?” I asked Kalyani.

She shook her head. “There are no leaders here, nor followers. But you could say that I am a kind of advisor to my people. If you wish, I can advise you as well. But that is your choice, and everything will be made clear to you in due time. Now Tamas will take you to the old guest quarters.” She gestured to a young man who had been tending to the birds.

I nuzzled Saaras, grateful to be reunited with him, before I turned to Tamas.

Tamas smiled at us. “Welcome to the Janaka Caves,” he said with an amused smile on his face. “What an exciting day it is for us. Visitors are an uncommon thing here.”

“How uncommon?” Thala asked.

He frowned and took a minute to respond. “To be honest, I’ve never seen a visitor in my life,” he said as he led us up a path that took us into the wall of caves. Hundreds of sets of eyes continued to watch us. “At least not of the human variety,” he said, gesturing to the flock of birds by the lagoon. “And don’t mind them,” he whispered, jerking his chin toward the Sybillines poking their heads from their caves, watching us with curiosity. “They’re all very friendly, just a bit surprised. Of course we all knew that eventually you’d come. It’s part of the legend.”

“The legend?” I asked.

“The legend about Maya’s return. And also, we can sense these things. We have powers of sight.” He turned to Thala. “You do too.”

Thala nodded.

“You’ll fit right in. But you must forgive our manners. We’re not used to guests. It’s difficult enough to find the caves, and then with Makara the Gatekeeper . . .” He shrugged his shoulders. “But it appears that you passed the test. You didn’t try to kill him . . .”

“We considered it,” Thala grumbled.

“Oh, Makara is indestructible. When the world ceases to exist, Makara will still be here. He’ll outlive everything. But a good thing you didn’t try to kill him. He wouldn’t have taken to that well. And he needs occasional naps. His naps are when he’s most productive.”

“Does he really create, destroy, and sustain the world?”

“That’s right. He’s a very important axle of this world, the center of everything. And the saddhus tell us that the vast majority of people on the planet have never even heard of him. Strange,” he said, smiling, “this world of yours. I’m told that there is so much progress, and yet, the roots of our existence on this planet have been forgotten, just as one forgets his or her birth.”

We had come to a stop on the stone path that wound itself around the volcano.

Tamas gestured to an entrance in the rock leading to a grotto. “The old guest quarters. They’ve never been used. Well, only once. A long time ago. But . . . we’ve kept them ready for you.”

“I have so many questions,” I told him.

“And they will all be answered. But Kalyani is right. You should rest now. Everything will make more sense to you once you’ve had a chance to reset your mind.” He grinned at us. “Just like Makara the Spider.”

“I have a question,” Thala asked. “If you never have any visitors, why would you have guest quarters?”

Tamas smiled. “The ancients built them. This is where Maya lived for a time, before she went to join—”

“Her lover?” Thala raised an eyebrow.

“The vetala,” I corrected her, blushing.

“Not just any vetala. The Keeper of the Library of All Things,” Tamas said to us.

¤

We stepped into the cave, and under a curved ceiling of rock were two beds with white and blue striped linens. Next to one of the beds, a small heating stove. A mirror hung just above a basin. Perched on a wooden table, a wooden bowl overflowed with fruit. Two stone bathtubs had been filled with water. I dipped my hand in one. It was still warm.

I washed my face in the basin, taking in my visage.

I looked older, and my face looked gaunt even though I had been on this journey for only a few days. And yet, I could tell that I had aged, that I had changed so much already. Even though we had made it here, there was no end to my worries.

“They always knew something like this could happen . . . but where will they go, Thala?”