The Rogue Queen (The Hundredth Queen #3)(77)

“You’re our kindred,” Parisa adds. “We were so worried when you left.”

I never imagined they would miss me. “I worried about you too.”

Shyla cuddles Rehan closer. “Asha kept saying you’d return. None of us doubted you.”

Asha holds herself removed from us. Eshana extends her arm to her, and Asha adds her hug to our collection. Seeing them treat her as an equal gives me hope that change can come to Tarachand.

“Um, Kalinda,” Eshana says, letting me go, “I do believe you’re nude.”

Parisa smacks her side lightly. “As if you didn’t know!”

“I didn’t! I thought she and the general were . . .” Eshana flushes a flattering pink. “Oh my. Does this mean you have no claim on Prince Ashwin?”

Parisa tosses a pillow at her. “I was going to ask her!”

Their petty arguing draw laughs from the rest of us.

“You’re free to pursue the prince.” In fact, I look forward to witnessing how Ashwin fares against the vivacious Parisa and flirtatious Eshana.

A streak of red-orange zips past my open balcony. I slip into my robe and go outside. Tinley and Chare land in the garden. The other women rush out to view the mahati falcon. As they marvel over Chare, I dress, strapping on my mother’s daggers as always, and rush downstairs.

The garden smells of ripe lemons dangling from their trees. I duck under one and walk up to Tinley. “I thought you left Tarachand.”

“I did.” She drinks from her water flask and continues. “We were returning to Paljor when the wind told me Udug escaped. Chare and I tracked him across the desert. He stopped there at dawn to tend to his injured wing. He’ll rest during the day and travel at night.”

All cheerfulness filters out of my good mood. “Is Udug headed for the gate?”

“He must be.” Tinley turns her milky eyes to the clear sky. “The sun was full when I woke this morning.”

At first, I do not understand her meaning, but as I shade my eyes and focus on the sun, I notice a slice of it is missing.

A shadow is eclipsing the sun’s supernal light.

The eclipse is slight, but even as I stand here, the veil falls further and my dread deepens. Demon powers are stronger in the dark. Stopping Udug from opening the gate when the sun is fully eclipsed will be impossible.

Ashwin must have seen this and sought out Deven. The two are probably strategizing a plan right now. Ashwin will want to avoid hysteria, and Deven will employ our resources to stop Udug. The other sovereigns will see the sun disappearing and send help, but rallying our allies will take time. The darker the sky becomes, the less likely we are to stop Udug.

I eye the falcon munching on a mouse that she frightened out from behind a bush. “Could Chare fly fast enough to outpace Udug to Samiya?”

“He has a head start, so it’ll be close. You’ll make better time without me.” Tinley pets her falcon’s side with her long, sharp nails. “Chare is quicker than any wind I can summon, and my added weight would slow her.”

“You were headed home,” I say, remembering what she told me.

“I thought I’d try.” Tinley tosses her silver hair behind her, a nonchalant gesture undone by the ache in her voice. “Truth be told, I miss it.”

My gaze lifts to the battle-worn palace. Holes pockmark the walls and roofs, but the structure held. The palace is my home now. So many people I love are here, and they are finally free. I have to force Udug through the gate and vanquish him.

“Everything you need is in the saddlebag.” Tinley hoists me into the woven saddle. Chare turns her head and blinks at me.

I grab a fistful of her neck feathers as I have observed her rider do. “Thank you, Tinley. Please tell General Naik and Prince Ashwin I said good-bye.”

“I’m sure that’ll pacify them,” she says dryly. Tinley steps back and whistles through her teeth. “Chare, take Kalinda to Samiya. Show her what it is to outrun the wind.”

The falcon opens her wings and launches into the sky. My stomach dives as we ascend over Vanhi. I steal one last glimpse of the palace, then we level off and zoom over the desert, racing the vanishing sun.





30

DEVEN

I come upon Brac in the upper corridor off the main entry. He is dazzling a pair of ranis with a single flame dancing over his palm. I clap him on the back. “I need you to come along and speak to Prince Ashwin with me.”

Brac extinguishes the flame and sends a parting grin at the women. “I’ll show you how I put out fire later,” he says. They are all swoons and big eyes as my brother and I start down the staircase together.

“Those women know you’re a Burner, and they aren’t afraid of you?” I ask.

Brac pushes out a raw laugh. “Odd, isn’t it? I spent my whole life hiding that I’m the most dangerous type of bhuta in the world. But now that the kindred saved the empire with her Burner powers, my rarity makes me desirable.”

His buoyant voice holds an undercurrent of resentment. Brac may not need to conceal his powers any longer, but this sudden acceptance from society does not expunge the years he spent hiding in fear.

Natesa and Yatin sit on the opposite curved staircase. Yatin sports a black eye, and Natesa wears a sling for her dislocated shoulder.

“Deven! Brac!” Natesa waves us over . . . and keeps waving until we reach them. She fans out her hand to show me the lotus ring on her finger. “Yatin and I are intended to wed!”