Emerge: The Captive: (Book 3)(37)
“What history do you two have?” Sasha asked. “You weren’t, like … romantically involved, were you?”
“No, nothing like that. We spent a lot of time here together a lifetime ago. We became close friends. But when we left the mother, we went our separate ways. I made positive changes after I learned to let my past go. Jayesh seems to have gone right back to the life he was trying to escape when he came here in desperation. I think coming back has thrown his failures in his face, so try to remember that he is also here to learn whatever the mother hopes to teach him. You cannot know how difficult his private time with her is for him.
“But there is something odd about this arrangement, isn’t there?” Sasha asked. “Sloane was obviously a Senate rep through and through, but Jay strikes me more as a … mercenary than a loyal Senate soldier.”
“That’s what we can never forget. Jay is a hired gun and his loyalty is questionable. We don’t have the whole story from either side so you must be extremely careful about what you reveal to him.”
“I’ll just distract him with my brattyness.” Sasha grinned.
“Don’t lay it on too thick, sister. We want to get out of here eventually.”
“I’m aiming for somewhere between annoying and uncooperative, dialed in at about seventy percent of my capability. At the end of the day I’ll get the lesson so we can move on. I just want him to have to work for it enough to know he never wants to work with me again.”
“That’s the dream.” Imogen smiled. “Let’s just hope it doesn’t take years here to accomplish it.”
~~~
When Jayesh came for her shortly after dawn, Sasha was prepared to make him wait.
“Almost ready!” she called as she rushed around her dormitory to finish dressing. She wore loose-fitting linen pants and a matching tunic. The yellow fabric and golden embroidery made her skin glow like polished bronze. She struggled to lace the embroidered belt around her waist as she hunted for the matching slippers. She wore her dark curly hair in a messy bun on top of her head, letting a few curls escape to frame her face.
“Took you long enough,” he said when she finally answered the door still holding her belt and her shoes. “Hurry up. We’re behind schedule.” His traditional white linen trousers fit him like a glove and the long sleeveless over tunic fell to his knees, and had a deep embroidered V-neck. A golden armband cuffed his tattooed bicep. With his feet bare and his ensemble topped with an actual turban, Jayesh looked like he’d stepped straight out of the Mughal Empire of the sixteenth century.
“I didn’t realize we had a schedule. Maybe you should try slipping an itinerary under my door since I don’t read minds. What are we doing this morning?” She attempted to find a civil tone as she continued to fumble with the belt.
“We will be training in the northwest pavilion.” He turned her around abruptly and tied the belt for her. “Finish pulling yourself together and meet me there in fifteen minutes.” He stepped down the long stone corridor without another word.
Sasha darted back into her room to grab her sunglasses and overtunic and headed down the hall to her sister’s dormitory.
“Phase one of irritate Jayesh was a smashing success without even trying,” Sasha said as she stepped into her sister’s rooms—which were hella more comfortable than her tiny closet. “Hey, no fair—this is an apartment.”
“I am a veteran of the temple, sister. Believe me, I did my time in the dormitories. How did you manage to irritate him so quickly?”
“Breathing? I don’t know.” She shrugged, flopping down onto the bed beside her sister. “You’re meeting with Mother Raghavan later this morning, aren’t you?”
“I am.” Imogen sounded nervous.
“Any idea what she thinks you need to learn?”
“Not the first. I imagine she sees something I don’t. For a woman who lives outside of time and away from the happenings of the world, she is remarkably informed about the current climate of the Immortal world.”
“You’ll tell me about your lessons later?” Sasha asked.
“If I can. Now you’d better run along. Don’t keep Jayesh waiting too long.”
“I’m going. See you tonight.”
“Be careful, Sasha.”
“You too. I know you’re here because of me, but I want you to know I’m here for you too, sis.”
“Thanks, Sash. That means a lot.”
Sasha made her way along the labyrinth of corridors and into the bright sunshine of the temple courtyard. She headed for the northwest quadrant to meet Jayesh at the largest pavilion there. The gardens were in full bloom and the fragrant flowers calmed her in a way only nature could. Sasha had such a close connection with the earth and an even stronger bond with its creatures. The gardens would be a perfect place for her to train and meditate—if she and Jayesh could get past their differences.
The pavilion was almost primitive, built of stone and carved with Vedic figures and patterns. Dozens of columns held the pavilion aloft, each draped in billowing silk in oranges and yellows to match the warm earthen tones of the landscape. Inside, the shade was cool and the light dim. Torches burned along the stone walls on either end of the structure, and incense burned in braziers near the entrance. This place really is like taking a trip back in time. It was so untouched and innocent in a way. But Sasha had no doubt that many Immortals had come here to face their demons.