Page 133 of Lost and Stolen Gods
“So that’s done now?”
“It is. We have a deal sealed in an oath.”
“And if we break it? If one of us doesn’t keep their end of the bargain?”
His eyes formed topaz slits. “Do you plan to break it?”
“What? No.”
“And neither do I.” He exhaled and shook his head. “This will happen. It will finally happen. We will both get what we want.”
I’d blustered and bragged, put on a front of confidence and said the words I needed to hear to make myself believe I could succeed here. But deep down, I’d doubted myself, because I’d been missing the one component every other potential had…A committed drohi. And even earlier, when Araz had said he’d concede, that he would put aside his goal and help, I’d doubted, because his commitment came at a huge cost to his wants and needs.
But now, in this moment, with a deal between us, I truly believed I had a chance to get to the labyrinth.
A chance to become a god.
Chapter 44
THE TRUE GAME
Isat cross-legged at the foot of our bed while Araz leaned against the headboard. It was creeping close to dawn, but I doubted that either of us would sleep. We had this powerful knowledge in our grasp that could change everything, and heck, it had already changed things for us.
It wasn’t something to be hoarded. “We should tell the others the truth about the bond.”
Araz canted his head, the corner of his mouth lifting. “Let us say that we do. What do you believe will happen?”
My scalp prickled in that way it did when being called on in class to answer a question while I hadn’t been paying attention. “Well, they’ll know…the drohi will know that they can be free, and they’ll be happy and…and have hope.” And I sounded like a moron. I winced. “That’s the wrong answer, isn’t it?”
His expression softened. “No, Leela. There is no wrong answer here. I’m asking for your thoughts. Now answer me this: Do they look unhappy now? Despondent? Trapped? Have any of them expressed a wish to leave?”
I thought back over my time here, over the many conversations with the many drohi and… “I…I guess not.”
“And do you know why?”
Now that he’d forced me to think about the situation, the answer to this one was easy. “Because they don’t know any different. This is their home. Their way of life.” But to me and the potentials, outsiders from another world, the whole setup was oppressive, with a clear hierarchy that favored only the gods.
“They don’twantto be free, Leela. This is all they know. All they have ever known. They were raised for one purpose and one purpose alone: to be useful to the gods. It’s been drummed into them since birth.”
“Maybe, but there are some that doubt, that want more. Like Chaya, for example. I’ve seen it in her eyes. And Pashim. He had a thirst for knowledge, something that’s forbidden to your kind.”
“Doubt and the desire for more mean nothing unless you have something to aspire to. The desire to escape wanes when you have nowhere to go.”
“And you do?”
He looked away. “You know I was not raised here.”
“Pashim told me.”
“Yes…Pashim was…he was my anchor for a while. And then…then he was my best friend. And after that my brother. But even he did not fully comprehend my desire to leave.” Araz exhaled through his nose. “I never shared my past with anyone. I pretended that I’d forgotten because I knew it was the only way for me to survive and hope…Hope to one day return to…” He exhaled again. “I want to tell you the truth so that you understand why I must someday leave you.”
My throat pinched. “Tell me.”
“I was raised free, in a colony in the far north where winters were harsh, but our inner fire kept us warm. My people, the agni djinn, were my family. We lived in harmony with the land, and life was good until the reapers found us.” His throat worked. “They came just before the first heavy snowfall, sneaking across our borders and into our homes, slaughtering my people. The males fought back while the women and children ran.
“I couldn’t understand why they’d come. What they wanted. And my mother finally broke and told me the truth. That I was oath given. Born to be gifted to the gods. A child of a Danava. Valuable because agni rarely produced offspring with any other race.
“They’d come forme. Slaughtered my people to get tome. I wanted to give myself up, but Mother was insistent. She made me swear to fight, to run, to not let them have me.
