Page 25 of Damned and Broken Gods
In the sitting room, the demigods settled into their groups. The tension that had been present our first day was gone, but the wariness remained. I wasn’t one of them. Not really, and that fact was highlighted by the way they seemed to have warmed to my friends. Joe stood by the bulging bookcase chatting to a stocky demigod named Faroz. They’d been hanging out a little the last two days.
And Dharma received a few chin lifts as she wove her way to the hearth. A dark pit opened inside me, the echo of rejection, of being the outsider that I’d worked so hard to dispel. But seeing my demigod friends gathered around the crackling fire helped to shake off the feeling.
Here, among these people, I was accepted no matter what.
“Are you ready for the pareekshan?” Dharma asked Sylvie.
“We are.” Sylvie smiled up at Pylar. “No idea what it will be, but we’ll get through it.”
Pylar nodded. “We are ready.”
“So are we,” Remi said. “We’re gonna crush it.”
“Umbra wants us at the native barracks at dawn,” Sylvie said. “I’m not sure if it’s just a briefing or if we’ll be heading…wherever.”
I caught a flash of nerves on her face, but Pylar rested a hand on her shoulder, and she exhaled, relaxing beneath his touch.
“Asura Ione says we have another week before we get our next test,” Dharma said. “I asked her what it would be, but she was cryptic.”
“The sea test,” Vick said softly. “That’s what it will be.”
“How can you be sure?” Priti asked.
“It’s always the sea test after the first pareekshan.” Vick stared into the flames.
“You’ll be taking it again though this time, right?” Dharma nudged him with her shoulder. “You have us now.”
Vick looked up with a shaky smile. “Yeah, I do. I…What if I mess up again?”
“The storm was not your fault,” Chaya said. “We will all be there to guide you.”
“So tell us about this test,” Priti said. “What can we expect?”
He blinked sharply and smiled. “Sea, sand, and a shit ton of hard work. The primordial evil has made sure that its devouring force is?—”
“Leela!” Asura Ione strode toward our group. “A message has arrived from Guru Chandra. You’re to pack a few things and prepare to depart for Shahee Kshetra. An escort will be arriving shortly.” I sat up straighter, moths erupting in my belly as she glanced about the group. “Where is Araz?”
I stood quickly. “He’s had to step out, but he’ll be back soon. I can get him.”
Ione pressed her lips together. “The royal guard does not like to be kept waiting.”
“We’ll be ready.”
She gave me a curt nod. “See that you are.”
She walked away, leaving me with a weight on my chest and a flutter in my belly. What a clusterfuck of emotions.
Crap, crap, crap. “Does anyone know where the cradle is?”
“I do,” Vick said. “Why?”
“I need to go fetch my drohi.”
The cradle wasin the depths of the complex, housed in a wing filled with starlight and moonbeams streaming in from its many windows. A stone arch led to a corridor hung with colorful tapestries ending in a set of wooden doors that opened into a dimly lit chamber.
I slowed my pace on approach and peered into the room beyond. Lanterns hung on the walls, bathing the large chamber in gentle light. In the center was a fort made of cushions and blankets where children of all ages huddled, their skin and hair the varied colors that identified them as drohi. Their attention was fixed on the figure seated cross-legged in the center.
Araz.
