Page 137 of Tiger's Destiny
I put my hand on Kishan’s arm as Sunil rose, saying he was going to find his sister.
“’Night, Sunil. Let’s get some rest, Kells,” Kishan said, and we ducked into my tent. He flashed a look at Ren and added, “Don’t you have somewhere else to be, big brother?”
Ren shrugged and smiled shamelessly at Kishan. “Think of me as your chaperone. Are you regretting saving me now?”
Ren was so good natured about it that Kishan’s lip twitched.
“Maybe,” he grumbled and busied himself setting up a place to sleep.
I caught Ren’s eye and he winked at me; then prepared his own place to rest.
Laying down, I tucked my arms beneath my head and asked the two men on either side of me, “Can you still become tigers?”
“Yes,” they both answered simultaneously.
“Then the curse hasn’t been broken. There’s still something else we need to do, isn’t there?”
Kishan grunted and Ren said, “I believe there is.”
I turned to look at his blue eyes in the firelight. “That’s what scares me,” I said softly.
We were quiet after that, and I fell asleep listening to the pops of the crackling fire and the deep breathing of both of my tigers.
We found Durga busy with the remaining soldiers the next day. She was a natural leader, and even her brother stepped back and let her command the army. Scribes were brought forward to write dictated letters that would be sent by messenger to all the different tribes and kings that had a vested interest in the outcome of the battle.
I could tell as I listened that she downplayed her own achievements and noted that instead of writing about Kelsey, Durga, Ren, and Kishan, the letters only mentioned the two incarnations of the goddess.
As different men stepped forward to share their own interpretation of the battle, I thought back to my research on Durga, and I finally understood where all the references came from. Phet had been right. We had always been destined to take this road. The stories I’d read wereourstories, and if we hadn’t been willing to go through with our quests, history as we know it would have changed.
The soldiers talked of boiling lakes, battle drums, and the divine breath of the goddess that gave life to men encased in stone. Mountains shook, a goddess danced across the tops of uprooted trees, and the roar of tigers was heard around the world.
They also listed the powers they’d seen, and the words contained in the prophecies were finally clear. With the Golden Fruit, Durga could feed millions. The Divine Scarf would help her clothe the masses. The Pearl Necklace would be used to end drought, fill rivers, and provide drinking water, and the Rope of Fire surely fulfilled its purpose in bringing peace to the nations by helping me slay Mahishasur.
The goddess Durga was created in a time of great need to overcome a foe that no man could destroy. A womanwasfated to fight the demon Mahishasur, but history got it wrong. Not one woman but two. Two avatars of the goddess overcame Lokesh.
Phet said that our future would soon be determined. I wondered if that meant we had to stay here.Could I be happy living in the past?As a goddess I’d be waited upon. Thousands would come to worship us. We’d have all the gifts and weapons at our disposal, and we’d have the Damon Amulet. The power we had was virtually limitless. We could help so many.
I sighed. I didn’t crave ultimate power. I didn’t want to lead an empire or make myself out to be the some kind of heroine for the masses. Living as a goddess was a noble sacrifice to make. I’d spend the rest of my days serving others, which was a great thing. But, deep down, a normal life was really what I craved. I wanted a chance to be a mom. To marry a wonderful guy—someone who would take me out to dinner once in a while and who I could nag about putting his socks into the hamper.
That was the life I’d planned on.
I didn’t want to be magical.
I didn’t want to be a goddess.
I just wanted to be . . . me.
Anamika and I spent the rest of the afternoon organizing the camp. It was good to be doing something useful, and it kept my mind off whatever the future would bring.
After a time of working together quietly, I said to Anamika, “I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“For blaming you for Ren’s death.”
She paused while folding a blanket, then set it softly on top of a pile. “You were right to blame me. If Lokesh had not killed Ren, I would have tried.”
“You were under Lokesh’s control. It’s not your fault.”
