The Chariot at Dusk

by Swati Teerdhala

Reha drew out her knife and pulled a thin line against her fingertip until it pooled into droplets of blood. She pressed it against the mural and then stepped back.

  The mural began to pulse and radiate a spectrum of colors. And then as that subsided, the tiles began to rearrange themselves, shifting in a concentric circle around the now-blood-filled teardrop, shaping themselves into a textured, colored layer on top of the open scroll.

  Slowly, the tiles coalesced into scrolling lines and swirls of a long-forgotten script, punctuated by illustrations.

  “A poem,” Reha said.

  “A poem?” Kunal repeated. He squinted at the text. “A map to the location of the artifacts hidden in verse. Of course.”

  His voice carried in the curved ceilings of the inner temple, and he heard a gasp from behind him. In seconds, the others were at his side, staring at the lines of ancient poetry that had been revealed to them, hidden all along in the wilds of the jungle.

  “Good work, soldier,” Harun said, clapping him on the shoulder. Kunal was so pleased at his find that he didn’t shrug him off.

  Kunal could only hope it would lead them to the artifacts before Yamini.

  Chapter 12

  Esha had stayed with Farhan for the better part of the evening, watching as he tried to decipher the copper scroll’s poem. They’d left the temple hours ago after copying it down and since then, he had been at work. Kunal and Harun were helping with the translation, aided by a few smart remarks from Reha.

  “My lady?” A voice pulled her out of her thoughts, and Esha rose from her seat in the corner. The Blade who entered the room was a few years younger than Esha but had quickly taken on a leadership position after the coup. Laya was one of the few Esha entrusted with sensitive information anymore. “A note for you.”

  Esha unfurled the scroll, reading the missive as quickly as she could, her mouth slanting into a frown. She resisted the urge to fall into the seat nearby, knowing it would worry the others.

  It was from King Mahir—there had been an attack on Mathur. And she hadn’t been there.

  She knew the king was quite capable of defending his own country, but Mathur was her home, and she wanted it to be her home after all of this.

  The only spot of good was that it was an unsuccessful attack by a small force. The focus of the attack seemed to be on the prisons. Normally not a huge concern, but the prisons near the center of Mathur were where most of the Jansan prisoners of war were kept. It’d be the perfect place to hit if someone were looking to build a small army of loyal soldiers. Someone who had been recently ousted.

  Vardaan had to have been behind this attack. First he had recruited mercenaries and now criminals.

  He was smart. A head-on offensive attack would’ve prompted a large outcry from civilians. But a smaller attack, even if unsuccessful, would breed distrust and fear. Esha knew, deep down in her gut, that this was going to be the first calculated step of many from him. Unless . . . unless they were able to catch him first.

  It was another worry thrust onto her, on top of the existing search for the artifacts.

  Esha swept into the next room of the palace, tucking the note away in her pocket to show Harun later. The list of things to do around here waited for no one, and if she was being honest, she wanted to delay delivering bad news to him and the team. Let them celebrate finding the map for the rest of the afternoon.

  She had a few minutes until Mayank was supposed to meet her, so she took a moment to walk over to the marble balustrade and look out over the city of Gwali. The once-vibrant city was diminished, the rising temperature oppressive and dry. The river was nothing but patchwork now, even this close to the ocean. More fights had been breaking out between the various guilds, between the guilds and merchants, and now even between the citizens and merchants.

  The slow return of the local courts was helping, allowing certain groups, like the guilds, to work things out among themselves. Esha had sent a Blade representative undercover to each of those courts to keep an eye on things, and despite the heat in the air and in people’s hearts, order was being kept.

  But they needed a leader, one who could defend them. Esha couldn’t take on that role publically, and truth to the gods, she didn’t want it. This wasn’t her country to lead. She wanted to bring balance, not lead a nation. Certainly not a nation that wasn’t hers to lead.

  “Gold coin for your thoughts?”

  “I see the price has gone up,” Esha said with a smile.

  Mayank chuckled, taking the spot next to her. His face was impassive as he looked out over the city, but Esha knew there was an ocean beneath the surface. Mayank and his house had been key in consolidating resources for the towns most stricken by the drought. He’d corralled troops, bargained with foreign trade officials, and all without any skin in the game or his formal title bestowed to him.

  “It was my mistake in the beginning to ever think they could be worth any less,” he said courteously. Esha raised an eyebrow. He had always been good at the court speak, which Esha never trusted, but still, the compliment lifted her spirits in a small way.

  “Buttering me up, are you?”

  “Whatever for?”

  “There’s always something,” Esha muttered.

  “It has been an interesting couple of weeks here.” His voice took on a serious tone. “But things are looking up. Reha is back, and we’ve been able to open up trade with the west until we find the artifacts. The queen in the west is new and eager to show her power. Our timing was right, despite everything.”

  “It’s all being held by a thread.” She sighed. “But none of this would’ve been possible—taking control of the palace, everything since—without you.”

  Mayank gave her a short bow. “Happy to serve, Your Highness.”

  “And there’s that. I’m no ‘Your Highness,’ but I’ve been playing the role as we’ve needed it. I think it’s time you are bestowed your birthright, Mayank. And since I’m acting heir and leader right now, I formally bestow the title of Lord of House Pramukh to you.”

  Mayank didn’t—or couldn’t—say anything for a minute. Instead, he took her hand and bowed deeply over it.

  “Thank you,” he said finally, his voice trembling. He coughed and covered it up quickly. Esha pretended she hadn’t noticed.

  “The papers are being drawn up, and Reha is going to sign, so it will be official. I also want to name you my acting general,” Esha said. “And none of that bowing nonsense. Get up, Lord Mayank.”

  Mayank straightened. “No, that’s too much—”

  “Nonsense,” she said, waving a hand. “What have you been doing this whole time but keeping peace and maintaining relations with our neighbors? Perhaps not the traditional duties of the army, but we haven’t had need for those. What is proven is that when we do need those, which we will soon, you can handle the responsibilities. And the army will listen to you.”

  “I’m not so sure about that,” he said.

  Esha nodded firmly. “I am. And as my acting general, if you will accept, I’m informing you that Vardaan attacked Mathur just two days ago. I’m about to mobilize scouts to check the surrounding areas and to go deeper into the mountain borders to look for signs of any other troops or gathering armies. We’ll need to keep an eye on this.”

  Mayank stared at her for a moment, the gratitude in his eyes making her uncomfortable. “I will. Accept, that is.” He swallowed. “It would be an honor.”

  “You don’t look so well,” she said, peering at him.

  “It’s a lot, Esha.” He shook his head, as if he still didn’t believe it. “To be finally handed what you’ve wanted for so long, and more? Especially when you never thought yourself deserving of it?” he said.

  She had never been in the same situation, but Esha thought she understood. Though Mayank had kept a happy face on, being denied your birthright by the king for reasons out of your control would take a toll on anyone. No wonder he had become so good in court speak. He must have been fighting
for years for what little scraps Vardaan deigned to give him.

  Esha took Mayank’s hands in her own and squeezed. “Curse those people who let you think you were anything but capable. You might have been born into your house, but you’ve earned your place here, in the Pink Palace of Jansa. Don’t let anyone take that from you.”

  Mayank gave her a tight nod. “I have out a few scouts of my own; let me write notes to them, inform them of what has happened. And tomorrow, I’ll speak to the acting citadel officer and the acting Senap officer.”

  He bowed to take her leave, and she let him go, the excitement and purpose almost radiating off him.

  Esha smiled to herself, happy to have done one thing right.

  Kunal turned into the large room, sneaking in before the others saw him. He was supposed to be going over the poem and the scroll with the others, but he was tired. Exhausted. And it wasn’t only because he had just seen Esha with Mayank, alone.

  He needed a second to himself, that was all. The team had barely let him out of their sight since they had returned from the mountain. Kunal leaned back against the cold wall of the room, the darkness soothing around him. He hadn’t expected what it would be like, coming back. It wasn’t as if he had imagined anything.

  That wasn’t true. He had imagined himself coming back a hero having saved the land. They would’ve been welcomed home with honor. Esha and the team would have been safe in the palace and grateful to see the lost princess again. Happy to see the land whole.

  Without a single life lost. Certainly no fractured dam or a threatened city. Zhyani had said that there was a casualty, that someone who had been trying to fix the crack in the dam had fallen and injured himself.

  And the way Esha had looked at him, as if he didn’t even exist to her anymore, he wouldn’t forget it for a hundred years. It would stain his heart if he couldn’t change it.

  He would find a way out of this. He would fix this.

  Like you fixed the bond? The tiny voice in his head was vicious, unflinching.

  The need to escape overwhelmed Kunal, but the sudden presence of an eagle shooting out of the residence wing of the palace would surely beg questions. Kunal walked over to the table in the corner, grabbing hastily at the tray of water goblets that were arrayed there from the previous meeting.

  The entire tray went flying as he reached for it. Kunal lunged for it but was too late. The metal clattered uselessly against the marble floor, filling the room with tinny echoes. Kunal suddenly felt bone weary, like someone had reached inside him and wrung out his organs.

  Feet rushed into the room, whips unsheathed. Kunal didn’t even have to lift his head to know who it was. Her face was fierce, worried, burdened.

  Kunal felt a stab of pain in his chest. He had done that to her. Her shoulders dropped when she saw it was just him, alone in the room. She quickly lit the torches and turned to him.

  “What happened?” Esha said, her whips still in both hands. She looked uncertainly at him—was that worry?

  “Nothing.” Kunal rose to his feet and tried to regain a semblance of composure.

  “Are you sure? There should be guards in this room. I had them posted to this wing.”

  “I told them to leave.”

  “Why?” she demanded, immediately suspicious. He hated that she glanced at the windows, scanning them for their locks.

  Kunal shrugged. “I needed space. A moment to myself.”

  “That wasn’t your goal when you fled from the palace?”

  “No,” Kunal said, angry at the brutality in her tone. “Though I suppose I deserve that.”

  “That and a lot more,” she said. Esha twirled her whips into loops and tucked them back into her waist sash.

  He pointed at her waist. “I see you’re using them again.”

  “Hard not to when you’re in a palace full of Scales and Senaps.”

  She turned to leave, but he held out a hand to ask her to wait. It was as if he had struck her. Esha curled away from him, her entire body turning in on itself. And yet, she didn’t stop him when he approached and cupped her face.

  Esha glanced up at him and he could see the flutter of her eyelashes, the short inhale of breath in her chest. Feel her pain.

  “Don’t go,” he said softly.

  They stood there for a long moment, and Kunal was merely happy to be close to her again. Inhale the scent of night rose from her curls, feel the silk-soft touch of her skin. And it gave him hope. That she stayed, that she even spoke to him again.

  “I would’ve said the same to you,” she said. There was no venom, just the soft, tired truth. And it struck him deep.

  “Esha . . . ,” he said, drawing out her name into long syllables. “How do I explain?”

  “I’m not sure you can, soldier.” Her armor was coming back, piece by piece, link by link. Kunal rushed in.

  “I wanted so desperately to do something right. To prove I was supposed to be there, that I had a purpose aside from being a soldier. And to make up for even an inch of the pain I had caused on my campaigns. And if I could do that without putting you in harm’s way, why wouldn’t I? Don’t you see?”

  His voice was desperate, and he pulled her closer, holding her in his arms. Esha put her head on his chest for a brief moment.

  Then she pulled away, putting space between them. Unwelcome distance.

  “Maybe I would’ve,” Esha said, shaking her head. “But there were too many things unsaid, too many decisions made without me for you to claim that you thought of me. What about with Laksh?”

  “Why do you think I hid his return and his blackmail? You know how I felt about him,” he said.

  “I know you were hurt, but you still thought there was good in him. I could understand why you’d go back to him and the Scales—”

  “I didn’t. He threatened you. He threatened Alok.”

  “And you didn’t tell me about it?” She laughed. “I have a whole rebel army at my disposal. I would’ve been fine.”

  Kunal shook his head. “It would’ve jeopardized the entire mission if he had revealed your identity.”

  Fury snapped at her face. “And what would you know about jeopardizing a mission, soldier?”

  “I’m not just a soldier,” he said vehemently, despite the burning feeling in his chest that wondered if he ever could be more. “And you set me to follow orders blindly, after everything that had happened with my uncle.”

  Esha’s volley stopped for a moment. Kunal felt a perverse sense of victory.

  “I didn’t treat you differently than I would’ve treated anyone else,” she said.

  “I wasn’t a Blade,” he said, gritting his teeth. “I was your soldier, your lemon boy. I wasn’t your recruit. I could handle myself. I’ve killed dozens, I’ve led campaigns across this land, expeditions into other countries, and you treated me as if I couldn’t even handle the inner workings of a coup.”

  Kunal breathed heavily, staring at her. Her eyes were wide. This truth had been in him all along, deep and festering. A cord of anger wrapped around his heart, one twisted with guilt and betrayal of his own. He had made a huge mistake, but Esha hadn’t been faultless either.

  “Perhaps you’re right,” she said quietly. “Perhaps I misstepped. But I wasn’t wrong to worry about whether you could be trusted with sensitive information if the first thing you did with an asset was to run off with her to save the world by yourself.”

  Kunal didn’t have a second to respond because Esha rushed forward, poking him hard in the chest.

  “I was the first to trust you, Kunal.” The rawness of her voice, the fury and grief, almost bowled him over.

  “I know. I never meant to break—What do I have to do?”

  Esha stepped away from him, backing into the darkness of the room. Her mouth was set, her expression turning to stone.

  “Nothing. I want nothing from you.”

  Kunal’s heart threatened to stop.

  “I believed you. I listened to you. I forgave,” sh
e said. “And now my parents are still unavenged and Vardaan is gone. I should’ve killed him, but I saw your cursed face and I didn’t. I had him in my—”

  Esha grasped at the empty air, turning desperate eyes on him.

  “I didn’t lead you astray. You did the right thing,” Kunal said.

  “You lied to me, even after everything. Even now, I can’t trust you.”

  “You can,” he said. “Why do you think I did any of this?”

  She laughed. “For me? Do you really believe that?”

  Kunal closed the gap between them so that they were almost nose to nose, but he stopped before their bodies touched.

  He knew Esha and the way she held herself, and the stark mask of the Viper she put back on made him pause.

  Made him question. Hope.

  “You can trust me, Esha. We want the same thing. Peace for our lands. Balance and the return of the bond. You know I’ll do anything to achieve that.”

  “Clearly.”

  Kunal winced. “I did what I thought was right.”

  “I know, Kunal. It’s why I allowed you back into the palace. It’s why I’m entrusting any part of this mission to you. And I can even forget the error in judgment you made. Perhaps even see why you made the choice to run away with Reha and try to renew the ritual.”

  A spark of hope burst into Kunal’s chest, expectant.

  “Good,” he said. Esha stepped backward, out of his reach and into the open area of the room.

  “I can look past all of that. I know you can be relied on to see this mission through.” A laugh burst from her lips, cold and short. “That’s the only thing I know.”

  Kunal felt that there was something more she wasn’t saying, but the more he thought about it the less he wanted it to be true.

  “That’s all you know?” he asked softly.

  She didn’t flinch from him this time, but neither did she move. Marble had taken over Esha, so that she resembled the columns near her more than the girl of blood and fire he knew.

  “What are we to each other, Esha?”

  She hesitated for a tantalizing moment. Her eyes flickered at him before she looked away. “We’re allies. I’m grateful you brought Reha back. And now, we have a mission to finish.”