The Chariot at Dusk

by Swati Teerdhala

  “Laya, go to the cistern below. I think Zhyani’s team might be held there.”

  Laya nodded and left her, taking a few Blades with her.

  Esha got to her feet with a few shaky steps, balancing against the stone wall. The adrenaline from before fled her body, leaving her feeling like a husk.

  The copper scroll, gone.

  Vardaan, gone.

  Everything was gone.

  Chapter 32

  Esha was sitting on the bed when Kunal woke up.

  “How are you feeling?” she asked, drawing a hand over his forehead.

  He groaned in response.

  “Nothing’s broken. Just a little hole in your shoulder. It’s healing pretty well.” She sounded as if she was trying to reassure him.

  “Better than I would’ve expected,” he said, wincing. He felt like someone had scraped eggshells all over his arms.

  There was a moment of silence between them, alone together in the room in a way they hadn’t been in a long time. Memories surfaced, ones which were plunged back down before Kunal felt a new sort of pain.

  They stared at each other, both unsure what to say.

  “Esha—” he started.

  She held up a hand and he closed his mouth instantly. The look on her face was like fire and brimstone, a decision made. Kunal hoped it wasn’t an end. That this wasn’t the end.

  “No more throwing yourself in front of people to die. No more reckless risks, you hear me?” she said.

  Kunal stared at her. Moons ago, before meeting her, no one would have ever put Kunal and reckless in the same sentence. Back at the Fort he had never stood up for anything real, a way to avoid risk—or failure.

  “Hello?” Esha said, growing annoyed. “Does staring at me mean yes?”

  “Why?”

  “Why what?”

  “Why no more risks?”

  Esha huffed. “Maybe I just don’t want you to die. Is that enough of a reason? You’re not allowed to die,” she repeated.

  “I’m not allowed to die? And why is that?”

  “You know exactly why.”

  “I want to hear you say it.”

  Silence hung between them.

  “I don’t regret it,” he said softly, before he lost his nerve. “I know you might hate me for my choice to leave, but I don’t regret it.”

  “I know.” Her tone was wry, her mouth twisted into a half smile. “And I did hate you for it—not because you made the choice but because you left me out of it. Maybe next time just leave me a note?”

  Kunal chuckled. “I tried, if you can believe it.” He swallowed hard. “I hope you can forgive me.”

  “I have, Kunal. Why do you think I’m so annoyed at you for risking your life?” Esha said. She reached a tentative hand out before pulling close to Kunal. He allowed it and nuzzled his face into her hair, letting the curls capture his smile. There was a hesitancy in her body, different from before.

  “It’ll never be the same, will it?” he said quietly.

  “No,” Esha said. “But maybe that’s not a bad thing.”

  “I suppose . . .” Kunal stopped. Something niggled at him, a realization waiting to be discovered. “Wait.”

  “What?” Esha asked immediately, her hands going to her whips.

  “Maybe change isn’t a bad thing,” was all he said.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Never mind,” he said, shaking his head. “Just a thought. I am starving, though.”

  Esha looked as if she wanted to push him on what he had started to say, but instead held out a hand. Her eyes were bright, promising a new start, a new road. “Come on, the others are waiting.”

  He took her hand.

  The mood in the room had dipped lower than the sun outside.

  Vardaan had escaped in the chaos of the Yavar break-in. Yamini had stolen the scroll. The team was gathered in one place, scattered about the room like planets in their own orbits. Kunal was suddenly uncertain of what to say to them all.

  Esha squeezed his hand, at his side. A rush of affection flooded him at the sight of her next to him, her strong profile never wavering.

  She stepped forward to speak to the room when there was a tap at the door. Aahal got up to open it, rubbing a hand against his groggy face. He straightened at the sight of the Blade on the other side.

  “Laya,” Esha said, her voice carrying a sigh in it.

  “I’m sorry, my lady. You asked for a report a few days ago, on the status of the land and magic after the bond was broken.” The girl shifted in place, clearly uncomfortable.

  “Yes, yes. Has it only been a few days?” Esha asked to no one in particular. The aftermath of those days in question could be seen all around them, in the weary stares and heavy movements of their team. They had taken Zhyani and her team into custody until they could sort out the tangled loyalties. Esha had spent days questioning and talking to the woman only to realize how little prepared they had been for the Yavar.

  Yamini had approached Zhyani during the Sun Mela itself, and when Zhyani had refused to help her anymore, Yamini had taken drastic measures. Still, Zhyani was helping Esha and their side now, laying out chains of command and giving them other information about the Yavar. But it felt like weeks had gone by. Not days.

  “It has been only a few days, my lady,” Laya confirmed. “But you’ll be pleased to hear this. The reports about the land’s magic aren’t that bad.” She cleared her throat. “In fact, they’re not bad at all, I would say.”

  “What?” Esha said. “What does that mean?”

  “Really?” Alok said from his seat.

  “That’s what the reports say. The river is unpredictable without the bond, ebbing and flowing. But after its disappearance, most people are just happy to have their water and livelihoods back. They can handle the tides, even if they are new to them. They can relearn the rhythms of the river. Adapt. It’s not a catastrophe.”

  Esha nodded. “I had hoped for that. People are slowly awakening to their connection with nature. But the magic?”

  Laya looked uncomfortable. “Small occurrences, my lady. A man in Onda was able to speed up his crop growth with the water.”

  Kunal had stayed silent until that moment, unsure what to say or how to feel. But at the look of fascination on Farhan’s face, he spoke. “How are people handling it? What are they saying?”

  “That it is the return of the gods to our land. Or that it is an abomination. Two young men have died from attacks from a mountain lion that was magic crazed.”

  Harun pursed his lips in thought. “Of course. We will have to send out people to help.”

  “And up north?” Esha asked.

  “The same,” Laya said. “Nothing has changed. The magic has not touched the land past the Aiforas. I’m not sure the Yavar even know what has truly happened down here.”

  Esha thanked Laya for the report and closed the door after she left. She leaned against it, turning to face the silent room, each person digesting the information in their own way.

  The Southern Lands were returning to an era bygone, feeling the constructive and destructive forces of the magic flooding back into the land, but the Yavar? They were closed off, again. They might not deal with catastrophe, but they’d be robbed of the benefits too.

  It wasn’t right. There had to be a better way and Kunal wanted to find it.

  Esha caught his eyes, raising an eyebrow at him. He gave her a smile, shaking his head. He was fine.

  Maybe change isn’t a bad thing.

  His words from earlier stuck in his mind, tangling with his other questions and thoughts until a new idea formed.

  “Perhaps we’ve been wrong all along, trying to save something that needed to be put into the past,” Kunal said slowly.

  To her credit, Esha didn’t immediately turn away. Maybe she had been thinking it as well. Maybe she had felt the tides of change brushing against her skin, like he had.

  “We’ve been fighting so hard for a status quo th
at doesn’t even serve the people anymore. And why are we trying to prevent the Yavar from having their bond? Yamini is not wrong in wanting a connection to the land and gods.”

  “How could you say that?” Bhandu said immediately.

  “Listen. I’m not saying she’s going about it right. It seems she sees it as a lose-lose situation. But what if there was a way for all of us to win?” Kunal said.

  “There isn’t.”

  “I beg to disagree, Bhandu,” Laksh said. He stood up from his seat, taking in the scattered people in the room. “That’s the kind of thinking that made the Blades and the Scales work at cross-purposes for moons. We need to think ahead, not cling to the past. Maybe Kunal has a point.”

  “Oi, are you calling me old, Scale?” Arpiya put a reassuring hand on Bhandu, but he shook her off. “Don’t touch me; you’re as bad as him.”

  Arpiya looked stricken, and Esha stepped in. “Bhandu, that’s enough. We’re discussing solutions and unless you have a good reason that this is a bad one, we’re going to consider it.”

  “It? What are we even considering? Working with those horse thieves in the north?” Bhandu said, clearly flustered.

  “No,” Esha said. She looked pointedly at Bhandu. “I’m not saying we work with them. I don’t think Kunal is either. But perhaps we can force their hand into an outcome that isn’t a disaster to one of us. There’s nothing wrong with wanting land and food for your people. Do you really disagree with that?”

  Bhandu’s shoulders slumped. “No, I don’t. I just—My grandpa was killed by Yavar, during the War in the North.”

  “That’s why we need to end this,” Kunal said, speaking up. “Yavar kill our men, we kill Yavar men, I’ve killed Dharkans, you’ve—” He looked at all of them. “Killed Jansans. It’s a cycle, a vicious cycle that will continue to churn on and on if we’re not willing to end it. If we stop it from spinning, we could end this. Don’t you see?”

  Kunal walked into the middle of the room and Esha followed. He gestured at all of them, at a loss for words. How did he explain this? Telling Esha was one thing. He had understood her pain and rage. He knew how to speak to her.

  Esha stepped in for him. “I think what the soldier is trying to say is to look at us. We’ve all hurt each other in some way—”

  “Not me—” Aahal said.

  “—or threatened each other.”

  Bhandu nodded with a shrug.

  “And yet, we’re here together. We decided to leave the past behind and build a better future. But that future can’t be built without taking a chance, without real change.”

  There was a beat of silence in the room, a breath of consideration. They might have fought more if not for another interruption at the door.

  Farhan ran in and Alok jumped to his feet, moving toward the boy. “What’s wrong?” Alok asked, looking at Farhan’s face.

  “Nothing,” Farhan said. There was a look of such happiness on his face, it looked as if he’d swallowed the sun itself. “I think we have it, even without the copper scroll. The Drowned City of Gold.

  “I took the map we had started to build—Kunal had the great idea of tracing it out ourselves—and the information gathered from his scouting mission. It matches up here, do you see?” Farhan moved frantically, laying out the parchments over themselves into something that looked like a map.

  “No,” everyone chorused.

  Farhan’s brow furrowed, clearly irritated. Alok reached out a calming hand. “Let me help.” He arranged some of the papers and let Farhan order him about.

  “Now that’s true love,” Arpiya said softly. Laksh’s head cocked to the side.

  “Ordering someone around?” he asked.

  “Letting someone order you around.”

  Kunal chuckled but leaned forward. He was eager to see Farhan’s deduction based off his idea. Could it be true? Could they actually have the location to the City?

  “Here.” Farhan pointed. “It’s transcribed.”

  Esha gasped from her corner. She shot up and whirled around. “The question is, does Yamini know where it is? Will she be waiting for us there? Or get there first?”

  “She has the scroll, but it took us days to decipher it and our care in treating the old material ensured that we wrote nothing on it. None of our maps will be traceable on that,” Farhan said. “That will certainly slow them down. Unless they already had part of it,” he added.

  Kunal’s rising spirits sank at that thought.

  “I checked the reports this morning,” Aahal said from the corner. “There haven’t been any Yavar troop movements in that direction, but we can keep an eye on it.”

  Esha nodded. “It won’t be long before she discovers the location too. The copper scroll won’t hide all of its secrets from her, not for too long, even without our findings.”

  “Now the question is, how do we get it back from her?” Farhan said.

  “Send me,” Aahal said excitedly. “I got a new weapon I’m dying to try out.”

  “Raid on their camp,” Bhandu said.

  “A knife to the heart,” Arpiya said. Laksh gave her a look, but it wasn’t one of disgust.

  “I’m learning so much about you,” he said. “I kind of like it.” She shrugged, a faint blush on her cheeks.

  “No,” Harun said. They all turned to look at him. “She’ll be expecting us to react like that. We can’t try to steal the scroll back. We can only hope to get there first.”

  Farhan gasped. “We’re not going to get the scroll back? Do you know how many centuries of information and knowledge are in that scroll, waiting to be discovered?”

  “We’ll get it back eventually,” Harun said, trying to mollify the now-distraught Farhan.

  Kunal looked between them, a curious look on his face.

  “I have an idea,” he said. “A way to solve all of this. But it won’t be easy.” He looked out at all of them. “And we might have to awaken the gods.”

  Silence reigned for a moment, uncertain and heady.

  Bhandu spoke first, as always. “What in the Moon Lord’s name are you talking about, cat eyes?”

  A knock at the door interrupted Kunal’s answer. Laya pushed into the room without waiting.

  “Laya, we can get the afternoon report later,” Esha said.

  “My lady, I think you’ll want to hear this.”

  Esha’s brow furrowed. “Go on, then.”

  “He’s here,” she said breathlessly. Sweat beaded at her brow. “Vardaan is here at the gates, with an army.”

  Chapter 33

  The room descended into silence. It wasn’t a calm silence, like Kunal normally craved, but full of terrible possibilities.

  He couldn’t believe it, didn’t dare believe it. The faces surrounding him spoke of the same conflict. This was the last thing they needed after Yamini’s attack.

  “What do you mean he’s at the gates?” Bhandu demanded, shattering the fragile atmosphere.

  “Literally at the gates?” Aahal asked, eyes wide as he glanced at the window nearby.

  Laya nodded, sending a nervous glance at Esha, who had still not said a word. “The army caught sight of something early this morning, but it wasn’t until the sun rose that they saw it for what it is. They sent out scouts that just returned, and they let us know at once. Vardaan’s army has us surrounded on the eastern and southern sides. Our western and northern sides are protected, even though the river is weak. We haven’t spotted any ships yet, but the possibility can’t be ignored.”

  “Has General Mayank been notified?” Esha asked finally. Laya nodded. “Good. Bring him and the Senap commander to the war room in ten minutes. We’ll wrap up here.”

  Laya bowed and exited the room.

  “How in the Sun Maiden’s name are we going to get out of the city now?” Reha asked, running a hand through her hair. She looked as if she had aged years in a few days, especially after having to carry Zhyani off in chains. The past few days weighed on them all. “Surrounded. We won�
��t be able to leave. We’ll have to stay and fight.”

  She glanced at Kunal, question in her eyes.

  But Kunal had no answer for her.

  Kunal made his way through the palace, dodging servants and rebels carrying spears and moving buckets of tar and pitch.

  Preparations for the siege were under way across the palace and the citizens of Gwali had been alerted to the danger that lurked outside the city gates. That morning had already seen one attack from Vardaan’s eastern flank, which had left the wall standing but sustaining heavy damages to the guard tower. Lord Mayank had rushed extra troops to the eastern gates and the martial quarter was in controlled chaos.

  Outside the palace ramp were masses of men and women, those who had come to fight and defend their city. The Jansan army was turning no one away. They couldn’t afford to. From the open windows of the palace, shouts could be heard, Senaps and footmen teaching basic defensive and attack positions to those who had no training. In the courtyard, the more advanced fighters were going through the army calls and practicing drills.

  Kunal wished he was down there with the new soldiers, helping them prepare for the battle in front of them. But he had taken on a new role beside Esha, helping strategize and giving her and Harun as much information as possible.

  Lord Mayank had proven to be more adept than Kunal had thought at battle strategy and had already drawn up siege plans for the city. Soldiers and volunteers were beginning to take up sentry shifts on the outer walls of the city, thickly built and fortified again during Vardaan’s time.

  If Vardaan had come looking for a fight, he was going to get one.

  Dissent had been minimal and whatever existed had been handled by the citizens themselves. A number of Vardaan sympathizers had shown up on the palace steps, bound and gagged, trussed up like gifts. That was the power of a good story, Esha said.

  Kunal thought it was more that the people of the city knew what they were fighting for now. Reha had given them hope—they had done the rest.

  Kunal had just returned from a scouting mission out over the battlefields. He had counted about five thousand opposing troops, not a large force but enough to delay them from getting to the Drowned City of Gold in time.