“Thief! Thief!” he shouted, his face purple.
“Wait a minute! Take the bag!” I thrust it at the man. “I didn’t steal anything from you! I was just wondering why anyone would need chips if they were running from a demon. I mean, wouldn’t that be motivation enough?”
“But they’re vinegar and chili flavored!” he said, as if this explained it all. Then his face turned purple again and he continued to shout. “Thief! Thief! You’re part of that band that stole my moustache last week!”
Mr. Madan Mohan, Esquire, yelled so much that a small crowd gathered. I tried hard not to laugh.
“This girl has stolen my moustache!” The man pointed a spindly finger at me.
A portly police constable pushed his way forward of the group. “Brother Madan, calm yourself. When did this theft occur?”
“Last week!” the little man shouted. “Yesterday! Tomorrow!” With each word, his moustache twitched and danced.
The crowd rumbled, and I felt my amusement congeal into fear. I heard someone hiss the word “stranger.”
The constable wrote down the shopkeeper’s accusations in a tiny notebook. In fact, the notebook was so tiny, he had to keep flipping pages with each and every word he wrote. “Last”—flip—“week”—flip—“yesterday”—flip—“tomorrow.” He mouthed the words as he wrote, sounding them out.
“Wait a minute!” I protested. “No one stole it—your moustache is right on your face!” But my heart was starting to gallop. What was the punishment for theft in this place? Jail? Whipping? Being forced to eat gross snack foods? Something worse?
“Don’t believe her!” The little man shook his fist. “She’s a practiced liar! She came to sell me her rakkhosh-slaying invention!”
“I didn’t!” I protested. “I wanted to see your invention!”
“You see? A liar through and through! First she tells me she doesn’t like vinegar and chili chips and now that my moustache is on my face!”
“You don’t like vinegar and chili chips?” The constable took a step toward me. I put my hands up, and tried to back away, but the people behind me pushed me forward.
“Look!” a shrill voice piped up from the crowd. It was a round-eyed boy in too-big clothes, and he pointed at the shopkeeper. “His moustache is on his face!”
It was like a miracle.
The shopkeeper touched his considerable facial hair. “So it is! She must have snuck it back when I wasn’t looking!”
The police constable frowned. “Consider this a warning, young lady! Moustache theft is a serious crime!”
Mr. Madan Mohan, Esquire, was making witchy fingers in my direction, but I ignored him, and eventually he started back for his shop. He placed the bag of chips at the end of the fishing line and once again chased it until he was out of sight.
The crowd that had formed around me began to thin. I took a deep breath, willing my heart to calm down. That was a close one.
Someone tugged at my elbow. “You are wanting something to help you fight a rakkhosh?” It was the boy with the big eyes. Just like his eyes swam in his face, his slim body swam in someone else’s enormous shirt and pants. “Come into my father’s shop, please.”
He led me to a stall filled with weapons of every variety. There were rows of glittering swords, their handles inlaid with scrollwork and precious jewels. I picked up one, but it was so heavy it practically bent my wrist all the way back. Remembering how hard it was to control Prince Lal’s weapon, I returned it to the rack.
“What are these?” I pointed to a glass shelf full of bottles and powders.
“Hot oil for pouring in a demon’s ear,” the boy explained. “Snuff for making it sneeze. A tack to put on a sitting chair. Tricky chewing gum to glue its jaws together.”
I didn’t want to ever again get close enough to a rakkhosh to pour oil in its ear or put a tack on its chair. And how I was supposed to convince one to chew gum, I wasn’t sure at all.
“What about these?” I ran my hand over a beautiful bow and a set of arrows of light ash. When I pulled it, the string of the bow sang a note pure as a bell.
“Sister, you are knowing to use a bow and arrow?”
I nodded. Archery was something they did teach at school. And despite that unfortunate accident—where I hit Mr. Taylor, the assistant gym teacher, in the thigh with an arrow—I actually loved it. Whenever we were given a choice between sports, I always chose archery. When everyone else was practicing their spikes, lobs, or dribbling, I’d been practicing aiming an arrow at a target. (And trying not to injure any more teachers, no matter how tempting.)
The bow and arrows came with a featherlight quiver I slung over my shoulder next to my backpack.
“What are these?” My attention was captured by a pair of cuffs with a swirling snake-shaped design on them. The big white orb in the snake’s mouth made it look like the serpent was trying to swallow the moon. I couldn’t take my eyes off them.
“Those are for protecting an archer’s arms from the bow.” The boy glanced at my arm. Was he staring at my scar? “There is a legend …”
I made a quick gesture I’d perfected from years of being stared at by curious kids. I turned my right side away from him, tugging the T-shirt sleeve down.
“I’ll take them all.”
I was just paying for the weapon and cuffs with some more of Ma’s rupees when a familiar whinny made me turn around.
“Snowy!” I threw my arms around the winged horse’s neck. He chewed on my shoulder, which I took to mean he was glad to see me too.
“Just Kiran, we were so worried!” Lal bowed low. “We are so delighted you are alive!”
I felt all fizzy soda-pop on the inside. It was good to see some familiar faces.
“It took you long enough!” Neel muttered. But underneath his glowering brows, I could see a hint of a smile.
All right, I’d made it past the transit officer, bought a bow and arrows, and finally found my princely tour guides. Time to get this rescue on the road!
It is an excellent weapon,” Lal said, handling my new purchase. “The bow is supple but strong, and these arrows will fly true.”
Lal’s words made the whole warrior-princess thing super real. I might be good at aiming at a target during gym, but would I be able to fight off another real-life demon? If I was honest with myself, the answer was yes. Growing up, I’d always had the feeling there was something special out there, something more, with my name on it. That it would involve battling rakkhosh, I never would have guessed. But still, it was like my heart had been caged up this whole time, and now I had finally set it free to beat as loud and brave as it wanted.
“Those armbands.” Lal touched the snake cuffs on my forearms. Then I saw his eyes widen as he spotted my scar peeking out from under my T-shirt. “Princess, the design—”
But Neel cut him off. “There’s one other thing we’ll need before we go.”
“My parents …” I began.
“We suspect they have been taken to a well of dark energy—the place from where all rakkhosh originate,” said Lal with a reassuring hand on my shoulder.
“Ma said something about the dark and terrible place where spells end,” I remembered aloud.
“They should be safe there for a little while,” Lal continued. “But in the meantime, we must make sure that we are well prepared with all we need.”
I didn’t have time to ask more questions, because Neel was urging us along. He led us toward a dingy little stall all the way at the end of the market. As we approached it, the horses fought their harnesses and stomped their feet. Maybe I was imagining it, but it was as if I could feel the fear coming off their skin in waves.
“I know how you feel, buddy,” I whispered into Snowy’s ear. The animal rolled its eyes back and shed a few feathers in its agitation.
“What is this place?” I asked Lal.
“My brother is determined to make a purchase from Chhaya,” Lal said as he tried to control an increasingly aggressive
Midnight, “the purveyor of shadows.”
The shelves lining the walls of the little shop were covered in row after row of bottles. They were large, small, round, slim, some in deep colors of red and blue and green, others in clear glass, still others frothing and bubbling under their lids.
An old woman in a tattered sari stood behind the counter, leaning on a knobby cane.
“Why are you here, my prince?” she hissed. “Surely not for what I am selling!”
“Chhaya Devi.” Prince Neelkamal joined his hands together before her in a gesture of respect. He added the word devi, which means “goddess,” at the end of her name—so that her name became “the shadow goddess.”
I hung back with Lal, helping him control the skittish horses. I caressed Snowy’s nose, whispering to him. He exhaled puffs of hot air on my hand, while opening then folding his wings, as if he wasn’t sure whether to fly away without us.
The old crone peered at Neel with one sharp eye. The woman’s other eye, rheumy and diseased, focused directly at me. I could feel her gaze boring into the mark on my arm.
“You have brought this princess back home from exile?”
Neel nodded. “We’re going to face many challenges, and I think we might need help from both the darkness and the light.”
My skin broke out in goose bumps. I hardly noticed Snowy chewing nervously on a strand of my hair.
“That is your mistake, Prince! And that will be your downfall!” the crone snapped, waving her cane. “You think of good and bad as something separate? There is no darkness without light, no light without darkness.” The old woman coughed—a horrible, hacking sound. When she caught her breath again, she continued, “Unless you accept that, you will fail in this quest, my crown prince.”
“You know I’m not—” Neel began, but the crone cut him off.
“I know no such thing.”
Next to me, Lal took in a shaky breath. His face was pale and now he looked as frightened as the horses. Even though I didn’t know what worried him, it was my turn to pat him reassuringly on the shoulder.
“You must see and accept the face of your shadow self, but never lose yourself in the darkness,” the old woman was saying. “If you do that, no one can fetch you back.”
Neel looked a little shaken by the crone’s words. “I won’t … I’m not … I mean …” He snuck a look in my direction. “I understand.”
“You understand nothing! You are like one forever asleep in your selfish misery!” she spat. “But you will understand before this quest is over. You will awake and see or perish trying!” The old woman hobbled over to a tiny purple vial with a pointed cork. The vial seemed to be full of a pulsating, swirling energy.
“Take this shadow—it took me weeks to capture the spirit of the old banyan tree. Its roots are many and deep, its branches curious and reaching.” She cackled to herself. “But Chhaya is patient, more patient even than the oldest tree in the oldest grove. I waited until the banyan’s shadow began to creep out over the earth. And then I caught it in my bottle!”
Catching the spirits of trees in bottles? Visiting the goddess of shadows? I shivered. I was definitely not in New Jersey anymore.
The old woman handed the vial to Neel, who seemed careful not to touch it. He wrapped it in a cloth pulled out of his pocket and tucked it away again.
“How much shall I give you?”
“Do not talk to me about money!” the old woman spat. “You know what I want in return.”
Lal gasped. “No, in the name of our royal father, please don’t promise it!”
Neel didn’t even acknowledge his brother’s presence. “I promise,” he said to the crone. But the fist by Neel’s side was clenching and unclenching.
Then Neel turned on his heel and strode toward us. “Close your mouths; you don’t want mosquitoes to fly in, do you?” he snapped, grabbing Midnight’s reigns. “Let’s go.”
We were all quiet. I mounted Snowy, sitting in front of Lal like I’d done before. Neel gave me a hard stare, but said nothing. I’d never known it was possible for someone to look both angry and lonely, but that’s how he looked to me.
The horses seemed more than willing to take off after our visit to the merchant of shadows. They beat their strong wings on the wind, as if to put as much distance as possible between them and the old woman’s shop.
I was feeling impatient now. We’d gotten to the transit corridor; I’d made my way past the transit officer and managed to find Neel and Lal in the bazaar. It was time to get on with my goal: to find my parents in this dark well thingy and bring them home.
“Where is this place my parents are trapped?” I asked over my shoulder as soon as we were airborne. “And how do I get them out?”
“To tell you the truth, um, Princess, I mean, um, Just Kiran, from the point of view of exact latitude and longitude, calculating for planetary rotation and, of course, head- and tailwinds …” Lal hesitated.
I had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. Worse than when I threw up corn dogs at the amusement park. And it wasn’t the altitude.
“Spit it out,” I shouted over the wind.
“Well, the truth is, we don’t exactly know where your parents are.”
“What the what?” I snapped around so fast I almost slipped off Snowy’s back. “You told me they were in that demon wellspring!”
Lal grabbed my arm and the horse adjusted itself to stop me from almost plummeting to my doom for the second time in two days.
“Yes, erm, but, well, ah.” Lal had the grace to blush. “That’s probably true. Only, there are a lot of, um, such wells all over the kingdom and beyond.”
“Are you kidding me?” My mind was racing. The princes had lied to me—they lied!
“I am terribly regretful … we let you believe we knew more precisely where they were,” Lal mumbled. “We know they are somewhere here in the Kingdom Beyond Seven Oceans and Thirteen Rivers. Or perhaps very near. We’ll … well, we will just need a bit of help finding the exact location.”
“Is that so? And why should I believe you?”
Neel pulled Midnight next to us. “Come on, stop being such a—”
I shouted over him, poison daggers in every word, “Don’t even think about calling me a 2-D!” I was so angry, I could practically feel the fangs coming out.
“Whoa!” Neel countered. “Look who’s getting her turban in a bunch.”
“I’m not wearing a turban, or hadn’t you noticed?” I snapped back.
Neel looked over at my long hair, which was, as usual, in pinned braids at the back of my neck. “I noticed.”
I felt my cheeks start to burn. I looked away from Neel, but not before I saw that one evil eyebrow rise. Argh, he was impossible!
Neel cleared his voice. “Look, we don’t exactly know where they are, but we’re going somewhere we can find out.”
“Where’s that?”
Lal pointed to the ground below. “Home!”
We were far away from the green valley with its strange bazaar, and had arrived in a place equally as breathtaking. There was a forest to our left, with cackling monkeys and cawing birds. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a herd of brown-and-white-dappled deer run by. Rising majestically to our right was the most awesome palace I had ever seen—not that I’d seen any in real life, but it was more beautiful than any movie or storybook castle. Its spires were golden, studded with diamonds, sapphires, and rubies. Its walls were silver and bronze, with carved decorations in them. Each carved panel on the palace walls seemed to tell its own story. Scenes showed a festival, a wedding, and … yup. Two turbaned princes setting off on a journey mounted on their winged horses.
“We’ve got to find Minister Tuni. He’ll probably have some useful ideas about where we should start looking for Just Kiran’s parents.” Lal’s words melted me a little. Even though he’d lied, he was obviously still willing to help me find my family.
“Let’s, ah, get the horses settled first.” This suggestion of
Neel’s was made with a funny, teasing tone.
“If you insist, Brother.” I was curious to see Lal squirming a little.
I wasn’t sure what that was about, but Snowy and Midnight seemed to like the idea. As soon as we dismounted, they trotted off in the direction of what must have been the palace stables. The stables were like twenty times nicer than my house—even before it got totaled by a demon with a sinus infection. The walls were made of bronze, with pillars of marble, and images of flying horses were carved into the outer walls.
“Hurry, Princess! I wanna show you my favorite place in all our kingdom!” Lal dashed off, forgetting at last to act like a fancy prince.
Even though I was still annoyed at him, I couldn’t help smiling. Unlike his brother, it was so easy to see what Lal was feeling. And right now, the handsome prince was happy to be home.
“Come on, he wants you to meet Mati.” Neel frowned at me as he said this, as if irritated that I was still there. At that, all my fear and worry transformed back into anger.
“So do you ever smile?”
Neel raised that eyebrow again. “Only when I have something to smile about.”
He really should change his name to Mr. Smirky Cool Guy, I thought. If Lal was always trying to be princely and proper, at least he was actually nice underneath that fake accent. Neel, on the other hand, kept trying to make himself unlikeable. And boy, was he doing a good job of it.
“You really think highly of yourself, huh?”
“You’re really nosy all the time, huh?” Neel countered.
“I wouldn’t call wanting to know the truth about where we’re going or where my parents are being nosy.” I felt my face heating up and my voice rising. “You’re the ones who lied to me.”
“Well, I’m so sorry this rescue isn’t going exactly according to your schedule, Princess. Would you rather we just didn’t help you and let you get on your way alone?”
“You know that’s not what I meant!” I snapped. “But you could have told me the truth back in New Jersey!”
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