Page 21 of Damned and Broken Gods (Labyrinth of Gods #2)

Into The Thick Of It

LEELA

“ Y ou must eat something,” Araz said. “Even if it’s just some porridge.” He placed a bowl in front of me, and my stomach cramped.

I’d never been this nervous for anything in my life before, not even having to go into school knowing I’d be bullied.

This feeling, this sick, hollow yet full sensation made me want to curl up and shut out the world.

“I can’t. I’ll throw up.”

Araz sighed and lowered himself into the seat beside me at the dinner table. I looked up at him, bathed in morning sunlight, his warm brown skin glowing as if lit from within.

“You’re so pretty.” I pressed my lips together and groaned. “I’m sorry. I’m not sure why I said that.”

“Because it’s true,” he said. “I’m a delight to look at.” He arched a brow, the corner of his mouth lifting.

I snorted a laugh. “How can you joke at a time like this?”

“Who says I’m joking?”

“Araz!” I lightly punched his arm then covered my face. “I don’t know if I can do this.”

He gently pulled my hands away from my cheeks. “Look at me.”

I met his warm gaze. “Go on, say something motivational.”

“No. I want you to tell me exactly what you’re afraid of.”

The tangled web of emotions inside me writhed. What was I afraid of? What exactly was I fucking afraid of? The answer hit me hard, leaving me breathless. “I…I’m afraid of not knowing which way I want this to go.”

His eyebrows pinched. “Go on…”

“Getting ascended without the trials would be easier. It would be faster but…I’m not sure if it’s best, because what if I’m not ready?

And then if I’m not ready, then you’re stuck with me.

And I’m not sure if my not feeling ready is because I’m genuinely not ready or because I’m not ready… Not ready to let you go?”

His frown cleared, his gaze softening. “All right. That makes sense.”

“It does?”

“Yes, Leela, it does. In the most human way. Would you like my advice?”

“Yes, please.”

“Stop thinking and let fate take hold…for now. Whatever the outcome, we shall weather it together.”

“Unless you’re gone.” My eyes heated, and I blinked back tears. “What is wrong with me?”

Araz poured me a cup of tea. “Drink this. I hear that in your world, tea makes everything better.”

“What?”

He stared at me, sincere and earnest.

Laughter bubbled up my throat, but I choked it back and picked up the cup. “Thank you. You’re right. It does.” I sipped the hot, sweet tea and closed my eyes, letting go of the anxiety. Que sera sera and all that.

A light knock on the door pulled me out of my zen moment, and Erabi entered the guest house. No trunks or bags in tow this time.

“Good morning.” She glided over to the table. “I heard about what happened last night.”

I set my cup down. “Look, if you’re going to lecture me about losing my cool, then don’t bother. Chandra already gave me a tongue lashing.”

“No, Leela, I was going to say…thank you. Not just from me, but from Yunimi and all the pari here. You spoke up for us, and we are grateful.”

“Oh…Thank you.”

She took a shuddering breath and clapped her hands.

“Now to business. I will take you to the Sabha, but you will go into the chamber alone. Chandra will be on the Authority council, but he does not have a vote. As regent, he will preside over the proceedings. I can tell you that he has succeeded in garnering some support, namely from Asura Jogyan and Asura Bheema, who are also the nawab of Dharti and Paani house.”

“The people that David and Gillian answer to?”

“Yes, they must have put in a good word for you also.”

“So I have two votes out of six?”

“Yes. Two definite votes. Chandra believes he may have swayed Privan and that Danava Arpita will vote for you to ascend, simply to aggravate the Asura.”

“So four votes,” Araz said. “She’ll pass…”

“That’s the plan,” Erabi said.

Then I’d ascend…Be able to free Araz…My throat tightened, breath coming fast, and it hit me that ascension right now wasn’t what I wanted.

Not at all.

“Right, then.” Erabi clapped her hands together again. “Let me walk you through what will happen.”

I looked over at Araz to see my emotions echoed on his face but only for a moment. He shut it down fast, but it was enough to give me hope. Hope that maybe he wasn’t so eager to leave me after all.

It was time to depart too soon, and for the first time in weeks, Araz wouldn’t be by my side. A portent of things to come? Probably.

“Lock your knees and stand firm,” Araz said. “You can do this. I’ll be right here when it’s over.”

I wanted to hug him goodbye, but it felt awkward to do so with Erabi standing right beside us. “I’ll see you soon.”

I followed Erabi into the midday sun and to the waiting carriage.

It set off as soon as the doors closed, and Erabi sat back in her seat with a smile.

“You were brave last night, and you will be brave today. They aren’t better than you, Leela, just…

different.” She blinked sharply and fixed her gaze out of the window.

“We’ll take the Prakaash Maarg. It will transport us to the bowels of the domain. ”

“Bowels? That doesn’t sound healthy.”

She giggled. “I suppose not. The proper name is the Phavvara, which means fountain. It’s where the throne sits.”

“Wait, the throne isn’t in the palace?”

“No, Leela. The throne is…Well, it’s more than a seat. It’s an entity. An ancient force that predates even the gods, and the domain is built around it.”

The carriage jolted, and light spilled in through the windows. My stomach dipped, but this time, there was no nausea, thank goodness.

I took a breath to get used to the sensation of falling before continuing. “So the throne…are you saying it’s always been up here? In the sky?”

She shook her head. “No, we believe that the deva moved it here before they left. For safety. To ensure that the gods could thrive.”

“The gods need the throne?”

The carriage jolted again, and then regular forward motion took hold.

“I don’t know,” she said. “I’m just quoting what I’ve read in ancient scripture.”

“So pari are allowed access to the libraries here?”

Her eyes flinched. “We have our own records. But never mind that. Look, we’re here.”

I got the impression that she’d slipped up somehow and was backtracking, but all thoughts of pressing her fled when I caught sight of our destination.

We approached a mountain made of black rock that captured the sunlight, using it to cloak itself in a misty sheen of gold. Two sets of golden doors stood partially open, waiting to swallow any who dared enter.

We clattered closer, and the mountain grew until we were in its shadow, bathed in its presence. The carriage came to a halt outside the doors.

“You’ll go in alone,” Erabi said. “Through the grand arch and into the sanctum. The Authority and the throne await you.”

She leaned forward and popped open the door. “I’ll be here when you’re done.”

I took a deep breath and climbed out.

If the palace was the pinnacle of the Shahee Kshetra, then this obsidian stone was the foundation of it.

The domain had sprung from it, growing outward and upward to surround it, to feed off it and protect it.

The truth of it hummed in my bones, every hair on my body trembling in awe as I approached the epic golden doors—two feet thick and twenty feet high.

I slipped through the gap and into gloom lit by soft red light radiating from crimson fractures embedded into the stone, like veins carrying the lifeblood of this place.

It felt like I was stepping into a mouth, onto a stone tongue that gobbled up the sound of my boot falls. The grand arch waited patiently, the space between its pillars a blanket of stars. A veil of some kind?

I had to step through that. My insides trembled. Come on, Leela. You’ve got this.

The crimson threads in the black stone pulsed as I passed as if to say, Yeah, you can do this. We’re with you.

Or maybe the altitude was driving me mad.

A little madness was good, though, especially if it helped me get through this terrifying experience.

I dove into the stars, crossing the threshold while holding my breath and expecting to fall into nothingness, but my boot met solid ground, and the stars melted away, leaving me standing in a domed chamber.

The ceiling was so high it was wreathed in shadows, and in the center of it all was the throne—not a soft, cushy seat kind of throne, but a monument carved from the kind of stone I’d never seen before.

A dark gray stone that glittered as if starlight was trapped inside it.

It rose seamlessly from the ground. The backrest reached for the ceiling, bisected by a crimson artery that sprouted veins which spread like the branches of a tree to cover the structure.

“Come forth!” a voice boomed, making me jump.

Where the fuck had it come from?

Amber light bloomed high up on the wall above the throne to reveal a balcony of figures looking down on me.

The Authority.

Chandra stood in the middle, three Asura on either side of him. “Come forward, blood of Vijayroodra,” he said.

It was too far to read his expression, and his tone gave nothing away.

I forced my feet to move, and this time, the sound of my boot falls echoed, each strike followed by a hush that felt like a sigh.

It was like walking into the lungs of an ancient being, where power hummed against my skin.

My pulse thrummed in my throat, and every breath felt faster, shallower, because it felt as if there wasn’t enough oxygen in the air.

I came to a standstill a few yards from the throne and tipped my head up to the Authority.

“Leela, you are proven to be blood of Vijayroodra. Your royal birthright stands before you, rooted in ancient stone. But you are not of this world. You are not a born god, and there lies the quandary that the Authority must today solve. Before we pass our judgment, is there anything that you wish to say to support your immediate ascension?”

Erabi had warned me about this moment, and I was ready.

“You say that I’ve got royal blood in my veins, that the throne is my birthright, and I would be honored to claim it.

But you’re right, I’m not from this world.

I’m not a born god, and if you choose to ascend me and put me on your throne, then I would need guidance, advice, and education in how your world operates.

I’m willing to learn and adapt if you feel that I’m ready to do so. ”

It was throwing the ball in their court, telling them that I was theirs to command, a speech crafted by Chandra to help me soften the remaining Asura, but I doubted that Rajni would be swayed.

Still, if I already had two votes and swayed at least two more Asura with my speech, then I had a shot.

Silence weighted in possibilities followed my words.

The amber light above dimmed for several beats, the Authority moving like shadows on the balcony, no doubt conferring.

A gentle ringing filled my ears followed by a buzz beneath my skin. A whisper skated my consciousness, words that I didn’t understand but felt, deep in the marrow of me.

A welcome…

The balcony blazed with light once more, and my pulse stuttered. Shit, were they ready? Okay, breathe, Leela.

Chandra stepped forward and rested his hands on the lip of the balcony, his chest rising and falling rapidly. “The votes have been cast. Three in agreement of immediate ascension and three against.”

I stared at him in confusion. “A draw? So what happens now?”

“In the event of a deadlock, the throne casts the final vote.” His eyes were bright in his face with what I read to be triumph.

Shit. If the throne got to decide…was that a shoo-in?

The ground beneath my boots began to vibrate, and the crimson threads mapping the throne’s surface pulsed and glowed brighter.

A mossy, iron-rich scent filled my nose, evoking images of nature and destruction.

Glyphs bloomed to life against the base of the structure, sliding up and over its surface.

Shifting back and forth in silent debate.

And I knew deep in my marrow that the throne was awakening.

Erabi had called it sentient, and I felt the truth of it now. The otherness. The greatness.

Primordial power brushed my skin, gently at first then with more insistence, demanding entry. My knees trembled, and I locked them, standing firm, breathing through my nose to calm myself and allow it in so it could judge me.

My ears began to ring, my skin buzzed, and a whisper filled my head once more—words that were meaningless to my mind but not to my soul.

Welcome.

Recognition.

The sense of ownership.

A calling to move closer.

To touch.

I obeyed, crossing the room to stand before it and reaching out to lay my palm on the armrest. I hadn’t expected it to be warm.

Alien words rose out of the buzz, stilted and without inflection—mechanical grinding sounds, scraping at the soft matter of my brain, forcing themselves deep into my mind to reach the processor that could convert them into words that I’d understand.

I clutched my head, gritting my teeth as the noise finally found a shape I could comprehend.

Blood of the chosen vein. From blood. Of the first. Possibilities. Fates. Entwine. Darkness. One path. Leading. Two paths, ending. Not yet. Not now. Must earn it. We await.

The stone beneath my palm went cold, but the voice lingered, shifting through my thoughts, intrusive and unwanted now. I shook my head, panic swelling in my chest, making it hard to breathe.

“Stop. Go. Please.”

A fist gripped my heart and squeezed harder and harder until tears scoured the inside of my eyelids.

“Please…”

Go…

The presence released me, falling away with a sigh, leaving me with legs like jelly and the sensation that I’d just been touched by something more than divine. More than primordial. Something that had no name, only existence.

With the buzz gone, the silence was too loud, pressing against my senses like a physical force.

Chandra broke it, his voice like an arrow to my spine. “It is done. The throne has cast its vote. You will not ascend without trial. To claim the seat, you must earn it.”

Earn it…

Nani’s voice filled my mind. Nothing easy is truly worth it unless earned . The fruit of hard labor is always sweetest .

I closed my eyes and felt her presence around me. Grounding me and championing me. But the feeling was an illusion. Her beautiful soul was trapped somewhere I couldn’t free it from. Yet.

But I would.

I’d earn my ascension, hunt down every fucking pishachas, and free her. Her and Pashim, and every other innocent soul.

I was going back to Prashikshan. Back to my training to take the labyrinth.

Back to Araz.

I wasn’t mad about it. Not one bit.

I was fucking determined.