Page 6 of Damned and Broken Gods (Labyrinth of Gods #2)

Eben, the tree entity, kept track of all the demigods’ performances based on what the ankh reported. So whoever had occupied this room would have been at the top of the scoreboard and closest to being ready to take the labyrinth.

“Let me guess,” Araz said. “This room was Bina’s.”

My heart sank as I’d come to the same conclusion.

“Bina understands why she was moved,” Ione says.

Yeah, but she obviously didn’t agree with it, and why should she? This was totally unfair. “Look, I know that you think you’re helping me, but taking a room from a promising demigod to give to a newbie isn’t helping anyone. It makes me look like an entitled bitch, which I’m not.”

“You’re royal,” Ione said as if that was enough.

“So I’m told, but I don’t feel royal. I’m a demigod in training, like everyone else, and until it’s decided otherwise, I’d like to be treated as such, which means no fancy room that I haven’t earned.”

Her eyebrows pinched. “You’re a descendant of Vijayroodra, our late king. You must get accustomed to special treatment. Once you’re moved to the royal domain, your rooms will be ten times larger and much more opulent than anything we have to offer here.”

My chest felt tighter at her words. “Yes, once I get moved. But not here. Not now.” I crossed to the door. “Please give Bina back her quarters and put me with the other newbies where I belong.”

“Guru Chandra was clear that you be given the best quarters.”

I sighed. “I’ll explain my preference to him when I see him. Now please, can we go? I don’t want this room.” I hurried out of the beautiful sitting room, leaving the scent of roses behind.

Asura Ione joined me in the corridor, a small smile playing on her lips. “You may not feel like a royal, Leela, but you have the Vijayroodra sense of justice. Now come along. Let’s put this situation to rights.”

She strode off down the corridor before I could ask her to elaborate on her sense of justice comment. Araz pressed his hand to the small of my back, urging me to follow.

“You did the right thing,” he said, his voice low.

“Yeah, I know, but it was a really nice room.”

A slow rolling sound teased my senses, and it took a moment for me to recognize it as laughter. My stern, forbidding drohi was chuckling, and I’d evoked that sound.

I’d have to endeavor to do it again.

Soon.

The second room Asura Ione took us to was much smaller. The sitting room consisted of one battered sofa, a small table with two chairs, and a narrow window looking out onto the yard between our house and water house.

“I’ll leave you to get settled,” she said. “The kitchen and dining area is on the first floor. You can use it whenever you wish.”

She left, closing the door behind her. “This is more like it,” Araz said, the corner of his mouth lifting.

So he was capable of humor. Good to know. “We’d best unpack.”

There was only one bedroom, but there were two beds, one clearly larger than the other, designed to hold a drohi. There were two wardrobes, though, one on each side of the room, and a screen that could be pulled to separate the room into two if needed.

Araz held up my bag. “I can unpack for you if you like.”

It’s what the drohi did for their demigods. Service. I didn’t like it, and I didn’t want it. “Look, I know we’ve got to keep up appearances when around others, but I can do things for myself when we’re alone. I want to.”

He nodded and handed me my bag. I set it on the bed and wandered into the bathroom to find an actual tub, as well as a shower, which would be perfect for soaking away the aches and pains of training rather than having to go to the hot springs and…

What was I doing? If Guru Chandra succeeded in advocating for me, then I wouldn’t be coming back here after the Sabha. There would be no training and no Araz.

A pit opened inside me at the thought of being parted from him.

I took a deep breath to dispel the feeling because that’s all it was.

A feeling that the bond was heightening.

A potential path that could be taken. The only reason I should be worried about my time with Araz being cut short was because it would mean I’d have less time to convince him to abandon his war plan.

“Leela?” Araz called from the siting room. “We have visitors.”

I hurried into the sitting room to find Dharma and Chaya crowding the doorway. “We’re next door,” Dharma said.

“I heard you rejected the champions chamber,” Chaya said with a smile. “I had a feeling you would.”

I shrugged. “I didn’t earn it.”

“Bina will be happy to get it back,” Dharma said. “I heard she was pissed when Ione asked her to move out of it.”

“We surmised as much,” Araz said.

I glanced into the corridor behind them. “Where are the others?”

“Joe and Sylvie are on the second floor,” Dharma said.

“Have you seen Priti?”

“Not yet, but she promised to pop over later this evening. We have a week off before training resumes and we prep for the next test, and I, for one, am going to make the most of the downtime!”

“We should start preparing the evening meal,” Araz said to Chaya.

“Good idea.” Chaya dropped a kiss on Dharma’s head. “I’ll see you downstairs in a little while.”

Dharma looked up at her, a soft smile on her face.

The love between them was a palpable force, and longing fluttered to life inside me. My gaze flicked to Araz to find him watching me, an indecipherable expression on his face. “Food should be ready in an hour,” he said.

He followed Chaya from the room.

Dharma stepped in and closed the door behind her. “Is everything okay between you two?”

I nodded. “Yeah. We’re good.”

She searched my face. “He lost it earlier, when the Rak attacked you.”

My stomach fluttered. “He did?”

“Yeah, it was kinda epic. I think he has genuine feelings for you, Leela. I know how much Pashim meant to you, but maybe you should give Araz another chance. You are bonded, after all.”

It was more complex than that, but I couldn’t explain it to her, not without betraying Araz’s confidence and going back on my word not to reveal the truth about how to free a drohi.

So I settled for smiling and nodding, ignoring the ache that Pashim’s name evoked in my heart, because if I allowed myself to think too deeply, to feel too much, then I’d fall apart.

His death was a raw, open wound that would take forever to heal.

“Oh shit, I’ve upset you.” Dharma sighed. “I’m sorry.”

“I’m fine.” I blinked back tears, blew out a breath, and summoned a smile. “Let’s go find Joe and Sylvie. We have a week of downtime to plan.”

That is, if I got to stay here that long.