Page 27 of Queen of Shadows and Ruin (The Nightfire Quartet #4)

TWENTY-SIX

It took two more days for Kishore to summon Zarya and Rabin for the rebinding of their Bandhan. He’d asked them to wear something to give him free access to their backs, chests, and shoulders, so they’d opted for robes layered over their undergarments.

“Ready?” Zarya asked as she tied up her hair to get it out of the way.

“The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can get out of here,” Rabin answered. She watched him pull his robe over his shoulders and tie it loosely at his waist.

“Rabin…”

He furrowed his brows, obviously predicting what she’d say next.

They’d had this argument several times already.

Zarya wanted to return to Ishaan but was desperate to find the tower from her dream. The longer their search went on, the more skeptical Rabin became. She couldn’t blame him, but something told her it was real.

A knock came at the door, and Urvi slipped inside with fresh towels for the bathroom.

“Describe it one more time,” Rabin said, definitely humoring her at this point. She did it, anyway, crossing the room to retrieve the notebook where she’d started recording everything. Her mind had become a muddled wash with all her strange visions and dreams.

Images of her mother contrasted with flashes of a war-torn Rahajhan and the sparkling city of Taaranas. It was becoming harder and harder to separate them, and she’d taken to writing everything down.

She read out her list while Rabin listened intently. She appreciated that he was still trying despite the fact he didn’t quite believe this.

“Excuse me,” came a soft voice after she’d recited her list from top to bottom. Urvi stood in the bathroom doorway, wringing her hands. “I think I might know the place you’re describing.”

Zarya nearly dropped her notepad. “You do?”

“I believe it’s in the vanshaj wing of the castle.”

Zarya clutched the notebook to her chest. They hadn’t searched there yet.

“It is?”

“I believe so,” she answered. “It reminds me of a spot I’ve passed a few times. It isn’t a place anyone goes to often.”

Zarya’s heart began thumping harder at those words.

“Do you think it would be okay to take us there?”

Urvi shook her head. “No, I couldn’t. It’s haunted.”

When Zarya was about to press, she added, “But I can tell you where it is.”

“Yes,” she breathed. “Please.”

“Zarya,” came Rabin’s stern voice. “I don’t know about this.”

“Please, let’s just look. I promise to drop it if we don’t find her there.”

Rabin’s jaw firmed before he dipped his chin. “Fine.”

“What do you mean, it’s haunted?” Zarya asked a moment later, curious about the second half of Urvi’s comment.

She shook her head. “Sometimes, noises come from the corridor. Wailing. Crying. It sounds like ghosts. It’s why so few are willing to pass anywhere near there.”

“But you do?”

“I have no choice when my duties take me that way, but I avoid it as much as possible.” Urvi visibly shivered.

Ghosts. Crying and wailing.

Or maybe just a woman in pain?

“Okay, please tell me where to find it?”

Urvi drew a picture with arrows, pointing to the spot, and Zarya studied it.

“Let’s go right now,” she said to Rabin.

“We’re supposed to meet the king.”

“Right.” She turned to Urvi. “Would you let His Majesty know that we got held up for a few minutes, but we’re on our way?”

“Of course,” Urvi said. “But…be careful.”

“Thank you,” Zarya answered. “Please don’t tell him where we are.”

Urvi opened her mouth and then closed it. “I’m not sure I can lie to His Majesty.” Her gaze slid to Rabin and back to Zarya.

“It’s okay,” Zarya said. “This is a safe space. You can be honest with us. We would never do anything to get you in trouble.”

“His Majesty has a way of finding out the truth. All the servants agree. Any time they’ve tried to lie about something, he knows .”

Zarya huffed out a breath. She wasn’t all that surprised to hear it.

“Okay, just do your best, and we’ll be as quick as possible.”

“We could do it after,” Rabin said, and she shook her head.

“I can’t. I need to see now.”

“Okay,” he replied, probably knowing that would be her answer. “Then let’s go.”

They headed for the vanshaj wing, using Urvi’s drawing as a guide through the twisting, narrow corridors. Her map wasn’t quite to scale, and the wing was much larger than Zarya had initially imagined.

She kept getting lost and having to double back while Rabin quietly followed her.

She stopped in the middle of a hall and turned around as he approached her. “I’m worried about Urvi,” she said. “What if he catches her in a lie? You saw how scared she was.”

“We should go,” he said, a warm hand settling on her lower back.

“I want to keep looking for a little longer. Would you go and check on her?”

His mouth firmed into a hard line.

“I’ll be fine,” she promised. “Please? It would make me feel better.”

“I’d prefer not to leave you.”

She laid a hand on his bicep and squeezed. “I’ll look for exactly ten more minutes, and if I don’t find anything else, I’ll come back, okay? I don’t want her getting in trouble because of us.”

His gaze narrowed before he shook his head. “Ten minutes. You swear?”

She held up a hand in a promise. “I swear.”

He looked around the hall, peering left and right. “Okay,” he said. “I’ll see you soon.”

He leaned down to peck her on the cheek, then turned to walk away. Zarya watched until he rounded a corner and then resumed her search.

He didn’t like it, but Rabin headed towards Abishek’s library. He trusted Zarya would keep her word, but this mystery was consuming her, and he worried that she’d do something reckless.

But they couldn’t abandon Urvi to the king for the sake of their lies.

He strode through the halls, passing tall arched windows opening to the sky. The blizzard continued, dusting the world with ice and driving snow. He was more than ready to leave. It was strange how quickly Ishaan had started feeling like home when for so long he’d felt sure his place was in Andhera. Maybe it was Zarya. Or maybe it was the resistance and fighting for something he’d always believed in. Likely a little of both.

He turned into the hall leading towards Abishek’s study and strode down its length. The sentries bowed as he entered. Inside, he found Abishek and Kishore conferring in low voices at the worktable. At his entrance, they both looked up.

“Where’s Zarya?” Abishek asked.

“She’s on her way,” he answered. Rabin scanned the room for Urvi. “Someone should have told you.”

Abishek nodded. “Yes. I was informed.”

His gaze slid to the corner, where Urvi sat crouched against the wall with her arms wrapped around her legs and tears staining her cheeks. She looked at Rabin with a worried expression in her glassy gaze.

Rabin turned to the king with his senses firing in warning. “What’s going on?”

The king faced him and approached on slow steps, his gaze raking Rabin from head to toe.

“What is she looking for, Rabindranath?” Abishek asked, his voice dropping to a menacing whisper. “What does she seek in the vanshaj wing? What has she been looking for the last few days?”

Rabin shook his head, trying to think of a lie.

Abishek watched him with a calm expression, and it was then Rabin knew Zarya hadn’t been dreaming at all. Asha was in the castle, and if Abishek didn’t already know Zarya had learned his secret, he was about to find out.

“Nothing,” Rabin said. “She hasn’t been looking for anything. She only went to speak with some vanshaj interested in hearing more about the Rising Phoenix.”

Abishek chuckled with a dry, cold sound. “The resistance. Yes, my noble daughter and her precious vanshaj.”

Rabin didn’t care for the mocking tone in his words nor what he was implying about Zarya, but he bit his tongue because something was very, very wrong. “Why are you acting so strangely? She’ll be here in a moment, and we can finish this thing and be on our way.”

The king’s expression turned hard. “Yes, you’re both so eager to escape me, aren’t you?”

Rabin shook his head. “That’s not…”

“I took you in, rescued you from death, nursed you back to health, and gave you everything.”

Rabin shook his head again. “I don’t…”

The king took another step towards him. “And then you defied me. Not only bonding to but marrying my daughter after I expressly forbade it. You’ve ruined everything.”

Cold fire entered the king’s eyes as Rabin took a step back. He’d arrived without weapons or armor—just as he’d been asked.

“It wasn’t your decision to make,” Rabin said. “She’s a grown woman, and I love her.”

“Did you think I’d approve of my own flesh and blood mating with a rakshasa ?”

Rabin’s blood turned sluggish at the venom in the king’s words.

“It was her decision,” he finally answered, hating the uncertainty in his voice.

Abishek shook his head with a dark laugh. “Rabindranath, I have only one heir, and I would rather die than see anyone but an Aazheri on my throne.”

Those words hurt. The king had always been protective of Aazheri magic, but he’d claimed so many times that he loved Rabin like a son.

“Oh,” the king said, perhaps reading his expression. “You’re wondering why you aren’t an exception? You thought you were family ?”

Rabin took a step back. “Aren’t I?”

Abishek clasped his hands behind his back. “I can see why you think so,” he said. “But I needed to earn your loyalty, didn’t I?”

Rabin backed up another step. “I don’t understand.”

“No, I don’t suppose you would. I did my job well.”

“What… job?”

Abishek said nothing as the door to the study opened, and a flood of soldiers filed into the room. The world around him slowed as Rabin took in his surroundings. He studied the guards. The men and women he’d trained with and fought alongside over the years. They stood in a line looking straight through him.

A moment later, Ekaja entered, her long legs carrying her with purpose.

He stared at her. At the blank expression on her face. It took her a moment to meet his eyes. When she finally did, all he saw was darkness. All he saw was the cold certainty of her duty.

“She’s somewhere in the vanshaj wing,” Abishek told Ekaja. “ Find her.”

“What’s going on?” Rabin snarled. “If you touch her…”

Abishek chuckled as he shook his head. “He warned you, didn’t he? Row didn’t have the exact flavor of it right, but he did have the meat of it. And you all dismissed him.”

Rabin’s blood ran cold, and his limbs began to tremble as the reality of his situation slowly sunk in.

“What are you planning?” Rabin demanded.

Abishek ignored the question and gestured to Ekaja, who rattled off a set of orders to her guards to search the castle for Zarya.

“ Kaj ,” Rabin said. “How could you do this to me?”

He noticed her shoulders stiffen as she slowly turned to face him.

“He is my king. He gave me my life, too.” A small breath blew past her lips. “Unlike you, I do as he orders.”

Her voice was flat and devoid of emotion.

“Ekaja,” he whispered as his heart cracked with a betrayal he’d never expected.

The soldiers he’d trusted—ones he called friends—circled closer as a noose tightened around him. He couldn’t seem to move. He was paralyzed, stuck in the churning darkness of his mistakes.

He’d trained his entire life and never frozen in the face of a battle. He knew he should be doing something, but his brain wouldn’t catch up with his limbs.

The guards closed in, and all he could hear was white noise. His gaze jumped from Abishek to Ekaja and back again. He’d trusted them. He’d put his faith in them. He’d brought Zarya here, sure that she would be safe.

What was happening? Why couldn’t he say or do anything?

“Tie him up,” he heard Abishek say. “As soon as we find the girl, we can begin.”