Page 60 of Queen of Shadows and Ruin (The Nightfire Quartet #4)

FIFTY-NINE

Zarya and Rabin were feeling more themselves a few days later. They’d heard about Dishani’s banishment, as well as the arrests of the Jadugara. Miraan was busy drawing up new laws that would see the vanshaj freed for good.

She was trying to reconcile how she hadn’t been able to confront her half-sister, but perhaps it was for the best. Zarya didn’t need a reminder of the cruelty she’d suffered thanks to Dishani. It was time to forget her, and Zarya truly hoped the former princess would find happiness despite everything.

They were eating lunch in their room while Row paced back and forth, muttering to himself. Several members of the queensguard had secretly traveled to Andhera days ago to retrieve Asha—assuming she was still alive.

Zarya wrapped her hand around the stone hanging from her neck. Yasen had returned it after Miraan recovered it from Dishani. She’d sobbed uncontrollably as Rabin had clasped it around her neck, and now she couldn’t stop touching it.

Zarya wished she could have joined the mission to retrieve Asha, but she couldn’t travel yet. Row had been split between staying with Zarya and finding the love of his life. Zarya had insisted he go, but in the end, he couldn’t bring himself to leave her side.

Now he anxiously waited, knowing the queensguard was due back at any minute.

“Come and have lunch,” Zarya insisted. He’d barely eaten in days. While she’d been touched that he’d wanted to take care of her, he was also driving her a little nuts.

A knock came at the door twenty minutes later, and Yasen entered. Row stopped in his tracks with a sharp breath.

“They’re back,” Yasen said before he turned to Rabin. “You should know that Ekaja came, too. She insisted.”

Rabin grunted and then nodded before pushing his chair back from the table. He hadn’t said much about her betrayal, but Zarya could tell it was eating at him.

Zarya also stood as Row turned, and their gazes held.

This was it—the moment when they’d all finally be reunited. Ambition and fear had torn them apart, but soon they’d be together again.

Never in her wildest dreams did Zarya ever imagine this might happen.

Never did she imagine that she’d find both a father and a mother at the end of this.

She crossed the room and held out her hand. He took it and inhaled a deep breath.

“She isn’t how you remember her,” Zarya warned. “Don’t expect the woman you knew.”

He nodded. “I’m sure she’s in there somewhere.”

They all followed Yasen through the palace and into the queen’s wing. All of Dishani’s things had been removed, and Zarya’s heart beat faster, knowing they’d placed her in here. But it made sense.

Despite everything, this was where she belonged.

She was still Gi’ana’s true queen.

Queensguards flanked the doorway, and as Zarya, Row, and Rabin approached, they immediately opened a door to allow them inside.

The room was dim, with the curtains drawn and dozens of servants scattered about. In the center of the room sat a long, curved divan, and on it was a woman—Asha, her mother .

She looked much healthier already; Zarya could only assume Ekaja was responsible for that.

At their entrance, Asha looked up. She was surrounded by her family, who glanced at Row and Zarya and then moved away to allow them a chance to speak with the queen. Zarya nodded a thank you and then turned to her mother.

Her breath caught at the reflection in her dark brown eyes. It felt like she could see lifetimes buried in their depths. Pain and loss and sorrow. But also…hope.

Asha spotted Row first. So many emotions flashed across her expression as she sat up straighter and blinked several times as if willing the sight to be real.

Zarya’s chest squeezed.

So many people had told her how much she looked like Asha, but now she really saw it. Cleaned up without blood and dirt covering her face, Asha truly was Zarya’s near mirror image.

“Row,” Asha whispered on a breath that seemed to echo all the years they’d been separated.

Zarya watched him. This man who’d been her father. He couldn’t seem to move as he stared at Asha like she’d risen from the ashes. In a way, she had.

Asha was crying, tears coating her face. “I never thought I’d see you again.”

Zarya moved closer to Row and gave him a little nudge.

That snapped him back to reality.

“Asha,” he said, his voice cracking. “My love. My heart.”

He crossed the room and fell to his knees, laying his head on her lap and wrapping his arms around her waist. She dropped her head to his, her shoulders trembling.

He was sobbing. She was sobbing. Almost everyone in the room was sobbing.

“I searched for you,” Row gasped. “For twenty years, I looked for you. I almost gave up hope.” They shook as they clung to one another. “I had no idea he had you,” he continued. “I’m so sorry. I should have found you.”

“It wasn’t your fault,” she whispered. “I never gave up hope I’d see you again.”

Zarya met the gazes of the Madans: her half-siblings and Kabir. In amongst the turmoil of the last several months, she’d gained another family, too.

“I did what you asked,” Row said, looking up at Asha. “I protected her. Abishek nearly killed her, but I stopped him. I made so many mistakes, but she’s safe now.”

“I knew you would,” she said, brushing her hand down his face. “There was no one else I could trust.”

Row turned to face Zarya, pride shining in his eyes.

“I’d like to introduce you to your daughter,” he said, almost choking on the words and gesturing towards her.

That’s when Asha’s gaze fell on her, and Zarya felt the ground shift beneath her feet.

“Zarya,” she whispered as tears spilled down her cheeks. She stared at Zarya and shook her head. “You’re so beautiful. Can you ever forgive me?”

Zarya moved closer. “There’s nothing to forgive,” she whispered. “None of this was your fault, any more than mine. Row cared for me, and I couldn’t ask for anyone better. I understand why you had to do it.”

Asha sobbed harder. She could barely catch her breath.

“Please,” Asha said, holding out her arms. “I haven’t held you in twenty years.”

Zarya broke down and tripped towards her, falling against Asha as they cried together. Row wrapped her from behind, and they hugged and cried for a long time.

A family— her family. Finally.

Zarya eventually pulled away and stared up at her mother, hardly daring to believe this was real.

“There’s someone else you need to meet,” she said.

She stood and took Rabin’s hand, dragging him towards the divan.

“This is Rabindranath Ravana, my husband,” she said, and Asha’s face fell.

“You’re married?”

Zarya nodded.

“I missed everything,” she said as she looked about the room. “My children grew up, and I missed it all.”

Zarya didn’t know how to respond as Talin, Miraan, and Advika all drew closer.

“ Commander Rabindranath Ravana?” Asha asked a moment later.

Zarya held her breath, remembering Abishek’s story about Asha losing favor thanks to Rabin and his armies.

“Yes,” he said with his hands clasped behind his back.

Asha exhaled a laugh. “Fate is a strange thing, isn’t it?”

Rabin dipped his chin and looked back up.

They shared a look before she addressed her other children. “I will make this up to you. And Zarya, I will never be able to express how much I hated sending you away.”

“Mother,” Talin said. “We’re just happy you’ve returned. And we have so many years left.”

Asha pressed her mouth together and nodded.

Then she focused on Rabin again, assessing him from head to toe. He held still as Zarya glanced between them. “Welcome to my family, Commander. I can’t wait to get to know you both.”