Page 16 of The Prince Without Sorrow

Chapter Fifteen

Shakti

W HEN GRANTED A DAY OF REST, S HAKTI CHOSE TO wander the Golden City by herself. She could have asked for company; she’d finally met the other mayakari working under Prince Ashoka – Harini. A nice, well-mannered young girl, but Shakti wanted to be alone.

She left the palace at mid-morning, traversing the steep downhill path from the palace to the capital. The walk was ridiculously long, but she supposed that invaders would also have a difficult time attempting to reach the top. A disadvantage for the masses but an advantage for defensive purposes, at least.

Coins jingled in the drawstring purse she kept in her satchel as she reached the base, winded. Her destination was the Imperial Gardens in the city centre which, if travelling by foot, would take a good two hours. To avoid an arduous trip, Shakti hailed a horse and cart driven by a gruff but friendly vendor heading in the same direction.

Market stalls upon market stalls materialized as they neared the central business district. Noise, too, increased to a consistent, loud buzz. Crowds wandered around like those in an ant colony. Flute music drifted from a nearby travellers’ inn, melodic and sharp. Around her, the people of the Golden City were also setting up for Prince Arush’s coronation in two days’ time. Banners were hung, leopard masks sat in piles next to stalls, and chalk murals decorated walls. Official signs bearing the date of his crowning obscured noticeboards.

An acute metallic taste coated Shakti’s tongue. She’d bitten the inside of her lip hard enough to bleed. All this fanfare for a young man who would continue to perpetuate a cycle of violence. The world was deeply, cruelly unfair.

Her mood shifted when she spotted the towering figure of a Na tree coming into view. The Imperial Gardens were close by. Tipping the vendor, Shakti hopped off the cart and merged into the crowd eagerly. Even after a few days spent in the nature-less palace, she had felt her energy diminish and needed a reprieve.

Inspired by the infamous Mountain of Rebirth, the gardens were a testament to its architect. A circular stone wall enclosed them from the outside. Flowers of every colour imaginable dotted the grass and hung like lanterns from wooden lattices and bronze poles. Native Hora trees provided shade to visitors. White stone gazebos with their domes studded in gemstones looked out into a manmade lake, in the centre of which stood the largest statue of a leopard that had been constructed in the empire. And, unlike those in the Obsidian Throne room, this leopard was lacquered in gold.

Grand , Shakti thought to herself, but gaudy.

She could see the minor spirits appear and disappear like hallucinations as she walked. They weren’t as prominent as the ones in Kolakola, their colours not as vibrant. A side effect, perhaps, of thriving in areas with limited natural land. People wandered past the little spirits, unafraid. She wondered why she had not expected them to be.

When Shakti finally exited the gardens, she felt much lighter. Stomach rumbling, she made a dash towards the expansive market area once more. Kolakola had only its locally sourced foods and whatever limited options traders brought with them from the capital. Here, she was spoilt for choice. Sliced sugarcane. Deep-fried glutinous rice balls drizzled in honey. Bitter plum juice exported from the Ridi Kingdom. Her mouth watered.

Greediness made her buy both the deep-fried rice balls and sugarcane. She continued to meander about, stopping to stare at a store selling dozens of herbal tonics before a cloud of despondency hovered over her. Jaya would have liked them.

The flash of red and black in her periphery caught Shakti’s attention, and she made to cover her head with the hood of her cloak before thinking better of it. Soldiers couldn’t tell if she was a mayakari just by appearance alone. All this fear would turn her grey in weeks, and—

‘ Mayakari! ’

Shakti started, head swivelling left and right like those of the others around her, albeit for different reasons. Had someone spotted her? How? She had been perfectly commonplace, blending into the crowd without suspicion.

When she realized that no one was looking at her, Shakti relaxed. She was safe, but that meant someone else wasn’t. Where had the shout come from?

‘ Quick – get her! ’

Like pigeons towards rice grains, the crowd surged forward. Taking her neck scarf and tying it around the lower half of her face, Shakti let herself be dragged along by the current. She pushed her way through to see what had caught the attention of the masses.

In front of a seedy-looking inn, a young woman was being held hostage by two soldiers. Shakti’s breath caught. The woman’s face looked terrified as she tried to wrench her arms free, eyes darting around in panic. A short, stout man with a long, oiled beard stood with his arms crossed next to the soldiers. Disgust radiated like waves as he spat at the young woman’s feet. ‘Fucking mayakari ,’ he ground the word out like a curse. ‘I don’t need scum entering my business.’ Turning to the soldiers, he said, ‘Caught one of them little spirits following her around last night when she came back to my inn. She was trying to shoo it away.’

Shakti’s stomach dropped. I’m going to watch another mayakari die , she thought before her resolve kicked in. Jaya had died before she could do anything. She couldn’t let something like this happen again.

Meanwhile, the young woman started to cry.

‘No need for your tears, girl,’ one soldier said loudly. ‘If you’re human, there is no need to fear. Ravan – a match, please.’

Desperately, Shakti looked around for something, anything , she could use to cause a distraction. The crowd wouldn’t even blink if she started to throw pots and pans on the ground like a madwoman, not when they were more invested in watching a mayakari be discovered. Just when she was seriously considering summoning a minor spirit, Shakti spotted a stall selling firecrackers.

Perfect .

Its owner was absent, likely too preoccupied with the sudden turn of events like everyone else. It gave her the perfect opportunity to borrow from it. Throwing her hood over her head, Shakti edged over to the cart, catching stray conversations as she went.

‘Poor thing,’ she heard one woman in a group of three whisper sympathetically. The remaining two stared at her, scandalized.

‘ Poor thing ? Have you gone mad – that’s a witch !’

‘You’re all fools,’ Shakti muttered to herself, tucking a handful of small red cylindrical fireworks up her sleeve. Hopefully the vendor also kept – yes .

Adding a matchbox to her list of stolen goods, Shakti picked up her pace. She needed to find a clear enough space to throw the fireworks into, and a place to exit during the commotion. Quietly, she stepped up into a set of upturned wooden boxes adjacent to the cart. An empty alleyway to the north caught her eye. That would work well enough.

Heart thundering with trepidation, Shakti lit a match, and with it, the fuses of three fireworks.

Do not harm, little bird .

Jaya’s voice came too late. By that time, she’d already aimed and thrown them in front of the soldiers.

A loud pop came first. Then – bang .

Startled yelps followed as sparks flew and plumes of grey smoke obscured the view. The crowd began to scramble back. The soldiers had their swords raised, attention no longer on the mayakari as they searched for the perpetrator. Undeterred, Shakti lit another four fireworks and hurled them before making a mad dash towards the young woman.

She saw her through the haze, hands wrapped around her head to shield her eyes. There was no time to hesitate.

‘Get up!’ Shakti yelled, grabbing the crook of the young woman’s elbow. She screamed and tried to wrench herself free before their eyes locked. Shock was written all over her face.

‘We need to go,’ Shakti said, tugging her arm forcefully, ‘ now !’

Survival instinct must have kicked in, because the young woman scrambled to her feet. Her eyes were red-rimmed, hair matted.

‘You there – stop!’

Fuck .

‘Run!’ Shakti screamed and ran towards the alleyway she had spotted. The young woman followed. They melded with the confused crowd of onlookers, but not well enough. When she turned behind her, she could see the soldiers gaining on them. At this rate, they would be captured within moments.

Her breathing strained. The presence of people didn’t help; they only slowed their escape. They were so close to the alleyway...

I’m not going to die like this.

You will die like this, little bird.

‘Stop!’

Just as they squeezed through another stall, another high-pitched shriek filled the air. A deafening roar erupted. It was so loud that Shakti couldn’t help but glance back one more time. Before she could comprehend anything, a pair of large, blurry black objects came speeding towards them, crashing into the vendor stalls and knocking over the approaching soldiers like they were flimsy toys. With a squeal, the mayakari dropped to the ground, Shakti crouching down to shield her out of instinct. Screams and yells followed as trinkets fell and scattered, potato sacks tumbled and rolled.

It took Shakti a moment to realize what had caused the chaos: giant leopards.

They shook themselves off, emitting growls loud enough to cause any bystanders to flee. The two soldiers who they had pounced on were on the ground, unmoving. Spirits, were they dead or unconscious? However, any momentary concern for them vanished when Shakti recognized just whose leopards they were.

A shadow fell over her. When Shakti glanced up, she met a familiar pair of brown doe eyes and nearly fainted from shock.

‘Take her and run,’ Prince Ashoka ordered, his mouth settling into a grim line. Behind him, Rahil surveyed the carnage, glancing back at them for a moment before he let out a shrill whistle. At the sound, the leopards snapped to attention and bounded forward, blocking the small alleyway from any onlookers. ‘Down the alleyway and to your right – it will lead you back to the canal. Follow it south.’

‘I—’

‘This is no time for you to have an epiphany, Shakti,’ the prince interrupted her, ‘go . ’

Shakti? How did he—

Terror resurfaced when she patted her cheek only to feel that her mask had slipped. Fuck. Fuck .

‘ Go! ’

His insistent tone snapped Shakti out of her reverie. She didn’t need to be told again. She needed to react, and quick. ‘Thank you,’ she muttered hastily before hauling the slack-jawed mayakari up. ‘We need to run.’

There was no time to sit there and wonder if he was leading them into a trap. A window of opportunity to escape had presented itself, and Shakti was determined not to miss it. She grabbed the woman’s hand and they raced down the alleyway. She looked behind her to see Prince Ashoka mount his leopard just before they turned sharp right and he vanished from view.

The young woman let out a ragged breath as they arrived at a waterway. ‘The canal!’ she exclaimed. So, the prince hadn’t been lying to them.

Follow it south .

Panic clouding her orientation, Shakti used the position of the sun to determine south. Why had he suggested – oh .

The Mountain of Rebirth loomed like a giant in the distance. He had been trying to lead them to forestland.

‘This way,’ she urged. Away from the centre, this area was mostly quiet. A few people passed by them, throwing an odd look here and there at their dishevelled appearances. Shakti barely paid attention. Her focus was getting to the base of the mountain. Fewer people. Fewer soldiers .

Part of her wondered if she had slipped into a strange dream before dread came knocking and settled in like an unwanted parasite. He knew . Well, at worst, he knew. At best, he suspected. How had her good deed gone punished? Was karma flaying her hide for enacting a curse?

But he had helped them. Ashoka Maurya had helped them. Willingly, and without even a second thought. He could have stood there and done nothing, like most bystanders did. Nor was he obligated to. After all, why would a child of Adil go to such lengths? Out of the former emperor’s poisonous children, Prince Ashoka seemed to be the antidote.

The rumours of him being a mayakari sympathizer were well and truly correct. Saving her kind instead of having them vilified? He could be the one to do it.

‘My name is Priya.’

The crisp, accented voice shook Shakti out of her thoughts. The young woman was staring at her with a tired but grateful smile.

‘Shakti,’ she said. ‘Are you—’

‘A mayakari? I am,’ she confirmed. Her voice started to tremble. ‘Thank you for helping me. I-I thought... it was – that I...’

‘You’re welcome,’ Shakti replied gently. ‘Are you all right? They didn’t hurt you?’

Priya shook her head. ‘No burns, just sore arms and a few bruises,’ she said, wincing as she stretched her right arm. ‘I don’t think I can go back there for quite some time. I’ll have to lie low in the outskirts.’

‘Do you have someplace safe you can stay?’

Priya nodded. ‘I do,’ she said. Then, ‘Who was that? The ones who helped us?’

‘Erm—’

‘Soldiers, no?’ the mayakari determined. ‘They had to be if they were controlling those leopards. But that’s impossible , so who...’

She trailed off, looking stupefied. Shakti couldn’t blame her. The crowd would come to the same conclusion as her. She had no doubt that this would have caused an upset in the palace by the time she returned.

Ask Ashoka .

Yes, now was the time. He had seen enough, and she had nothing to lose. As she and Priya walked towards the mountain, a single thought appeared and lodged itself like a splinter in Shakti’s mind:

He would make a better emperor than his father.