KALINDA
Ashwin steps to my side. “I’m sorry, Kalinda. I should have remembered.”
He was a child, and his later interactions with Lakia were less than favorable. Had Ashwin recalled the entire tale, the solution to freeing Deven would be the same.
I exit the nursery in a haze. A god. I must find a god.
Barring the story of Inanna and her beloved, deities have not dwelled in our realm since Anu bequeathed powers upon the First Bhutas and charged them to watch over mortals. Requesting a god to guide me through the under realm is less plausible than accomplishing the journey alone.
Upon entering my chamber, I stare at my bed. Just two nights ago, Deven and I laid there together. Now I may never see him again.
“Kalinda?” Ashwin asks.
I twist away to conceal my watery eyes. Spread out on the table are my drawings of Deven. The sight of them releases my tears.
“I’m sorry,” Ashwin repeats.
What else can he say? He is sorry this is the end. Sorry I will never find Deven.
A knot of fury swells within me. This cannot be over. But how can I entice a god to return to the mortal realm?
I do not care how daft or improbable my mission may be. My promise to free Deven from the evernight holds true. Leaving him there is not an option.
I yank my satchel out from under the bed and drop it on the mattress.
“What are you doing?” Ashwin asks.
“I’m going after Deven. I’ll find Ekur and beg the gods for help. Should that fail, I’ll cut a hole in the icy lake and go down into the Void by myself.”
Ashwin enters my side vision. “Wait another week and I’ll go with you.”
I doubt Gemi wants to spend their honeymoon in the under realm with me. “I’ve already waited too long. Deven needs me now.”
Pons knocks at the open doorway. “Your Majesty, you have a meeting with Captain Yatin and Ambassador Brac.”
“Not now, Pons.”
“Sir, they’re waiting for you—”