Aru Shah and the Tree of Wishes (Pandava Quartet #3) - Roshani Chokshi Page 0,10

RECEIVE ITS DUE.

ONE TREASURE IS FALSE, AND ONE TREASURE IS LOST,

BUT THE TREE AT THE HEART IS THE ONLY TRUE COST.

NO WAR CAN BE WON WITHOUT FINDING THAT ROOT;

NO VICTORY HAD WITHOUT THE YIELD OF ITS FRUIT.

IN FIVE DAYS THE TREASURE WILL BLOOM AND FADE,

AND ALL THAT WAS WON COULD SOON BE UNMADE.”

Vajra bounded into Aru’s outstretched hand. The steel door shut heavily….

But not quite fast enough.

The last thing she saw was the wide smile of the rakshasa as he sneered, “Thank you, Pandavas,” and leaped into the air.

Worse Than Being Sent to the Principal’s Office

Aru felt time slow around her.

They’d failed.

The Council of Guardians had been clear about the power of the prophecy. The Pandavas’ only job had been to make sure the Sleeper’s soldiers didn’t hear it, and they’d failed. Aru felt like someone had taken a bite out of her soul.

Something bright glinted from the corner of her vision, and she noticed the shoelaces of her customized sneakers sparkling. Great. The Council had tracked them, and now someone was on their way to meet them.

“What are we going to do?” moaned Mini, pacing in a tight circle.

“This isn’t totally our fault,” said Brynne, pointing at Sheela. “Why couldn’t you just hold it in?”

Sheela had fallen to the floor once she’d delivered the prophecy. Nikita propped her up, asking, “Are you okay?”

Sheela looked dazed for a moment before yawning loudly and beaming at everyone. “I feel much better!”

“Better?” Brynne exploded. “Do you know what’s just happened?”

“Easy, Brynne,” said Aiden, laying a hand on her arm.

Sheela blinked, tilting her head. “No?”

“The prophecy?” ground out Brynne.

“Oh, right!” said Sheela, smiling. “I displaced cosmic energy from within myself and now it’s balanced again! Sometimes knowing the future is like eating way too much food—it gives you a stomachache and you need to lie down. Good job, me.”

“No,” said Brynne. “Bad job—”

Sheela looked confused.

“She couldn’t help it!” snapped Nikita, rushing to help her sister stand. “Her prophecies are always like that.”

“As a Pandava, you should be able to control yourself,” said Brynne, crossing her arms. “Or maybe you’re not one.”

Nikita narrowed her eyes. “What did you say?”

“Seemed kinda loud to me,” said Sheela, shrugging. But if she was as offended as her sister, it didn’t show.

“Welp,” said Aiden, pinching the bridge of his nose. “She went there.”

Mini edged closer to Aru. “Aru…do something.”

Nikita extended her wrist. Inky vines shot out, wrapping around Brynne’s ankles and pulling her to the ground.

“You little—” Brynne swung her mace and a gust of wind sent Nikita flying backward.

“Yeah, no,” said Aru, stepping away.

Nikita ran back and got too close to Brynne. Maybe she was trying to reach for the mace, or maybe she just tripped. But their fingers touched, and Aru felt a change in the air—a crackling like radio static deep within her bones. The skies parted above them. Two beams of light—one green and one silver—shot down from the skies…and lifted the twins off the ground.

Far above, Aru caught the silhouette of two horse-faced gods leaning out of the clouds as if they were looking down on the Pandavas from behind a huge bowl of sunshine. Nikita, in the beam of green light, floated toward the god on the left, who was surrounded by the glow of sunrise: rose-quartz pinks and dewy cream, and all the glittering potential of a new day. Sheela, in the beam of silver light, rose toward the god on the right, who was surrounded by the fire of sunset: scarlet and ruby-dark, and just beneath all that red…the mysterious promises of stars and nighttime.

Their soul fathers were none other than the Ashvin twins. Which could only mean that they were the reincarnations of Nakula and Sahadeva, the brothers famous for their beauty, archery and equestrian skills, and wisdom.

Aru had heard that the Ashvin twins were the physicians of the gods. Hanuman, who was a demigod and a patron of wrestling, often stopped by the Ashvins’ medical offices to get treatment for his lower-back pain.

You only get one body, he would say solemnly. You must take care of it.

Do you really only get the one? Aru once asked him. I mean, honestly, how many times has Arjuna been reincarnated now? That’s at least, like, five bodies.

Hanuman had not been amused.

Slowly, the twins drifted back to the ground. Unlike Mini, Brynne, and Aru, neither had been gifted with a weapon. But something small and penny-size glowed at the base of their throats. On Nikita, the object now embedded in her skin