Kunal drew his knife now. His heart raced at the idea of his secret out there. But he steeled himself. “Fine, reveal my identity. No one will believe you.”
“You think I haven’t done my research?” Laksh pulled out a small, jagged blue stone the size of a robin’s egg. A raw uncut sapphire. “Do you know what this is?”
“It seems like you’ve been carrying around bad luck for a while. Is that why Esha almost killed you?” Kunal said, finding some fight in himself.
Laksh laughed fully. “I rather like this new Kunal. I’m going to have such a good time working with you.” He walked closer, getting into Kunal’s face. “I don’t want to do this. You’ve left me no choice.”
Laksh pressed the sapphire to Kunal’s throat. Fire surged into Kunal’s veins, and the shift rammed into him, threatening to take over. Kunal wrenched himself away from Laksh, falling onto the ground.
He looked up at Laksh, gasping, a hand to his throat.
Laksh inspected the blue sapphire in his hand. “Inauspicious for most, dangerous for you. Not known to most people, though I’m sure the royals know, and that’s why it was outlawed to mine. They’re rarer than a blacksmith’s good mood.”
Shock lanced through Kunal. He wasn’t ready to give himself up, not yet, even for the good of the country. He got to his knees and then his feet, still holding a hand to his throat. When he removed his hand, he felt the edges of a burn, the skin sore to the touch.
“If you’re going to kill me, just do it now.”
“I have absolutely no intention of harming you again, Kunal,” Laksh said. “I’m merely showing you that my threat isn’t an idle one. And if you don’t care about yourself, perhaps think of others. Esha. Alok. What about them?”
Kunal was on Laksh in a second, his knife digging into his throat. “If you touch one strand of hair on either of their heads, I’ll—”
Laksh’s throat bobbed against the steel of Kunal’s knife.
“It wouldn’t be me. I wouldn’t even need to. Anyone close to you will become a way to control you. Don’t you see? You can protect them, though. Just win this round and I’ll keep your secrets safe.”
“Why?”
Kunal didn’t drop his knife, and he considered following through. But he couldn’t guarantee Laksh hadn’t built in a fail-safe with the Scales in the event that he didn’t return.
Laksh remained silent.
“I won’t be threatened by you for life. I’d rather die,” Kunal said, stepping back and handing Laksh the knife.
Laksh brushed aside his hand. “Always so dramatic. Follow my requests for the Mela and after that, you’re free. I’m not asking you to become an assassin. Just my eyes and ears.”
Kunal noticed he didn’t say “our.”
“Your eyes and ears? I thought you wanted me to win the archery round. Tell me why, or no deal.”
Laksh glared at him, his eyes squinting. “You’ve become better at asking the right questions. I need you to win this Mela.”
“So you can control me more,” Kunal said.
“Not everything is about you.” Frustration, anger even, coated Laksh’s words now. “I want the king’s boon. And you’re going to help me. I’m sure you’ll make the right choice.”
Kunal looked at him warily. What choice did he have, though? Even if he didn’t believe a word out of Laksh’s mouth, he knew he could believe the threat behind his words. If he said yes now, Laksh would be appeased. He’d figure a path out of this later.
“It’s not as if I have much choice,” Kunal said, his voice flat.
Laksh shrugged, unconcerned.
“But at the end of this, you’ll get out of my sight. Forever.” Kunal’s voice shook as he said the words, but the anger and betrayal he felt surpassed the sorrow, fueling his spite.
“You drive a hard bargain,” Laksh said, some of the easiness having left his voice, a hint of something else creeping in. “But I can make that happen.”
The two stared at each other until Laksh turned and walked away.
“Win the Mela, Kunal,” Laksh tossed over his shoulder.
He didn’t need to finish the sentence. Kunal could already hear it.
Or else.
Esha slid through the side gate, latching it behind her. She checked her quiver and bow, pulling her uttariya down to cover her eyes. She wore the plain clothes of a trader, hoping not to catch attention, which might be easier than she had thought.
The area below the stadium was stuffed with potential fighters of every age and class. Most of them were focused on warming up or checking their bows. It was clear who were archers and who were simply hoping for a chance to say they’d participated in the Sun Mela.
The soldiers were off to the side, their status obvious despite not wearing their armor. That was one aspect of the Sun Mela she had always enjoyed. All fighters were welcome and treated the same, despite their background. The winner could be one of the elite Senap or a farmer who had been training all year.
Esha had no intention of competing. She was there for one reason—to find her parents’ murderer.
The cursed soldier would be in the stadium, as would his squad, to shoot the first arrows. All she had to do was wait, hidden, until the soldiers left and the Falcon Squad came back in after their ceremony. They’d be in their regalia, helmets and all.
Esha had never forgotten the image of the soldier in his helmet.
Someone jostled into her, and Esha straightened, letting her memories drop away. She needed to focus. Esha found a corner in the side of the large hall, directly across from a row of targets. She sat against one of the short stone columns, which offered a view of most of the room. The others joked with each other or ignored and glared—though that was mostly the blacksmiths and the sailors, who had a rivalry.
Esha spotted a small nook where she could hide until the Falcon Squad came back. Cheers erupted from outside the room, and Esha perked her ears. They’d be inside soon. She moved quickly, ducking bows and limbs, when a hand grabbed her and yanked her back.
“What are you doing here, boy?” the man said, his face red as he shook his head. “I knew we were missing one.”
“I’m not—”
“You’re lucky. They just shut the doors and aren’t letting in any more qualifiers.”
“Late qualifiers?” Esha repeated, her heart stilling.
“For the archery competition,” he said, looking at her as if she had lost it. He pointed down the hall to where the room opened into a large courtyard and beyond it, the arena. “It’s starting now.”
Chapter 15
A weight had settled on Kunal’s shoulders since Laksh had left, once he had realized what he had agreed to.
He’d have to do whatever Laksh asked. But once he found a way out of this, he’d tell Esha. If he told Esha before he had a plan of his own, she would charge right in and probably start a war between Dharmdev and the Blades that neither one of them needed. Not when the real enemy was up there in the royal box.
Kunal looked out at the crowd, shielding his eyes in the heat of the midday sun. The arena was filled to the brim with people from every walk of life. The Jansan and Dharkan nobility sat together in the top box of the arena, beside the king’s own box.
The excuse would come to him, but now he needed to focus on winning this round, when he had been planning to just get by. Winning this competition would mean ranking as one of the top five in archery. It would mean drawing attention to himself.
Chand slapped him on his back as he took the spot next to him.
“Ready?”
Kunal twisted his mouth. “I hope so.”
Ten fighters at a time, shooting at a target fifty paces away. The goal was to get five in the center of the target for this round to qualify for the next.
Kunal scanned the rest of the participants. He saw a tall, rangy man built like an archer and a smaller one to his right who had kept his turban on even in this heat. Two portly men who held their bows a
s if they hadn’t touched them in years, and an eager young lad who was nearly chomping at the bit to start. No one looked particularly skilled in this round, but talent could be deceiving in its package.
The first conch blew, and the fighters took aim.
Kunal managed the first one quite easily. And the second. The third veered off a bit and missed the center by a few rings. He did the same with the fourth, and the fifth was a bad shot. He took a moment to fix his bow position and peer around the stadium.
Chand had already made three and was grinning. Two of the men to his right struggled, and three to his left were out. The small man with the turban hung back—with five arrows neatly in the center.
Huh. Kunal had underestimated him.
He refocused and let two more thud into the outer ring before remembering the rules. In the event of a tie for the third round, scores would be tallied from the first two. If he wanted to guarantee being in the top five, he’d have to make the next three perfectly.
Sun Maiden’s spear, he was stuck now. He couldn’t take any chances.
Kunal took a deep breath and focused into the target, his eyesight growing sharp. He saw nothing but the center of the target, and everything else faded away as he took aim and shot the next three in rapid succession.
Kunal stepped back unsteadily as he let go of his bowstring, a wave of weariness hitting him. One more round.
The crowd was already cheering, picking their favorites, and Kunal heard a few shouts behind him.
Kunal and the other fighters stepped back, returning to the starting line as the targets were rearranged by a row of servants, a few of which ushered the remaining fighters into a smaller ring within the circle, presumably to make the next round harder.
A few minutes later they were lined up again, targets at the ready. Each of the men stood closer now, their numbers thinned. Stacked in a line they looked like a row of targets themselves.
The small man was back as well, and next to Kunal, shifting on his feet, his turban low enough that he had to keep pushing it back up. The conch shell blew, thunderous cheers echoing through the arena, startling Kunal, as did the chants and cheers from behind him. He froze for a second, overwhelmed. But a glance up at the boxes reminded him that Esha was there, somewhere, and that he wasn’t alone.
He felt eyes on him and looked to his right just as the small man looked away.
Kunal took a deep breath and centered himself. Five center shots and he was into the next competition, mace fighting. Seven and he’d be in solid position for winning the archery round entirely, as Laksh wanted.
He toed the line that marked his spot, raised his bow, aimed.
And let his sharpened senses take over.
The sun flared overhead, giving Esha an excuse to pull her hood down over her eyes. She lifted her bow again after hitting the center with her first shot.
Moon Lord’s spear. She had been so close to the Falcon Squad. So cursed close she could taste it, and now?
Esha glanced over at the other fighters and Kunal. She needed to get herself out of there, especially before he recognized her. She hadn’t told anyone about her search for her parents’ murderer, not yet. And this turn of events was not what she had envisioned.
There was a corridor nearby that would at least get her to the stables, where she could run to her rooms and switch out her clothes. If she could get through the guards, which she’d be able to do only as an official competitor now.
Esha tried to relax, knowing that the frustration and tension in her body wouldn’t help her. She closed her eyes, breathed in and out. The memory of her first archery lesson came to her. She’d learned to shoot in the shady groves that surrounded the palace in Mathur and wished she was back there for a moment, with Harun by her side. Esha looked up at the box and found him sitting to the right of someone who hadn’t been there before. She squinted before her eyes widened in recognition.
King Mahir was here.
More incentive to get back up there. Harun was good at lying to everyone except his father. The last thing they needed was for the king to realize his brother was holding his lost daughter hostage.
Esha drew her bow and let an arrow loose. It hit just on the edge of center. A cheer went up in the section of the arena that was closest to her.
She had just shot her fifth arrow, taking her time, when a commotion to her left drew her attention. The left-middle section of the arena was going wild, stomping their feet and clapping together. In seconds, she understood why.
Kunal had shot five arrows in a row after his first two. Dead center, two of them splitting each other.
She gritted her teeth. What was he doing?
It had to be a mistake. Maybe he had used his sharpened senses and hadn’t meant to. She’d seen the shifting take over Harun, often in situations where he hadn’t intended it to. Esha had received more claw marks on her hips than she cared to admit. And Kunal wasn’t trained.
They’d have to figure out what this meant for their rescue mission.
A cheer went up through the crowd, clearly loving the drama of Kunal’s archery. He looked around suddenly as if he had forgotten where he was, a hint of worry flashing through his eyes.
He must not have realized. It didn’t matter, though. Now no one would forget him.
The competitors who hadn’t made it through were ushered out of the gates, the guards still in front of the only entry to the corridor that would get her back to her room and out of these clothes.
Esha sighed. One more round and she’d be able to make a run for it.
She started to walk to the next line marked in the rings, to get as far away from Kunal as she could before he recognized her and began to ask questions, when the floor began to shake.
Esha was so startled she jumped up slightly, her uttariya knocking back just as Kunal looked up.
He knew it was her.
Even from where she was standing she could see his grip on his weapon tighten, his brow crease. He strode forward to her just as she began to turn away, his jaw set in confusion—and anger?
But before he could catch up to her, the unmistakable roar of a feline bombarded the arena, filling it.
Esha slowly turned, and there, where the previous targets had been, stood two huge lions.
The crowd had gone deathly still. But as the animals began to move, the voice of the crowd grew again, now in fear and agitation. The competitors stepped back, throwing harried glances at each other as they bunched into two groups, each facing one of the fierce cats.
Was this Vardaan’s way of welcoming them? When had this been introduced? A hundred more thoughts ran through Esha’s head, but one came into focus.
Survival.
Something brushed against her, and Esha jumped. Kunal was at her side the next instant, grabbing her shoulder and pulling her to him.
“Esha, what in the Sun Maiden’s name are you doing?”
“What are you doing?” she countered. “You weren’t supposed to have shot five arrows in a row like you were pretending to be the cursed Archer at Dawn.”
“I hadn’t meant to, but I lost control.”
“You? You lost control?” Esha’s voice was skeptical, until realization hit her. “Oh, you lost control of that.”
“Yes,” he said. “And now everyone will be suspicious if I leave and don’t make it into the competition.”
“I suppose you’re right,” she said, her bow at the ready. She shot an arrow at one of the lions, but it batted it away, not even turning its head. She cursed, thoroughly.
“I am,” he bit back, his own bow up as well. “And stop angering them.”
“What are you talking about?”
“The lions, they’ve been riled up. They’re angry.”
“Well, let me just roll over and let them maul me and everyone else.”
Esha raised her shoulder to shoot, nudging into the space behind another competitor who was sending arrows at the lions. He was aiming for the wrong area,
though, and she was about to tell him when the lion finally roared and charged.
Kunal grabbed her as the animal leaped past them, landing with claws out, right where they would’ve been.
She went back-to-back with Kunal, crouching for her next shot as he stood tall.
“I’m aiming for the belly, you aim for the neck.” He nodded against her, and she felt his muscles shift as he changed his aim.
“Can you calm them? If I grab their attention?”
“I don’t know how,” he shouted, the din of the arena crowd growing deafening. Esha tried to tune it out instead of turning her head to see what was happening to the others. If they didn’t succeed, they’d have two lions on their hands.
“Don’t you talk to your cursed horses or something?”
“They just tell me things sometimes. Like that they’re hungry or thirsty,” he said. Without looking behind him he took out a knife from his belt, handing it to her just as the lion turned again, drawing closer to Esha’s side.
She grabbed the knife and threw it, wishing she had her whip on her.
By the Moon Lord’s luck, it hit its mark in the animal’s side, and the lion reared up, roaring in pain.
“If there was any time for your powers to be useful, this would be it!” she yelled.
“I’m trying!”
The lion circled them, but Esha and Kunal didn’t break their position, each taking turns to shoot, slowing it down. Two of the other competitors were on the ground, blood flowing around them.
“Kunal!” A stocky Senap appeared, drawing the attention of the lion.
“Chand, get out of the way,” Kunal said.
But the lion had already been distracted. It leaped at Chand, sending him sprawling to the ground with a sickening crunch. Kunal looked as if he was about to run forward toward the soldier, but Esha grabbed his shoulder.
“We need to stop the lions,” she said.
Kunal took a step back and nodded.
“When I tell you, go for the belly,” he said.
“And what are you going to— Kunal!”
Esha lunged after him, but he was too fast.
Kunal sprinted for the lion, a blur as he leaped and tackled the hindquarters of the beast, its claws scraping against the metal of his cuirass. “Now!”
The Archer at Dawn Page 12
