by Payal Doshi
“I’m so sorry,” Leela cried out. “Are you okay?”
Rea picked herself up. “I’m fine.”
Mud, stones, and leaves stuck to bleeding cuts on her hands and palms. Wiping them on her pajamas, she searched for the fallen flashlight.
“There’s the banyan!” exclaimed Leela, gesturing at the beam shining over a veil of bristly roots.
Abandoning her bicycle, Rea grabbed the flashlight and ran towards the tree. Circling its trunk, she looked for the blood stain and any sign of Rohan. Leela, leaving her bicycle beside Rea’s, inspected the ground using a branch to sift through animal droppings and withered leaves. They looked high and low, but there was no splatter of blood, only the occasional claw-mark from a bird, and a few dead roots. Halfway around the trunk, amid a set of paw prints, Rea found a large rectangular imprint.
“Check this out,” she said and Leela huddled over to look at it. “What an odd mark.”
Finding no explanation, they continued with their search. At a certain spot, Leela was concentrating so hard on studying the forest floor, she pushed a clump of roots out of her face.
“LEELAAAAAA!” Rea screeched. She had caught the roots millimeters from her face and now they were worming up her arm.
Leela grabbed the roots, but they wriggled out of her grasp, growing quick and strong. Rea struggled desperately. The flashlight slipped from her fingers, throwing light in the opposite direction, and the tree’s roots, hanging down from its branches, wound their way around her body, pinning her arms to her sides. Her cuts bled, and she was lifted off the ground.
Leela lunged after Rea. “COME BACK!”
“Forget about me and find Rohan!” Rea yelled back, craning her neck to keep the roots from strangling her.
“ARE YOU CRAZY?”
Gathering her strength, Leela held onto Rea’s legs. In seconds, the roots looped around her as if she was an appendage of Rea’s they had forgotten about, and bound together, they dangled like ragdolls, screaming at the top of their voices. The cavernous hollow of the canopy opened its hungry mouth and a gut-wrenching jerk catapulted them into it. Instantly, all went black. Rea felt the roots slithering away from her body and as the last of Sanobar forest and the great banyan disappeared out of sight, a pair of fiery-orange eyes blinked down at her.
Rea and Leela shot through a tube. Darkness engulfed them in its throttling grip and Rea’s insides trembled, rising close to her mouth. She was falling so fast she couldn’t scream or blink when abruptly, the darkness vanished, and a flare of sunlight blinded her. Rea threw her hands up to cover her eyes as swaddles of root-twines snapped around her and she had the fleeting memory of being tossed into the air and falling into her Baba’s arms. Leela, looking paler than the inside of a lychee, appeared by her side, cradled too in roots. They were out of the tree, and descending to the ground. The roots slipped away, and they landed on their feet.
“Breathe,” Rea whispered above the beating of her heart.
A saffron sun blazed in the sky and Leela jumped as she spotted a patch of roots hanging beside her. They hung from a banyan just like the one they had been sucked into.
The banyan remained, but the forest around them was gone. Rea and Leela found themselves standing at the edge of a prairie. Clouds drifted across a lavender-blue sky. A giant dragonfly as large as Rea’s arm buzzed past them.
“D-Did we travel from one b-banyan tree to an-another?” she asked Rea.
“I think s-so.” Rea couldn’t fathom what had happened. She stared at the purple sky in shock. After a moment, she turned to Leela. “Are you okay?”
Leela nodded. “But where are we?”
Suddenly a small voice said, “Hullo? Is somebody there?”
Rea and Leela bolted behind the tree, sticking to each other like two bands of Velcro even though the trunk was wide enough to hide them both. Rea inched forward to peek at who was approaching, and her gaze fell on the grass. Flowers of every hue blossomed out of the blades as though rainbows had splashed onto them. The flower petals shimmered in the sunlight.
A vague memory nudged her, and she turned to Leela, but Leela was staring at a little girl wearing a tent-like frock made entirely of yellow and green leaves.
“You shouldn’t be here.” The girl blinked her long lashes. “It’s forbidden.”
Catching sight of something on the street, she scampered off and Leela let out her breath.
“Jumping horsefeathers!” gasped a lady dressed in egg-blue and smoke-orange flower-petals sprinkled with spots of fuschia. The girl clung to her legs. “Step away from the royal port at once!”
The woman thundered towards them, dropping her basket of vegetables to the side, and shooed them away from the banyan. “Must you lassies defy all rules and etiquette? And to dress in such odd fashions.” She tutted at them and shook her head.
Conscious of their pajamas, Rea and Leela bumped into each other in their haste to escape the unwanted spotlight. They hurried toward a nearby road. At once, they were swallowed into a throng of people jostling their way along the thoroughfare: cobblers weaving ferns into sandals, artists painting on flat pieces of rock, people selling fruits and vegetables and someone selling—did Rea hear that right—enchantment tonics?
A scruffy boy wearing a cardboard sign with the words ‘Boife’s Bozan Boutique,’ sang past her, “Book your bozan, book your bozan! We train ‘em good! Getcha bozan from us today!” and disappeared behind rows of shops stacked with copper utensils, carriage wheels, and bags of seeds showcasing the weirdest flowers. A few stalls down, a woman with fierce black eyes was braiding ivy into another woman’s hair. A woven fabric made of stems and dried flowers draped her body and she smiled at Rea, offering to braid her hair for half the usual price.
“Stop staring,” Leela said and diverted Rea’s attention to avoid a group of teenage girls walking past them with amused looks. One of them was wearing a dress of white and purple petals, which flared upwards from her knees like an upside-down lily, while the others sported outfits of maple leaves and thickly stamened flowers. They pointed at Rea and Leela’s pajamas and burst into giggles.
Leela pulled Rea to the side of the road.
“Why are they laughing at us?” she asked in a whisper. “And why is everyone wearing leaves and petals instead of regular clothes?”
“I don’t know but we have to find out,” said Rea.
“Are you seriously going to go up to those girls and ask them why they’re wearing what they’re wearing?”
“No, idiot,” Rea snapped, “I’m going to ask them what this place is.”
But before Rea could approach the girls, a boy slid up to their side. He was about their age, and half a foot taller. He was wearing brown leaves for shorts, a long-sleeved tunic, a pair of green oversized leaves tacked together in the middle, and a leather belt with three pouches loosely fitted around his waist. He stared at them for a moment, and then hurried away. Rea and Leela exchanged nervous glances. They watched the boy from the corner of their eyes to see if he was coming back, but he had slipped into the crowd.
Rea and Leela scurried forward, keeping their faces straight and their feet moving quickly. Suddenly, the boy popped up in front of them and Rea lurched backwards. His darting eyes and unsure expression made him seem nervous, but nonetheless he put on a wide-toothed smile and flapped open one side of his jacket. Necklaces, bracelets, bangles, and earrings clinked from tiny loops.
“Would you, um, princesses like some fine jewelry?” A rush of ash brown hair fell over his cinnamon eyes.
“Thanks,” said Rea, walking faster. “We’re not interested.”
“Ah, but princess, don’t you see how these lovely earrings draw out your beautiful eyes? Two ponds of mesmerizing copezium!”
There was a slight shiver in his voice as he jiggled a silver and black earring in front of Rea’s face. Leela did a double take and mouthed a word, but Rea didn’t understand her. Instead, her ears turned hot and a blush filled her cheeks.
The boy thought her eyes were beautiful. Rea turned her gaze away and quickened her pace.
“Hey, what did you say?” said Leela and the boy stopped dead in his tracks. His eyes shifted as though he wanted to run away.
“What’s the matter?” asked Rea, turning around. Leela was staring at the boy’s face, waiting for him to answer.
“You said copezium, didn’t you?” pushed Leela. “I heard it,” she said, looking at Rea with her eyes wide.
The boy looked so upset, Rea thought he might cry.
“Apologies, Princesses. Do believe me!” he said. “It was merely a slip-up. A terrible habit I have. I always forget the things I’m not supposed to say and then I say them. It won’t happen again. I swear it on the moon!”
Rea remembered how the blood had rushed to her face when he called her eyes beautiful. She ought to have caught the word copezium instead. Mortified, Rea crushed the memory into smithereens. Thankfully, Leela had heard it.
The boy was talking frantically. “I know the Queen prohibits us from talking about copezium,” he went on. “It’s an extremely dangerous metal that she uses when she wields her Shadow Magic. Oh, I did it again!” His face filled fear. “I didn’t mean to say… Shadow Magic,” he uttered the last words very slowly and in a whisper. “It’s my nerves. I haven’t met a princess before, much less two, and never did I dream of speaking to them.”
Rea and Leela looked at each other as realization dawned. They had discovered a big piece in the where-is-Rohan puzzle!
“I’m sorry,” said Leela, awkwardly leaning to pat the boy’s arm but then deciding against it. “I didn’t mean to frighten you. I was taken by surprise, that’s all.”
“Princess, you are infinitely generous!” the boy said, practically singing with relief. “The metal, although sinister, is magnificent in its beauty with its dark color and glimmer. I was only using it as a compliment and not in any way trying to insult the Queen.”
“We understand. Don’t worry about it,” said Rea, starting to walk again. There was no time for idle chit-chat. Rohan was here and they needed to find him!
“Very well then,” the boy said, and flapped open the other side of his jacket to reveal another set of trinkets. “You may choose whatever jewel you like.”
“If you don’t mind, we really need to be on our way,” said Rea.
“And where might that be?”
The girls looked at each other. That was a good question. Where were they going? A red cobble-stoned path stretched ahead until it wound out of sight. On either side, flowers as large as tractor wheels blossomed and wilted right before their eyes.
“Say, aren’t princesses forbidden to venture out of the castle grounds without guards? I don’t reckon I see any around,” he said, casting an uneasy glance around them.
“That’s because we’re not princesses,” said Leela.
“And yet you portaled through the Doda Alda Mara. I saw you land.” His voice turned to a whisper.
“Portaled? Wait, you know about the banyan?” The boy suddenly interested Rea. “Can you tell us more?”
The boy took a step behind and buttoned up his jacket. “I see what this is,” he swallowed. “This is the first time you’ve snuck out of the castle and now you don’t know your way back.”
“No, you have us mistaken. Can you please just tell us where we are?” implored Rea.
“Bouncing bozans! You’re going to be in terrible trouble! The Queen will be in a fit of rage. Never before did we live with such secrecy surrounding the royal family. Oh, where are my manners?” he gasped like a fish out of water and Rea noticed his hands were trembling. “Princesses, I’m Xeranther, barrow boy by morning, jewelry connoisseur by afternoon, and tour guide any time during the day.”
He bowed extravagantly and Leela slid Rea a look that said, ‘something is very wrong here.’ But the boy gave Rea an idea.
“Nice to meet you, Xeranther. Can you excuse us for a second?”
She steered Leela a few paces away. “Play along. He thinks we’re princesses who have stepped out of some castle for the first time. It’s the perfect excuse to ask him whatever we want without sounding suspicious.”
“Are you serious?” Leela’s gaze ping-ponged between Rea and Xeranther. “He thinks we’re princesses, and he’s talking about traveling through the banyan as if it were the most common thing in the world. Rea, we came here through a tree and for all we know we’re going to be stuck here forever.”
“But the nightmare led me to the banyan, and we travelled between two of them! How can we leave without finding out more? I’m sure we can get home through the tree again.”
Leela looked at her in disbelief. Inwardly though, Rea agreed with her—they couldn’t be sure that the tree would take them home again. She glanced at the boy and his leaf-clothes and thought about the strange market. Images of the roots, the banyan’s dark mouth, and the fall through space seized her. What if they couldn’t go back? What if they really were stuck here forever? What if the roots had actually choked and killed them and now they were in the world of the dead? What if she never saw Amma and Bajai again? What if... Rea gasped. The thought hit her like a blow to the stomach.
“Leela,” her voice quivered, “I’m as freaked out as you are but think about Rohan. We must have landed in this place for a reason. Maybe he did too. Wherever he is, this is what he must be feeling: lost, scared and alone. How can we leave without knowing for sure he isn’t here?”
Leela looked around her, her face small and anxious. “But—um…” Rea watched as Leela’s mind reasoned through the situation. After a moment, her shoulders squared and she nodded. “You’re right,” she said, resolutely. “We can’t give up on him.”
A sensation, soft as a bud and surprising as sunlight twinkling through a storm, spread through Rea’s chest. She threw her arms around Leela, giving her the biggest hug she’d ever given anyone.
“I’m so happy you’re here,” she said.
Leela gave her a bear hug in return. “Me too.” Then facing the boy, she said, “You caught us in our lie. We are princesses, and this is our first time out of the castle. Will you show us around?”
Xeranther gave them a look of mistrust. “Most certainly not. If I don’t report you to the Imperial Guard this instant, my head will boil in a cauldron.”
“I don’t think anyone saw us come through the portal except you,” said Rea. “In fact, a woman at the market got so angry we were standing beside the tree, she told us to leave. If you don’t tell anyone, nobody will know, and you won’t be in trouble.”
Xeranther took a step forward, convinced for a moment. But then he seemed to think better of it, and retreated again.
“If you help us, we’ll buy some of your jewelry,” ventured Leela.
“Buy my trinkets, huh?” He scratched the back of his neck. “Well, my assistance will come at a price higher than ‘some’ jewelry.” He lowered his voice trying to sound imposing, but it cracked at the end and came off as a loud squeak. Embarrassed, he coughed and straightened his posture to look taller.
“We’ll buy everything that’s on one side of your jacket,” Rea pointed to his left sleeve.
Xeranther’s eyes doubled in size and he grinned as if he couldn’t believe his luck. “It shall be my honor, Princesses! Consider me your guide.” A flash of pity crossed his face. “I can only imagine your desire to enjoy your one day away from the castle.”
Rea and Leela agreed as solemnly as they could.
“By the way, you can call her Rea and me Leela and for our safety it’s probably better you don’t call us princesses.”
“Quite right. It’s clever to use such peculiar names. So, Prin—I mean, Ree-aa and Lee-laa, where would you like to go?”
“First, can you tell us more about the portal?” said Rea.
“You don’t know about it?”
The girls shook their heads.
“Nothing at all?”
They shook their heads again.
“I cannot believe the Queen keeps it from you. It is your birthright, after all. Well, it is one way to keep you from leaving, I suppose,” he muttered, and mumbled a few other things about selfish royals under his breath.
Rea cleared her throat.
“Ah, yes, the portal,” he said. “Any person in whom the blood of the nectar flows, which is to say all members of the royal family and few members of the common folk, can portal between worlds through the Doda Alda Mara. Me, like most common folk, cannot.”
“Between worlds?” gulped Leela. Her face went from pale to colorless. “You mean we’re in a different world?”
Xeranther scrunched his brows, looking skeptical.
“Er... what she means is what’s the name of this place?” Rea corrected hastily.
“You aren’t even told that?” he said.
“No, no, of course we are,” Rea covered up. “We simply want to confirm if what we’ve been taught is true.”
She hoped the angst she had picked up on this Queen lady would work in her favor. Fortunately, Xeranther offered a nod of understanding.
“We are in the realm of Delphinus,” he said. “And this is the Kingdom of Astranthia.”
Chapter 11
Where Day is Night and Night is Day
“Astranthia.”
The word rolled in Rea’s mouth and for the first time she took in the landscape.
Giant dragonflies buzzed in a prairie teeming with wildflowers as pink mountains flanked its sides. Their slopes, delicate and blush-toned, sparkled with drops of sunshine. Trees swayed. Their leaves flapped like butterfly wings, displaying mesmerizing designs within them. The longer Rea stared, the faster the patterns swirled.
A calm stole over her.
“‘Where day is night and night is day,’” she murmured, recalling the prophecy and the vision she had had during Mishti Daadi’s divination.
Every nerve in her body tingled. The vision was where she’d seen the flowers growing from the tips of grass. This was that place! Rea checked her watch. The second and minute hand remained still at 1:11AM.
