by Payal Doshi
“As you well know, there is magic in Astranthia and the Som is our sacred flower. It is a flower both magical and extremely dangerous. In its center lies the elixir of nectar, the purest of magic, which keeps Astranthia alive and courses through the bloodline of our family. To seek its offering, the sacred flower, weak from exhausting the nectar, emerges to refill its elixir. It blooms on the Night of Nilaya—the night of the first full moon after the heir to the throne turns twelve.”
The images in the orb gave shape to the Queen’s words.
“On that night, the moon glows blue. At the stroke of twelve, a drop of the heir’s blood, filled with the health and glory of youth, must be offered into the hollow of the Som’s petals. If no drop of nectral blood is sacrificed, one of the petals will wither and Astranthia, already teetering on an unsolid foundation, will further burden the Som to keep the realm alive. Gradually, crops will die, creatures will perish, and men will fall prey to disease and ruin. If all the petals disappear, the magic of the land will vanish, and the realm will plunge into eternal darkness.”
The image of Astranthia in the orb crumbled to ashes.
“You don’t want the blood of the people on your hands, do you? I imagine neither does your brother, isn’t that right...?” The Queen trailed off, studying Rea as if to determine if she might actually be that selfish.
Rea’s nails sliced into her skin. She needed time to process what the Queen was saying. A lot of time.
“The Ceremony of the Night of Nilaya is in two days. You must return with the petal by then,” the Queen said. “Remember, enemies of the crown are everywhere. I learned quickly not to trust anyone. Not even our own family. I admit my own efforts at locating the petal have failed—I was thwarted at every stage—but with the power of your youthful nectar, you are certain to find it.”
“If you free Rohan, both of us can look for the petal. I promise we won’t say a word to Amma or Bajai,” implored Rea.
The Queen shook her head. “The severity of the mission isn’t for the fainthearted and I need your motivations to stay strong. I give you my word your brother is safer in his cell than you will be in the wilds of Astranthia. Now, there isn’t much time. Salient Keepers, escort them out, the girl has a realm to save.”
Rea caught a twitch in the Queen’s voice. A slight tremble in an otherwise even-keeled tone. The Queen was scared. Her gaze bore into Rea as though she was handing over a torch she had been carrying, a torch burdened with duty, and now it was Rea’s time to carry it towards the finish line. The Queen blinked, shaking Rea out of her thoughts, and with a snap of her fingers, she vanished and a second dwarf, identical to the first one, appeared in her place.
“I bees Dalric, Second Order of the Salient Keepers,” the twin-dwarf said with a wide grin and wobble of his belly.
“You better bees leaving.” Torgar waved Rea and Leela out the room. “Time bees running out!”
Leela stopped Rea and whispered in her ears.
“Can it wait?’ asked Rea.
Leela vigorously shook her head.
“Hmm... Dol—um—sir?” said Rea.
“I bees Dalric, Second Order of—”
“Yes, yes, Dalric. Is there a bathroom? My friend needs to use it.”
The dwarves looked at each other, befuddled. Rea lifted her little finger to say number one; it was the sign they used in school when they needed to be excused to use the bathroom. The dwarves looked more confused.
“Salient Keeper, I really need to go. If you don’t show me the way, I’m going to pee right here!” Leela said.
“Oh!” said Torgar and led the way through a series of winding corridors. This time, they stopped beside a marble staircase. Flowers and leaves of the same decaying material on the castle walls crawled around its balustrades and curved railing. To its right, a door engraved with the words ‘Public Rooms’ led to a chamber of bathrooms. Leaving Torgar and Dalric waiting outside, Leela rushed into one of the intricately inlaid stalls. Ornate mirrors filled the walls and the counters gleamed in stones of satin-white.
Rea waited for Leela inside the chamber when a shadow moved from underneath the furthest stall. Then another. Rea peeked under the gap of the door. There was no one. Again, two shadows, tall and elongated as they are in an early evening light, moved. Wary at first, she opened the door and sure as the stars in the sky, it wasn’t a bathroom—it was a secret passage! Without looking back, Rea stepped into the passage. She wondered why it was hidden in a bathroom of all places. Maybe that is precisely why, she realized. Who would think to check for a secret passageway in the public bathrooms? The Queen was clever.
The corridor was padded in red velvet and steeped in the smell of incense. It came to an abrupt end with two curtains drawn to the middle. A string of blue-gold light shone through it.
“You think me a fool? I’ve always been a step ahead of you!”
Rea recognized the voice as the Queen’s.
“Well, do you have the petal? Or do you believe the girl who has not an inkling of the power coursing in her blood is going to learn to unleash it in time and find it for you?” the speaker retorted with a touch of cunning. “If I were you, I wouldn’t harvest my henbanes quite so soon. Failure is unbecoming on you, Razya.”
Rea couldn’t place the second voice. It was tender as a blossom, yet thorny with revenge. She parted the curtains slightly and a scream nearly flew out of her mouth. Hurriedly, she muffled the noise with her hand.
A woman’s face made of fire-rimmed petals hung in the air. There wasn’t a body or limbs attached to it nor was it a real face, simply an arrangement of petals laced in flames resembling two eyes, a nose, and a pair of lips. It was a floating face that talked. Rea swallowed her fear.
“The girl you speak of isn’t going to find the petal and certainly not in time,” the flaming face continued. “If I were you, I’d pray to the Som for a blossom-scented miracle because unfortunately for you, I’m the only one who knows where it lies. And these lips you cursed me with shall remain sealed forever.” At that, the lips swelled with red-hot fire and a chuckle erupted, reeking in malice.
“That remains to be seen,” the Queen said, unflinching in the heat of the raging flames. “There are two alternatives, Oleandra. Either I continue as Queen or Astranthia loses her will to live.”
“I wouldn’t worry about Astranthia,” said the petal lips. “I’d worry about what will become of you when the people discover the price they’ve been paying for your actions. As for death, I will welcome it.”
Rea heard Leela call out for her back in the bathroom, and she missed the Queen’s reply. Rea knew she needed to head back, but she wanted to hear the rest of the conversation. She was certain the girl they were talking about was her.
“I pity the boy and the girl,” said Oleandra. “Their souls have suffered greatly for people so young.”
“Well, you can save them,” said the Queen. “Tell me where the petal lies, and their lives will be spared. After all, weren’t you always the righteous one?”
The petal-face lifted her head. “You snuffed out the good and righteous in me all those years ago. Hate is what courses in my veins, and I will watch the boy and girl sacrifice their lives without a twitch of heartbreak. I would rather they die than you win.”
Rea cowered from the words. Leela’s voice came again and she let go of the curtains and ran to the bathrooms. But Leela was nowhere to be seen. Rea found the dwarves waiting for her in the hallway.
“Where is she?” she asked the dwarves.
“Your friend bees inside where you left her,” said Torgar. “You must bees hurrying.”
“Times bees a-ticking,” giggled Dalric.
Rea darted back into the bathroom. Without bothering to knock, she pushed Leela’s door open. It didn’t budge. She pushed harder and the door began to give way. With a final heave, it flew open with a little blast.
Leela was sprawled on the floor. The serpent-lily bite on her leg had swollen, the wound in
flamed and bulging with bubbles of yellow pus. Rea gagged. She grabbed Leela and half-carried and half-dragged her out into the hall.
“Please help! She’s been poisoned by a serpent lily.”
Torgar, small as he was, rushed into action. He signaled his brother to assist him and Dalric stopped snickering at once. The change in their expressions scared Rea.
“We need a doctor,” she said.
“Shuuush! No one must bees hearing you,” Dalric said, petrified.
“You bees following us,” instructed Torgar as he and his brother lifted Leela above their heads, their feet moving quickly.
“She mustn’t bees seen by guards or she bees sent to the sick chambers,” he warned, hurrying down a new string of hallways. These were crowded with servants.
The working men and women looked grimmer than the walls. Pushing past them, the dwarves brought Rea and Leela out through the same plain door they had entered from, and Torgar hid Leela behind a hedge of bushes. He and his brother spoke hurriedly and Dalric disappeared into the shrubbery. Torgar kneeled beside Leela’s leg. He prodded her wound. It had turned an ugly purple with a yellowish center. If Leela had been conscious, a touch would have made her scream, but she was still unconscious.
Torgar kept pushing the skin towards the center of the bite. Pus oozed from the wound. Rea turned her face away, feeling like she was going to throw up. She wanted to tell him to stop out of the fear that something might happen to Leela, when two white shards poked from under her skin.
“Are those teeth?” she asked.
“Aye,” said Torgar, concentrating under the watery moonlight. “When serpent lilies bite, they bees leaving their teeth inside the victim. That bees their poison.”
“How do they bite again?”
“New teeth bees filling their place. They bees growing them all their lives.”
“H-how do you kill them?” Rea asked. Besides spraying them with my blood, she thought.
“As you bees doing any plant. By uprooting them.”
A pinprick of blood gathered on Leela’s skin. Then, another.
“Your friend bees lucky. If we hadn’t bees finding the serpent’s teeth, she would bees gone. Now, she will live.” Torgar’s shoulders eased as he sat cross-legged on the ground. Gently, he pulled the teeth from Leela’s wound and, using a stone, crushed them until the two incisor fangs turned to powder.
“The main ingredient in the cure for a serpent lily’s bite bees the poison of the teeth itself. Few bees knowing this.”
Dalric came hobbling out of the shrubbery carrying a pile of leaves with a gooey, gum-like sap. Torgar rubbed the sap on Leela’s wound like a balm and sprinkled the teeth-dust over it. With the remaining leaves, he created a bandage and tied a stem around it to keep it in place. Gradually, the tint of blue on Leela’s body began to give way and a healthy color took its place. She awoke, her eyes fluttering open.
“You’re okay!” shouted Rea. “You’re okay, right?”
Torgar hushed her with a finger. A yell came from inside the castle and Dalric flew up in terror.
“The Queen bees summoning us!” he tottered. “If she bees seeing us helping you, our fate bees like the Prince.”
Torgar signaled Leela to stand up. “Bees sure to rest,” he said before scurrying off into the castle. Poking half his body out of the door, he spoke to Rea in a rushed whisper.
“There bees danger coming and you bees true royalty, Princess. In your blood bees power. Many in the realm bees born with it, rich and poor. But only those who bees awakening it, bees wielding the gift. It will lead you to the petal. Prince Raohan must bees saved.”
“Wait!” panicked Rea. “How do I awaken it?”
“By awakening your true self.”
Before Rea could ask how she was supposed to do that, he shut the door. Two days was barely enough time to awaken her true self. Besides, wasn’t she her true self already? She knew who she was, there was no need for more discovery. Frustrated, Rea propped Leela against her arm and chanted the Ceffyldwer verse. In a quick blur, Thubian flew out of the stars and stood before them.
“You’re a lifesaver, literally,” Rea said, rubbing his nose.
You needn’t recite the verse every time you need me. You are my rider. I shall come whenever you call my name.
Rea looked into his eyes and felt in her heart the bond which connected them. It was as deep and powerful as she had ever known.
Rea turned to Leela. “Are you strong enough to climb up?”
“I feel much better,” Leela replied and turned to caress the gold-tinted beast.
“His name is Thubian,” said Rea.
Leela swiveled to face her. “How—? No. You’re kidding me. You can talk to him?!”
Rea grinned. “I’m his rider.”
“Ohmygod, really?”
“He says your soul shines of starlight.”
“Awww.” Leela kissed him on his long snout. “You know in every fantasy book I’ve read, rider and beast are chosen by destiny. It means you were fated to come to Astranthia.”
The words seeped into Rea. How much of her life was chalked out just waiting for her to follow the markings?
“The dwarves saved your life. I put yours in danger,” Rea said. She couldn’t look Leela in the face. “I... I’ll never do that again.”
“Are you sure? Never say never,” Leela chuckled and relief poured out of Rea.
“You’re crazy.”
“And you’re a princess! With magic! AND a Ceffyl-rider! Ugh, you’re so lucky!”
Rea looked at her, incredulously. “None of it makes sense, but let’s get to Xee and Floo and hope they know how to find this petal.”
Rea and Leela climbed onto Thubian’s back and he took to the skies, carrying them towards where Xeranther and Flula had left them at the lake.
How was the encounter with the Queen, brave one? Did she offer you answers for the questions you seek about your brother?
The wind whipped Rea, threatening to push her off balance.
I found out that the Queen has Rohan and now I have to find the missing petal of the Som to free him. Do you know by any chance where the petal might be? Rea asked, hoping against hope that he did.
Alas, the magic of the Som transcends us all, Thubian said. I’m unaware of where the petal rests.
A chilly mist stung Rea’s face as they flew over the lake. She could see the white bodies of the serpent lilies writhing under the water. A shiver ran over her and she felt Leela’s grip tighten around her waist.
Do you know anything about awakening my nectar? The dwarves said something about how I must awaken it to find the petal, but doesn’t my blood already have power? It destroyed a serpent lily.
There is far more to your power than destruction, brave one. There are things about your magic that you must learn for yourself. Nectral powers are rooted in the actions of the bearer: you were born with the potential for great power; your bravery and determination have allowed you to tap into some of your abilities, but there is more to awaken.
But how do I awaken all of it? Rea asked.
Thubian paused a moment. I am afraid that is a path you must discover on your own. I have faith in you, fearless one. You will find your way to a full awakening.
Rea struggled to quell her frustration. She was tired of people keeping things from her. First Amma and Bajai, now Thubian. Didn’t they understand they were holding her back with their secrets? A voice in her mind reminded her that Thubian had helped her when no one else could. Perhaps she should give him the benefit of the doubt. But it was hard. She was feeling so defeated.
Chapter 21
Hoggish Harpies
Thubian dropped off Rea and Leela on the edge of Pariland and the lake. As she watched him fly into the clouds, Rea knew she should feel victorious. She and Leela were two of the rare few who had crossed the Sea of Serpent Lilies and survived. But her heart was heavy with the weight of what had happened at the castle. The Queen’s words ra
ng in her ears, and Rea couldn’t help but think that her aunt was right. She couldn’t trust anyone. Not even her family.
Deceit blackened Rea’s consciousness. Obviously, she didn’t like the Queen—she had refused to free Rohan—but the secrets Amma and Bajai had kept from her filled her with spots-clouding-your-vision anger. And these weren’t white lies. They were massive, bone-chilling truths about her life.
“Do you know how much time I could’ve saved looking for Rohan? We could have rescued him by now had they not lied to me. Their grief and worry—what is it? An act? A show? Why didn’t they go looking for him when they knew where he was and why he was taken? How could they sit there doing NOTHING?”
“Breathe.” Leela patted Rea’s shoulders.
They were walking through Pariland searching for Xeranther and Flula. It was far into the night, and most of the pari-folk were asleep. Only glitter from fallen pari dust lent a shimmer of light along the way.
Rea pushed past a large frond of flowers iridescent under the moonlight. A family of winged slugs flittered away, annoyed with the disturbance.
“I’m sorry,” she said to them.
Her mind was trying to grapple with the truth she had learned from the Queen. She could see Amma lying to her, but Bajai... how could she have hurt her like this? She had trusted her. Of all the times she pestered Bajai for details about their past, asked why they had no extended family, or which town Baba came from, Bajai had kept mum. They were queens and princesses, for goodness sakes! Why hide that? Didn’t they trust her and Rohan? Didn’t they see how badly she had wanted to know about their life before Darjeeling and their life with Baba?
“You’re alive!” Xeranther yelled from a tree. He swung down from a branch like a monkey and landed on the ground with a thump.
The girls turned with a jump.
“Yikes, Xee!” Leela slapped his arm. “You scared us!”
Flula came up beside Rea, showering her with silvery sparkles. “Our Earthling is a smart one. Calling the pari-golis on the serpent lilies—that was as clever as talking firetoads!”
