by Matt Larkin
“How can we not? Yawadvipa is the Solar homeland. These are our people dying.” Maybe the king cared nothing for that, nothing for anything but his own power. Naresh was beginning to remember why he’d left Kertajaya in the first place. If he wouldn’t act for honor, maybe he’d act for self-interest. “If that doesn’t motivate you, consider this. Whoever saves those people will earn their unwavering loyalty. Imagine the Ratu Adil who conquered the forces of the underworld. Who could question such a claim then?”
“I guess that’s a point,” Lang said.
Kertajaya sighed. “You’re right … though we may all be damned for it, Pak Naresh.”
Naresh nodded. They needed to make for Yawadvipa as soon as possible.
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED SIXTY-SIX
From the docks, Landi smiled as she watched her husband preparing his new dhow. The Long Awaited Dawn, they named her. Ben said Chandi had been here, but she’d rushed off after an altercation. Apparently that was how he’d gotten the last of the money he needed to buy the ship. Devious as Ben might be from time to time, there was no way he’d steal from Chandi, so Landi had to assume the girl really had left behind large amounts of money. Not that impulsive behavior was unlike the Lunar.
Ben helped his crew tying lines and loading crates. Her husband was never afraid to do the hard work himself … Just like he was never afraid to take the credit. Landi chuckled, tracing every movement of his sleek body. His dark skin was like tea with a hint of milk, and his locks were so exotic.
Landi Strode onto the ship. Or rather, she tried, and nothing happened. She shut her eyes, forcing herself to take a deep breath. How did one cope with losing the power of a goddess? Maybe one more thing she’d need to ask Chandi, someday, if she ever saw her again.
“Are you really sure you want to find Malin?” Ben asked, as Landi walked up the gangway like any normal person.
Whether she wanted to or not, she’d made a promise. She had to find the Macan Gadungan, no matter how far he’d gone. Her husband said Malin had fled after a climactic battle at the Astral Temple where he’d slain the ghost of Rahu. It sounded like a children’s story. But then, Landi herself had been possessed by a mermaid and rescued by a dragon, so she wasn’t going to dismiss anything at this point.
“Yes.”
“Ah, my dear, Pohaci was looking for him, last we saw her. She’s probably the best way to find him. Ah, but you’re not planning on killing the weretiger, right? I rather think Pohaci might object to that course.”
“No, Ben. I’m not planning on killing Malin.”
“Right, well then, all is well. Then.” Ben shrugged, swaying his locks. “I’ve just got to collect a few more crewmen, and we can be off.”
“Do you know where she is?” Landi called after him.
“Not a clue. Only that she was last on Puradvipa. Actually, that is rather like a clue. Or it would be, if I thought she was still there. And I don’t, so we’ll call it half a clue.” Ben winked at her. “Rest assured, love, I have half a clue.”
Landi rolled her eyes, then sat on the gunwale, as the rest of the crew prepared to make way. Not Ben’s old crew, of course. They had all died when she … when Loro Kidul had dropped the ocean on their heads. It was a wonder that Chandi and Bendurana had survived. She’d have to thank the girl for that, one day. One more thing to add to the list of things to talk with the Lunar about. So much had changed in Landi’s absence. Much as she speculated, she still couldn’t imagine how Chandi had let Naresh out of her sight, much less driven him away. Ben said little of it, and, in truth, she preferred to talk of other things with him.
“You know, you’re beautiful,” she said to Ben when he passed, pinching his hip.
“Ah, my dear, that much is obvious even to a blind man. Or woman. I often get compliments from blind girls. Not as many as from sighted girls, but that’s to be expected.”
Landi snickered, shaking her head, and watched Ben as he walked down the gangway. He swayed his hips like a girl, as if he knew she was looking.
He was a man almost overflowing with confidence. When he’d first tried to court her, he stood below her window singing to her. When that hadn’t worked, he filled her entire room with flowers. Landi smiled, shaking her head. Ben never took no for answer—thank Surya.
Someone shoved her and she fell to the deck, slamming her elbow into it. It stung like lightning, and for a moment, she could barely move except to cradle her throbbing arm. Above her, Dewi Kadita stood, hands on her hips. How had she let herself get so lost in her thoughts she hadn’t heard the woman approach? First of the Arun Guard indeed.
“I’m not going to just give him up!” the woman said.
What in Rangda’s underworld? Landi raised an eyebrow, then stood before Dewi Kadita. “It’s not your choice to make!”
Dewi Kadita pushed her again, and Landi took a step back. “I had him first! He loved me first!” She kicked at Landi.
Landi caught her foot and held it in the air. “Maybe. But he loves me best.” She shoved the woman’s leg, sending her tumbling to the deck. She stormed closer. If the bitch thought she could take Ben from her, she was going in the ocean.
“No,” Dewi Kadita said, rubbing her backside where she fell. “No. You weren’t there …” She climbed back to her feet, slowly. “You didn’t see the magic when we made love on the beach.”
She’d slept with him? Landi had grabbed the other woman before she even realized what she was doing, and shoved her against the gunwale. This woman had not only slept with her husband, she thought to taunt her with it. Landi’s fist curled at her side. She could crack ribs with one blow.
Tears streamed down Dewi Kadita’s face. “He loved me.” It was almost a whimper.
Surya, she couldn’t beat a woman like this. A broken heart was all she had to show for a hard life. Not that Landi’s life had been easy, but … she had Ben. She had Ben. “He chose me,” she said, her voice a whisper.
“What?”
“He chose me,” she repeated, this time to Dewi Kadita. “He does love me best. Whatever you had, keep it in your heart, or let it go. The choice is yours. But Ben and I, we already made our choices and you can’t change them. You have to know nothing but pain waits for you on this ship.”
The woman backed away shaking her head. “Why?”
Why what? Why had Ben chosen her? Why had fate brought them both into his life at different times? She shook her head and spread her hands. She didn’t have any answers for this woman.
And she didn’t owe her any. “Go, before I make you.”
“Dewi?” Ben asked, as he walked back up the gangway.
But the girl just shook her head, rushing away. She paused at Landi’s husband, though, then threw her arms around him. Cheeky bitch. Landi could break her arm for that … but then Dewi spoke. “Goodbye, Ben.” She released him and ran down the gangway.
Ben shuddered. “Dewi?” he called after her. “Wait, I …” He shook his head, then turned back to Landi. “Ah, my love, have you been showering my old friends in kindness?”
“In cold reality, more like.”
Ben frowned a little, a strange expression on his face. “She deserves better. Better than the reality dealt her.”
Landi sighed. Maybe the girl did. But she’d brought it on herself coming here. Of course, Landi would have done the same. So it was better not to dwell on it. “Are you ready to leave?”
“Indeed, wife. Another great adventure awaits! There will be dashing, daring, and lots of searching.”
Landi took Ben’s hand and followed him up to the poop deck. She didn’t need any more adventures. She’d found what she’d been searching for. Now, she had one more task to complete. Just one more, and she and Ben would be free.
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED SIXTY-SEVEN
“If Naresh never came back to your house, did it occur to you he never came back to Daha at all?”
Chandi glared at the werecrocodile. Pohaci could be irritatingly direct. “Most ch
ildren learn a little thing called tact. Crocodiles don’t learn it?”
“No. If someone offends me, I just bite their head off.”
And she probably meant that literally. Chandi sighed. “He might have gone back to Rangguwani. Something went wrong between them, so I thought he’d stay away …” But Naresh was so stubborn about duty, and try as he might, he’d never leave politics.
Pohaci shrugged. “We’ve already searched the rest of this city.”
And what a pleasure that had been. Having a professional spy tell her all the ways she did it wrong was even more fun than learning the trade on her own had been.
But she needed Pohaci, so she just headed over to the palace with her. Rangguwani kept the main gate open, so they should be able to just walk in. Chandi took off in that direction, knowing, and only partly regretting, that Pohaci would follow.
“Look, the Iron Palace is a big place,” she said.
“I know.”
Chandi glanced back at the werecrocodile. “When have you been there?”
“I came here a while back with Lembu Ampal.”
What? Naresh had mentioned the big Guardsman had come here, but he never said anything about Pohaci. Was it because she had that pretty face? Could he care about her?
Chandi grit her teeth and shook the ridiculous thought out of her head. She would not be jealous of a crocodile. Naresh was loyal to her, even if he had left her. Anything else was just the lunacy talking. And as much as she’d used the Blessings, it wouldn’t be a surprise to have it return. She needed to stop, as she’d done before. At least for a time. Would that abate it?
And deep down, even knowing lunacy was returning, she still wanted the Rangda-damned Amrita.
The guards at the palace gate looked over the two women, but waved them on after only a moment. They probably wouldn’t have let her bring a toyak inside, but Chandi had left those in her house, anyway.
There were people all over the massive garden. Chances were best that the guards would recognize Naresh, but talking to them might arouse too much suspicion. “We need to talk to the courtiers, the servants, anyone who might have seen him.”
Pohaci turned around, as if memorizing every aspect of the layout, every person in the garden. “There’s dozens of people here. We should split up and meet back here if one of us finds something.”
Sweet Chandra, yes. Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to question someone without the woman pointing out her every misstep? Yes—yes, she thought it would. “Fine, meet me back at the fishpond at noon.” That gave them each half a phase to move about the grounds and ask questions.
One good thing about the Buaya Jadian, at least Chandi wouldn’t have to tell her to be discreet. It was what they did, after all. Sneaking about, spying. And murdering. Pohaci probably had blood on her hands—but, then, so did Chandi.
Chandi drifted around the garden, making idle gossip with the servants. None mentioned seeing Naresh, even when Chandi hinted about it. By the time the third woman mentioned Lembu Ampal’s muscular body, Chandi was ready to pull her hair out. She had nothing against the big Guardsman, but he wasn’t the man she wanted to hear about.
“Chandi,” someone said.
She turned to look into the eyes of a Macan Gadungan. He had two other men with him, flanking him.
“Sunten,” she said.
The weretiger nodded. “The Ratu Adil wants a word with you.”
“How is dear Rangguwani? I can’t say I much want any words with him.” In fact, she’d avoided him even when Naresh served him. Anusapati’s brother …
“You don’t have a choice,” Sunten said. “He’s very serious.”
Chandi glanced around her. Other soldiers had begun to form up around her and the three Macan Gadungan. Using her Blessings risked lunacy, but there was no way she was giving in to this. If she could get to the wall, she could run up it and escape. Where was Pohaci? The damn werecrocodile was nowhere to be seen.
“You think this is a good idea, tiger?” Chandi backed away, edging closer to the wall. It would be a long run, but maybe she could get around the guards and up it before they could catch her.
“I think it’s my duty, Chandi. Surrender now.”
“No.” Chandi lunged at Sunten, catching the surprised weretiger by the throat. She hefted him into the air and flung him back at one of his companions, then took off running.
The third weretiger chased after her, and from the sound of it, so did a lot of guards. Others tried to interpose themselves between her and her escape. Not a good place to be. Her fist made a sickening crack against one guard’s face, and she dodged around the side of another.
And then someone stood behind her, with a hand on her shoulder. As she recognized Lembu Ampal, things shifted, and she stood again in front of Sunten, who was rising from the ground, his face painted with rage.
Chandi launched both elbows out behind her, catching the Guardsman with one. He fell, with a grunt. Sunten leapt at her. She spun and kicked him in midair, hurtling him the other direction. Another soldier grabbed her. She flipped the man, then disabled two more with joint locks.
Someone thrust the shaft of an arbir at her. Chandi caught it, then yanked it from the man’s hands. She didn’t know how to fight with the polearm, so she tossed it aside. An aerial cartwheel carried her over another attacker. Lembu Ampal appeared in the air in front of her, and his fist slammed into her cheek before she could change directions.
The impact flung her to the ground. For a man without enhanced strength, he was damn strong. Her Blessings let her cut through the pain, barely. She swept her legs out, tripping the Guardsman. A Macan Gadungan flung himself atop her. Her blows might have cracked the tiger’s ribs, but he didn’t let up. Someone yanked her arm behind her back and forced her to a sitting position.
Chandi thrust her leg out, catching a soldier in the stomach and sending him flying. Whoever held her must be a Moon Scion. He was just too strong. Macan Gadungan, Arun Guard, Moon Scions. How could she fight them all? No one could.
It didn’t mean she was going down easy.
Sunten grabbed her, pulling her to her feet as others tried to manacle her hands. Chandi drew her Potency Blessing as hard as she could and kicked at the tiger’s knee, knocking it out of joint. He fell, screaming, clutching his mangled leg. He’d heal—benefits of being Jadian—but not quickly. She snapped her head back, smashing the base of her skull into the nose of whoever held her.
The Moon Scion dropped her, but several other arms still held hers. Another Macan Gadungan hit her in the gut. She held her Blessings, fighting the pain. His third blow knocked them away. As soon as the Blessings dropped, all the agony of her body washed over her like the rushing tide. She would have toppled, except someone still held her up by the arms.
She had to … she reached for her Blessings again. It had become second nature. Drawing them eased the pain, but she probably had broken ribs herself. Her attackers had manacled her arms behind her back and forced her to her knees. From this position, she couldn’t attack. She couldn’t even defend herself when Sunten backhanded her.
“Vicious bitch,” he said.
“Fight me one on one and see how it goes,” she said.
He slapped her again.
She looked up. Pohaci was crouched over the body of a soldier, meeting her gaze. One glance told Chandi the other woman already knew there was nothing she could do. With a nod, Pohaci slipped away behind some trees, fading into the garden.
Pohaci had all but disappeared. If Chandi had done so, she’d be free now. Why hadn’t she thought of using her Glamour? The lunacy was affecting her mind, wasn’t it? She shook her head, trying to clear it.
They pulled her through the ornate throne room and forced her to kneel before Rangguwani. He sat there on Kertajaya’s throne, his gilded costume looking like glittering wings, staring at her. Anusapati’s brother. Was that why he wanted her? Revenge for the death of his little brother?
Chandra, he was goin
g to blame her for that, wasn’t he? And she could see Anusapati in him—in those ochre eyes and that strong jawline. And in her, he’d see the reason his brother was dead.
“Chandi,” he said, not rising. He at least looked the part of the great king.
“You think Naresh won’t hear about this?”
Rangguwani smirked. “I’m hoping he does. Your husband has become difficult to control. And the Ratu Adil must have control of the Isles. There are too many loose ends. The Arun Guard must serve me.”
Chandi spit blood on the floor. He thought he’d use her to control Naresh? At least that meant he wasn’t going to kill her for what happened to Anusapati.
“If you think you can earn his loyalty like this, you’re a fool,” she said.
Rangguwani shrugged. “The man will never risk his wife. You just became my most valuable treasure.”
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED SIXTY-EIGHT
The screams of the damned filled Naresh’s dreams as they filled his waking moments. As they filled the rainforest and villages of Yawadvipa. Nightfall brought loose the demons, as their heads left their bodies and they sought fresh prey.
This fishing village had once thrived a few phases’ walk from Kasusthali. Now, the evening sun cast it in brilliant orange light, seen by none but Naresh and his men. These villagers had fled in a hurry. Surya say they were safe. This was the third village in a row he’d found abandoned. Perhaps all the Yawadvipans had fled to other islands, but that seemed unlikely.
“Naresh,” Lang said, his voice dry as he pointed at a house.
Blood splatters covered the porch, even the roof. Naresh drew his keris sword and advanced on the house, then Strode up to the porch. Inside, the smell of rot almost overwhelmed him. The corpse inside might once have been a man, although so much of its flesh had been eaten, it was hard to be sure.
Naresh climbed back down the ladder and joined Lang and the others. They’d brought twelve men here, and hoped to recruit more … but the leyaks had been through this place already. Any hope he’d held that the stories were only stories had died not long after they’d arrived on Yawadvipa. His homeland had become a feasting ground for the minions of the Demon Queen.
