Black Avatare

24 | SHADOW

Moonlight streamed in through the high windows and cast illuminated patches on the stone floor. The wall lamps glowed as usual, but they weren't incandescent at all. She learned that they were orbs with some kind of organism in a nutrient bath, which emitted bioluminescence. This was supposed to be morning, though nothing was different from the night before.

Binara sat up on the bed and glowered. Memories from the dinner flooded in, though her mind focused on the heated exchange in the study. No matter how much she had raged and blustered, Diyan had simply ignored her until she acquiesced to being escorted back to her room. An image surfaced—that of him cuddling the leopard. Her inner eye roved over the smile that dimpled his face and the wavy hair that fell over his brow.

Argh. She gave her head a violent shake, and her glare intensified. Diyan's relationship with King Mayadunne still baffled her, and there was something that compelled him to take on Mahasona—she just didn't know what it was. What irked her the most was how he underestimated her.

Maiden. Binara scoffed. What else do you expect from an ancient prince dude? She wanted to bomb his palace all over again, but she had no amulets left. The worst problem was the state she was in, which limited her movement.

She examined her burned hand. The blisters had started to go down. Even her arm felt better. She was a fast healer, but this was quick even in her standards. She wondered about the ayurvedic ointments the kinnaris kept applying on her, probably made of exotic medicinal plants from Himavan Forest.

There was no choice but to stay put for the time being.

The wheels in her brain turned. While she was stuck here, she could glean more information and even try to find an inner passageway that led down the rock. Her thoughts strayed to Piumi. Did she get home okay? Then she wondered how Nayana and her mother might have reacted to her disappearance. There was no way she would go back any time soon, even if she could. She had to get to Mount Meru. It was up to her to walk the path her ancestor did over two thousand years ago.

Yet again, the earth-shattering knowledge she had obtained crashed down with the force of a tsunami. The journey ahead was just as overwhelming, fraught with danger and uncertainty. Her breaths quickened, and she reached up a hand, raking through her hair. That was when she remembered that her hairpin was gone.

That instant, she was a lone child lost in the mist, surrounded by a universe that was vast, scary and beyond her comprehension. Binara gritted her teeth while her stomach dropped. In fact, all of her plunged into the chasm inside, where she once had a lifeline. There was nothing to grab onto now. Her sister wasn't there, not even in spirit. She had lost the one thing that she had of her. Pressure built in her chest, and her vision darkened. The silence mirrored the void inside, until she curled into a ball, trembling.

It took a while for the tremors to subside.

She bathed and dressed herself, rejecting the kinnaris' assistance for the most part. Manora still fussed about, trying to brush her hair. Binara opted for all white, which would offer some camouflage if she made it out into the garden. Her skirt-pants tapered down like an inverted lotus bud, with folds drooping like petals. Embroidery, which took on a peacock theme, adorned the loose drape that trailed down the front.

"Manora," Binara said, picking up her backpack, "where's Diyan?"

The kinnari chirped a response, miming rapidly. No matter how hard Binara tried, it was impossible to make sense of it. In the end, she padded up to the door and turned the handle. To her surprise, it wasn't locked.

Her spirits soared. If she could find her way to the throne room again, she could sneak out through the main entrance, which she blew open the previous day.