The dragon cobra beds down again to evade the rainfall. My time is running out, but I cannot rush and risk Natesa or me getting bitten. I harness my concentration and step forward on light feet. Slowly, so slowly my muscles ache and quiver, I tread carefully across the field.

The vipers express little interest in me as they take cover. Thank Anu for the rain. I am almost to Natesa when I nearly step on a camouflaged snake. I sidestep to avoid it, but the startled dragon cobra jerks its head up. After a tense, still moment, the agitated dragon cobra lies down in the grass again. I traverse the remaining distance to Natesa and cut her bindings free.

She yanks the gag from her mouth. “Have you lost your mind? Why didn’t you burn the vipers into their next life?”

“I don’t have my powers for this trial.”

“Buzzards,” she curses. “How are we going to get out of here?”

“We backtrack the way I came.” I hand her my second dagger and lead our way across the field, wary every step.

We arrive at the trees, and Natesa bends forward, panting. “I wanted to kill you while I waited in that field. I still want to strangle you, but I’m also happy to see your face.”

“And I yours. We have to get to the far tower before the gong sounds. Let’s go.”

We race into the trees, jumping over heaving roots and dodging low-hanging branches. Mud puddles nearly unsettle our footing, but we make good time across the paddock. As I spot the peak of the observatory tower through the canopy, a scream comes from my right. I stop, and Natesa waves me forward.

“Come on!” she says.

“That could be Indah. You go to the gate. I’ll meet you there.”

“I don’t think so.” Natesa juts out her chin. “You’re stuck with me.”

I smile a little, astounded that being stuck with Natesa causes me gladness.

“Why are you staring at me like that?” she demands. “Do I have eye kohl running down my face?”

I take her hand in mine and squeeze. “You look perfect.”

“All right,” she responds, lifting a bemused brow.

I release my grip on her, and we sprint toward the origin of the scream. About a hundred strides later, we exit the trees to a pond. Natesa and I skid to a halt.

The water is alive. A monstrous crocodile thrashes its tail and splashes near the bank. Indah dodges its snapping jaws, defending herself with her trident. Above them, Pons is tied to a tree bough.

“Is it too late to change my mind?” asks Natesa.

“Distract the crocodile. I’ll help Indah.”

Indah stands up to her ankles in the water, helpless in what is typically her domain. I slosh into the pond to her. She eludes the crocodile’s lunge and bumps into me. We fall into shin-deep water and then push to our feet and run for the bank.

“Watch your step!” Indah cries.

Another crocodile rises up from below the surface. Indah and I stand back to back, each facing a reptile sliding closer. They’re smiling at us.

Natesa swings down from a tree on a vine, a broken branch in hand, and whacks one of the crocodiles on the head. The monster slips back into the pond and disappears. On Natesa’s backward swing, the other crocodile bites down on her bough and pulls her into the pond beside us. She lifts the branch like a staff.

“Get Pons,” I tell Indah.

She wades out of the waterhole. While Indah climbs the tree to Pons, Natesa holds the crocodile at bay by swinging her branch. I keep an eye for others, guarding her blind side. Indah reaches Pons and cuts him free, and they clamber down. As they run for us, a smaller crocodile bursts from the water and snaps at them, catching Indah’s foot. The Aquifier falls to the ground, trapped in its jaws. Pons picks up her trident and stabs the crocodile through the head with the three pointed ends.

Natesa and I retreat from the bigger crocodile, edging over to them. Pons lifts Indah into his arms. Her ankle is a bloody mess. I yank the trident from the dead crocodile, and Natesa guards our retreat.

In the cover of the trees, I guide the way to the gate. We have to hurry to beat the timer and get Indah to a healer, but carrying her over the uneven terrain slows Pons.

“Go on,” he calls out, cradling Indah closer. “We’ll be right behind you.”

Her foot drips blood, and the color drains from her face. Pons will care for her, but leaving them feels wrong. She saved my life.

Natesa tugs my arm. “Kali, come on.”

“We’ll send help,” I promise Pons.

I vault over roots and duck under branches, pushing myself faster than before. Natesa and I clear the trees. The lookout tower is ahead. Guards open the gate, and the crowd in the observatory gasps. A tiger appears down the way. Natesa beelines through the gate. I pause, gripping the trident and waiting for Indah and Pons.

Come on. Come on. Come on . . .

“Kali, get in here,” cries Natesa.

The tiger prowls toward me. The guards wait anxiously to shut the gate, but I cannot leave Indah and Pons to emerge into the pathway of the tiger. I pace away from the gate, parallel to the fence, and the guards close my exit.

Pons crashes out of the foliage with Indah. The tiger whips its head around and snarls.

“Over here,” I call at the cat, waving the trident.

The tiger returns its eerie yellow eyes to me and slinks nearer. From the corner of my vision, Pons strides closer to the gate. I hold the wildcat’s attention, wishing I had my powers so I could singe its whiskers and give it a fright.

Pons and Indah arrive at our exit. The guards open it, and they slip through to safety.

I shuffle back the way I came, getting closer to the fence to avoid the tiger’s steady prowl. When I am paces away from freedom, the great cat maneuvers a step ahead of me, placing itself between me and my escape route.

The gong rings, signaling the end of the trial.

I think nothing of it or of the blasted competition. I hold the tiger’s golden gaze, staring into feral hunger, and jab the trident at the beast. I do so repeatedly, stepping cautiously with every stab, until I reach the gate.

Guards stand ready with armed bows. Another guard opens the door slightly. I nudge up to the divide. The tiger spreads its whiskers and growls. The door opens wider. A hand grabs the back of my clothes and pulls me through. I fall backward, and the guard slams the gate shut. The archers release arrows around the tiger, spooking it, and the cat runs into the trees.

Natesa drapes a blanket around me. “You like to scare the sky out of me, don’t you?”

“How’s Indah?” I ask, bending over to collect my breath.

“She’ll be all right. Pons carried her off to see another Aquifier.”

The spectators start down the stairs from the observatory tower. Sultan Kuval arrives on the landing first, and behind him follow Citra, wearing a gloating grin, and Tevy wrapped in a blanket.

Sultan Kuval stands over me and speaks, his voice like thunder. “Kindred, you failed to complete the trial in the allotted time frame and are hereby disqualified.”

“What?” I clutch my blanket closer. “The assignment was to deliver my package to the gate in time. Natesa was out of the paddock before the gong rang.”

Citra gives a quick, dismissive snort. “The instructions were to pass through the gate with her.”

My gaze darts from Citra to the sultan. “I don’t remember that rule.”

“What you heard or didn’t hear is no longer our concern,” Kuval rejoins. “You’re out of the tournament.”

My mouth gapes open, hoping I have heard them wrong, but the sultan and princess loom over me with mocking smirks. I drop my head to conceal my gathering tears.

I’m finished. I’m really out of the tournament.

Ashwin comes down from the tower with Tinley and sees me sitting in the rain. “What’s the concern here?” he asks.

“My sincerest regrets,” says the sultan, his tone anything but genuine. “The kindred failed to reach the gate before the allotted time and has been eliminated from the tournament.”

“Sultan Kuval,” Ashwin says, drawing out his name with exaggerated patience, “we all saw what happened. Kalinda arrived with Natesa on time.”

“But the kindred did not pass through the gate with her servant, as was the rule.” The sultan seals his decision with a perfunctory jiggle of his double chin.

Ashwin extends a hand to him in appeal. “If you would please consider—”

“The rules stand. Indah and Citra will compete in the final trial. Tomorrow we will hold a rank duel at the amphitheater, and they will battle for your first wife’s throne. We will reconvene then.” Sultan Kuval thrusts out his thick chest, collects his daughters, and directs them away.

Ashwin’s shoulders and head sag. He cannot go against the sultan’s ruling without invalidating the entire purpose of the trials.

Tinley steps up to me after witnessing our exchange with Sultan Kuval. “You’re brave, Kindred. Your face-off with the tiger was compelling.” Raindrops sparkle like crystals in her white hair. “I’m returning to Paljor before the worst of the wet season arrives. I’m having Bya brought home for a burial.” Tinley trains her milky eyes on me. “Thank you for the prayer on her behalf. Let me know if someday I may repay you.” She offers Ashwin and me a full, elegant bow and strides off.

Natesa kneels in the mud and hangs a loose arm around me. “You were brave.”

“I couldn’t leave Pons and Indah behind,” I whisper. My chin trembles, and tears fog my sight. I am one kind word away from them pouring down my face.

Ashwin stands over us with his hands deep in his pockets, his expression bleak. “Kalinda—” His caring tone undoes me.

I press my face into Natesa’s shoulder and cry.

25

DEVEN

The grave has to be six feet deep, the guards said. As quickly as we dig, the hole fills with rainwater. Even so, the three other diggers and I somberly shovel mud into a slippery pile while the guards observe our progress from under the eaves of a tent.