Page 10 of The Divine Lies We Weave

His hand fell to his side. “Pretty name for a clumsy fool.” Ishaan chuckled. “And what is it, Leela, that draws you here?”

Leela straightened her shoulders despite her stomach feeling like stones were weighing it down. Her mother had once told her, ‘Confidence was the best liar,’ and right now, Leela needed all the confidence she could muster to get out of here.

“Clumsy, yes, but your name came up in conversation for what I need. I’m hoping you’re the rebels who have relics to slay monsters. I’m looking for the bow and arrow said to hit every target. Or would the wish-fulfilling tree be in stock?”

Ishaan’s gaze darkened. “And where, Flames above, did you hear that?”

Aarna. “Whispers.”

Ishaan smirked. “And why would you need such a weapon?”

Leela sighed, admitting defeat. If she had the chance to get out of this alive, she had to play their game and hope she could strike a deal, even if it meant telling the truth. “I need it to kill a lustisha.”

The hands around Leela’s arms tensed.

“We don’t deal with the beasts outside these walls,” Ishaan hissed. “What is it you want?”

There was a slight tremor in his words. The beasts scared the shit out of anyone who lived in the desert kingdoms. How could they not? They destroyed kingdoms and brought the strongest walls to the ground with a simple strike of the fist.

Leela knew it all too well.

“I told you,” Leela said.

“To kill a lustisha is unheard of.” Ishaan flicked his wrist. “Especially by a mere mortal. How could you hope to bring down such a beast? Have you ever seen one, pretty girl?”

Leela’s chest twisted. She knew her odds. She had a very slim chance in killing a lustisha, but she didn’t care. She had to bring the giant beast to its knees. She had to. Because if she didn’t, it meant her village and everyone she had loved had died for nothing.

It meant her fiancé, Rajesh, had died for nothing.

“I know my odds,” Leela snapped. She gazed fiercely at Ishaan, lips straightening. “Do you like blouses? I have my wedding garments, which would pay their weight in gold.”

“I do not care for blouses.”

“I’ll pay with my life if it means I find this weapon. Do you have it or not?”

Ishaan studied her for a moment.

Thoughts swirled behind his eyes as Leela continued to stare him down, hoping she could weasel something out of him. She hadn’t learned to survive the palace, keeping prying hands off and trying to find sanctuary within the walls, for nothing. She had nothing else to lose, and if she had to give herself away to get what she wanted, then so be it.

“There may be another way.” His gaze narrowed. “How do you feel about becoming a Vessel to a Flame?”

Leela held incredibly still. The chill in the air was sucked dry, and her skin warmed.

Becoming a Vessel meant harnessing a Flame and using their insurmountable power. She knew the risks, and becoming a Vessel was not a part of her plan. Finding a weapon was simple enough. She could use a weapon without too much training, without fearing a Flame would fully consume her.

Like the tales said, the Flames were still alive in soul, without a body. When the Viperess split the realms open and cast several monster-churning storms across the world, the Flames needed to intervene and help the mortals. Except their giant, eternal bodies are now strewn across the mortal world. The Flames’ souls lived on to harness mortals. If the mortal survived the ascension, that was.

No. She didn’t want to become a Vessel for a Flame or lose control over herself. She wanted to find a weapon, and a weapon she would get.

Her breath hitched when she replied, “No.”

Ishaan cocked his head. “But you would be perfect. And I have just the Flame.”

“No. No, I refuse to be a puppet!” Leela shook her head.

Ishaan chuckled. “You have no idea the power I possess. The way I can find the truth with a single touch. The way I can harness such power. Have you ever wished to have everything your heart desired?”

Leela shut her eyes, pushing away the intruding thoughts. Of course, she had. All she wanted was her family alive, that the night six years ago that killed everyone she loved hadn’t occurred, and to touch her siblings again.