Page 3 of The Divine Lies We Weave

Leela gazed at herself in the dresser mirror. Her simple looks were appealing, her brown skin smooth to the touch. She had soft cheeks and round eyes that would mesmerize anyone with their depth. But she didn’t care to please any man or woman.

Not when her heart yearned for someone she’d never get to see again.

“Should we go?” Leela said.

Sita nodded and led Leela from her room. The grand sandstone walls of the palace had overwhelmed Leela at first, with their carved ridges curling into beautiful ripples of decorative arches. The high ceilings made her feel as small as an ant as she walked across the polished floors and between beaming columns. Even if she were to stay another ten years, she was sure she’d never have time to explore every room within the Crimson Palace. All the bedrooms, lush gardens, and balconies were too grand. Too many sights to see. Not enough time to see the palace carved from the mountainside.

How unfortunate.

Leela kept her gaze down as they passed guards in the Nihikian emerald suits, with godsblades hanging at their hips. The blue glow had always stunned Leela. The metal was made from the Flames’ bones after they fell from saving the mortal realm from the Netherworld monsters. For centuries, they’d fought, only to lose as they were outnumbered by the monsters spat by the storms.

The mortals did the only thing they could to save themselves as the final Flame died and built walls around every city and village. Her grandparents used to tell tales of the first few walls and the Flames’ courage and bravery and how mortals forged weapons from their corpses.

Leela shuddered at the thought.

Her slippers echoed as they entered the last hall. From the other direction, women dressed in an assortment of plain colors were led by their maids into the dining hall. Each one filed in with their hands clasped at their waists and heads bowed. Leela recognized a few and realized the only sisters here were the ones about to marry.

“Head high,” Sita ordered.

Leela ground her teeth but obeyed. She strode into the room with her chin up, not wanting to let the lord of this Crimson Palace see her as weak. She would sit and struggle through dinner, knowing it was her last meal here before she set off to make her dreams come true.

Sita led her to one of twelve seats before a long table. Candles hung in brass cages, lining the table and walls, casting swells of shadow on the red stone. Soldiers were stationed with their hands on their godsblades, backs straight and eyes forward. A gentle breeze wafted in from three giant arches overlooking the city. Drums beat as the twin moons rose and the stars popped against the navy and purple sky.

As soon as the ladies of the palace were seated, servants strode into the room with giant silver trays full of an assortment of meats, vegetables, and fruits. It was too much food for Leela to soak in all at once as they continued to pile dish after dish onto the table.

Silence settled.

Leela peered at the others. A short-haired woman sitting across from Leela stared at her plate, and the one beside her had tears sliding down her face. Further down the table, someone whimpered. Every face tugged at her heartstrings. A part of her wished she could ask them to escape with her. They didn’t deserve this. None of them had asked to be brought to the palace and sold off. It was also why Leela had never interacted with them. Because she knew what would happen when she cared.

She would want to protect them all.

A set of double doors boomed from behind her, jolting every head toward the man striding in. Leela had only ever laid eyes on the lord twice: once, when she came to the palace on a sandship after he saved her from her ruined village—at least, that was the tale he told her—and again, when she tried to escape a year into her capture. The Lord had thrown her into a rat-infested cell for several days and warned her that if she tried again, she’d spend the rest of her time in there.

Heat ran up her spine, her fingers curling underneath the table and her eyes narrowing.

She hated him. Because of him, every woman at this table was about to be led to a worse fate—and Leela, if she was caught.

“Evening, ladies of the palace,” the lord said, stretching his arms.

No one spoke.

“Please, enjoy your final meal with me,” he continued. “This feast is for you. I can assure you the wedding ceremonies will be brief, and by tomorrow, you’ll be swept off to different corners of our world. I hear some of you are going as far as Viviga, the deepest forest on the other side of the world. Others have been lucky enough to travel continents.”

The woman beside Leela whimpered.

The lord shifted his focus to Leela. “And one of you is deemed worthy enough to marry a Lord of Jhuna Rin.”

Eyes turned to Leela, and she fidgeted in her chair. She met the lord’s twinkling gaze.

“Yes, Leela, how wonderful,” he said, lips pursed. “I ensured a hefty investment from you.”

The look on the lord’s face was enough to make her want to barf. She was thankful she hadn’t taken a bite yet.

Leela nodded and forced a smile. “I am sure you did, my lord.”

“Well, it helps when one has specifically asked for you too.”

Leela’s smile slipped. What did he mean? How could a lord know about her…? A simple village girl, turned orphan, into a future bride?