Page 35 of The Divine Lies We Weave

Not that she ever thought it was.

While Leela waited for Rajesh to return, she studied the room, trying to find something to distract herself with. She smoothed her fingers along the edge of the table that was carved from the rich red stone. A crimson powder dusted her fingertips, and she wiped it on her pants.

Leela basked in the sun. She tilted her chin, relishing in the way it calmed her. The Viperess hummed a gentle, harmonious lullaby, instantly soothing every nerve in Leela. It was a strange form of calmness. Something Leela had never felt before, but something she needed as her mind continued to spiral.

What was going on with Rajesh?

Why did he harness the Scorpion?

When did he harness it?

The Flames were fickle things. When the Flames from the Netherworld sought to find the elixir of immortality, they broke through the earthen realm and into the Awakening to steal it. In their fight, a giant war broke out between the Flames from the Awakening and the Netherworld. The Awakening Flames were pulled onto the earth, where the mortals reigned. The stories told of how the Flames in the Awakening, the ones more prosperous and nurturing to the mortals, were banished from their realm by the Flames in the Netherworld, the ones said to be of devious actions but could still harness a sense of kindness. Leela never quite understood all the tales her grandfather used to tell her, only that the Flames lived below and above the mortal realm, and each had a unique tale. Tales twisted into stories of love, betrayal, kindness, and epic battles. Each one as brilliant as the last.

Leela remembered those tales because it was clear. Written in history and the bones scattered across the world. Living in the desert, she’d never explored the rest of the world. She hoped to one day, so she could glimpse the bones of the Flames from above.

You are a complicated being.

Oh?

You wish to travel, but darling, you have no escape. Not from me.

I know. But I’m a dreamer, and I believe there is something I can do to get you out of my head.

The Viperess hissed.

Leela opened her mouth but snapped it shut when footsteps drew her attention to the entrance. She locked eyes with a familiar pair whose owner she believed to also be dead. Leela’s entire body tensed as she soaked in the black vine curls against the narrow cheeks. When Leela last saw Nalini, Rajesh’s mother, she was running and screaming across the dunes to get to Iravan, Rajesh’s younger brother. Now, here she stood, still the same beautiful, elegantly tall woman Leela had come to love like a second mother. The only difference was she had a scar with a deep cut on her upper arm, more muscle around her legs, and an older look in her eyes.

A look not of love, but of terror, turning to confusion, then into rage.

“Leela,” Nalini said, voice tight.

Leela’s breath hitched. She’d thought about running over and wrapping her arms around the other woman, pulling her in, and hugging someone she thought was dead. But not after that welcome. “Nalini.”

Nalini bit her lip, the rage melting into tears. “Oh… Leela…”

“By the Flames! She has risen from the ashes.”

Leela flicked her gaze to Iravan. He limped forward, his cane thumping against the cave floor as he approached the table and sat in the chair. Leela gently observed him, watching as he held onto his right leg and squeezed at the knee. Iravan survived the attack on the village, but it was clear that it had left permanent scars.

“Long time no see. Where have you been?” Iravan asked with a broad smile, arms wide and eyes twinkling.

“I could ask you the same thing,” Leela replied, politely smiling back. She was glad someone was happy to see her.

“She harnesses the Viperess,” Rajesh said, cutting off the pleasantries.

“I can see,” Nalini said.

Leela glanced between the family. They were all here. All alive. Not well, but… alive. A small spit of hope sliced through her. What if her family were alive? What if she’d been saved from the wreckage too early? She couldn’t quite remember everything that happened during the attack, only the snippets that impacted her the most: the wall crumbling to the ground; the giant lustisha hungrily peering over them, with its eyes as big as Leela’s hut and two heads sticking out the side of its neck; her family running, screaming; the village in chaos; the drakion climbing through the wreckage and tearing into flesh.

Leela swayed and shut her eyes. Then realized shutting them meant being pulled into the vivid visions further. She snapped her eyes open and bit her lip, trying to feel something—anything—other than useless hope drowning her.

“Let us first discuss other things than the obvious, shall we, Rajesh?” Nalini said.

“Yeah, calm down,” Iravan said. “Leela is alive, aren’t you⁠—”

“No,” Rajesh snapped.

Leela flinched, the word cutting into tender wounds. The word meant more than just ‘no.’ She knew what Iravan was going to say. His witty and loose tongue had gotten him into trouble multiple times. The ‘no’ meant Rajesh didn’t want to acknowledge her. He barely even looked at her as the rage took over, and he stared Iravan down.