Page 66 of The Divine Lies We Weave

Great, another thing Leela wasn’t good at. She told herself that this was all new, that she had time to understand this new body and world she’d been thrust into. Even so, she wasn’t meant to know all this, but voicing it out felt ridiculous. This was the self-doubt and fear of being shit, but she was warranted to have imperfections.

Good. Finally, someone is talking sense. The Viperess chuckled.

Rude.

Am I wrong?

If I can learn to fight, I won’t need you to control me.

If Leela could protect herself, maybe she could kill the Viperess.

Do I have to remind you?

Yeah, yeah, it was just a thought.

Golden eyes flashed and a yellow hue settled over Leela’s vision. Do not test my patience.

Leela’s chest restricted.

Hema led her into a room whose ceiling rose too tall to actually fit into a ship. A mosaic glass floor split the room in two and the sun beat down from the open air. High arches sat against the left wall, showing them the desert dunes as the ship continued to fly. To their right stood a row of staggered seats, and the back of the room was covered ceiling-to-floor with weapons.

“Whoa…” Leela said, stopping at the edge of the mosaic floor. She stared at the intricate red, glistening in the sun, the way it sparkled with glimmers of darker and lighter tones of red. The edge was a clear white, studded with a golden exterior.

“This is the fighting arena,” Hema explained, arms wide. “Sometimes we watch, hence the seating area. It’s quite fun, really. People place bets on who will beat whom.”

“And who is the best fighter?” Leela asked.

“Rajesh, of course.” Hema spun in the middle of the room with a familiar smile on her petite features. Her tiny curls twirled around her face, each one defined.

Leela wondered how she could be so calm and enthusiastic all the time.

“Although Navya is quite good too,” Hema continued.

“Oh?”

“Yeah, she and Rajesh would practice all the time, I honestly think it was just for them to get—” Hema cut herself off as her eyes landed on Leela mid-twirl. “Oh, I mean, they probably just liked to practice on one another. No. I mean… fight.”

Leela frowned. “What is it?”

“Nothing.” Hema dashed over to the armory.

Leela waved off the awkward moment with Hema. Whatever she’d been about to say, she clearly didn’t want to say it, and Leela didn’t quite care. Not about Navya, anyway.

“These are the weapons. We have godsblades, jawblades, wingblades, and clawgloves. You name it! We generally have them.”

Leela reached the table on the other side of the room and gawked at the number of weapons pressed into the wall. The godsblades glowed a vibrant blue from the blood of the Flame. There were jawblades, where the curved blade split in two with rows of jagged teeth, mostly used by the Tiger or Fox to bite down on their enemies. Leela had never seen one in action before, let alone looked at one. Gloves covered an entire section of the wall, all in different sizes, with clawed fingers. Bows and arrows as well as the tinier katars or stealthy swords were among other weapons not laced with the power of a Flame.

“Where did you get all these?” Leela exclaimed.

“The Nihikian Empire,” Hema explained.

Leela glanced at Hema. “Right. Of course.”

She suddenly realized the thing she was running from was the thing she’d run into. Everyone here worked for the kingdom.

Rajesh’s confession last night gripped her. The kingdom didn’t know Rajesh’s emotions were the cause of the sandstorm monsters, and if they knew, she was sure they’d use him as a weapon. More so than they already were.

“You’ll learn,” Hema said, waving it off. “Give yourself time to settle in. I don’t know what you did before this but give yourself time to adjust. You’re allowed to not know everything.”