Page 114 of Her Soul for a Crown
Reeri ignored the comment. “There is no time left for jests. The Maha Equinox will strike in one day, and we must find theBone Blade hidden somewhere in this vast palace.”
“It is here? Should we not have heard it by now?” Sohon asked.
“I thought so, at first, but then I realized that we are not our true selves. Human senses dull our hearing, so the call will not be the same as in the Heavens. Calu’s cursed blade should not have sounded that way to the human ear, and the Divinities knew that. Another trick to hide it.”
“How are we to find it then?”
“It will sing when it is used. Like a statue or a painting, it will come to life with interaction, I believe.”
“How can you be sure it is here? Would a human not have found it by now? So many dwell in this place.” Calu shifted worriedly.
“The Divinities ‘cast all relics down to earth, to where all eyes were on them but none could see them.’ They created the in-between, the palace, a place for humans to witness the love of the Heavens.”
“People come here to look, but not to see,” Anula said, her gaze finally finding his. “They never tried to find it here.”
A moment passed between them, as if they could also now see.
“Exactly,” Reeri said. “Each of us will search a section of the palace: Sohon south, Kama east, Calu north, and I west. Interact with every blessed gift—leave no surface untouched.”
“And my offering?” Calu asked, pulling a small yellowed rice bowl from a pocket. Its sheen was odd. “Should I find another?”
“It exists,” Kama said. “Is it not still an offering?”
“It has no bargain,” Sohon said pointedly. “The cosmos might not accept it.”
Reeri glanced again at Anula, his jaw feathering. “There are many loopholes in the laws of the cosmos. Mayhap this will be one. Search for the relic, but check the shrines as you do so. If you find a new essence offering, take it, but if not, we will make dowith what we have.”
The Yakkas nodded in agreement.
“What about me?” Anula asked. “You didn’t say where I should search.”
Reeri held the door open. “I assumed you would aid me. If you would rather not…”
“Together is fine.” She slid quickly through the throne room’s door.
She didn’t miss the red tint that warmed Reeri’s cheeks as she passed. Nor the smirk on Kama’s lips, nor the frown on Calu’s mouth.
Nor the way Reeri’s blush sparked her own.
***
“Two stars traverse the cosmos, fiery and fast, hurling toward each other, and upon their kiss—”
“Not this one,” Anula said, walking away before the foot-tall elephant statue finished speaking, before it could put any more ideas into her head. And before Reeri could catch up to her and she could feel his heat. Her hands—her lips—couldn’t be trusted.
“Do you not wish to know the rest of your fortune?” Reeri asked wryly.
“Who said it was a fortune teller? Perhaps it’s a storyteller, its aim to scare me, or worse, put me to sleep.”
“You do not seem to enjoy the blessed gifts.”
“Oh, did you enjoy nearly being attacked inside a painting? Or do you prefer the blessed bed frame whispering the ways of the gentle touch in your ear each night? Telling you how to caress me, how to feel me, how to warm me with your strong, enormous member.”
Reeri tripped over his own feet.
Cursed blessings. Anula whirled away, continuing down the hall, a flush rushing down her whole body. Not even her words were safe.
She hurried through the gallery, keeping a full length ahead of Reeri, never letting them linger in the same room together for too long. They had to focus. She touched a plant that danced to the music of the first peoples of the island, but heard no relic calling and saw no bones or blades. She inspected a painting of bare-chested women braiding one another’s hair, then a stack of pottery that shifted colors with her mood, brightening to a pink aura. She tried not to think what it meant.
