Page 29 of Her Soul for a Crown
“O mighty Heavens and all the wretches between them,” Calu cursed over Reeri’s shoulder.
All else was silence.
Reeri had gone still, his edges frozen like a mountain peak in winter. It could not be that simple. Could it?
The Yakkas gathered around him, stared at the shadow offering betwixt his fingers. A shiver floated through them.
Great Blood Yakka of the Second Heavens, hear my prayer. Grant me the first crown of raejina of Anuradhapura. For today, I offer my soul.
No human had ever sacrificed a soul.
“Wessamony cannot ignore this one,” Kama whispered.
“No,” Reeri agreed.
“What now?” Sohon asked.
“Now”—Reeri stood, gaze toward the court of torment—“I make a bargain with our Lord for us to return to Earth.”
Sounds of anguish greeted him at court.
As Reeri came close, Wessamony leaned toward a Yakka, sharpfingernails pressing in. He slowly clawed at the shadow, striping off a length of their face. The Yakka swallowed a scream.
“I have not summoned you.” Wessamony slashed again, and again, until he extracted a cry.
“No, my Lord.” If shadows had stomachs, Reeri’s would empty itself across the marble floor.
“Why do you disturb me?”
“Grandest apologies.” He falsified a bow. “I have found your offering.”
Wessamony straightened. “A human willing to find the relic?”
“An offering of a soul.”
Wessamony sucked his fangs. Reeri tensed. Souls held power. It was said Wessamony had wielded one to create the Yakkas and one to create a new form for himself, one without a fetter. Yet the latter had shriveled into a husk and blown away into the cosmos. Hunger refocused Wessamony’s eyes. “With that, they can ask for a great many things.”
“Yes. Such sacrifices come with commitment, too. I do not doubt their conviction. They will agree to elevated terms.”
“Then be on with it!”
Reeri shifted. This was his only chance. “First, I have an idea, my Lord.”
“I do not want your ideas,” Wessamony said, beginning a slow walk along the line of bound Yakkas. They shivered as he passed.
Reeri pressed on. “Instead of waiting for the humans to search and find, grant us permission to return to Earth and fetch it ourselves.”
“I cannot undo the banishment, Reeri.”
“No, yet as we have seen, there are loopholes. The offering of a soul—it could be our tether. We would not have our own bodies, but those of others. Once the relic is in our hands, wewill return. Atoned and redeemed, to live in your court without torment.”
Wessamony spun. “What be this, terms?”
Reeri squared his shoulders. “A bargain.”
Wessamony’s horns tinted blue.
“For centuries, we have placed success in human hands. Place it now in mine.”
