Page 88 of Her Soul for a Crown
Wessamony allowed the forfeiture of their lives, batted no lash at their sacrifice, because Reeri had ruined his plans.
More blood stained his hands.
As if he were cursed, as Anula always said.
“You say the stories of old are half-truths.” Anula pulled out one of her lists. At the top was scrawled a new name. “I see the full truth now. Lord Wessamony must be brought to justice, for us and for you. And I’ll be the one to kill him.”
The words stole Reeri’s breath, stole the thoughts and notions he had held of her. Anula was not made only of ire and impatience, walls and wrath. She was not a selfish murderess. Shecared for her people; she cared for it all: the kingdom, the cosmos, the Yakkas.
Him.
They were more than not dissimilar.
She was an echo.
“No.” Bithul’s voice cut brisk. “It makes no sense. Why would Lord Wessamony want the Bone Blade?”
Three Yakkas turned to Reeri. Mayhap it was time all the half-truths ended.
“Ascendance,” Reeri said, remembering the conversation overheard with the Divinities. “Wessamony is the Great Destroyer. His powers imbue pure destruction into the hearts and actions of nature, animal, and human alike. He creates within them a desire, a need, to destroy all in their sight. A monsoon, a lion pride’s attack, a usurper. Yet Wessamony is bound to the day of equinox, Yala and Maha. A balance demanded of the cosmos. He tried to circumvent his fetter by creating the Yakkas, but he only became more jealous of the Heavens, then of us. If he were to wield the Bone Blade, he could expunge the existence of the Divinities, ascend into the First Heavens, unbalance the cosmos, and force it to be undone. He would watch it burn, then draw from the ashes a new order, in which he was unfettered. And if it did not disappear, he would wield the blade again and again and again, until the cosmos was created in his likeness, with him at the helm of power.”
A chill swept through the room.
“That can’t happen.” Anula leveled a stare. A decree as much as a demand.
“I know.”
Bee-stung lips pursed, eyes narrowed, as if she could force herself to see beyond the face Reeri stole. Beneath the skin to the shadow. Reeri willed her to do it—to see what was hidden in plain sight. “Your unfinished business is not only to avenge the Yakkas.”
Reeri dipped his chin. “It is to save them from eternal purgatory and a future where Wessamony has no bounds. You are saving your kingdom—”
“From eternal purgatory,” she finished. “Human, and now Heavenly.”
Truth resonated deep into his shadow and echoed in his soul.
He startled. He had not experienced this aspect of life before—had not known that he could.
“The Maha Equinox is nigh.” Calu spoke into the heady silence. “Wessamony will descend in less than a fortnight.”
“And you need a human to wield the Bone Blade,” Bithul whispered.
“She is already our tether,” Sohon added.
“Mayhap that is the problem,” Kama said.
Anula frowned. “Why would that be a problem?”
“It is not.” The words tumbled from Reeri’s lips. So too the promise. He would not, could not, mar her as planned. Not his echo. He would find another way.
Kama cocked her head. Anula spoke, glancing from one Yakka to another. “So we have a deal, then? Together we find the relic, before the Maha Equinox, and I’ll wield the Bone Blade and kill Wessamony.”
“You wish to make a new bargain?” Reeri asked.
“No.” Anula held out her hand. “A human deal.”
His heart pinched. “Do you trust my word so little?”
“Do youknowme so little? If I distrusted you, I’d find the relic myself. I only ally with those I believe in.”
