Page 101 of The Surviving Sky
Ahilya knew what he meant. It would be to discuss the terms of their divorce. She froze, her heart beating rapidly in her chest, unable to move, but Iravan stood up as though it were nothing more than a straightforward occurrence.
“I suppose we go to it, Ahilya,” he said quietly, holding out his hand. “End what we started eleven years ago.”
She stared at him a long moment. Then Ahilya placed her hand in his and he pulled her to her feet. Iravan turned away, his jaw tightening as his fingers let go. Ahilya followed him out of the courtyard, the touch of him still lingering on her skin.
33
IRAVAN
Outside the sanctum, Iravan generated an elevator that took him and Ahilya to the upper levels of the temple to the council chambers. Ahilya hadn’t said a word since the summons. She stood next to him, her head bowed, her hands wrapped around herself, clutching her shawl.
A strange exhilaration rose within Iravan. He was on the precipice of a mountain, daring himself to leap into the abyss. In his mind’s eye, the two paths that had haunted him for so long glimmered. He was going to doit—steponto the second path, a path without the bindings of the ashram. He was going to see clearly for the first time. He had ignored that path for so long. No more.
A presence burned at the center of his forehead; it had appeared the instant Ahilya had thrown his rudra bead bracelet at him. Iravan recognized it now. The Resonance. He took a deep breath, clenching and unclenching his fists. He had lost it all, Ahilya, Bharavi, his marriage and hisposition—buta freedom grew in him with the appearance of the silvery particle. He neither trajected nor entered the Moment, but the Resonance was waiting. He wished for the formalities to be over.
“What should I be expecting?” Ahilya asked softly.
He glanced at her. “Whoever received our papers from the council, they’ll try to talk us out of it. There has to be a period of separation, but they might waivethat—consideringhow little time we’ve spent together in the last few months. Considering how we haven’t been intimate lately.”
A choked sound escaped Ahilya, midway through a laugh and a sob. “Is it normal for the councilor undergoing the proceedings to be advising their spouse?”
“No,” he said. “But you asked, and I know, so I can tell you. A divorce at thislevel—afterso many years of marriage, it’s not easy. Architects marry for life. Our divorce will send a bad message. The only way to get through the councilors’ arguments is to be sure this is what we want.”
“Andisit what you want, Iravan?” Ahilya whispered, clutching her shawl, not looking at him.
Iravan’s eyes widened in shock. The clarity of the second path faltered. He turned to face her.
“Don’t you?” he began, but the wall of their elevator creaked open, and Senior Sungineer Kiana stood waiting for them, no doubt to represent the council. Iravan fell silent, his mind reeling.
“Come with me,” Kiana said curtly.
Iravan exchanged an apprehensive look with Ahilya. That subtle indication of shared camaraderie took him aback as much as her question had. Her eyes stared into his, and he detected guilt and grief andfury. Ahilya tore her gaze away from his and followed Kiana. Iravan found himself walking again as well.
“Where are we going, Kiana?” he asked, his voice hoarse.
“The councilchambers—everyoneis waiting.”
“Everyone?” Ahilya whispered.
“An intervention?” he said grimly at the same time. He grabbed the Senior Sungineer’s arm and turned her. “We’re not children, Kiana. You don’t need to make a production of this. End it here and now, and release us both. As councilor, you have the authority.”
Kiana gave him a hard look. “You mean your divorce? You signed it. But,you,” she said, her gaze taking in Ahilya, “did not.”
“You didn’t?” Iravan asked, staring at Ahilya. For a moment, rage, hope, and confusion filled his mind, removing the fiery presence of the Resonance from the center of his forehead. The second path disappeared. All he saw was Ahilya on the first.
“I—Idon’t know anymore,” Ahilya stammered.
Her eyes dropped in misery. Iravan took a deep breath.
“I think we need to talk,” he said, turning back toward the elevator.
“You do,” Kiana said sharply, arresting his movement. “But not right now. Your papers reached thecouncil—andI’ve been assigned to deal with it. It’s not uncommon to feel this after an Examination of Ecstasy or the death of a family member, and Bharavi was close to you both. So, youwilltalk, Ahilya and Iravan, and youwillfigure it out. But right now, you will learn to work together, because the ashram needs you both.”
She began walking again. Exchanging another look, Iravan and Ahilya followed her. Iravan noticed what he hadn’t before. Kiana no longer carried her cane. Instead, the Senior Sungineer wore her leg brace. Why? The device had always been uncomfortable to Kiana; she had disliked it, only worn it during times of upheaval in the ashram, when the construction was unreliable. Did this have anything to do with the damage Bharavi had wrought?
“What I did,” Iravan began, “withBharavi—”
“We know what you did,” Kiana interrupted. “That’s architect business. You’ll answer to Chaiyya and Airav for that.”
