Page 102 of The Surviving Sky
Iravan’s jaw clenched. Of course. The pact he and Bharavi had made had hardly been an original one. Chaiyya and Airav must have known Iravan would execute Bharavi. It was what Bharavi would have wanted, but Chaiyya was ahealer—shehad never liked the idea of such pacts. Ahilya’s voice echoed in his head:You speak as though a life can just be erased, that it has no meaning, simply because of rebirth. How had such a monstrous death impacted Bharavi’s consciousness? How had it affected his own? Expert though he was, even Iravan could not know the imprint that action had left in his own depth memory.
“Naila spoke to Airav about your visit to the sanctum,” Kiana continued. She studied Ahilya. “I trust you will be silent about what you saw?”
His wife flinched in humiliation, then her chin rose, readying for a fight. Iravan’s own anger heightened at Kiana for presuming to speak to Ahilya this way while he stood right there.
“Kiana,” he growled. “Why aren’t you taking this more seriously?Ibroke thelaw—severaltimes. You should be dismissing me. Exiling me.”
“You’re about to find out. This is why the council is meeting now.”
“You’re invitingme?” Ahilya asked. “To an official council meeting?”
“You and Dhruv made some significant discoveries,” Kiana answered. “Besides, as Iravan’s official nomination for the council seat, you have earned a place in today’s meeting.”
Ahilya drew back, shocked. Her gaze traveled to Iravan.
Iravan took a deep breath, trying to steady himself. Nominating Ahilya had been his last action as a Senior Architect; he had expected to be dismissed after the sanctum. He’d done it to fulfill his end of the bargain, to give himself a clean slate before he walked the path of clarity, and he’d picked Ahilya because in the end, she was the obviouschoice—intelligent,fierce, the kind of woman who could instantly see through an architect’s maneuverings. She was what Nakshar needed.
The consideration in her eyes angered him now. He could tell what she was thinking: if this were another game, if he’d said and done these things today to win her back.Rage you, he thought.What do you want? What do youwant?He blinked, unsure if the question was for himself or for Ahilya.
Kiana reached the end of the corridor and tapped at one of her rudra bracelets. The bark slid open to reveal the council chamber.
The room looked much like before, though now the flowers were gone from the walls. A dozen people sat around the round mahogany table, casting each other anxious looks. The councilors sat in their regular spots, but more seats had grown next to them. Dhruv was next to Kiana; two other sungineers on either side of Laksiya. The others were architects: Naila, and two Maze Architects, a woman called Megha and another man, Gaurav, both of whom had been contenders for Iravan’s own council seat once. Why were they there? Was the council going to replace him after all? Iravan found that he did not care. Whatever this was, he wanted it to be over.
He made his way to his usual chair. He had expected Ahilya to make for the spare seat next to Dhruv, but she followed him unseeingly. She dropped next to him on Manav’s rosewood chair, staring at her hands. Iravan sat down just as heavily. She hadn’t signed the papers he had sent to her solarnote. Had she changed her mind after what she’d seen in the sanctum? Didhe…wantthat? The Resonance flared in his mind, behind his brows. All he had to do was focus his attention on that burning sensation, and it would merge with him.
Laksiya cleared her throat. “Nakshar faces a problem of survival,” she said, without preamble. “The council has called all of you here today because you’ve noticed threads of the same problem. We can’t divulge any more information, so if you want no part of this, then leave now and we won’t bother you. But if you choose to stay, then you will have to take a healbranch vow of silence. Make your decision now.”
The others began to murmur and shift in their seats. Iravan found it hard to concentrate. He was very aware of Ahilya sitting next to him, her gaze downward in her lap. She filled his senses, her breathing, her scent, her shape. He wanted to reach out and shake her. He wanted to demand what she meant by changing hermind—ifshehadchanged her mind. He wanted to kiss her and take her right here on the mahogany table in the council chambers. He wanted to leave her, never see her again.
Iravan swallowed. He extended his wrist like everyone else, barely registering the words of the vow he was making.
The healbranch vines retracted, and the assembled people sat up, once again looking at Laksiya. The Senior Sungineer nodded in satisfaction, then sat down, giving way to Airav.
The bald, bespectacled man rested his elbows on the table, but Iravan saw his hands shake. That, more than anything else so far, pulled him away from his distraction. Airav was the most steadfast man Iravan knew. For him to beperturbed…something terrible had happened.
“For those of you who don’t know,” Airav began, in his deep rumbling voice, “Senior Architect Iravan was put in charge of the investigation as to why the alarm did not work during the last flight. We have since learned that it was an effect of Senior Architect Bharavi’s Ecstasy.”
All eyes in the chamber swiveled toIravan—allexcept Ahilya, who had gone unnaturally still. How had Airav known? Perhaps despite his skepticism, Airav had conducted his own investigation into the alarm. It would be very much like the man, to portray himself at his harshest yet secretly do his diligence. Iravan noticed now what he hadn’t before. None of the councilors wore the healbranch bracelets they had wrought for his investigation. He had been freed.
“During the course of the investigation,” Airav continued, “Senior Sungineer Kiana asked the solar lab to find out if the other ashrams had landed at all. As it happens, Dhruv here was able to contact nearly twenty sister ashrams.”
Dhruv cleared his throat as everyone’s gaze settled on him.“I—Yes,yes I did. Nakshar landed about two weeks ago.But—uh—noneof the other ashrams registered a lull at all.”
A shocked silence greeted his words. Ahilya’s head snapped up; she stared at Dhruv, her mouth falling open.
“That’s not possible,” Maze Architect Megha said. “Landing is a choice, but the lull itself is a common climatic phenomenon. Magnaroot reacts in a specific manner at the watchpost, and that’s true of every ashram. How could the others not have registered it?”
“We know now,” Airav said, “that the magnaroot was being manipulated by Senior Architect Bharavi, who was in the throes of Ecstasy.”
The architects in the room blanched. Every one of them understood the implications of Airav’s words, finally understanding what Iravan had already known. To manipulate the magnaroot in such a manner, Bharavi had trajected the rudra tree itself.
“Do you mean to say,” Ahilya said, in a small voice, “that when we went out on my expedition, we were out duringan earthrage?”
Airav met her gaze. “Yes, Ahilya-ve. That’s exactly what I’m saying.”
Iravan closed his eyes in a long, slow blink. He had made the connection when Bharavi had confessed her manipulations to him. She had told him asmuch—shehad been trajecting the jungle through the deathcage. How much power had she had? How much had she tried to control herself while landing? If he had only paid more attention to the vigilance he ought to have been performing for her, would she have escaped Ecstasy? Would she be still alive?You speak as though a life can just be erased, that it has no meaning, simply because of rebirth.
Ahilya made a gagging sound in her throat.“The—thejungle was birthing itself. We saw that. How could that be, if we were in an earthrage from the very beginning?”
