Page 77 of The Surviving Sky
“You should be down on your knees, thanking the architects, all the children out there who are raised like lambs to slaughter for yourbenefit—”
The shrieking wind pulled at Ahilya. She trembled, too afraid to move.
“Iravan,” she cried, panic breaking her voice. “Please.”
“But why should youcare—Allyou see are theglories—Yousee none of thecosts—”
She was going to die there. Her body would tumble down through the stormy clouds and the yawning sky and smash into the earthrage.
Ahilya reached a trembling hand. “Please, Iravan,” she begged. “Please stop.”
He jerked, looking at her arm extended toward him. His eyes grew wide as he took in their position. The patterns of vines on his skin changed into tighter leaves. The chasm closed immediately, thick roots and branches interlocking swiftly until the entire floor had reknit itself.
The sudden silence was shocking, almost as harrowing as the wind.
For a moment, the three of them stared at each other, all of them breathing heavily. Ahilya’s legs trembled. Her chest heaved, her body still at the edges of nausea. She bit the inside of her cheeks to keep from whimpering.
Then into the silence, the rudra bracelet Iravan had given her began to chime. Ahilya glanced at it, disoriented, confused, then looked up at her husband. His face had turned ashen. He stared at Ahilya’s wrist, where the bracelet still chimed, horror-stricken. His hands rubbed against his own empty wrists; she saw recognition and fear. Whatever the chiming signal meant, it terrified Iravan. Without a word, he turned on his heel and strode out of the invention chamber.
At the other end of the hall, Dhruv slumped down on the floor with a moan, his features numb with despair.
25
IRAVAN
The chiming on the rudra bead key was a call to the Examination of Ecstasy. Iravan had recognized its notes even before it fully finished ringing on Ahilya’s wrist.
He ran through the rain toward the temple, fear gripping his heart. The council had voted. They were calling him to an Exam. He wasn’t ready. He had lost his temper so furiously. He had thought to confront Dhruv and Ahilya, but to lose control likethat—tolosehimself? He’d almost grasped the Resonance again.
The councilors must have made the decision only minutes before. Iravan couldn’t believe his stupidity. That incident in thelibrary—andnow in the solarlab—ofcourse they had watched for him in the Moment. But the deathchamber had been activated in the lab; he had been trajecting in a pocket Moment. And thelibrary—thatwas—thatwas—Bilechurned in his stomach. Had that beenEcstatictrajection?
He arrived breathless and soaking at the entrance to the temple. Bharavi waited for him, wearing her full uniform, her translucent robe as still as her expressionless face.
“I—Ican explain,” Iravan stammered.
“It’s too late for that,” she replied, turning. She trajected, and a doorway opened in the wall. Iravan followed her in and the wall sealed itself behind him.
Within the temple, the rudra tree stood tall and imposing, blue-green light spilling from the unseen Architects’ Disc hidden in the tree’s highest boughs. Bharavi strode along the curving wall and trajected again to open another doorway. She climbed down to the architects’ orchard.
Iravan hurried after her. Sungineering glowglobes grew on the leafy walls of the descending staircase, illuminating their steps one at a time. Iravan wrung out his damp kurta as much as he could but couldn’t stop his shivering. He shook out his wet hair, splattering Bharavi.
She glanced back but said nothing. Iravan grabbed her arm, forcing her to look at him.
“Please, Bha,” he said again in desperation. “You have to believe me. I’m not an Ecstatic. There is an interference in the Moment.Naila—shehad some kind ofproof—mathematicalproof—”
“I told you before. This isn’t about proving the theory; this is about proving your innocence.”
“Why now? Because of what happened in the library? The lab?”
Bharavi’s gaze was unreadable. “Did something happen in the libraryandthe lab?”
“I—No—Imean—”
“Regardless. This is because you’ve healed. I told you an Exam was forthcoming one way or another. And we’ve voted.”
She gently released his hold on her and continued down the staircase. The walls closed in on Iravan. He shook his head, trying to clear his vision. His hands trembled violently. He ran them through his hair, brushing out the water droplets. He tried to take in a full breath.
They reached the end of the staircase, and Bharavi trajected again. Another doorway materialized with creaks of wood. The architect’s orchard formed a good portion of the ashram’s underbelly, but the path Bharavi had picked led directly to the veristem garden. Iravan’s stomach lurched. He had been inside the veristem garden many times but never like this, never because of this.
