Page 48 of The Enduring Universe
Now, as Ahilya crested the hill, she saw how the vriksh’s dominance had changed the landscape of not just the ashram but the surrounding jungle. The core tree was easily the largest tree around, rising high into the clouds, its canopy a layered structure that sheltered all of Irshar and much of the hills under it. The vriksh ascended from the plaza as it once had, but Irshar had changed into a dense, packed city within a bowl-like depression of the earth.
Instead of the luxurious sprawl of only a few months ago,buildings clustered together now, held within jagged mountains that surrounded the city from all sides. Roots rambled from the core tree trapping buildings within them, and most buildings retained the strange, grotesque shapes of the Virohi escaping, an arm here, a frozen tentacle there, all evidence of the terrible battle. Though the ashram looked nothing like its airborne predecessors, Ahilya was reminded of all those times Nakshar had flown, a dense object too afraid of expanding.
There was the same fearful quality to the construction now, as though the ashram knew that its resources would be sorely depleted. As Ahilya walked, she had to wind her way past crowded roads and clustered citizens, past people pushing carts, wheeling barrows, and covering up holes in the road with shovels and spades. Repairs never stopped in the city, no matter the time of the day, night and day crews exchanging shifts. It was a restless way of survival, but the citizens had taken to it, finally in control of their lives to some degree. If Eskayra redesigned the new city to retain such control for them, perhaps she might convince them to move.
Ahilya slowed down as they passed a repair crew, chopping at the vriksh’s roots to clear the path. Several citizens clustered there, speaking to each other, and she recognized a couple of familiar faces. Vihanan and Reniya had been citizens of Nakshar once. They’d been trapped in a pit with Ahilya outside the Architects’ Academy when trajection had failed. Ahilya felt the urge to greet them, but then she glimpsed another person within the group.
Tariya’s face was intense as she argued something with Reniya. Ahilya’s embarrassment grew tenfold. Tariya was no part of the repair crews, unlike the other two, but she, Reniya, and Vihanan had always been friends, living a certain way of life in Nakshar as spouses of architects. It was amazing how some things remained the same no matter what else changed. Once Ahilya had felt unwelcomeamong them because of her inferior status as an archeologist. She felt no more welcome now, despite being a councilor of Irshar, perhaps because of it. Her marriage with Iravan had complicated things back then; it only exacerbated the ashram’s problems now.
She turned away, but Tariya’s gaze caught her and both the sisters froze. A thousand words crushed Ahilya’s throat, but she could not speak them. The gulf between the two of them was too wide.
When Irshar had settled into a semblance of normal life after the Conclave’s crash, the sisters had gone their separate ways. Ahilya continued to visit her nephews at the school and nursery every once in a while, but Tariya had become a stranger. At every turn, she’d opposed Ahilya, disdaining any attempt at reconciliation. She had been one of the most vociferous voices in the ashram, making her disapproval of the council clear, and even Ahilya’s parents—who had survived the crash—no longer had her sister’s consideration. It was as if in losing Bharavi, Tariya had finally understood the limits of what she loved. Ahilya had no place in her life anymore, except to be an object of disdain.
Tariya was not interested in leaving Irshar—and Ahilya suspected much of it had to do with her. In Tariya’s mind, undoubtedly a new city was tied to both Ahilya and Iravan, one as its archeologist and the other as its architect. Eskayra was not the only one to think Ahilya might escape her past there. In the new city, both Ahilya and Iravan had a chance to remake themselves, to be free to pretend the errors of the past had not occurred—and Tariya was not about to allow that. Irshar was where Tariya was finally gaining influence. Irshar was where Ahilya and Iravan remained imprisoned and condemned, paying for their actions. Tariya had never been one to forgive easily. Though she worked at the same infirmary where Ahilya now lived, Ahilya hardly saw her. No matter her state, her sister’s sympathies did not extend to her, and could she blame her?
Iravan had killed Bharavi, and Ahilya had witnessed the murder. What had she and her husband ever done except steal Tariya’s happiness? They deserved Tariya’s anger, and Tariya’s gaze grew belligerent as if thinking the same thoughts.
Ahilya dropped her eyes in shame. She moved in a blur, away from the repair crew.
She had hardly taken two steps when a tremor shook the earth. Ahilya staggered and put her arm out to balance herself. People gasped, stopped in their tracks as they exchanged nervous glances. Parents grabbed hold of their children’s hands, clutching them closer.
“It’s all right,” Ahilya called out, straightening. “It’s just the ashram settling. The earthrages won’t start again.”
The tremors had been becoming more and more commonplace over the last few days, and the council had already issued advisories to the city, but still the citizens gave her skeptical glances. Over by Tariya, Reniya and Vihanan said something, seeming to nudge her toward Ahilya as if to ask for an explanation, but Tariya shook her head.
Ahilya wanted to tell them what she knew—that it was simply the everdust of the ashram learning its new shape now that the Virohi were no longer a part of it—but the explanation would not help these people. They did not trust her. They knew her as the Virohi’s ally. In the past months, she had been to their homes to speak to the Virohi and settle them. Surely those from the expedition had told the others of her arguments to save the Virohi while Irshar trembled. Whether they once knew her personally or not, all of it became moot in light of her alliance with the cosmic creatures.
She could feel the stares piercing her skin. Every single one of the citizens knew of her relationship with Iravan. They knew of her status in the council. Did they know the bargain she made with the Garden too? Nothing was secret anymore. Strange to thinkthat, when secrets had destroyed her marriage and opened chasms within their culture.
Another tremor shook the earth, and around her the path began to clear. Tariya, Vihanan and the rest turned their backs to Ahilya, while Reniya called out a command to pack up instruments and head back home. Ahilya walked away to where exposed green rock gave way to hard, cracked soil. The hole had been cordoned off, but she ducked under the rope, and knelt to the ground.
She removed the device Eskayra had given her from her pack, then plunged the glassy tube into the earth, pushing it as deep as it could go. The ashram around her was working on Ecstatic trajection, thanks to Iravan’s architects, so the sungineering device buzzed to life as she switched it on. Its dial began vibrating. Ahilya felt a tremor run through her, as though emanating from the bowels of the earth.
Kamala leaned next to her in curiosity. “What are you doing?”
“The rages won’t start again,” Ahilya explained. “But not knowing when the next tremors will occur is disruptive. If this instrument can sense these tremors before they erupt, then perhaps the sungineers can enhance it to provide warnings. It’s what the architects did with a plant called magnaroot once, to sense earthrages and send signals to the Architects’ Disc to initiate flight protocol. A little warning could help the repairs.”
The dial on the seismograph trembled. As Ahilya and Kamala watched, the dial pitched to the highest degree then shook there, as if wanting to swing further but unable to do so.
Kamala eyed the seismograph. “Why is it doing that?”
Ahilya frowned and turned the dial to adjust its frequency. Between her brows, she felt the vriksh calling to her in a wave of branches, though above her the canopy remained still. She could feel the Etherium yawning, pulling at her.
She paused in her attempts with the seismometer.
There was no point in denying the Etherium.
Ahilya closed her eyes and stepped into her third vision.
Immediately, the forest swallowed her. This time instead of the silence she had come to expect from the Etherium, a vibration rang through her. Shadows susurrated beyond the leaves, and stars spun above dizzyingly, a broken Moment blinking as though malfunctioning. The universe shone brightly, then burst apart in repeated flashes. Almost, she could hear voices, a dull roar like singing, like a raga, like herself. And through it, echoed the ever-present weeping of the Virohi, that grew louder, more deranged, more agitated. Ahilya felt the horror and pain of the cosmic creatures like a panic bubbling under her skin. Dark shapes buzzed in front of her, then disintegrated like bees. The Virohi were terrified of something.
Ahilya jerked away from the vision, breathing hard.
“Ahilya-ve?” Kamala asked, looking at her expression.
The Etherium slammed into her again, overtaking her vision.
Ahilya staggered, falling, and felt an eruption coming from deep within the earth. She saw the vriksh tightening its roots like a hand clutching the soil, trying to hold it together. She heard the cosmic creatures cry out. The tree loomed in her mind, rearing on itself, screaming in protest, a high-pitched whine that lasted for an instant, a hundred muddled voices echoing its scream. Ahilya blinked, unnerved, as the world righted, the vision disappearing.
