“Then you’ll have no one to blame but yourself when you lose.”
Manas moves to strike me, but I duck out of reach, and Yatin simultaneously thrusts out his arm, blocking him. “No one out there trusts you,” Manas snarls.
“I’ll duel any man who steps forward.” None of them despises me as much as Manas does, that I know of.
Manas relaxes his pose and grins hard. “I’ll spread the word.”
Eko watches him exit with a frown. “I’m afraid the prince hasn’t gained allies by releasing you, Captain.”
“You don’t seem to mind,” I say, considering Eko with cautious interest.
“I have the benefit of having served His Majesty for many years. If Prince Ashwin says you’re loyal to the throne, you are.” Eko bows in farewell and ducks out of the tent.
I sit on my bedroll and stretch out my legs. I have been in camp ten minutes, and I am already fatigued from the tension.
“Manas will be a problem,” I say. “How did he even escape Vanhi?”
Yatin takes a seat beside me and bats at the mosquitoes. “Brother Shaan brought him with him. Why did the prince exonerate you?”
“I have no idea.”
Yatin studies me while scratching at an insect bite on his chest. I do not like to lie, especially to Yatin. I once asked him why, with his gentle nature, he did not join the Brotherhood instead of the army. Remembering his answer brings a slight smile to my lips. After growing up with five older sisters, the army was familiar. I was used to being told what to do. He has never disobeyed my orders. I trust him with the truth of why the prince vindicated me, but with Galers stationed about camp, I cannot tell who could be listening. I would rather lie than endanger us both.
Manas opens the tent flap. “Ready to duel, Captain?” He jeers at my reinstated rank.
Wait until he finds out I’ll be a general.
I rise, my back pain gone, but the healer said the taut sensation, like calloused skin, could stay awhile. Manas leads me to the quad. A large circle has been drawn in the dirt, a temporary sparring ring. A dozen men line up to fight.
“You said you’d battle any man who steps forward,” Manas remarks, smirking.
“Are you first?” I ask.
“I never said I was going to fight you.” He hands me a staff. “I’ll let them have that pleasure.”
Coward. He never could beat me in a fair fight.
The first man in line picks up another staff and steps up to me. A bhuta guard strolling by does not interfere. He wears a yellow armband marked with a land symbol. Our bamboo staffs are twigs against his Trembler powers.
I enter the ring. Much of our early soldier training occurred in a sparring circle. In addition to fighting skills, we learned self-control, respect for our opponents, and how to win and lose with humility. Gripping my weapon, I brace for a beating. I will deliberately lose enough duels to appear demoralized but not enough that I will be seen as a weakling. By day’s end, I will be bruised and sore, but my comrades’ resentment will be appeased. Soldier to soldier, there is no greater equalizer than defeat.
Manas signals the start of the duel. My opponent attacks, and my quest to regain their respect begins with the first blow.
17
KALINDA
The guards dump me in an empty antechamber far away from the throne room. I rest my forehead against the cool tile floor, the frightened cries of the sultan’s court still booming in my ears. I search my mind for something else to think about and find the image of Deven cringing from my glowing hands.
Sultan Kuval throws open the door and stomps in, Ashwin on his tail. I stay lying on my side, the toxic snakeroot binding my hands behind me, and stare up at them.
“You deceived me,” bellows the sultan. “She’s a Burner.” He spits my god-given powers at me, like I am the dead dragon cobra I flung at his feet.
“Kalinda isn’t dangerous,” Ashwin replies. “She’s Kishan’s daughter.”
“Kishan was an idealistic fool. He was always lecturing others about unity and the need for Virtue Guards. I will tell you what I told him—I have no place for Burners in my nation! Burners are soulless children of the Void.”
I have heard this slander before. Rajah Tarek twisted the truth of bhutas’ godly origins and told his people we were demons. That was a lie, yet Sultan Kuval is not condemning all bhutas, only Burners.
“Kalinda stays,” Ashwin counters, leaving no quarter for dispute.
“Then she must take the neutralizer tonic to suppress her powers.” Sultan Kuval tosses his hands in the air. “You saw what she did to the floor of my throne room. Burners are reckless!”
The neutralizer tonic is the liquid form of the noxious plant around my wrists. My nose scrunches in disgust, recalling the bitter tang of the concoction. I drank neutralizer tonic to reduce my fevers long before I knew the so-called remedy for my bhuta powers was toxic.
“Kalinda won’t poison herself,” Ashwin says, standing taller and towering over the stout rajah. “As a Burner, she is well matched to her opponents.”
The sultan expels an ugly laugh. “Don’t you see? Kalinda has conspired against us! She’s an informant for Hastin.”
“She disagrees with Hastin’s regime,” Ashwin counters. “She’s risking her life for a chance—only a chance—to defeat him.” But I am deceiving him. I haven’t told him that I killed his father. “Kalinda escaped sabotage and caught the most deadly viper in the Morass, a tremendous testament to her courage and skill. She will fight in the trial tournament.”
Sultan Kuval’s mustache twitches against his cheek, which is red from anger. “It’s your empire falling to ruins.” He glares down at me, as though he wishes to kick me like he would a disobedient mutt, and then storms out.
Ashwin kneels beside me. He undoes my bindings and flings the snakeroot across the room. His arms come around me, and he helps me sit up. I lean against him, a headache pounding against my temples.
“I’m sorry,” I say.
“Don’t be. With bhutas as your competitors, the sultan and his court would have found out eventually.”
I rest my head against his sturdy shoulder. He stood up for me against the sultan, and he was brilliant. “Why does Kuval think Burners are demons?”
“That was his bias speaking. A Burner killed Citra’s mother.”
I release a weary exhale. “Indah neglected to mention that detail.”
“His wife’s death isn’t a subject the sultan likes to speak about.”
“I imagine not.” I have no hope of ever winning Sultan Kuval’s support, but he is not my primary concern. Now that my secret is out, it will not be long before word reaches the encampments. “What will our people think when they hear what I am?”
Ashwin wraps his arm tighter around me. “Burner powers are feared above all else, so you’ll be the contender favored to win. Our people will love you all the more and thank the gods for sending you.”
His answer is kind but unconvincing. “The Janardanians think I’m a monster. They fear me, but you don’t.”
“I do,” he whispers. “I fear the hold you have on my heart.”