I climb to my knees, shuddering in spasms. “Do it now,” I call at his back, my teeth chattering violently. “Or do you think I’ll get the better of you?”

He pauses with a disdainful smirk. “You err, Burner. I am not your husband.”

“My husband wasn’t afraid of a woman.”

He bares his front teeth like a snake preparing to strike. “I am the shadows. You are to fear me.”

I push to my feet, favoring my injured leg, and call to nature-fire. Rise up and show him who should be afraid.

The slithering flames amass beside me, entwining together with single-minded purpose. They weave into a smoldering mass that hisses and snaps like wildfire. I detect no immediate shape, but then the chaotic blaze rises taller than the highest hut and takes form. A face materializes with a long, distinguished snout and whiskers. The body stretches out into a sleek, curving wave, extending down the road, and sprouts short hind legs. Ridges rise and fall across its long, winding back. Spindly flames elongate into a regal neck and slide down into a slender, proud breast and strong front legs. A pair of red eyes burn hotly on its striking face.

A fire dragon.

I reach for its side, transfixed by the entity’s fearsome beauty. The fire does not burn me, nor does my hand pass through, but it meets a tangible body as real as if a cloud became solid ground. I rest my palm against the dragon’s serpentine form that burns a vengeful ember red. Blessed heat flows into my chilled veins. I do not understand how I created this dragon born of nature-fire, but I do not question its vitality or my ability to command it.

“Your serpent cannot stop me,” says the Voider.

The fire dragon bares its fangs.

Dropping my chin, I glare across the road at him. “I was created to light up the sky. I do not fear you.”

He pushes crackling blue fire into his fingertips. “You will.”

Get him, I call to the fire dragon, and it snaps at the Voider. He reels away, but as he turns back, he shoots at the dragon. A hole opens in its flank. The Voider throws more fire, and the gap widens. If he can outmatch nature-fire, he can beat me to the boat.

I leap onto the fire dragon’s back. Fly away.

The wingless beast carries me up. As we soar above the city, the Voider discharges blue flames after us. We dodge them, banking toward the river. Muddy green waters spread out beneath me. Indah’s boat waits below.

Arrowlike flames zip at us. I maneuver the fire dragon away, but the Voider’s cold fire pierces its breast. The crater spreads as the dragon is ripped apart by a hail fire of frosty blasts. The fire dragon falls apart around me, bursting to smoke, and I am knocked into the burning sky.

32

DEVEN

Kali is falling.

I run for the edge of the boat and dive into the river headfirst. I rise to the top; the golden surface reflects the remnants of her fire dragon fading in the sky. She hits the water a short distance away. Panic seizes me as I swim to her body floating in the waves and drag her back to the boat.

A young Lestarian woman, an Aquifier, coaxes a wave that lifts us up to the deck. I heave Kali out of the river with me. She hangs limply in my arms, her skin icy cold.

“I’m Indah,” says the Aquifier. “I can help.”

The image of Kali tumbling through the sky shocks me into compliance.

Indah rests her hand on Kali’s forehead and murmurs. “Blood is water, and water is mine.” Kali coughs up fluid but does not rouse.

Blue flames burst at our stern. The demon rajah nears the riverbank. Indah’s guard yells to the pole pushers with their bamboo rods on both sides of the wide, flat boat to draw us from shore. But man power will not move us out of the line of fire quickly.

“Pons!” Indah yells.

Her guard, Pons, shoots at the Voider with his blowgun. His poisonous dart strikes the demon square in the chest, but does not slow him.

Indah runs to the bow and summons a wave beneath us. I clutch Kali against me as the Aquifier propels us downriver on the swell. Once we are at a safe distance from the city, Indah relaxes her hold on the river, and the boat lowers to a level surface. The pole pushers begin their work, propelling us onward with the river’s current.

Brother Shaan appears in the doorway to the wheelhouse. “Bring Kalinda here.”

I carry her inside, dripping water across the floor, and lay her on an empty cot along the wall. She is still unresponsive, little breaths her lone movements. A healer treats Prince Ashwin on the next cot over. Indah sweeps in and commands two more Lestarian healers to set to work on Kali.

Watching her slack face, I can scarcely fathom that moments ago she flew on a serpent built of flames. When did she learn to command nature-fire—and harness it into a dragon? She has surpassed even Brac’s talents. I do not know of a more powerful Burner than her.

She is the woman the gods sent to save the empire.

And now, she is so still.

I stand back and pray while the healers attend to her. Anu, let her wake. Let me see her skin glow with veins of gold, her soul-fire unscathed within her. Bring her back to me intact and whole. Despite my insistence, her complexion remains ashy and dull. Before long, the healers’ distressed frowns undo me. I fist my hands in my hair. She cannot die.

“Will she be all right?” Prince Ashwin cradles his bandaged arm at Kali’s bedside. He brushes a wet strand of hair from her cheek.

I throw him back. “Don’t you touch her.”

Prince Ashwin stumbles sideways and retreats out the wheelhouse door. I storm after him, trapping him against the rail. He bends backward, his top half hanging over the water.

“You doomed us all!” I shout in his face.

“Vizier Gyan began the incantation,” he explains in a rush. “I had to release the Voider before he did.”

“Kali could die because of you!”

His face hardens to an angry mask. He pushes me forward, standing upright. “I didn’t see you there to defend her.”

I fist his collar and strike him in the face. The prince falls to the deck, cupping his mouth. I hoist him up to flatten him again, and Brother Shaan hurries out of the wheelhouse.

“Deven, this won’t help,” he says.

Prince Ashwin wipes his bloody lip, his gaze stricken. “I’m sorry.”

I shove him away, sending him staggering. “You’re a murderer. I know what you did to Brother Dhiren.”

“You go too far, Captain,” warns the prince.

“You killed your mentor.”

“I loved my mentor. Rajah Tarek discovered Brother Dhiren was a bhuta and ordered he be stoned to death. I couldn’t bear to see him suffer. Brother Dhiren was old and frail. I offered to end him quickly. The whipping . . . He didn’t survive ten lashes.” The prince tugs down his tunic, tears of indignation simmering in his eyes. “I had to make a choice, just as I did today. That is the burden of the throne. That is the duty of the rajah.”

I point upriver at the blue fire devouring the city. “Those people are paying for your ‘choice’ with their lives. You can rationalize this all you want, but the fall of Iresh is on your head.”

I bang inside the wheelhouse. Lanterns have been lit to compensate for the twilight hour. Out the forward window, Natesa and Yatin sit near the bow. A blanket covers Yatin’s shoulders, and Natesa is urging him to drink from a cup. Yatin has lost some of his girth, but I am relieved to see him upright. His little lotus will take good care of him.

Indah steps back from Kali’s bedside and studies me, determining whether or not I will accost her too. “That’s all we can do for now,” she says.

“When will she wake up?”

“Difficult to say.” Indah’s golden eyes brim with sympathy. “You should get some air.”

I rest on the corner of Kali’s cot. “I’m fine here.” Prince Ashwin is still out on deck. The mood I am in, I will toss him overboard and leave him to the crocodiles.

Indah signals to the healers. They collect their water jugs and step out of the wheelhouse, leaving Kali and me alone.

I lift her hand and inhale her scent, jasmine and midnight rain. Please don’t leave me. With Brac and Mother stuck in Tarachand, Kali is my family. Our group has been pulled apart since leaving Vanhi, and no matter how much I desire all of us to be together, I do not have wide enough arms to keep everyone close and safe.

Night blankets the jungle, the nocturnal noises drifting over the river. Rain begins to fall. The sway of the boat pushes me toward queasiness. I ground myself to Kali, cupping her hand in mine. She wears a cuff around her wrist identical to the one I saw on Prince Ashwin. Has she promised herself to him? I cannot bring myself to ask the prince. At a loss for what to do, I return to my prayers and plead with Anu to save my love.

33

KALINDA

I wake to steady rocking and dull, ceaseless pain, the most vulnerable parts of me turned inside out, exposed and bare. Lanterns swing gently above, casting pale light on my memory. Last I recall I was falling . . .

Warmth hugs one side of my body. Deven sleeps beside me, sharing my pillow. I snuggle into his dormant strength, and his eyes flash open.

“How long have I been asleep?” I ask, my voice hoarse from disuse.

“Three days.”

Quiet relaxes between us, raindrops drumming against the wheelhouse roof.

Deven props his head under his hand and observes me closely. A full beard blankets his jaw. “How do you feel?”

“Like a washcloth wrung and hung to dry.” I tip my forehead against his, inhaling his sandalwood scent. Home. “Are you all right?”

Emotions stream across his face: relief, joy, and yearning that stirs an ache inside me. “I missed you.”

His low voice eases through me like a warm drink. He cups my chin, and his tender lips seek mine. My nerve endings spark with happiness. Deven shifts closer and packs all of his longing into deepening our kiss. I drown in him, my dull pain replaced with singing pleasure. Forgetting my injuries, I reach up to finger his full beard, and my injured side pinches. I gasp, and he pulls away, apologizing.

“I’m fine.” I kiss him again for proof. As I lean away, I notice Ashwin gazing in the window at us. Anguish tarnishes the prince’s handsome face, and my own expression falls.