Tale of the Princess

XXXXI

Kaya bowed them out of the room with a guarded smile. "Thank you for giving me this opportunity, Empress Shyra. I hope you keep in mind all the things I've told you."

"I will. Thank you for telling me all this," Shyra replied, folding her hands in a namaste. The rest of the group silently bowed to her as their previous escort made an appearance, seemingly out of nowhere, and gave them a look filled with contempt.

"Shall we?" he said, sweeping his hand toward a corridor and setting off at a brisk pace, causing Shyra to curse him in her head and hurry after him. Round and round he took them through the RajMahal, and by now Shyra was sure that there was a more direct way of getting to and from the throne room.

At long last they reached the main doors, panting and feeling slightly nauseous. Without sparing them a second glance, the man stalked away with a swish of his midnight blue robes. Shyra resisted the urge to stick out her tongue at his retreating back.

"Let's go, Empress," Arina said, falling into step beside her as Hira walked on her other side, and together they made their way out of Arawn's Rajmahal.

"Do you think we stalled for long enough?" Shyra asked, chewing on her thumbnail. Arina pushed her hand away from her mouth with a slight shake of her head.

"It's a bad habit, don't do it," she admonished and folded her hands behind her back. "And I sure hope we stalled enough. There really wasn't much we could say anyways. Our talk with Queen Kaya also helped, in more ways than one."

Shyra nodded anxiously. There was another question in her mind, but she was too scared to voice it. Moreover, it was a huge ask of her from Tara and Shivin, one that probably wasn't possible.

An ethereal glow interrupted her thoughts, making her squint to see their destination properly. "I'll never get used to Arawn's people's... speciality."

Hira shrugged. "It makes sense, honestly. The Adairs don't seem to be great rulers. They focus more on conquering new planets than actively caring for the ones they conquered. I've heard that many people in power took advantage of their absence from the throne, and ruled their people brutally."

"But to live with your soul apart from your body..." Arina shivered, rubbing her hands over her arms. "I truly feel for them. It's a just cause we're working towards, and we'll help so many subjects across the universe when we defeat Arawn."

The chief of the Aatmans came to receive them with a host of delegates, their spirit form hovering above their heads. Shyra risked a glance at the glowing, flickering versions of them before lowering her gaze back to the chief's grave face.

"Empress, I understand that our way of life is not one that is well known. Your curiosity is natural. But others would not take your questioning glances at our souls as well as me. It would do good for all your people to keep that in mind."

Shyra flushed as red bloomed across her cheeks. She nodded and muttered an apology with her hand over her heart.

"It is fine. Besides, I come bearing good tidings. Your friends' undercover mission worked," he said, his solemn gaze taking on a warm glint. Shyra's heart soared, but she dared not hope yet. Their mission's success could mean many things.

"Thank you for the escort. But if you'll excuse me, I'd like to go ahead," she said, barely concealing the excitement and longing in her voice. He smiled and nodded, and that was all it took for Shyra to lift her skirt and dash into the village, her sandalled feet slamming against the ground and leaving clouds of red dust in her wake. Hordes of Aatmans crowded the streets, probably in the excitement of something new happening in their village after long years of torture.

Shyra tried to move past them as respectfully as possible, and once they realized that the empress was trying to move through them, people began to clear a path for her, enabling her to once again dash through the streets.

The house with the blue roof, Tara had set up as their meeting point. Shyra's eyes now desperately roved over each house painted in muted shades of red, searching for the telltale blue roof.

To the relief of her aching legs, the house of the chief was at the center of the village, and she needn't have run too far. Shyra paused now in front of the house, clutching her knees and gasping for breath. She couldn't even make out if her heart was racing from the sprint or her nerves.

Once she'd gathered herself, dusted her clothes and run her fingers through her messy hair, she took a deep breath and approached the humble hut with shaky footsteps. A few voices floated through the slight cracks on the window, and her heart almost stopped when she heard a familiar laughter drift through the atmosphere.

"It can't be..." she muttered, even as her feet carried her to the entrance of the house, which was packed with people and creatures in equal numbers, spread out around the living room and conversing. She craned her neck and stood on her tip-toes to try and see through the many heads and spot him.

"It's Empress Shyra," someone called out, and all heads turned toward the entrance, where she bounced back to her heels and straightened her back. Murmuring broke out through the room like a blanket draped over a child, and people soon began to make a path towards the right corner of the room.

Shyra's heart thudded wildly with each step, and a peculiar warmth spread through her body as she took one precarious step after another, barely noticing when the room started clearing out behind her.

At long last, the few remaining stragglers left the room, and that's when she saw him. Standing in the corner of the room, with a khichdi of expressions that must have mirrored her own, was her beloved. Emperor Mahi of the Pranali. More than that, her husband.

Both of them took unsteady steps toward each other, her gaze held by his. Shyra mouthed his name, testing the feel of it on her tongue after so long, and his answering smile burned away the last of her doubts. She covered the rest of the distance at a sprint, colliding into him with a force that caused him to stagger back a few steps. Her arms encircled his waist in a tight grip, and she buried her face on his chest.

"Is this real? Is this really real?" she said, her voice muffled by his rough cotton tunic.

"I'm as real as you are," he whispered brokenly, and Shyra almost sobbed at his voice, so different from his dulcet tones that often rang with laughter and charm. His arms tightened around her and she finally broke down, crying all the tears she had swallowed throughout their journey. No further words were exchanged between them as they sobbed together, letting out all their fears and sorrows as one.

Shyra vaguely heard footsteps thudding toward the hut, but it wasn't until they banged open the door did she remember that she'd left Arina and Hira behind in her mad dash.

She snapped away from Mahi at once, swiping at her eyes to wipe away any stray tears. The silence in the room was startling after all the crying they'd done, and Arina broke it with a squeal that was quite unlike her.

"Oh my gods, is this really him?" she exclaimed, clapping her hands and jumping up and down. Hira's cheeks pinked as she grabbed Arina's arm and tried to get her to settle down, but the excitement soon overcame her, and she began bouncing as well.

Shyra burned with embarrassment with their overdramatic reaction, and snuck a glance at Mahi, who was looking more and more bewildered by the kshana. He rubbed a hand at the nape of his neck and looked at her with amused eyes.

"These are your friends?"

Shyra's lips parted in a wide grin at the expression, for they were so much more than that, and it warmed her to see the most precious people in her life together. "Nah, friends is a mild way of putting it. These are my crewmates, Arina and Hira. Guys, this is my husband, Mahi. And by the way," she added in a conspiratorial whisper, pointing at them with her thumb, "there's more where that came from."

"More?" Mahi asked, raising his eyebrows in the same way he used to when she said something that would catch his fancy. The little gesture lit a candle of hope in her heart that whatever Mahi had been through, they could overcome it together. "It seems you've been keeping interesting company in my absence. I'd like to meet the rest of your, ah, crewmates, was it?"

Shyra laughed as she entwined her hand with his. "I'm sure they'd like to meet you too."