At the mention of Boo, Aru’s chest squeezed tight. You will hate him for his love, Sheela had predicted. Aru wished she’d never heard that line of prophecy.
“Boo isn’t who you—” she started, but a movement from Aiden interrupted her.
Aiden pinched Shadowfax’s screen, pulling out an enchanted image. A holographic scene appeared over the dining table. Sheela and Nikita ran into the outstretched arms of their crying parents. Behind them, Boo hovered protectively. Rudy’s lip trembled as he jammed a pair of sunglasses on his nose while Mini openly wept and Brynne looked somewhere else. Suddenly, gold rain fell from the sky, each droplet as big and round as a coin, hitting the rocky ground with a loud plink! And then, over the shower of gold, a loud voice announced:
“INTELLIGENCE FROM LANKA HAS FOUND TRAITORS IN OUR MIDST! BY ORDER OF ACTING COUNCIL LEADER LORD KUBERA, RULER OF LANKA AND GOD OF WEALTH AND TREASURES, ALL TRAVEL TO AND FROM THE OTHERWORLD IS TERMINATED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE! LORD KUBERA HAS ALSO HEREBY DISBANDED THE COUNCIL UNTIL INVESTIGATIONS HAVE BEEN COMPLETED.”
The piles of coins started to quiver, and then the gold melted into pools that spread across the floor.
“RUN!” screamed someone in the Night Bazaar. “They’re going to seal the exits!”
At that point, Aiden’s images went shaky and blurred until they finally blipped out.
“Everyone found their families and vanished into their homes,” said Aiden. “Rudy’s parents appeared in a fountain and literally dragged him back to Naga-Loka. Haven’t heard from him since.”
“At all?” asked Aru.
Aiden shook his head.
“Hira has been staying with Gunky and Funky, so she’s fine,” said Brynne. There was the faintest hint of color on her cheeks. “Like, you know, she’s okay, not ‘fine’ like…” She trailed off.
“I gave Rudy my number and thought maybe he’d text or something, but he hasn’t.” Mini sighed. “Anyway, we need to tell you about Kubera…. That announcement wasn’t all he sent. Wifey?”
Aiden grimaced at the nickname but reached into his messenger bag and pulled out a gold coin. “Kubera is superpowerful but also kinda…eccentric,” he explained.
“He’s got command of the fiercest army in the world,” said Brynne, gobbling down half a cake. “It’s called the Nairrata, and all the soldiers are made of enchanted gold. They used to conquer a lot of territory.”
Aiden nodded. “Centuries ago, the devas got concerned that his army was maybe too powerful, so Kubera agreed that he himself wouldn’t use the Nairrata anymore. Instead, he agreed to grant control of the army to the Council’s chosen heroes in times of need. The heroes can’t be gods, but they must have the ability to wield godly weapons.”
“You mean like…us?” said Aru.
“That’s what we thought,” said Brynne. “But then yesterday, we got a message from him.”
Aiden flipped the coin onto the table. As it spun, it rapidly expanded and twisted into the molten form of a golden…weasel?
“That’s a mongoose,” said Aiden. “Kubera’s favorite creature.”
The mongoose shook its metallic fur and then scuttled around the table, examining them with its beady black eyes. It opened its mouth to reveal tiny sharp teeth. The apartment’s walls faded away and were replaced with a street-wide view of an enormous city completely wrought of gold. The pavement shimmered like a hardened piece of sunshine. The buildings, rounded and stacked like thousands of coins, loomed over them. At the center of it all stood a magnificent palace that was so bright Aru had to squint just to look at it. A deep voice like that of a smooth-jazz DJ filled her head:
NAUGHTY GODLINGS! ARE YOU GOOD, OR ARE YOU BAD? WILL KNOWING MAKE ME LAUGH, OR WILL IT MAKE ME SAD? The voice paused to chuckle. SO…AH…HERE’S THE THING. WHAT IS TRUST? I THINK WE NEED SOME TRIALS TO ESTABLISH IT, YOU KNOW? A LITTLE DEATH, A LITTLE DRAMA, ET CETERA, ET CETERA. IF YOU DON’T COME TO ME IN THREE DAYS’ TIME, THAT WOULD BE A TERRIBLE CRIME. OOH YES, POETRY. I JUST…AH, WORDS. SO GOOD. OH, RIGHT, ANYWAY. IF YOU’RE A NO-SHOW, THEN THAT’S A NO-GO ON THE NAIRRATA ARMY, AND THAT’S MY FINAL SAY-SO! SEE YA SOON.
There was a jazz ditty, like something you’d hear in an elevator, and then the mongoose melted back into a golden coin. The image of what could only have been the shining city of Lanka faded away.
“What?” said Aru. “Why do we have to go through trials if he’s supposed to give the army over to us anyway?”
Mini turned red. “After we didn’t show up for the Holi party and you went missing, Opal’s whole PR campaign around us failed…. People started blaming us and talking about that prophecy about the ‘untrue sister.’”
“Lemme guess, I’m the traitor?” asked Aru.
Saying it didn’t even hurt the way she’d thought it would.
Mini hung her head, which Aru took as a silent yes. “Aiden showed them images to prove that the Sleeper took you, but it didn’t do any good. All they saw was that it looked like you hugged him and then disappeared….”
“People are scared, Shah,” said Aiden. “They don’t know what to believe.”
“We tried talking to the Maruts, but they said this is a matter for Kubera. Hanuman and Urvashi went to Lanka to talk to him, and we think he’s holding them captive there. We thought maybe Boo could help, but he’s disappeared, too!” said Mini, tears gathering in her eyes. “And now people think he’s a traitor again!”
Brynne’s face softened as she moved to rub Mini’s back. “We’ve defended Boo before, and we’ll do it again. Right, Shah?”
Aru’s mouth went dry as all eyes turned to her.
She had to tell them the truth.
“Boo is a traitor,” said Aru, steadying her voice. “I saw it in the Tree of Wishes.”
All three of them stared at her.
“That’s ridiculous, Aru!” said Brynne. “How could you say that?”
Aru flinched at her sharp tone but didn’t back down. “I know what I saw. Aranyani showed it to me, along with the reason my…I mean, the Sleeper never made a wish. He’d had to sacrifice a lot of memories to get to the tree, but in the end he didn’t want to give up his memories of my mom and me just to change his fate. So he turned around to come home, but by then the Council had convinced Mom to imprison him.”
“The Council?” repeated Mini.
“They were just doing their duty,” said Brynne, crossing her arms. “The Sleeper was always destined to fight a war that could destroy the Otherworld.”
“Maybe he wouldn’t have done that if he hadn’t been locked up!” said Aru.
Brynne shook her head. “Listen, I get it. It’s sad, but he’s a monster, Aru—”
Vajra, who had turned back into a bracelet on Aru’s wrist, flashed angrily. “If you were forced to give up parts of your soul, you’d become a monster, too!”
Brynne’s mouth clamped shut.
“Aru,” said Mini gently, “we’re just trying to understand what you’re saying…. This is the first time we’re hearing about this.”