The longer she stared, the more she heard an undercurrent of whispering. It was audible even over the thunderous roar of the waterfall. Aru took another step toward the railing, the hairs on her arm prickling as she tried to separate the thousands of voices. Rudy waved his hand to get her attention and held a finger to his lips. Then he pointed ahead.
Now Aru’s immediate surroundings drew into focus. Not ten feet from them was a big slab of onyx rock with the words INFORMATION DESK carved into its front. A teenage naga was slumped in the chair behind it, snoring. Aru knew he was a naga by the scale pattern on his cheeks. He wore glasses and an official naval-looking uniform with a pin that read:
PARTH M.
MEMBER OF ROYAL FAMILY AND INTERN
HOW CAN I HELP?
Beyond the information desk was an archway marked EXHIBIT HALL. Beside it, Aru saw familiar cutouts and information plaques like the kind her mother had erected around the Museum of Ancient Indian Art and Culture.
AUTHENTIC CROWN OF KALIYA
3227 BCE
COMPOSED OF MOONSTONE AND ONYX
GIFTED BY THE ROYAL TREASURY OF THE KERR FAMILY
6TH CENTURY
“Niiiice and easy,” murmured Rudy. He swung his backpack, drawing out a glowing blue rock. “No one make a sound, okay? I’ve got to steal his key to get past the personnel door, and then we can get to G-Thousand’s treasure cave—”
Rudy tripped. The blue rock clanged on the floor, and Rudy slammed into the information desk. For three whole seconds, everybody held their breaths.
But Rudy’s cousin kept snoring.
Rudy looked at them, then looked at his cousin and pumped his fist in the air. “WOO-HOO! Oops.”
The teenage boy snort-startled awake. “Rudy? What are you doing down here?”
“Think quick!” said Rudy, tossing the rock at his cousin.
The boy caught it in his hands, still frowning, and the rock began to hum. Immediately, the boy slumped back in his chair and continued snoring. Rudy rummaged around in the desk, pulling out a paper-thin square of emerald rock that looked a lot like a key card.
“This way,” said Rudy, gesturing them to one of the boulders behind the desk.
Rudy waved his key card. The boulder parted like the doors of an elevator, revealing a huge spiraling staircase in the darkness, which seemed to connect the various levels of the kingdom. But that wasn’t all that appeared. A warning in bright red letters sprawled across the stairs.
DO NOT ENTER
CAVERNS CURRENTLY UNDERGOING MAINTENANCE
HIGH RISK OF DISMEMBERMENT OR
AWAKENING ANCIENT CURSES
“Ancient curses?” said Mini, practically squeaking.
“Eh, that’s nothing,” said Rudy, waving his hand. “I don’t know anyone who went down here and got cursed.”
“Or you never heard from them again?” said Mini darkly.
“Oh!” said Rudy cheerfully. “I never thought about it that way! Okay, let’s go!”
Mini looked faintly nauseous.
The staircase had hundreds of steps and almost as many landings veering off into the rings of caves surrounding the public square. Sheets of cloth hung over many of the cave entrances. There was no wind, yet the cloths stirred. A moaning sound crept through the rock, and goose bumps prickled up Aru’s spine. She listened harder, but the sound was gone.
“They say G-Thousand’s treasure cave is that way,” said Rudy, pointing to an opening on their right.
It was one of the few caverns not covered by a sheet. Gold particles shimmered in the air around it, and Aru saw jewels gleaming within.
“It’s not,” said Aiden.
He was holding up the Sun Jewel, and although Patala was bright, the jewel seemed like a caught star. Aiden must have taken it out of his backpack, which was, for some reason, slung against the front of his body. He had one arm around it, almost cradling it against him.
“What do you mean it’s not?” asked Rudy. “Everyone knows where it is!”
The Sun Jewel pulsed as Aiden swung it in front of him. He lowered and lifted it, moving it from side to side before holding it right above his head. The necklace shone brightly, as if affirming the movement.
“Then they’ve been lying,” said Aiden, pointing at the staircase right above them.
There, Aru saw the mouth of a cave that was far different from the dazzling cavern far below them. This one was draped in a black cloth that did not ripple like the sheets covering the other caves.
As if it did not wish to be found.
Aiden led them up the staircase. With each step, those odd sounds kept finding Aru. She imagined she could hear bits and pieces of someone speaking.
Such soft hands she had…
He never removed me when he cooked and, oh, how I ate…
I was promised to her true love…
Aru paused on the staircase, shaking her head. “Am I going insane?”
“I think we’re past that,” said Brynne.
Aru was not amused. “I’m serious! Do you guys hear that?”
Brynne, who was a couple of steps ahead of her, blinked. “Hear what?”
“The stones,” said Rudy, standing below her with Mini beside him. “You hear them, too?”
Aru nodded.
Rudy looked out over the ruins of the city. “The stones talk here,” he said. “They tell you about who they met…who they saw…who loved who. I guess you could call them ghosts, in a way.”
Welp. Definitely creepy. But on the plus side, thought Aru, if that was all that waited for them in Vasuki’s cave, then at least they wouldn’t need their weapons.
Aiden stepped onto the landing. In his hand, the Sun Jewel flashed with light before dimming. It seemed like a sign: You have reached your destination. Aiden returned the jewel to his backpack as they approached the cave. Aru calmed herself. She was fully prepared to yank open the sheet and run inside.
However, she was not prepared for a slender hand parting the cloth from the other side.
“We’ve been expecting you,” said a silken voice.
The sheet opened to reveal a beautiful woman. Jeweled lights in the cave ceiling dappled her dark skin, so that it looked as if she’d been draped in rainbows. She smiled at them. “You must be here for the maintenance work. I am Aleesa. Come in, come in.”
On the other side of the door, Aru stepped into a jewelry display half the length of a football field. She blinked, her eyes adjusting to the peculiar glow of the treasure room. A domed ceiling stretched a hundred feet above her, the glossy rock striped with bands of ruby and gold. Huge pieces of quartz and topaz, jasper and amethyst were embedded in the stone walls. Spanning the space were two glass-encased rows of exquisite jewels sitting on silk pillows. It was like a massive jewelry store—in every way except for one.
It was loud.
On their way to the cave, Aru had only been able to hear bits and pieces of frail voices. But here it was like someone was whispering in her ear, and though the voices were soft, the words were insistent.
I watched his face on the battlefield when he realized he would die. I felt his last heartbeat, and if I could have wept tears, I would have….
I lived on her favorite garment, swept the floors of her great palace. No one speaks her name now, but I knew she was loved….