Without me, he never would have remembered her. And yet they lost me. Why did they misplace me?
One phrase repeated every few seconds, echoing from the different gems strewn about the cave: Did you hear me?
“Yes, my darlings,” said Aleesa, speaking to the cave. “Yes, I hear, I listen.”
The whispering quieted.
“You’re rather early,” she said to Rudy.
He stared at her, his jaw a little slack until Mini helpfully elbowed him in the ribs.
“Um, early maintenance…rounds?” he said.
“But so many of you?” asked Aleesa. “Normally it’s just one.”
“Uh…” said Rudy, turning to stare at them.
“We’re interns,” said Aru quickly.
“And I’m acting as an archival photographer,” added Aiden, lifting his camera to his face.
He considered her sneaky, but Aru knew what Aiden was doing as he snapped photos. Shadowfax had a high-magnification lens, which meant that with every picture he took, he was looking for a sign of the Sun Jewel somewhere amongst the treasures.
“Had we known there would be more than one inspector this time, we might have prepared different safety precautions for you,” said Aleesa, tilting her head to one side. She gestured at the propped-open cave door. “Rest assured that this will provide sufficient ventilation and you need not worry.”
Aru nodded, but she didn’t understand what Aleesa meant. She stared around the cave, wondering if she’d missed something.
Worry about what? said Mini through their mind link. Suffocating from a lack of oxygen? Because hypoxia is really serious.
Maybe they just meant it can get too crowded in here, said Aru.
She couldn’t imagine what else Aleesa could be talking about. Rudy had said that Lord Vasuki’s jewels were protected by the fiercest of creatures, but all Aru saw was a woman with a kind face. Aleesa moved to one of the jewelry cases, stroking the glass and softly crooning to it. Inside, Aru spotted a golden arm cuff—it was polished and yet bore many scratches. Some of its jewels had been gouged out, and the remaining stones were cracked.
“I know, battles are a terrible thing to remember,” said Aleesa to the arm cuff, before sighing and turning back to them. “Well, shall we begin? I imagine you’ll want to check the numbers and test the strength of the foundations, as usual. Every year, our location becomes a little more tenuous….It is sad to see a once-glorious city such as this sinking into ignominy.”
“Absolutely,” said Rudy with a straight face. “Inn-om-i-nee is bad.”
“Do you even know what that is?” muttered Aiden.
“Clearly it is some kind of weird mud,” shot back Rudy.
Aleesa continued walking down the rows of jewelry cases, her hands trailing the glass tops, singing softly as if she were in a nursery.
I don’t see the Sun Jewel anywhere! said Brynne through the mind link.
Does anyone else feel kinda…woozy? asked Mini. Did we even check the air-pollutant levels of Patala? What if there are weird microbes in the air? What if they attack our lungs? What if we—
“Since we’re, uh, interning and all that,” said Aru to Aleesa, interrupting Mini’s usual doomsday train of thought, “maybe you could give us some background on what you do? And, uh, the pieces that require the…most guarding?”
Aleesa stopped short, spinning around with an affronted look. “All the pieces require the same amount of love and care! We are the custodians of the tales the world has forgotten, collected by Lord Vasuki himself! We are the record keepers, guarding the place where the sun’s rays do not reach.”
“Speaking of sun…” tried Aru.
But Aleesa was not finished. “Why, see here…Look how precious they are.” She gestured to the glass case a few feet away. Aleesa waved her hand, and the glass vanished so she could reach in and gently draw out a string of black pearls.
“Shhh, my beauties,” said Aleesa. “These once adorned Princess Bhanumati, wife of Duryodhana, the great enemy of the Pandavas. People know him for his misdeeds, but he did not judge when others would. He had faith.”
Aleesa held up the pearls, and their voices—like the chiming of delicate bells—filled the air as they spoke in unison:
We were there when the princess and Duryodhana’s dearest friend, Lord Karna, were playing a game of dice. When her husband entered, Bhanumati stood, and Karna, who didn’t see Duryodhana and thought the princess was abandoning a game she was losing, reached teasingly for her silk shawl. It was an impulsive, dangerous act for a man who was not wed to her. Our string was broken, and we spilled to the ground like rain hitting the earth. As we tumbled, we felt her shame and horror—for women have been harmed for less….Yet Duryodhana merely laughed. He said, “Shall I pick up the pearls? Would you like me to re-string them, too?” We remember. We remember that she was loved. We remember her before she poured ash in her hair and mourned the deaths of all whom she cared for. We remember the time before the world forgot her name….
Goose bumps prickled down Aru’s arm. When she looked at her skin, she saw a patch of red above her wrist. She scratched at it, but the itching only grew worse.
“You see?” said Aleesa, gently placing the pearls back onto their silk pillow. “Or this one…”
Through her Pandava mind link, Aru heard Brynne triumphantly yell FOUND IT!
Aru looked out of the corner of her eye. Aleesa’s back was to Brynne and Aiden, who were pointing at a bright speck that wasn’t encased in glass but tucked into a fold of rocky ceiling a hundred feet away.
“This is one of my favorite pieces,” said Aleesa, drawing out a small ring. The stone looked like a drop of rain.
Aru nodded, trying to hide her distraction. In the background, Brynne drew a dagger from her sleeve.
If I transform and jump off the glass case, I think I can pry it out with my dagger, said Brynne. Just keep her distracted!
Aru turned her attention back to the guardian. Beside Aru, Mini slumped to one side.
“I…I’m not feeling so great,” said Mini.
Good distraction! said Brynne through the mind link.
I mean it, replied Mini.
“What should I do?” asked Rudy, grabbing Mini’s hand and then abruptly letting go of it.
Mini didn’t even notice. Her face looked bloodless.
“Have you no mask?” asked Aleesa, frowning. “I assumed you would’ve put one on by now considering how far we are from the door.”
Mini started rubbing her temples. I don’t think I can talk, Aru. You have to distract her.
“The ring!” said Aru loudly even as alarm bells went off in her head as she watched Mini sway on the spot. “What were you saying about it?”
The sooner Brynne and Aiden could retrieve the piece of the Sun Jewel, the sooner they could get out of this creepy place and help Mini.
Aleesa held the ring close to her body. “It once belonged to Queen Gandhari….Go ahead and speak, my darling. You see, I am not the only one listening.”
A voice clear and low—and achingly mournful—rose from the clear stone.
She held me tight, for she could foresee the destruction of all one hundred of her sons at the hands of the Pandavas and their allies. We turned the color of her tears that no one noticed. We remember her strength that others forgot….