In an alcove next to the silver dining table was Jambavan’s sort-of kitchen. As a bear, he ate raw food, so the shelves were laden with jars of nuts and dried fruits and baskets of dark, gleaming berries. One side of the wall was nothing but beehives, beneath which streams of honey lazily collected in a golden basin. Fat bees drowsily swooped in and out, disappearing into the hidey-holes of the cave.
“You were so partial to the skin-of-my-enemies couch, just wait until you see the wonders of the other relaxation chambers!” said Jambavan, gesturing at Aiden and a faintly nauseated-looking Rudy to follow him on a house tour.
Now that the three of them were alone, Aru plopped onto the floor and Mini sagged against one of the counters.
“How did you earn back Gogo?” Mini asked Brynne. “What happened? Was there a sign? A voice? Walk us through every single detail.”
Brynne started preparing a fruit cobbler. She sifted flour, nutmeg, and cinnamon together. Then she sliced a couple of spiky plums to add to the rainbow-colored berries.
“Honestly, I don’t know,” she said. “I was just thinking, I guess, about strength and weakness?”
Aru stared at her. “What?”
“I know how it sounds, Shah, but it’s the truth.”
“Lord Agni said that the gods test in mysterious ways,” said Mini slowly. A look of horror crept onto her face. “Do you think Aru and I have already been tested and…failed?”
“Of course…not?” said Aru, but she had the same worry herself.
“I don’t think the test works like that,” said Brynne thoughtfully. “It’s more about figuring things out. For yourself.”
“And you figured out that…?” prompted Aru.
“I figured out that I’m…strong.”
“That’s nothing new!” said Aru.
“I don’t know how else to explain it,” said Brynne. “But it’s a good sign, right? I mean, if I can get my weapon back, so can you guys!”
Hopefully that was true. Aru felt genuinely happy for her sister, but envy gnawed at her, too. What if Aru ended up being the only one who didn’t get her weapon back? But there was no point wandering down that brain road. Worrying wouldn’t make a difference.
“Gods, I miss my lightning bolt,” said Aru.
“I miss Dee Dee, too,” said Mini, flexing her hands. “What will you do when you get Vajra back, Aru?”
“Electrocute Aiden,” said Aru flatly.
Mini snorted. “Poor Wifey.”
Brynne went oddly silent.
“Okay, what aren’t you saying?” demanded Aru. “You’re being shady.”
Brynne’s face turned red. She turned to reach for a bowl of honey.
“It’s, um, not what you think,” she mumbled.
“What isn’t?” asked Aru.
“What he said to you in the museum lobby,” said Brynne, the words coming out in a rush. “There’s just more that he’s not saying. Or can’t make himself say.”
Aru’s pulse kicked up a bit. “Okay, so tell me.”
“Can’t,” said Brynne.
Mini looked between Brynne and Aru, her eyes wide.
“Why not?” asked Aru.
“Because he’s my best friend!”
“And I’m literally your soul sister!” shot back Aru.
Brynne groaned, her shoulders sagging. “Yes, I know. That’s why this is literally killing me.”
Aru crossed her arms. “You look like the picture of health to me.”
“I knew him first,” mumbled Brynne.
“What is this, the worst game of dibs ever?” said Aru. “I am your sister!”
Right then, Jambavan’s booming laughter filled the room. Aru peered through the archway to see Aiden and Rudy following him. Aiden was looking pleased as he scrolled through the photos on Shadowfax.
Rudy, however, still seemed nauseous as he collapsed into the nearest cushion. “So…many…couches…” he said.
“Just give him some time, Shah,” said Brynne under her breath as she put the cobbler in the oven. “And trust me, okay? It’s really not what you think, but it’s not my place to say it.”
“I hate you.”
“Love you, too,” said Brynne, walking past her with a tray full of delicacies.
Aru hadn’t realized how hungry she was until she sat down to the feast. There were huge platters of cut mangoes and jackfruit, bowls of passion fruit mixed with cream, delicate knots of edible flowers, hanks of cheese, and steaming mounds of paratha slathered with ghee. Jambavan snapped his fingers and silver pitchers full of honeyed water appeared on the table and emptied their contents into sparkling glasses that rose out of the silver table.
“The table grows its own plateware and cutlery,” said Jambavan proudly. “Can’t say I use much of it, but it is lovely to look at.”
Light rippled down the surface of the silver table, as if it were delighted with the compliment. It then proceeded—for no reason Aru could guess—to produce a soup tureen, several flowerpots, a pair of grilling tongs, and a pinkie-size sorbet spoon.
With each bite of food, Aru felt her strength returning to her. When she looked across the table, Mini’s face was glowing, Aiden’s hair was shining, Brynne was positively beaming, and even Rudy now looked well-rested and happy.
Eventually, the food was nearly finished and the old bear king was no longer smiling. He turned his head toward the dark archway leading out of the banquet hall.
“There is much ahead for you,” he said.
“Just the labyrinth,” said Brynne, shoveling another piece of cheese into her mouth.
Jambavan made a low grumbling sound. “It will be well protected. Places like that do not have just a single entry point—they have multiple layers of access. Those who guard the doors could either be allies, enemies, or like I was—eager to see the world end. Desperate for everything to start over.”
“We’re ready,” said Brynne.
Hooray, thought Aru dully.
“But how are we going to get there?” asked Rudy. “The elevator’s totally demolished.”
Aru grimaced, thinking of the shattered palanquin.
“That I can easily help with,” said Jambavan. He tapped the table. A drop of liquid silver rose from the surface and spread out into a long oval mirror. When Jambavan touched the mirror, Aru saw the view from outside his palace. It was exactly what they had seen when they first arrived—the bare branches of thin trees hugging a crescent of the world that seemed to drop straight into oblivion. In some places, fog curled on the horizon, turning the star-flecked sky beyond it dark and hazy. The only thing Aru could detect amid that fog and starry space were those odd gray tree trunks, the tops of which disappeared into a thick blanket of clouds.
“We…fall off the edge of the world and hope for the best?” asked Aiden.
“Of course not!” said Jambavan. “You take the stairs straight to the doors!”
“Stairs?” repeated Mini.
“Doors?” echoed Aru.
Jambavan pinched the mirror with his thumb and index finger, as if he were zooming in on a screen. There, through the trees and almost invisible thanks to the silver mist, appeared the beginning of a white staircase.