“And you never shared that with me because you didn’t want me to worry.”
“It was just a guess. I could very well have been wrong, and making you worry wasn’t gonna help anyone. We’d already decided to escape, anyway.”
“Lot of good that did us,” Vir remarked wryly.
“Oh, Riyan knew. Tanya told me later that he’d been tailing us to our secret meetings. He even knew of our cave stash. We just never noticed.”
“Yeah, he wasn’t happy about that cave stash. To think he spied on our conversations too…”
And I never even noticed, Vir thought. Prana Vision was great when used actively, but like regular sight, it missed things if Vir wasn’t paying attention. Especially if they were behind him. Something to work on.
“Anyway, you’re right. I went to Daha, but killing her was impossible. She’s way smarter than I’d thought. I don’t think Riyan ever really expected me to succeed. She knew I was coming and laid a pretty nasty trap.”
“That’s… wow. I can’t believe I haven’t heard of that yet. Hiranya must really be keeping news of that locked down tight. All we know is she was crippled somehow. Pretty nasty work you did there, or so I hear.”
“Sorry, what? I couldn’t lay a finger on her.”
“You’re kidding. That wasn’t you? Then—”
“Riyan!” they said together.
“Had to be,” Vir said. “It all makes sense now. He never planned on having me kill Mina. He was going to handle it all along. I was just… a distraction.”
Vir laughed, though it was stilted. He didn’t know how to take this news. For one, it meant Riyan would know Vir had made an attempt on her life. He’d know Vir had held up his bargain. Assuming the man was even alive.
How did he hurt her so badly, though? Vir wondered. Is he really that strong?
“Distraction or not, you did well just getting out alive,” Maiya said. “I dunno how you managed to kill Head Priest Harak despite that!”
“Figures you’d know about that too, huh?”
“I know everything about you, Vir,” Maiya said with a creepy face, before bursting out laughing. “Sorry. Sorry! I… probably oughta explain how I came to be in charge of the realm’s largest spy organization. Hmm, where to begin, though?”
“Seriously?” Vir asked, visibly shocked. “Uh, maybe from the beginning?”
“Well, the gist of it is Riyan sent me to spy on Kin’jal. Between sending you after Mina and me feeding him information on Hiranya’s biggest enemy, he’d have countered two of the largest threats. Or at least, that’s likely what he was thinking.”
“I see… So what happened? You went with Tanya to Sonam?”
“Right. Tanya lied and said we were going on a training trip to bait me out. She set me up. Had me audition as a Royal Imperial Handmaiden, of all things. Can you believe that? Me, acting all girly and proper?”
Vir laughed. “Yeah. Nope. Can’t picture that at all!”
To his confusion, Maiya frowned at him, despite having just admitted as much.
“Anyway, it’s Kin’jal, y’know? To get in, you need to either excel at etiquette and chores… or simply eliminate your competition.”
“Eliminate…” Vir said blankly.
“Yep. By any means possible. Short of killing or permanently maiming them, of course.”
“That is insane.”
“Truly is. Welcome to my life.”
The grin on her face told Vir she might not hate that life quite as much as she let on.
“And thanks to Riyan’s Kalari arts and Tanya’s magic, you managed to win?”
“Yeah, kinda swept the floor with them actually,” Maiya said, laughing. “They weren’t very strong.”
I think you were just ‘too’ strong, Maiya, Vir thought. While the prana coursing through her blood hadn’t undergone any drastic changes, he sensed fewer other affinities in her blood, making her Ice and Wind Affinities a bit purer.
He wasn’t about to be fooled by that seemingly minor change, though. He knew just how far even a small amount of prana could go with the right training.
“Oh, grak!” Maiya sat straight up. “Oh no. This is bad. Really, really bad.”
“Why? What’s wrong?”
“I kinda locked Tia up in that jail before rushing here.”
“Yeah? And?”
“And I never gave orders to the Garrison commander to release her. I think she’s still there…”
Vir looked Maiya in the eyes, and their lips crept into grins at the same exact time, right before they burst out laughing.
“Serves her right!” Vir said.
“I mean, can you just imagine her face right now? Gods, I’d pay good money to see it.”
“As hilarious as that is, won’t it be a problem?” Vir asked.
“Eh, nobody can keep that brute locked up. I’m sure she’ll figure something out. I’ve already sorted things with her brother, so there’s no need to worry about her. Anyway, after the interview battle, my life became a living hell. There’s this head handmaiden—she’s an Ash Beast disguised as a human, I swear. Chores after chores, and everything has to be absolutely perfect, or it’s even more chores as punishment.”
“That does sound brutal.”
“Oh, it was worse. There was combat, too. And it wasn’t like that was any easier. Nope. They had us fight the Royal Balarian Guard! Now you might be thinking that’s not so tough, but you’d be wrong. They’re not just lowly Balar one footsoldiers. More like twenty to fifty, depending. And then they had us fighting Ash Beasts at the wall. Ash Beasts! And after that, I had to lead a whole squad! Me! Leading people! Can you even imagine?”
“Actually, I kinda can. You were always popular back at the village.”
To Vir, it sounded like Kin’jal suited Maiya more than Hiranya ever had.
“Yeah, but Vir, do you have any idea how much work it is? Ugh. I feel like my hair’s gonna turn white. Seems the higher ups thought I did really well, so Princess Ira Kin’jal recruited me to be her right-hand woman since she wants to overthrow her parents. Mmmm yup, that’s about everything.”
Vir stared at his friend, open-mouthed. There were more than a few things sprinkled in her words that sounded dangerously like national secrets. “You’re telling me… that you’re not only living in the Kin’jal castle… you’re working directly under one of their princesses?”
“I know, right? Who would’ve thought? When I found out Riyan was gone, I confronted Tanya. Convinced her to go look for him. I’m not even spying now. I’m actually a real handmaiden! You won’t believe how much I get paid. Never thought salaries would be measured in seric.”
“Seric! That’s… So that’s how you bribed the Daha Brotherhood’s Prime Executor.”
It’d worried Vir how she’d ended up with so much coin. He’d feared she had stolen it. But the truth was even crazier.
“No, he wouldn’t accept it. It’s basically impossible to bribe the Brotherhood. And don’t get me wrong, it’s not like I can just go around spending serics, but yeah. Money will never be a problem for us again, so long as I stay on with Kin’jal. And, y’know? They’re not that bad. Rough around the edges, kinda crude, but they’re strong. No nonsense. I kinda like that. I’m sure you’ll love them too, when you come back with me.”
“Come back?” Vir asked, straightening up.
“Well, of course. I get that you have fellow demons here, and that’s great! With my Acira, you can visit whenever you like!”
“That’s… I dunno, Maiya.”