“Chanda! Hey, Chanda, come back!” We all turned to look at Dylas, startled by his outburst as he jumped up. He dove for the door and pulled her back in. “Listen, I don’t know what happened—I was asleep, then there was an explosion or something that woke me up, and all I could tell was that Avani was mad at you about something—”

“Damn, you are a sound sleeper,” I interrupted, shaking my head. “Chanda tried to make love to Avani. While she was asleep. I woke up just seconds before Avani did and caught her at it, but before I could do anything, Avani woke and blasted her across the room.”

“Yeah, well… okay. Definitely not cool, Chanda. But listen, guys. She’s here—we’re all here—to protect Rishi. Well, she can’t very well do that if she’s asleep in another room, can she? And besides, cut her some slack. She’s had a helluva day. Avani, you have Leo to turn to for comfort. But who does Chanda have? You’re all she has, you know. And she’s only just found you again after thinking you were dead for years. So… while I can’t say I like what she did or approve of it, I think I can kind of understand it. So come on, Avani—you two are lifelong friends. Can’t you just… I dunno, I guess just forgive her this one time or something?”

I just stared at him in surprise. Dylas was so obtuse that whenever he managed to hit the nail on the head, it caught me by surprise. Yet he had a point. Thinking over what he’d said, I could see the sense of it. Chanda’s world had been turned upside down and inside out more times and in more ways in the past few days than I could count. And as Dylas had pointed out, she had no one to lean on when things were confusing or frightening or otherwise upsetting—no one except Avani, that is. Still….

I looked over at my wife, who sat motionless on the bed, staring at the wall, deep in thought. After a few minutes, she said in a terse voice, “Maybe you’re right, Dylas. I don’t know. But it’s not that easy. It was… it was so much like what Bhima used to—”

“No,” Dylas interrupted, shaking his head angrily. “That isn’t fair or true. It’s nothing like that, and you know it. Bhima did what he did because he liked to—he liked hurting you and controlling you, and he wanted to break your spirit. Although I don’t really know for sure why Chanda did what she did, I do know one thing—she didn’t do it for the same reasons Bhima did. She loves you and cares about you, any idiot can see that—even me. And she’d never try to hurt you… I think. But maybe she just didn’t think things through. You know, there were lots of times I hurt you, too. Not because I wanted to or meant to, but just because I… well, I guess because I’m just a klutz. I couldn’t express myself as easily as you could. And I didn’t always think about things—okay, usually didn’t think about things—before doing them. But I never wanted to hurt you, and I think Chanda probably feels the same way.”

Avani looked over at Chanda, who stood naked and red-faced, staring at the floor. I think she likely would have bolted for the door if Dylas hadn’t still held her arm in a firm grip. “Is that so, Chanda? Is what Dylas said the way it is with you, the way you feel?”

Chanda hesitated a moment, then nodded, still staring at the floor. A moment later, she looked up, and there were tears in her eyes. “I… I didn’t mean to scare you or upset you. I just… love you so much, and I just couldn’t bear it anymore. You’re everything to me—family, friend, and lover, or at least I wish you were my lover. I’d always hoped that someday you’d feel the same way about me, but then you… you disappeared, and I thought you were dead. And then yesterday, when you really did die for a little while… and then today when I nearly died … I felt like I just had to… to try. If nothing else, the past few days have shown me just how uncertain life is… and I wanted more than anything to take that chance, in case maybe…. But you really don’t, I guess. I… I’m sorry.”

“Oh, Chanda,” Avani said, sighing. “I do love you, you know. You’re like a sister to me, but nothing more. I really am sorry I can’t love you the way you want me to. But I can’t be dishonest with you—I can’t give you hope where there is none.” She looked over to her brother, who sat in silence, listening to the discussion but not partaking of it. Her eyes softened as she watched her twin as he began to nod in exhaustion and lay back down again on his bed, and she said with a faint smile, “Besides, Dylas was right. We do need you here tonight to help protect Rishi. So… you can stay. But….”

“Yes? I promise, I’ll do whatever you ask,” Chanda said, looking eagerly hopeful.

“I… I think I’d prefer you sleep on the floor tonight. I’m sorry, but I just wouldn’t be able to sleep with you beside me, not now,” Avani said looking again at her friend.

Chanda’s face fell, but she quickly disguised her disappointment and nodded acquiescence. “As you wish,” she replied, then she quickly pulled on the plain chemise she’d removed sometime earlier in the night and glanced at the bedding. “Uhh… but, where….”

“There’s enough room here,” Dylas said, heading back to bed. “You can fit in on either side of Rishi.”

She turned a brighter shade of red as she looked at me anxiously. “Oh! Well, I don’t… maybe not….”

I shrugged, then as I lay back down, I said, “Listen, I’m not at all happy with what you did to my wife. But I won’t hold a grudge against you. This is really between you and Avani, and besides—I can’t fault your taste in women.”

Dylas snorted, and she glanced over at him as he lay back down on the other side of Rishi before looking over at Avani and Sharmila. The two women also lay back down, and Avani, seeing her confusion, said, “You’ll be fine, Chanda. I promise. Both Leo and Dylas are very honorable, and neither of them would take advantage of a woman in her sleep.” Then with that parting shot, she closed her eyes and appeared to fall immediately asleep.

Chanda flushed at Avani’s last comment, then she hurried over and climbed in under the blankets on the bedding between Rishi and Dylas, evidently preferring her rescuer to the husband of her would-be-victim as a bedmate for the night.

**************

It was not to be a restful night. Once again, well before the paleness of the pre-dawn, I was awakened by a sound. A shrill whine, so high-pitched I wasn’t certain if the others would even hear it, vibrated in my ears. My ears twitching in irritation, I cautiously sat up. Everyone else was asleep, as best I could tell, but the noise was rapidly increasing in volume while decreasing in pitch. I gently shook Rishi’s arm, and he awoke in an instant. As softly as I could, I whispered, “Do you hear that noise?”

He focused for a moment, then nodded. “Yes. That is the beginnings of my alarm spell going off. It begins softly, so that the intruders will not be alerted as quickly—unless they are expecting it, of course, and listening for it.”

I sprang up, whispering, “Stay here, then. I’ll check it out.”

As I silently stepped towards the door, though, Avani rose and slid out of bed. “Not without me, you won’t,” she whispered fiercely. I shook my head and tried to push her back towards the bed, but she was adamant. “Forget it, Leo. Besides, I can teleport us right into his room.” Then she grabbed my arm and called out the incantation, speaking just above a whisper, and the now-familiar blackness enveloped us.

We materialized in Rishi’s room, which was dimly lit as by a candle or partly shaded lamp. Our sudden appearance caused some commotion and confusion, but I could see more than one man in the room, even if I couldn’t count the number. I heard the sounds of voices crying out the same teleportation spell, and then Avani reached out to grab the man nearest her as he began to incant the spell, taking hold of his arm just as he completed his incantation. I leaped to grab her other arm, and again all was black.

This time we appeared out of doors, in an open space somewhere. The night was as deep as the caverns beneath the Maya Road; the moon was but a silver strand curved against the sky. I felt Avani immediately leap back, in case of attack, and I followed suit. “Leo, use spells!” she cried, and it dawned on me that while we were unarmed and dressed only in our nightwear, we faced a man—or men—with both weapons and armor.

Quickly casting a whirlwind wheel spell, knowing that our opponents would be unable to see them in the darkness, I jumped farther back before looking for Avani. She cast a light spell that hovered high above, illuminating the scene before us. I heard her gasp, and she cried out, “Ajit? How could you? You—you were our father’s friend! You dandled me on your knee when I was a small child… you gave Rishi his first wooden sword! How could you turn against us?”

“I do what I do for the good of the tribe—a duty your brother appears to have forsaken!” the man snarled, then he lunged at her as he drew a long, slender knife from his belt. Avani sprang out of the way, kicking his arm as she flew past and knocking the dagger from his hand. Landing several feet behind him, she turned and faced him as he scurried to grab the weapon, and I prepared to cast a fire wheel. Halfway through the incantation, though, I saw two more men running up behind Avani. I broke off and shouted a warning, and she sprang away to the side and then leaped up into the branches of a tree. I recast the spell, and as the fireballs spun across the rocky ground, scattering our opponents, I took a moment to assess the situation.

I counted four men in total, and glancing up at Avani’s shocked face, I could see that she recognized each of them. They all carried daggers similar to the one drawn by Ajit, and as soon as the fires died back, they closed ranks and descended upon us.

From her lofty perch, I heard Avani begin to incant a spell. A moment later, I realized she was casting the Omni Gate spell, and I leaped back out of the way, standing next to the tree where she crouched. Just in time, too, as a massive portal opened before us, only to close a moment later. Where the portal had blinked in and out, a large monster now stood. Only she didn’t exactly stand, as she had no legs. She had the body of a tremendous serpent, several times larger than the largest constrictor I had ever seen or heard described. But in place of a head, the monster had the upper body of a woman. She turned towards me, and my neck hairs stood on end and I froze as she regarded me with unblinking yellow reptilian eyes, a forked tongue flicking in and out between her full ruby lips. She had four arms, and a jeweled belt around its waist held four sheaths, from which she pulled four long swords. She had large, round breasts, serpentine hair, and her skin and scales all were glossy and dark.

She began to slither towards me, and I stood as if rooted to the spot, unable to move. I heard Avani cast another spell, and the monster stopped in her tracks. She paused, the tip of her tail twitching as if highly agitated, then she slowly began to slide forward again, still imprisoning me within her golden gaze. Avani cast the spell again, and then a third time. Finally the creature stopped, turned, and after a moment, it reluctantly departed. Once again able to breathe, I slumped against the tree, watching in fascinated horror as she slithered away.

Then she spotted our opponents, and they likewise saw her. I heard one of them scream, “Nagani!” Then they, too, appeared to fall under its spell as their doom slowly, elegantly slid across the ground towards them.

Avani leaped down next to me. “That… that was close. I’m so sorry, Leo. I didn’t think to warn you. Never look a nagana or nagani in the eyes. They hypnotize their prey, freezing them and rendering them incapable of movement until it’s too late.”

“Wh… what the…?” I stammered, still shaking off the last traces of the monster’s gaze.

“The nagaani are a race of Monsters, half serpent and half human. They prefer climates such as here, so one occasionally finds them in these mountains. Only rarely, fortunately. They are highly intelligent, which is why it took so many attempts to befriend it. Most monsters don’t require that spell at all to tame, but among those few that do, most only require it to be cast once. Some monsters are too intelligent for it altogether. It ought to last for at least a day, maybe longer. That should be enough time… she will eat well tonight.” And with that, she turned away, and as the first screams rang in my ears, she cast the teleport spell, returning us to our room in her brother’s house.

When we appeared in our room, we found the others awake—disturbed by our earlier commotion. Avani immediately returned to bed, her small store of energy already depleted by her spellcasting. I sat next to her and put my arm around her for warmth while she explained what had happened.

“We found men in your room, Rishi. Men we… men we know—friends, or so I had thought. There were three: Ajit, Harit, and Arun. As soon as they realized who we were, they teleported away again, but we managed to catch hold of Ajit just as he teleported and followed them to their rendezvous. They apparently had been using the Rock of the Mahapura as a meeting place; Vidhur awaited them there. We fought them with magic, since we were unarmed and they were not. I summoned a nagani, whom I befriended. I will return tomorrow to send her back to her tribe and see if there are any remains—though I doubt it. She was not the largest nagaani I have seen, but she seemed hungry.

“Nagani? Nagaani? What are those?” Dylas asked.

I shuddered, remembering its petrifying golden eyes. “A nightmare,” I replied. Then I turned to Avani, asking, “That place you named… the name sounds familiar. Was that…?”

She nodded. “Yes, the same place where Bhima met his end.”

The remainder of the night passed uneventfully, and despite my fatigue, I still woke early, though not first. Sitting up and looking around at my slumbering companions, I saw that Sharmila was gone, no doubt to see to the day’s work. Avani was still sound asleep, though, lying on her side and curled protectively around her belly, her long green hair spread across the blanket and pillow.

Next to me, Rishi lay on his back, one arm thrown over his face. Dylas slept on his side, his back to the rest of us, and between the two men, Chanda lay curled up, facing Dylas’s back. I rose carefully, to avoid disturbing the others, and I saw that one of Chanda’s small hands grasped a lock of Dylas’s hair even in her sleep, clinging tightly to it as if it were a charm. I smiled at her unconscious acceptance of her new champion, then I quietly slipped out of the room.

I found Sharmila in the kitchen, which was separate from the rest of the house. She, the cooks, and a few serving maids were all hard at work, preparing not only for the morning meal, but also for the rest of the day’s meals. I could see why it was housed separately—despite the early hour and the open windows and doors, stepping into that kitchen was like stepping into an oven. However, the large room was redolent with the scents of spices that made my mouth water, and unable to resist temptation, I snatched a small morsel from a tray carried by a short, plump woman. She giggled at my audaciousness and offered me another, which I gladly accepted. Turning in time to see that exchange, Sharmila laughingly accused me of charming the socks off her staff while she stepped over to greet me with a kiss on each cheek.

I told her that the others were still asleep, and she asked if I would go wake them, as breakfast would be ready soon. Nodding as I popped the second bite-sized pastry into my mouth, I headed back to our room to roust the others from their rest.

After breakfast, Avani said she would return to the Rock to see to the monster that she had summoned. I wondered how she could just leave it like that—if she wasn’t concerned about it straying and wreaking havoc. But when I asked her, she just gave a wry smile and said, “No predator is going to wander off in search of food when it has that much prey just sitting there for the taking, and once she’s eaten her fill, she will need to rest for some time.”

I shuddered at the thought of its foul appetite, then insisted on coming with her—just in case. Dylas and Chanda wanted to come along, too, and with some reluctance, Avani finally agreed. Dylas, I suspected, was merely curious about the monster, though he might think of it more in terms of ‘threat assessment’. I wasn’t sure why Chanda insisted on accompanying her, though, unless it was simply hoping for the opportunity to make amends for last night’s reckless behavior. Gathering us around her, she said, “First, though, I have something I need to check on.” Then she cast the spell, and a split-second later we appeared before an isolated farmhouse. 

The house was constructed chiefly of some tan stone, and the metal roof was painted red and, as with Rishi’s house, extended over the wide porch. The doors and window trim were all painted bright red, too, and there was a second floor on just one side of the house. The house was neat and well-cared for, but it lacked the splendidly extravagant gardens of the other houses I’d seen. Turning to Avani, I saw that she looked pale, then noticed Chanda clenching her fists as she glared balefully at the house.

“Is this…” I began to ask, though I hardly needed to.

“Yes,” she replied tersely. “This was Bhima’s house. Our house.” Then she stalked up the path to the door, and I saw a well-muscled man standing before the door, watching us as we approached. She stopped in front of him, saying, “Dhanu. I need to take a look at something. I doubt I’ll have time to inspect the house until tomorrow, but I assure you that I will do so as soon as possible, so that you and Vimal can return to your homes. In the meantime, I apologize for the inconvenience.”

“No apology is needed, Lady,” the man rumbled as he stepped to the side with a nod. “Our allegiance is to the Ra’mara, your brother.” And I noted a slight emphasis on the word ‘our’ and wondered at its implications.

Inside, the floors were tiled and strewn with colorful rugs. The ochre walls were hung with many paintings, and a number of shelves and small niches held an assortment of objets d’art—some beautiful, some grotesque, others decidedly degenerate.

Avani led us to a heavy wooden door near the back of the house, then pulling a key ring from her rucksack, she selected a large brass key and unlocked the door. The room into which we filed was apparently a study—large bookcases, blackened with age, lined the walls and contained a wealth of scrolls, books, codices, and parchments. A large table dominated the room, with a single oversized leather chair behind it and a pair of wooden seats before it. Beneath the windows in the far window were heavy wooden cabinets, and it was to one of these that Avani went. Kneeling before it, she tried several keys in the lock—but none fit. Thumping her fist on the top of the cupboard in frustration and anger, she jumped when a small hidden drawer, built into the trim of the cabinet, popped slightly open. She pulled the drawer open, and inside was a small metal ring holding a few keys. She pulled it out and tried these in the lock, and on the third attempt, the lock clicked and the door swung open.

Inside the cabinet on the upper shelf was a large leather-bound folio, and a row of ledgers was neatly arranged on the lower shelf. She pulled out the folio, carefully closed and locked the cupboard again, dropped the key rings into her bag, and sat down at the table—avoiding the leather seat and choosing one of the wooden seats instead. Flipping through until she found the last entry, she lay the book open and began to skim the pages, going backwards through the entries. The writing was in a neat, elegant hand, but the script itself was illegible to me. Apparently, although the Ventuani spoke the common tongue, their writing was made with an ancient script—similar to, yet distinct from, the one that I had learned in my youth.

Avani noticed me hovering over her shoulder and glanced up at me. I smiled and said, “Please excuse me, My Lady. I was admiring the handwriting and trying to decipher the script—I don’t recognize it, neither from the present nor from my past.”

She turned the folio a little so that I could better see it. “We learn two scripts here: the modern script, or rather our version of it, and an ancient script. It’s a descendant of the script that was used when our kingdom was in its prime, and likely distantly related to the script that you learned as an ancient, defunct script in your childhood—different branches from the same root. Many of our writings are in the older script, which is why some of us are still taught it. However, even among those few who learn it, not all can read it well, so it’s useful for more… private communications.” I nodded my head as I glanced down the rows. That seemed entirely plausible to me.

I straightened up and with an apologetic look, said, “My apologies—I didn’t mean to interrupt you.” And she smiled at me before returning to her perusal.

Dylas and Chanda, meanwhile, stood at one of the windows, which framed a view of a yard, a few outbuildings, and a large kitchen garden. Beyond those lay brilliant green fields of what looked like recently sprouted grain, though it was difficult to say what the crops were so early in their growth. I joined them, and looking out the window, with nothing but fields and forest as far as one could see, I thought to myself what a lonely and prosaic life it must have been for someone as outgoing and adventurous as Avani. I commented on it, and Chanda replied, “Bhima found the remoteness… useful.” I shuddered, and Dylas swore under his breath.

Before any of us could further comment, Avani exclaimed, “Aha! Found it!” We turned to look at her, and she had a triumphant, almost exultant, look on her face. “I have all I need now. Give me a few minutes to look in on the animals, then we can go.”

She handed the book to me and hurried out the front door, the rest of us close behind. Asking us to wait there on the porch, she darted around the corner of the house. A minute later, I could hear her voice calling out, and a chorus of squawks, grunts, lows, and bleats responded eagerly. After perhaps a quarter of an hour, she returned, still at a run, and calling out her thanks to the guard at the door, she led us a little ways down the path.

As she reached for our hands, I asked, “Why did you leave before teleporting? Why not just teleport from the house?”

She raised an eyebrow and replied, “The seers cast Virtsati—the nullification spell—over the house to prevent anyone from teleporting into or out of it before I had a chance to… inventory the contents. And this journal is the most compelling reason why someone might.” Then she cast the teleport spell, and once again we stood on the open plain on top of the Rock of the Mahapura.

I looked anxiously around the barren landscape, feeling my skin crawl at the thought that somewhere up here was that horrific monster. Then I spotted it a short distance from us, just as Avani did, and just as it spotted us. It slowly raised its grotesquely feminine torso, weaving side to side as it turned its gaze up on us and drew its four swords. I saw that its body was greatly distended and again shuddered. “Remember—don’t look into its eyes!” Avani called in warning, and I quickly averted my gaze from those glittering orbs. It began to uncoil from its resting place, slithering along the ground towards us, hissing as it tasted our scents. Then it stopped, pulling back from us slightly, then flickered its tongue as it turned towards Avani, considering for a moment. The friendship spell held, and it sheathed its swords and waited.

I glanced over at Dylas, who was white-faced and slack-jawed as he stared at the monster. He shook his head as if to clear it, then mumbled, “What the fucking hell….”

Chanda looked at him, then waved her hand before his eyes. He blinked a few times, then took a step back. “That,” she said, looking again at the coiled shape before us, “is a Nagani. It’s best to avoid them.”

Dylas nodded slowly. “Uh-huh. Yeah. No argument here.”

Avani stepped up to the monster, who even as it reclined on its coils still towered over her. “My Lady Nagani, it is now time to return to your home and your people. I thank you for your friendship, and wish you well in the future.”

The creature opened her ruby lips, and replied in a sibilant yet strangely lyrical voice, “Child of the Wind, it has been my delight to serve you thus.”

Startled, Avani stared at her for a moment. Then, stepping back, she cried out “Ayatana Vatayana!” and a large portal appeared before the monster. It drew the creature to it even as she slithered towards it, then both monster and portal vanished, leaving the four of us alone on the plain.

Only not quite alone. Looking around, I saw four long daggers on the ground near where the Nagani had lain, and a little farther off, I saw two corpses. Recognizing them as two of the men we’d fought the night before, I stepped closer to examine them while Avani collected their weapons.

To my complete surprise, one of them moved.

I jumped, badly startled, then moved closer to examine the body, which lay face down. Kneeling next to him, I cautiously rolled him over. He was severely wounded, his shirt and the skin beneath slashed to shreds and the dusty earth beneath him had turned to wine-colored mud. His face was ashen, and his open eyes stared vacantly, locked into an expression of horror.

I had all but decided I had been mistaken, when I felt it—felt a twitch in his shoulder as it rested in my hand. With a yelp, I cried out, “This one’s still alive!” A moment later, the others were all crowded around us. I held an ear against his gory chest, listening… and just there, a heartbeat—so faint, I’m not sure I could have heard it without my augmented hearing. Quickly, I cast a healing spell on him, and as soon as I was done, Avani cast one, too, and then Dylas. We took it in turns, healing him until his heart was beating more strongly and his breathing came more regularly.

As he regained consciousness, he suddenly convulsed and screamed, struggling to move, to escape while looking about him in stark terror. Restraining him, I spoke calmly and soothingly to him until his fit passed and he looked about him with dawning recognition. He saw Avani and shrank away, uncertain of her intentions, but she merely stood, picked up the folio from where I’d dropped it on the ground beside me, and held out a hand to us. “Come on, let’s get back to the house so Sharmila can take a look at him.” I stood and lifted the injured man in my arms, holding out a hand to clasp hers. Chanda grabbed Dylas’s arm, and the two women cast the teleportation spell, returning us to the lawn in front of Rishi’s house.

Once inside, Avani ran for Sharmila while I carried him to the same room where Chanda had been taken after her encounter with the mukara. As I carefully lay him on the chaise, Sharmila burst in, and seeing the traces of his wounds and his grey pallor, she gasped in shock. She knelt down and quickly cast the same deep healing spell she’d used on Chanda.

When she was done, she turned to us with a raised eyebrow. “I see the Nagani missed one at least. And the others?”

“Harit’s corpse lies atop the Rock. Of the others, there was no trace, save their weapons.” Avani held up the quartet of daggers.

“I see. I will heal him as best I can.”

“I don’t get it—wasn’t he plotting against Rishi?” Dylas asked, his brow furrowed in confusion.

Sharmila smiled as she replied, “Yes. But we serve the God of Creation, not the God of Destruction.” Then looking back down at her patient, she grew more serious. “However, the one Arun will need to successfully petition is the Goddess of Transformation, Morphé, who presides over that place between life and death.”

**************

We left the traitor to Sharmila's ministrations, and Avani left, returning a few minutes later without the folio. She gestured for us to follow, then went back outside. She looked at Chanda, then at me as she said, "I think now Chanda and I need to have a talk."

Chanda blanched slightly, but showed no other sign of nervousness, though I could smell fear, pungent and sharp, exuding from her. I scowled, feeling myself reacting to her fear with hostility, and said, “Let me come with you, My Lady.”

Avani shook her head. “No, Leo, we need to talk alone. Don’t worry, love, I’m awake this time, and besides—I’m sure there won’t be a repeat of last night’s…”

“Attempted rape?” I said, drily, as she hesitated, earning an angry look from Dylas.

Before he could protest, though, Avani raised her hand. “Both of you, please calm down. Don’t be so hard on her, Leo. I’m no longer as angry as I was last night, and I realize that my assessment was not entirely kind. But we do need to reach an understanding, or our friendship will become strained beyond endurance or repair. And we need to do so in privacy. We’ll return as soon as we can, I promise.” Then she kissed me, and took Chanda’s hand in hers. She cast the teleportation spell, and they disappeared before our eyes.

I let out a deep sigh, and Dylas snorted. “They’re sure making a lot of fuss over nothing,” he said, scowling at the empty space they left behind.

I turned and faced him, feeling my anger rising again. “Nothing? It is not ‘nothing’—don’t you get it? Damn it, Dylas, I know you’re dense, but….” I sighed again, then continued, still glaring at him. “Look, she spent four years of her life being raped and beaten by someone who was supposed to take care of her. She had nowhere to go, no one to help her. The one man that might have helped her was murdered; her brother was helpless and her father turned his back on her. Can you even imagine what that must have been like for her? And then she had that accident and lost her memory, and she spent three years—three happy years—safe from that monster… only to have him find her and brutalize her again. Then finally—finally!—she’s free of him, finally free of the abuse and the rapes and… everything, and one of her closest, dearest friends tries to have sex with her while she’s asleep! Try to think what that must have been like for her, waking up to find Chanda doing that to her, and in that way!” I started pacing, more from pent-up fury than from anxiety. “You know, if it had been you instead of Chanda, no one would be pleading for lenience on your behalf—and very likely you’d be dead, or at least wishing you were. Why should she be treated any differently?”

Dylas stood silent for a few minutes, thinking. After a short while, he turned and looked off towards the woods, saying, “Okay. Yeah, I see what you’re saying. And saying that being married to that asshole must have sucked is a huge understatement, I know.” I snorted in disbelief, but he pressed on. “I know. But you know, she’s strong—she’s a survivor. Not many women could have pulled through all that, you know. She’s… she’s like one of those gemstones you sometimes find in the volcanoes—most things would just burn up into ashes in those fires, but some things instead turn into rare gems. That’s what she’s like—all her suffering, as horrible as it was, and as much as I wish she hadn’t had to go through all that… it just made her stronger and… well, more beautiful, more… more pure inside. Like it burned away all the inferior crap that most people carry around and left her as close to perfect as you can get.”

“But now you try to think of Chanda. Like I said before, she’s had a hard time, too—we don’t even really know just how bad, but if her old man was trying to sell her off as some kind of a sex slave, it sure as hell wasn’t good. And while she’s strong, too, I don’t think she’s as strong. I mean, not many are, right? So she’s had a hard life right from the start, and then her best friend—the only person who genuinely loved her—vanishes and is declared dead by her twin, the one person who would know that for sure. Can you imagine that? She must have felt so… solost, so hopeless. And then, three years later—three long years of suffering and neglect—she discovers it was all a lie, that her friend, the person she loved most in all the world, is not dead, but alive and well and living a happy life far away from her and with no memory of her at all. And just when she finally gets her friend back, she loses her again to that white-haired dickwad. And then her friend actually dies—only to revive a short while later. You didn’t see her, man—didn’t see how it tore her up. I know, you had other stuff on your mind—I get that. But I was there with her when Avani collapsed. It tore me all to pieces inside when that happened, but it was even worse for her.

“So finally after all this—all the losing and finding over and over again—her friend is really back and free of the son-of-a-bitch for good, and life throws another shitball at her—this time she nearly dies. So come on, can you really blame her? I know it was fucked up of her to try that while Avani was asleep, but I think she was scared that Avani would say no if she just came right out and asked. I don’t think she could have handled that rejection right then, you know? I think she was hoping that by just doing it, somehow Avani would go along with it, and she probably didn’t think it through—kind of like some of the shit I’ve pulled. And yeah, all that wouldn’t be cool back in Selphia, but the rules are different here. It’s not fair to expect Chanda to act like we do.”

 Then he turned and looked at me, an oddly penetrating look in his hazel eyes, as he continued. “And you know… Avani grew up that way, too. You gotta keep in mind that now she has her memory back, she may want to take a lover—it’s how she was brought up, after all.”

I stared at him in open-mouthed shock. Truthfully, the idea had never crossed my mind that Avani, my own beloved wife, might indeed wish to exercise what she had been raised to believe was her right, and turn to another for the intimacy that I had come to view as my exclusive privilege. And I did not find the idea the least bit palatable.