PAVATI'S POV
The water was still warm when I heard the door creak open. I didn't need to look up from where I sat in the copper tub to know it was Ayasha. The servants had been scrubbing at my skin with rough cloths, trying to make me presentable for whatever horror awaited us tonight, but I could feel her presence the moment she stepped into our shared quarters.
"You have been out a while," I said, finally lifting my eyes to meet hers. She looked different somehow. Harder. Like something had shifted in the time she'd been gone. "It is almost time for the games."
I gestured toward the empty tub waiting beside mine, steam still rising from its surface. The servants had prepared it for her return, though I'd started to wonder if she would make it back at all. The way the other Lunas had been whispering after breakfast, plotting and scheming, I wouldn't have been surprised if one of them had tried to eliminate her before the competition even began.
