An Alphabet of Legendary Ladies - D for Devayani, for @queenofmahishmati!
“You will never know love,” she snarls at Kacha, and he only looks at her sadly, his shining earrings swinging about that elegant neck—no, Devayani, no more.
“Then neither will you, little sister,” he replies, and how dare he, how dare he call her sister when all he did was come out of Father’s body at her request, when she burned for him…
Enough. Enough with men, she decides, after Kacha is gone; and holds to it. What are men, any way to her friend Sharmistha’s company, to Sharmistha’s sharp humor, and sparkling eyes, and sense of justice?
Curses are persistent things, though, and work their way into the most precious things. It is only when Devayani looks up at Sharmistha’s retreating form from the bottom of the well when she realizes how very foolish she has been, loving her as she did.