I nodded, unable to speak.

“Is he gone?”

I cleared my throat and forced my voice to work. “Yes.”

There was stunned silence.

Then, before anyone could react, Suki burst from the nearest street and rushed toward me, her face glowing with glee. “Kiki!” she squealed. “Kiki, you did it! You won’t believe what happened on the battlefield! The demons were winning, but then the palace collapsed and everything went quiet. It was like the moment Mahishasura died, every Asura felt it and the battle just stopped. And then Vishnu appeared and the Asuras scattered because I guess they knew that with Mahishasura gone, there was no one to protect them from the power of a god. A few of them escaped into the forest, but Vishnu banished the rest into the Nowhere Place. Then he told us that you had won and Mysore was saved and so we ran—”

“Kiki!” Samara gasped, appearing over Suki’s shoulder, out of breath. “Are you hurt?”

“No, I don’t think so,” I said, so relieved to see them. “Are you? Is anyone else?”

“We’re all fine,” said Suki. “Simha, Chamundeshwari, the Good Witch, and the gandaberunda kept the Asuras from totally swarming over us, so we got really lucky. Lej and Jojo are on their way here.” She threw her arms around me. “Thank you!”

“You don’t have to thank me—”

“Yes, we do,” Samara insisted.

“And I owe you an apology,” said a voice.

I jumped. Vishnu had appeared out of nowhere, tall and stern and strong, his dark eyes glinting in the setting sun. At the sight of him, the crowd around us let out a collective gasp.

“I doubted you,” Vishnu told me, which was an understatement if ever there was one. “I belittled you and diminished you. I was wrong. You have proven several times over that you do not need my respect or my approval, but know that you have both, nevertheless. This is the end of Mahishasura, and the start of a better future for all worlds, and we owe that to you. Well done.”

And then, with the smallest of smiles on his stern face, he bowed his head and vanished.

31

If I had hoped that beating a monster and saving a kingdom would be the end of it, I would have been very disappointed because, as it turns out, there’s a lot to do after you win a war. A bunch of people wanted me to be the new queen of Mysore, but a lot of other, more sensible people felt it should be Chamundeshwari, who was a grown woman and a goddess and was not about to go back home to London.

Still, it was a little disappointing to pass up the opportunity to force Lej to address me as “Your Majesty,” but we all agreed in the end that Chamundeshwari was the better choice.

Simha decided that he would live at Crow House for good, so that someone over the age of twelve was around to look after the kids, but this was only settled after Suki made him promise never to cook again. The Good Witch turned my tin soldiers back into toys. And the gandaberunda took its place at the very top of the tower and became just a statue once more.