“The others are asleep,” Pip said cheerfully, as if that explained why they weren’t.

“Here,” said Suki, thrusting a cup at me. “It’s the best hot chocolate you’ll ever have! The secret is chili powder.”

“Thanks,” I said, still confused. “Why are you all still up? It’s late.”

“Well,” said Jojo, as Suki slurped noisily at her hot chocolate, “we got the impression that Vishnu and Lej made you feel pretty bad today. So we decided you could do with a little cheering up.”

“And a gentle reminder that they don’t know everything and you shouldn’t listen to them,” Pip added merrily.

Their unexpected kindness made my chest feel tight. Fireflies twinkled outside the window, and I watched them so that I didn’t have to look any of the others in the eye. “But they weren’t wrong.”

“I used to be like you, you know,” Samara said unexpectedly. “When Ashwini first found Suki and me, and we came here, I felt like I didn’t fit in at all. I wasn’t good at fighting. Lej tried to teach me how to go out and scavenge stuff, but I just slowed him down. I couldn’t figure out plants and potions like Suki, or make cool costumes and armor like Jojo, or even build the kinds of weird devices and gadgets Pip comes up with. The only thing I was good at was reading and, well, it didn’t seem like a useful thing to be good at. I felt small and weak, and I hated it.”

“That’s not true,” I objected. “You are admittedly pretty little, but you’re not weak.”

She smiled. “I know that now, but back then, I didn’t get it. And that’s why I know how you feel right now, Kiki, and you need to remember that you’re not weak, either. We may be little, but we’re not small.”

“Tell Kiki what happened in the forest,” Suki said, clapping her hands with all the glee of someone about to hear a story they love.

Samara’s cheeks turned a little pink, but she said, “About a year ago, I tried to be helpful by going out to the forest on the other side of the Kaveri and finding berries, mushrooms, that kind of stuff. All I took with me was an empty basket, a book, and an apple as a snack. While I was out there, a wolf Asura found me. I ran, but I’m not very fast and I knew he’d catch me.”

The others were all grinning, watching me as I watched Samara, riveted. “And then?” I asked.

“I remembered something I’d read in one of my books,” she replied. “Asuras need to eat meat to survive, but wolf Asuras can’t resist the smell of apple juice. I have no idea why that is, but it’s what saved me that day. I pulled out my apple and started biting off bits of it. I spat them out onto the forest floor as I ran, making a trail for the wolf to follow. I led him right into an old hunter’s trap.”