The stall was simple, draped in purple silks, and piled high with spellbooks, wands, and bottles of sparkling potions. Two women attended to the stall; one was old and leaning on a sturdy black cane, chatting animatedly to an old man at the next stall, while the other was about twenty years old, with black hair that tumbled all the way down to her waist. She had a look of intense concentration on her face as she sat cross-legged on the floor in front of the stall with a book in her lap.

As we got nearer, her eyes suddenly snapped up and met mine. And, with unmistakable authority, she beckoned me closer.

I approached warily, with Ashwini skipping along beside me. Chamundeshwari followed us.

The young witch made no move to rise, but simply tipped her head back to look up at me. “Statue girl,” she said.

“Witch lady?” I replied somewhat doubtfully.

That made her mouth twitch, but she only said, “You look like your statue.”

“We were told you’d only talk to Kiki,” Ashwini said. “So here she is. At no small risk to herself, by the way.”

“It’s okay,” I said quickly. “I wanted to come. We, um, we need your help.”

“So we assumed, from how persistently your friend over there has been trying to find us,” said the witch drily. Having studied me at length, she lowered her head and turned back to her book. “What can we do for you?”

“There’s a protection spell on Mysore Palace,” I said, slightly unnerved at having to ask the top of her head for a favor. “We were hoping one of you might be able to undo it.”

“That protection spell was placed by one of our ancestors, back when our power was far greater,” said the witch, licking a fingertip and turning a page. “The only one of us alive today who might be able to undo such a spell is the Good Witch.”

I nodded. It would have been convenient if one of these two witches could have done it themselves, but I’d expected this. “Do you know where we can find her?”

“You’re out of luck, I’m afraid,” said the witch. “She’s been a prisoner of Mahishasura’s for weeks. If you want her, you’ll have to go to Lalith Mahal and help her escape.”

Ashwini and I stood in total silence for a moment, crushed. “But,” I protested, “we can’t go to Lalith Mahal. That’s his fortress. And if we can’t undo the protection spell, we may not be able to banish him and . . .” I trailed off, knowing it was no use. She couldn’t do anything about it. So I took a deep breath and remembered my manners. “Thank you for answering my questions. That was all we wanted, so I guess we’ll go now.”

“This is just a teeny setback,” Ashwini said to me, recovering quickly. “We’ll work it out, and we’ll get to the top of that palace, one way or another.”