Chapter 22
All my bravado had disappeared by the next day.
I jumped as the doors to my room thumped closed behind me, but I tried to hide my unease as Thevan materialized at my side, bristling with weapons.
People around us seemed to sense his mood, and they melted into the tapestries hanging behind them.
I didn’t mind, though. I was happy to see him, until four more guards joined us as we walked, two in front and two behind.
Having so many people around made me anxious—it made Shalini’s attempt on my life feel even more real instead of being something I could mentally push away. I wouldn’t tell Thevan that, though.
I smiled brightly at him. “I was just about to find you. I want to speak with my full council.”
“Yes, of course.” Thevan made no attempt to return my sunshine as we made our way through the halls. He turned toward the council room, but I tugged his sleeve and kept walking straight.
I lowered my voice. “Not here. I can’t risk anyone overhearing. Chaaya and Parushi are spreading the word. We’ll meet in the far gardens, the ones closest to the beach.”
Thevan raised an eyebrow but didn’t object as we made our way to the doors leading outside. The guards walking ahead of us flung them open, flooding the halls with the early afternoon sunlight, and they bowed deeply as I passed.
The midday sun shone down on us as we walked to the gardens.
Thevan’s blue uniform suited him better than I cared to admit.
The threads of gold along his collar shone, lighting up the sharp angles on his face that were softened only by his round eyes and heavy lashes.
I wondered what it would be like to be held close to such a uniform.
I’d missed the feeling of his embrace. Being enveloped in his arms would have made me feel safer than any number of guards around us ever could.
I forced myself to pull my eyes away from him and gestured at the guards. “Is this really necessary?”
Thevan leaned toward me, and I resisted the urge to close the space between us even more as he spoke in a hushed voice. “You may have hidden the reason for Parushi’s early return, but I know the truth. Now is not the time for recklessness, especially given Tara’s suspicion about other matters.”
I checked to make sure the other guards hadn’t heard. Thankfully, they appeared preoccupied with surveying our surroundings and showed no sign that they’d been listening in.
“I can’t appear weak so early in my reign.
” I gripped Ektha’s bangle and wished for the umpteenth time that she were here.
If she were rani, nobody would be trying to attack her or turn a village against her in favor of the Porcugi tithes; Ektha would have found a way to convince everyone to stand by her side.
I had no such talents, but I refused to appear as anxious as I felt.
“If I am not safe in my own fortress, I am not fit to rule.”
“Would you say that about your uncle too?” Thevan arched an eyebrow at me.
My mouth went dry. He had a point. “I’ll be more careful. I promise.”
Thevan stared at me with those amber-flecked eyes that were so hard to read.
I wished he’d find an excuse for us to keep talking, but he fell silent instead.
We made our way to the beachside wall, and when we reached the final garden before the stepwell, Thevan instructed the guards to stand at the nearby gate.
Soon after they’d taken position, we heard a guard call, “Halt!”
“Don’t be an idiot!” Parushi said.
I could hear her eye roll.
Thevan went to the gates, and after a word with the guards, he ushered in Parushi and Nikith, followed by Tara and Chaaya soon thereafter.
I stared at Nikith worriedly. My once youthful brother-in-law had bags under his eyes and sunken cheeks.
He insisted he was well, but I knew he hardly ate or slept.
Chaaya told me his servants saw him up late at night, poring over contracts and figures as the moon rose and fell.
I’d gone to check on him once, but the flickering flames of his oil lamp brought his grief to light, and their undulating shadows highlighted the hollows in his face.
He’d been sitting in front of a large portrait of Ektha, which was garlanded with tenderly arranged flowers.
Tears had brimmed my eyes at the sight, and I’d left without speaking to him.
I’d gone straight to bed, surely sleeping earlier than he had, but he was up before me the next day, checking his calculations and heatedly pointing at his scrolls that showed our losses in the war with the Porcugi.
Today, Nikith regarded me with just as much concern as I did him. “Are you eating well, sister? I know you sometimes forget to take your meals when you’re busy. Ektha told me . . .”
His voice faded out. He and Ektha had only been married a few seasons, but I’d seen the way she lit up whenever he entered the room. The way he’d been able to calm her fears and make her smile even when she was nervous. There was little of that man left now.
“Perhaps we should take our midday meals together,” I said.
Nikith blinked at me, aware that I was rebuking his lack of appetite as well.
I made my way toward the corner of the gardens before he could respond, gesturing for everyone to follow me. “Come, let’s go somewhere more private.”
Everyone, including Chaaya, began to follow me, but Nikith cleared his throat as he stepped in front of her.
“Is she going to join us?” he asked. “We’ll be discussing sensitive information. It would be prudent for us to limit the number of ears that hear it.”
Chaaya stepped away from the group, looking almost relieved, but Tara pulled her back in.
“Chaaya has been helping to prepare and monitor the rani’s food,” Tara said. “She’s an important part of keeping her safe, which is why I insisted she come along.”
Nikith seemed unconvinced but didn’t argue any further, so everyone followed behind me until we reached the stepwell’s hidden door.
I ignored the gasps of astonishment as I opened it.
Thevan recovered from his surprise the fastest. He pushed past me, descending the stairs to check for any signs of a threat.
Parushi slipped into the doorway behind him, blocking me from the entrance.
She ignored my less-than-patient nudges and didn’t move until Thevan said all was clear.
“Enough with the song and dance,” I snapped. “We have work to do.”
“We take our duties just as seriously as you take yours.” Parushi did not turn back as she walked down the stairs in front of me. “We won’t allow any harm to come to you, but you need to stop getting in our way.”
We descended to the base of the stepwell and gathered on the largest platform in a circle. Water lapped up on the base, but nobody spared the bobbing lotuses more than a glance.
Tara was the last to join us. “She is the rani. She’s supposed to be headstrong. Ullal would be doomed if she wasn’t.”
“Strength alone is not enough.” Nikith spoke determinedly, even as the shadows under his eyes exposed his exhaustion. “We need to be wise. We cannot take a stand for the sake of taking a stand. We need to take the right one—one where we can win.”
“We can win anything we decide to win,” Thevan bristled. “You constantly doubt me and my soldiers, but we will be victorious.”
“Even victory comes at a price.” Nikith turned to me, loosening the tie on the papers he carried. “I updated the tallies last night—just look at the figures. The costs are adding up, and we can’t afford to keep paying if victory doesn’t come quickly.”
“But we can’t surrender,” I said. “We didn’t start this fight. They did. They attacked us without provocation and demanded we pay them. For what? For the courtesy of not attacking us and our ships?”
My heart hardened against my sister’s murderers. “I will not pay a tithe. No, Nikith—don’t even try to argue. It’s not an option.”
Nikith sighed. His papers flapped in the wind as he threw his hands in the air. “Well, if you’re so determined to have this war, then there’s only one way for you to get the money we need: Marry someone who can fund it.”
“Marry?” My jaw dropped.
Thevan looked as if he’d just been slapped and Parushi looked more bemused than anything else, but Tara and Chaaya both appeared thoughtful.
“A worthy idea.” Tara tapped her chin as she spoke. “A wedding would solve both our problems.”
“Both our problems?” I asked. “We only have two?”
“Nikith is right: We need to find a way to pay for this war.” Tara raised one finger as she brought up her first point. She paused before lifting a second. “And we also need to establish a line of succession.”
My mouth fell open. “A line of succession? We’re fighting battles, losing ships, and bleeding money, and you’re . . . you’re worried about me having a baby?”
“Not to mention the attempted assassination.” Thevan shared my bewildered expression.
“It’s because of the assassination attempt that we must secure a line of succession,” Tara argued.
“I can’t speak to why Raja Trimulya was poisoned, may the Spirits guard his memory, but I’ve been told that Shalini spoke of options when she attacked our rani.
I think she was trying to trigger the line of succession. ”
That didn’t make any sense to me. “What do you mean? I’m the last in my family’s line!”
Behind Tara, Chaaya backed toward the wall. She looked like she wanted the shadows to swallow her whole.
Tara turned to face her. “I have my theories, but Chaaya would need to confirm them.”
“Chaaya?” Nikith, Thevan, and I asked in unison.
“Chaaya has worked at this fort since she was a child.” Tara dragged Chaaya into our circle.
When she continued, the master healer spoke to me.
“She served your mother before your birth, and it was your mother who asked for her to watch over you. Chaaya knows, and has kept, many of your family’s secrets. ”