2. Leela
LEELA
The festivities left Leela fed but unwell. A daze settled over her after she was escorted back to her room, her thoughts a twisted mess of confusion and worry.
Sita had ordered her to get dressed, but how could she?
What did the lord mean by the Lord of Jhuna Rin wanting her? Who would want her?
“You will make a stunning bride,” Aarna said, awed.
Leela jumped, hand on her chest. She hadn’t noticed the younger maid nestled by the window. Aarna wore a small smirk on her tender lips. Moonslight highlighted the navy curls of her midnight hair, while her golden-brown eyes held Leela within their ravenous grasp.
Damn those beautiful brown eyes. They captivated her. They even got Leela into quite some trouble a few years back. But tonight was not the night she lounged with the maid.
“It’s not happening,” Leela said.
Aarna swayed over, coiling a loose piece of hair around her finger. “Maybe we’d have time before you leave me forever?”
Leela gulped, a heated ache swelling in her chest. She pushed aside the thoughts of being with Aarna—of the endless nights they’d spent under the silken sheets after the younger maid gathered information to help Leela plot her escape.
“You know I don’t have time.” Leela put as much distance between them as possible. She walked across the intricately woven rug and glanced up at the twin moons. “I have to leave while I still can. I have a sandship waiting for me at the docks. You did organize that, didn’t you?”
“Of course I did. Anything for you.” Aarna sat on the edge of the bed, arms propping her up, legs swinging. “Although I would love to see you in that dress first.”
Leela glared at the garments. “Why would I want to wear such a thing?”
“Look at the embroidery. It would snatch in at your waist, and the blouse is incredible!”
Leela grunted. “They would look better covered in flames. But they will make a pretty kjo for when I escape.”
Aarna bit her lip and stilled. “You know, you never let me in on the full depths of your plan.”
Leela quietly contemplated. She hadn’t believed it was important. Aarna only knew what she needed to know to help Leela get out of the palace and find the relic for her revenge. Besides, the fewer people who knew, the fewer people who got hurt if the palace ever found her missing.
Maybe, in a different life, she could run away with Aarna and tell her everything. They could escape the palace and find a quiet desert village away from powerful men and their politics. But risking Aarna’s life wasn’t worth it.
Besides, Aarna was simply a blissful distraction. A confidant when Leela couldn’t tell Sita anything.
“You know why I could never tell you,” Leela whispered.
Aarna bowed her head. “I wish the circumstances were different. Why don’t I go with you? We could find whatever it is you seem to want to kill—”
“No,” Leela snapped.
Aarna flinched.
“I am escaping. That is all you need to know.” Leela’s stomach coiled in on itself. She couldn’t afford to let anything or anyone sway her focus and waste years of effort. “You know why I can’t let you. If the palace knew you helped me escape, they’d do more than what they’ve already done to you.”
Aarna touched the scar on her face. “I understand. I just… I will miss you deeply.”
Despite herself, Leela pushed aside the compliment and turned to the window. She couldn’t bear to tell the maid she’d never fully reciprocated her feelings. How could she when her heart was still tied to someone else?
A snap of a key and her door unlocked. Leela swiveled around as Sita stepped into the room.
“Why are you not dressed?” Sita chastised, glancing between the two women. Her eyes narrowed at the maid.
Leela shrugged. “I was waiting for you.”
Sita tsked, which was enough for Aarna to quickly scamper out of the room. “I see you are still keeping choice company. I was wondering what was taking you so long to get dressed.”
Aarna glanced one last time at Leela and nodded as she prepared for their first act of the plan.
Leela kept her gaze on Sita. “Aarna came to wish me farewell. Is that frowned upon? Be glad you didn’t walk in on some more choice circumstances.”
Sita grunted. “You have until the Destroyer crosses the Creator moon to get your garments on.”
“What if it doesn’t fit?”
“It was made to your measurements. I ensured the seamstresses had your size months ago,” Sita said, marching over to the bed and glancing at the hem of the skirt. She ran her fingers over the beads, each one so intricate and perfectly placed.
“What if it itches?”
Sita rolled her eyes. “Any other excuses?”
Leela crossed her arms. “Yes. It’s too red. I told you red is not my color.”
Sita’s lips stretched thin before she took a deep breath. “It is a Nihikian tradition. Neither you nor I had a choice over that. Besides, you are impossible. I hope your husband knows restraint.”
“You know me, Sita. I’m not one to comply with rules.” Leela’s lips twitched as she set her eyes on the elder maid. Almost a mother figure more than her maid, which was what hurt Leela more knowing what was about to happen.
Sita froze as she reached for the blouse. “What are you planning?”
“What makes you think I’m planning anything?”
“That look in your eye. I know you better than you know your own shadow. What are you planning?” Sita tilted her chin.
“Please.” Leela waved Sita off and snatched the blouse from her. “You think I’d plan to escape again? After they locked me up in the shadowless cells? Do you think so little of me? Maybe I’m excited to be married and get rid of this place.”
In fact, that was exactly what Leela was hoping for.
It was Sita who had alerted the guards the last time Leela tried.
Flames, Leela knew Sita was just doing her job.
But to turn on someone who considered her a friend?
Leela had to forgive her and convince Sita she was never going to try again, otherwise her maid would never leave her sight.
It had taken countless months and even a little bowing at her feet to convince Sita to give her time alone without a constant shadow.
Sita’s gaze narrowed. “You know they’ll have your head, Leela. You cannot outwit the palace, especially after what they have done for you. What with finding you a husband, saving your life, and clothing you.”
A hot flush snaked up Leela’s spine, and the humor in her eyes went dry. How dare Sita state what the palace had done for her? What had the palace done? Other than rescue her after they were too late to save her burning village from the monsters who ravaged it. Too late to save her family.
No. Leela did not believe the kingdom held any space for thanks.
“You really expect me to thank them? For what, Sita?” Leela snapped.
“Rescuing me, as you said, when I landed on your doorstep? If you call locking me away in a rat-infested cell until I could be trusted and then trained to be a petty wife to a lord a ‘rescue,’ then you are sorely mistaken. Sure. I can thank them for their amazing treatment of me, but you and I both know, like the Flames above, this place doesn’t deserve that. ”
Sita flinched and looked out the window. “I apologize. I should not have said what I said.”
Leela quietly turned her attention to the door.
Where was Aarna? The moons were rising and Leela needed to leave before they crossed.
Years of servitude had allowed Leela to plan her escape down to the last second.
She’d eventually find a sandship and journey over the dunes, away from the claws of the storm-churning monsters.
Wherever it took her, she didn’t care. Anywhere was better than here.
She took a deep breath to steady her nerves.
It had to work. She wasn’t going to spend her life tied up with some lord when her need for revenge blazed hotter and heavier in her heart than the desert sands in the daylight.
Escape. Salvage. Kill. It was the only motto that got her through these arduous days.
Especially now that she realized this lord had requested for her.
“Can I ask you something?” Leela asked, trying to stall for time until Aarna returned.
Sita wandered closer to the window as the drums continued to beat. “No.”
“Did you know about the Jhuna Rin Lord? Did you know he requested for me?”
Sita stilled. “How could I possibly know anything about that?”
“You are one of the main maids. You need to ensure my safety.” A sickening feeling twisted in Leela’s gut. “D—Did you tell the lord about me? Have you been spying on me for him?”
Sita scoffed. “Seriously, Leela, do you think so little of me?”
Deflection.
“Answer the question, Sita. Why else were you so close to me? Why else were you planted outside my door day and night?”
Sita flung her arms up. “Because I am your maid, as you so dutifully stated before. We are all tasked to stay close to you ladies to ensure your safety.”
It was Leela’s turn to scoff. “Safety? Then why ask a maid and not a soldier?”
Sita’s lips pressed into a slit. “There are things in this palace you do not need to know, Leela. There are things people have to do to ensure survival in this world.” Sita lowered her voice and glanced at the door.
“Now, stop pressing for answers, or we could both be in trouble. It is time to get dressed. Now.”
Before Leela could speak, the door whined on its heavy hinges, and Aarna stepped in with a silver tray. Leela’s stomach twisted, and her chest fluttered as she stared at the two clay cups full of wine.
“Your wine, as requested, Miss Leela,” Aarna said, placing the tray on the edge of the bed.
“Thank you, Aarna,” Leela said.
Aarna smiled with a curt nod and scurried out the door. The maid paused at the door with one final look, and Leela nodded once again, knowing that nod meant more than she could ever thank Aarna for.
“Wine? Do you plan to stumble down the aisle?” Sita scoffed.