by Andrea Ring
My father laughs. “Fadi is so overprotective! He barely lets Saphala out of the house. She must be glad she’s in the barracks right now. Though if she were insulted…I’m worried about the girls down there without any protection.”
“There are hundreds of soldiers protecting them,” Mother says.
“You’ve obviously not been around too many soldiers, Eka. I bet half the girls come back with child. But that’s just more work for me, I suppose.”
My mother throws a rag at him. “Ravi! Such language! Bite your tongue!”
Father chuckles.
Then he turns to me. “Are you going to tell us why a god and a prince both visited you today, or do we have to torture you?”
My father is good at making jokes. I want to laugh and throw a rag at him, but I fear he’s not kidding.
I lower myself to Mother’s stool and take a deep breath.
“Where to start? First of all, I am getting married.”
“So the Protector told you, did he? Good. That’s good.”
“But I am not marrying Larraj.”
My father frowns. “Of course you are. I have given my pledge. And it will be a good marriage for you. It’s not like men are lining up. You’ve had no other offers.”
“I have, actually,” I say, and my mother turns from the washbasin and stares at me. “Two. I’m not quite sure yet which one I will take.”
“Preposterous!” my father yells. “You are promised to Larraj! I’ll not have my daughter run off with the village idiot to satisfy some sense of adventure!”
“Village idiot?” I say. “Is that the best I can do? Because I’m scarred?”
“Yes, and you know it!”
I watch my father’s purple face and heaving chest. It would serve him right if he had a heart attack right now.
“The two that have asked for my hand are not village idiots,” I say. “The first proposal was from Maja, the Protector. I love him, and I accepted his proposal.”
“What?!”
I ignore the interruption.
“Then Shiva came to me to deliver horrible tidings. Prince Kai is going to be assassinated unless I marry him. The kingdom is in grave danger. Only I can stop it.”
A vein bulges in my father’s forehead. “I’ve never heard a tale so ridiculous in all my life! I expected such treachery in regards to the pledge I’ve given the high priest about Larraj — you are the most difficult daughter a man’s ever been saddled with! But I have not known you to be a liar. Until now.”
“Call for Shiva. Ask him yourself if you don’t believe me. Frankly, Father, I don’t care what you think. I have to make a decision and—”
“It’s true,” my mother whispers. “Ravi, it’s true.” He whips his head to her. “I heard Shiva talking with Nili, and I heard her conversation with the prince. It’s true.”
“But, but…it can’t be.”
“Father, you may soon get your wish — to be un-saddled from your difficult daughter. If I choose Prince Kai, Shiva has seen my death. My death, for the prince’s life. And for the kingdom of Jatani.”
My father stands. I expect him to hit me, and I brace myself for the blow.
But it doesn’t come.
My father walks out.
***
“I do not wish for you to die,” my mother says, and when I look at her, a tear glides down her cheek.
I nod.
“Two men, the two most important men in the kingdom…Nili, the gods have blessed us, and you.”
“With my death,” I whisper.
“Shiva saved you,” she says. “No one in living memory has lived through such wounds, but you did. He saved you for this.”
I rise. “Maybe. I know that Shiva believes that. But my heart, my heart, Mother, is telling me to be with Maja. He loves me. Truly loves me.”
“If that is so, then he will give you his blessing to marry the prince.”
I don’t know about that. But I will find out soon enough.
“I have…duties,” I say lamely. “I have much to prepare. I may not see you again.”
“Surely we will be invited to the wedding,” she says.
“I don’t know,” I say. “I don’t know if either wedding will be met with much fanfare.”
My mother looks stricken, but she gathers herself. “If this is the last time we see one another, then I do not want us to leave like this.”
“Like what?” I ask.
“With you hating us.”
Tears well in my eyes. “I don’t hate you, Mother. I understand. But it would be nice, I think, just once, to feel like I don’t disgust you.”
“You’ve never disgusted me,” my father says, and I turn around sharply to face him. “You’ve made us very…proud.”
High praise, indeed. “You only say that because I may soon be your princess,” I say. “I do not wish to argue with you in our final moments together, but I will not be had. Since the fire, I haven’t been your daughter. I’ve been a burden. And you never once let me forget that.”
“Now, Nili, that’s not true—”
“It is, Father. I love you both, but the farce ends here. Think on that while I am gone.”
And I open the front door and close it softly behind me.
XX. PRINCE KAI
“Parvati, there must be a way! We’re trying to save the kingdom!”
She yawns and reclines on my bed. “That’s my husband’s business,” she says. “Why don’t you summon him?”
“I’ve tried,” I say through gritted teeth. “He won’t answer.”
“He’s been extraordinarily busy lately,” she says. “I haven’t seen much of him myself.”
Maybe that’s because he’s been with Lili, I think, and Parvati comes off the bed growling.
“What did you say?”
“I didn’t say anything,” I say. Out loud, anyway.
“Lili? That simpering little human? I will have her head!”
I murmur a few words under my breath, something in the air seems to snap into place, and then I grin. “As soon as you alter Maja’s curse, you can be on your way.”
She tries to take a step towards me, but it’s as if her feet have grown roots. “Release me,” she says. “Release me now, or so help me, Kai, I will curse your entire family.”
“Just give Maja the ability to travel anywhere in the world. I’m sure if you hurry, you can catch them in the act.”
Parvati growls again and waves a hand in the air. “Fine. It’s done. Let me go.”
“You may go.”
And she disappears in a whirl of pink smoke.
“What a woman,” Farris says, waving the smoke away from his face. “How’d you do that?”
“You mean, keep her here?” I say, flopping on the bed. My pillow now smells of stale roses. “It’s an old incantation I read in a book. My father said it was useless, but turns out he was wrong.”
“See, I told you both reading was good for you,” Manoj says.
I throw the rose-scented pillow at him.
“Now how do we get the word to Nilaruna?” Manoj asks. “Surely this will influence her decision.”
There’s a knock on our door.
Faaris unsheathes one of his swords and waves us away from the door.
“Who is it?” he yells.
“The innkeeper, my lord. I have a visitor for you. She says she is the Go-Between.”
Faaris grins.
“There’s no way she visited Maja that fast,” Manoj whispers.
“Let her up,” I yell.
Several minutes later, Nilaruna is standing before us.
***
“I haven’t made up my mind yet,” she says straight off.
“Then to what do we owe the honor of your visit?” I ask.
I offer her the edge of my bed, and she sits.
“I have an old friend who needs help, and I was hoping one of you could assist.”
“Asking favors already?” I say.
&n
bsp; Nilaruna has her veil on, and I cannot read her expression. But I imagine it’s withering.
“One of your citizens is in trouble, and I thought you might actually want to help.”
She explains about her friend and the ransom exchange that must occur tonight.
“Is she cute?” Faaris asks, and Nilaruna laughs.
“Gorgeous. Or she was last I saw her. But that was a while ago, I admit.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Faaris says with a smile. “This is another adventure. I volunteer, if it’s alright with you, my prince.”
“I don’t know,” I say honestly. “This could be dangerous. We cannot afford to risk you.”
“He’s right,” Nilaruna says, and we are all stunned at her interjection in the conversation. Though at this point, I shouldn’t be surprised by anything this girl does. “I’ve been thinking about it. They could have multiple people who could overwhelm you. They could have a bow and arrow and shoot you in the dark and take the gold. They might not even bring Saphala. We have no idea who we’re dealing with.”
“Then why ask us for help?” I say.
She shrugs. “Because help is needed, and you are the only ones I know.”
“That’s right. We’re the only ones you know with the skill to pull this off,” Faaris says.
Nilaruna shakes her head. “No. Literally, you are the only ones I know. Anyone who knows who I am will not speak to me.”
There is a bit of awkward silence.
“I’ll do it,” Faaris says. “You know I can do it. And if this Saphala is not there, I will follow whoever is and find her.”
“Perhaps Maja could fly overhead and keep an eye out,” Manoj suggests.
Nilaruna turns her head to me. “You did it? You were able to alter his curse?”
I nod. “Yes.”
A sob catches in her throat. The she launches herself at me with a crushing hug.
I laugh. “Okay. It’s okay. Maja is going to be okay.”
She buries her head in my chest. “Thank you. Oh, thank you. You don’t know what this means to me.”
I pat her back gently.
And my heart pangs just a bit to realize the depth of Nilaruna’s love for another.
XXI. SAPHALA
Haady pushes the rowboat away from the shore, and I follow him, wading through the shallows and soaking myself to my waist. I’ll be lucky if I don’t freeze to death before I get to Dabani.
He holds the boat steady for me while I clamber aboard. Then he climbs in and takes his seat, shoving the oars into the water and pulling on them hard. I wrap my cloak around me and watch him in the moonlight.
“You’re thinking hard,” he says, his voice labored from his exertion. “Too hard.”
“There is much to think about,” I say. “This plan has many moving parts.”
“You lie,” he says. “You were thinking about me.”
I was thinking about him, but I won’t admit it. Haady doesn’t matter to me anymore. I’m going to marry my prince. But that doesn’t mean I want to burn this particular bridge.
“I was thinking that I’m glad you’re here. It makes it easier to spend my last moments in Bhutan with a friend.”
He pauses in his rowing. “Saphala, we’ve been many things to one another, but friends isn’t one of them.”
I sigh, but this is one of the reasons I was drawn to Haady once upon a time. He doesn’t let me get away with any bullshit.
“Still, we’re familiar with one another. Better you than some of the servants Uncle may have sent.”
“I requested this duty,” he says. “As did Naag. I had to fight with him to get it.”
I freeze. “Naag?” I say, swallowing hard. “The stable riffraff?”
“Oh, dear Saphala, be careful. If Naag is riffraff, what does that make you?”
“What exactly are you implying, Haady?”
“It’s an interesting study in human nature, this situation, don’t you think? Here’s a girl whose greatest ambition is to become queen. And yet she beds her uncle’s personal servant, his stable riffraff, even the cook’s son. Don’t you think her time would have been better spent seducing someone who is at least her equal?”
My cheeks grow warm. I sit seething.
“But that would require her to give up a bit of her power. And this girl, she’s known what it’s like to have no power. And she’ll never suffer that way again. Not even in her bedchamber. Or in the hay, as it were.”
“I could have you whipped for such insolence,” I say through gritted teeth.
“Except now, you are once again a Dabani untouchable. Good luck with that. Though if you want to hold the whip yourself, I’ll pull down my trousers and we can make a game of it.”
I open my mouth to speak, but he cuts me off.
“On second thought, it would be like banging the stable riffraff, since you were with him this afternoon, and that’s not really my thing.”
“How dare you!”
He begins to row again. “I dare because the power has shifted, Saphala. I thought you cared about me. You care about no one but yourself.”
I force myself to laugh. “You really thought I would fall in love with a servant? Dear Haady. How quaint.”
“We’re good enough to fuck but not to love — how could I have forgotten? My entire adulthood has been spent in someone’s bed because I was ordered to please this wife or that mistress. You are the first girl I actually chose to bed of my own free will. Everyone’s entitled to a mistake.”
“You think bedding me was a mistake?” I shriek.
“An error in judgment, a colossal waste of time, a weak moment of pleasure for a lifetime of hell…call it what you will.”
“What do you mean, a lifetime of hell? You think to insult me with ridiculous dramatics?”
“If you think to pawn this off on someone else, you’re out of luck. Your uncle knew we were sleeping together. He has not ordered me to anyone else’s bed in the last cycle.”
“I don’t care about your antics in the noble bedchambers,” I say. “What the hell are you talking about?”
Haady raises the oars. “You really don’t know?”
“Tell me what you’re blathering about or shut up.”
“Saphala, I have the Great Pox. And you gave it to me.”
My mouth falls open. “That’s ridiculous! I’m not sick! And even if I were, there’s a greater possibility that you gave it to me!”
Haady shakes his head. “I have the first lesion. It appears within fifteen days of infection. You are the only one I’ve been with.”
“I’m not sick,” I repeat.
Haady closes his eyes and lowers the oars back into the water. “You probably developed a lesion inside, where you could not see it. They say it can take up to a cycle to see the next wave of symptoms. I suggest you see a healer first thing when you reach Dabani.”
“I’ll do nothing of the kind,” I say. “I repeat, I am not sick. Perhaps you missed your first lesion and this one is symptomatic of the second wave.”
He doesn’t reply. I close my eyes and listen to the oars cut through the water.
“You know, I planned to throw you overboard and leave you here. I was sure you knew you were infected.”
My eyes fly open.
“But I see that you truly didn’t know. And I think a lifetime, however short it may be now, with the Great Pox plaguing you, is punishment enough.”
I try to think back.
A few moons ago, my moonblood was particularly painful. The healer couldn’t find a reason for it, other than “sometimes women must suffer.” That was just a few weeks after I seduced Naag.
Naag. Damn him.
“Haady, I don’t know what to say. Perhaps we weren’t in love, but I would never wish this on you.”
“This isn’t about you,” he says. “For once, I want to hear you say it.”
I think this very much is about me, if what he’s saying is true. But I’m in a rowboat in
the middle of the sea with only him. “I’m sorry, Haady.”
“You won’t be marrying any prince, Saphala. The disease will start to show itself. Luckily, your uncle sent you right back into the fold with the rest of the untouchables.”
“He knows?” I say.
“He knows.”
A tear leaks from my eye. A sob catches in my throat. I put my face in my hands and burst into tears.
Haady doesn’t speak. He simply rows.
XXII. NILARUNA
“So, I’m off. I want to get to Maja as soon as possible.”
“You’re going alone?” Prince Kai asks.
“Go-Betweens always travel alone and in the dark. So Maja wills.”
“This is unacceptable,” Manoj says. “A woman cannot travel alone, and certainly not in the dark of night.”
I smile. “Are you proposing to be my escort, Manoj?”
He looks at the prince.
“We’re planning on going up anyway,” Prince Kai says. “If we leave now, we’ll have time to ask him to help Faaris. Pack up quickly. We may be there a day or two.”
“The high priest will be calling tomorrow,” Faaris says.
“He can wait,” the prince says, folding his blanket up and stuffing it in his pack. “This is more important.”
I gasp. “I’m more important than the high priest?”
Prince Kai smiles at me. “I’ve asked you to be my bride. No one comes before you.”
Manoj coughs. I smile back, though the prince cannot see it. “Thank you.”
***
We are almost to the Swifty, and I’m falling behind. I’ve never set such a fast pace since, well, ever, and the speed is taking its toll on my leg. Or maybe it’s the fact that this is my third trip up or down the mountain in a week, and I’m hardly in the best of shape.
I stumble again, and I’m pitched headfirst into the dirt. I spit the dust from my mouth and try to catch my breath.
“Nilaruna!” the prince says, going down on his knee beside me. “Are you hurt?”
“Just my pride,” I say, climbing to my feet with his assistance. “I’m sorry. My body’s not built for this.”
“The fault is mine,” he says. “We’re used to trailing without any women.”
