The Brightest Fell

by Nupur Chowdhury

  “Very obliging of you,” she grinned. “Now, what do you want?”

  “I have no idea what you mean.”

  “Yeah, right. So you came all this way to bail me out of prison at 3 in the morning, after I’d tried to steal your precious drug samples, out of the goodness of your heart?”

  “What can I say? I have a very good heart.”

  “That, and an agenda you’re not telling me about.”

  Jehan smirked. “Fine, why did Rinisa want those samples?”

  “How did you know she’s the one who wanted them?”

  “It’s not rocket science,” he shrugged. “I got them from the La Fantome, which was owned by her brother, but I have reason to believe was operated largely by her. And the police found the pictures she’d sent you on your phone.”

  Rito sucked in a sharp breath, but said nothing. It wasn’t like she hadn’t known the risks when she’d decided to go through with this.

  Jehan waved a hand. “We’re not going to press charges, don’t worry. All this will be resolved in a couple of days, and nobody has to be the wiser. Question is, why did she want those samples?”

  “I don’t know. All she said was that she wanted them back before the Maralanese New Year. So, you really did pilfer them from her, huh?”

  “Only because she’d made them using a stolen formula. A formula she’d stolen from me, to be precise. So, I see it as…reclaiming what was mine to begin with.”

  The car slid into a deserted highway and sped up. Rito didn’t remember the last time she’d seen the city so quiet, so peaceful. A few trucks rumbled along from time to time, and a lone car or bike would whizz past them every few minutes. But there was no sign of the bumper-to-bumper traffic and the constant honking and pollution that characterized daytime Qayit.

  After a few minutes of silence, Jehan cleared his throat. “Whatever Rinisa offered you, I’ll double it,” he said. “You may not trust me, but you know what Rinisa’s capable of. You saw that club. Surely, you don’t want to see more like it.”

  “Of course not,” Rito snapped, looking away. She bit her lip. She wasn’t angry at Jehan, not really. And she had no reason to lash out at him. He had nothing to do with the mess she’d gotten herself into.

  It still stung that he thought she’d accepted some kind of bribe from Rinisa. “Look, I’m sorry, okay? And she didn’t offer me anything. Or at least, nothing I had any interest in. She…she threatened to frame my father for the metro blasts, if I didn’t do what she said.”

  Jehan sighed. “My own fault, I guess. I’d left that door wide open; someone was bound to use it sooner or later. Anyway, what’s done is done. So, here’s the deal. You stop working for Rinisa and start working for me instead. And I promise you, by this time next year, your father’s name will be cleared and he’ll be the prime minister once again.”

  Rito’s breath caught in her throat. To say that she couldn’t believe her own ears would’ve been an understatement, and a cliché one at that. Then again, she didn’t need to believe them. Jehan was obviously lying. Another trap set to lure her into some scheme or plan, to make her dance to someone else’s tunes.

  Still, until she learned how to choreograph her own moves, she would much rather dance to Jehan’s tunes than Rinisa’s. Neither choice was desirable, but to the best of her knowledge, the worst thing Fasih had ever done was to lie, cheat, and betray his friends. Which was still a damn sight better than selling drugged children into prostitution.

  How had her life come to this?

  “Fine, what do you want?” she asked, after a few minutes of silence.

  “Fantastic!” Jehan said, and flashed her a bright smile before focusing on the road once again. “I want you to tell Rinisa that you got the samples she wanted.”

  “But I didn’t. The officer who arrested me confiscated the vials I took from the lab. I don't even know where they are right now.”

  “They’re safe with Dileep, but that’s inconsequential. It doesn’t matter if you have the drugs. All that matters is that Rinisa believes you do. You can send her photos of the samples if she asks for proof. I’ll email them to you first thing in the morning.”

  Rito began to speak, but Jehan interrupted her. “And you don’t have to worry about her finding out what happened here today. All records of your arrest have been expunged and you can rest assured that there’ll be no mention of this in the media.”

  Rito frowned. It all sounded too good to be true. She felt like a pawn on a chessboard she couldn’t see the entirety of. “And what happens when she demands I hand the samples over?”

  “You will agree to do so, but only in Maralana during the New Year’s gala.”

  Rito rolled her eyes. “She’d never agree to that.”

  “She wouldn’t, if she had a choice. As things stand, she doesn’t. She needs those samples desperately, and needs them by the time that party in Maralana kicks off. And she can’t have anyone knowing what she’s been up to.

  “Just tell her your brother’s been worried about you because of the debacle at the La Fantome club. You could’ve gotten yourself killed, so it wouldn’t be unnatural for him to worry. Everybody knows about the excessive codependency of the Shian clan–”

  “Hey!”

  He flashed her a grin. “My point is, you have to convince Rinisa that Abhijat’s been keeping a very close eye on you ever since you returned from Weritlan, because of what happened at that club. Hence, it'd be impossible for you to meet Rinisa in Naijan – either in Weritlan or in Qayit – without making your brother suspicious.

  “And if Abhijat feels like he has reason to be concerned about his sister’s safety, it’s very likely he’ll start digging into whatever it is that Rinisa is planning. I mean, if your brother were to find out that you’re meeting Rinisa, you know he’d stop at nothing to destroy her. Even she isn’t stupid enough to risk that.

  “Just tell her you’ll hand over the samples in Maralana, when everybody’s busy preparing for the party. Abhijat would be too preoccupied with the preparations to pay much attention to who you’re meeting and for what. It’s a perfectly plausible excuse; she’d have no reason to doubt it. And even if she did, there’s no real way she can prove you’re lying, is there?”

  “And what if she sent someone to Qayit to collect the samples from me? I’d have no reason to refuse a meeting with some random stranger Abhi wouldn’t even recognize. No one would ever have to know that it had anything to do with Rinisa; not unless I told them.”

  “You underestimate the extent of Rinisa’s paranoia, Ms. Shian,” he smiled. “There isn’t anyone on the planet she trusts enough to delegate a task this important. The only reason she blackmailed you into committing the actual theft is because it was too dangerous for her to do it herself. You were cannon-fodder, essentially. But she knows exactly how valuable those samples are. She’d never risk them getting stolen or lost in transit, not if she has a choice in the matter.”

  Rito thought about that for a few seconds, then nodded. “And what happens when I finally have to give the samples to her in Maralana?”

  “Well, if all goes according to plan, that wouldn’t be necessary. But if it is...” he shrugged. “Then you’ll give her what she wants. It’s a prototype, anyway. And while I’d rather keep any version of Amven out of Rinisa’s hands as far as possible, those samples aren’t that important in the grand scheme of things.”

  “Really? Then why go through all this trouble to keep them from her, if I may ask?”

  “Oh, I’m not doing any of this to keep those samples from Rinisa. That’s just a bonus. What I really want is for you to spy on Rinisa and Maganti for me, during the New Year’s gala and beyond, if possible.

  “Get in contact with her a couple of days before the event and find an excuse to meet her more than once, if you can. Feed her some bullshit about somebody following you around the city, tell her you think I employed them. That should spook her enough to go running to Maganti. And I’ll take
it from there.”

  “So you really think they’re working together? Maganti and Rinisa, I mean.”

  “I don’t think it. I know it. All that’s left now is to prove it.”

  She grinned. “You’re strange. But your plan’s sound enough, I suppose. Or as sound as these things can get.”

  She shook her head, covering her mouth against a gigantic yawn. When had she last slept? She could barely remember anything that came before tonight’s misadventure at the QRI. “Fine, I’ll help you. But you should know, in the spirit of full disclosure, that if my brother finds out you’ve been using me as a spy, he will find a way to kill you. He’s annoying like that.”

  “Your brother seems eager enough to kill me as it is,” he said with an exaggerated sigh. “So I’ll take my chances. At least then, my untimely demise will serve a higher purpose.”

  “Which is?”

  “I’ll die screwing Rinisa over.”

  Rito laughed. “Count me in.”

  Chapter 11

  Family dinners had been a tradition in the Shian household for as long as Rito could remember. Ordinarily, she always looked forward to them.

  Her father had always been a busy man, and as she and Abhi got older, there were few occasions for them to spend time together as a family. Having dinner together gave them an opportunity to do just that. And whenever the siblings were in Qayit, they made it a point to always be home for dinner, whenever possible.

  It had been two weeks since her arrest, and in that time these dinners had become more of a chore than a pleasure. The atmosphere was always tense, awkward, and she couldn’t help feeling a little on edge whenever she and Abhijat were in the same room together.

  Their parents knew nothing of what’d happened, and both she and Abhi planned to keep it that way. Rajat and Lyani had enough on their plates already, the last thing they needed was to have one more thing to worry about.

  That night, Jehan had dropped her off at a park a few minutes’ walk from her home, and had made her promise not to tell Abhijat about their meeting. She could see the logic of that; knowing Jehan had bailed his sister out would only make Abhijat more suspicious of him.

  And of course, Abhi had every reason to be suspicious. She’d have been too, in his place.

  The problem was, all of this made it mighty hard for her to do what she needed to. She’d told her brother that it’d all been a misunderstanding, that Dileep Haval had retracted his statement to the police and had gotten her out once everything had been cleared up.

  But it was a flimsy lie with a million holes and inconsistencies; Rito had never pretended to be a good liar. She could tell he didn’t believe her, not completely. And if he hadn’t been keeping a close eye on her before, he certainly was now.

  Even if he didn’t think she was lying to him, he definitely did think she’d been duped and manipulated by Haval and Fasih. Really, she didn’t know whether she’d rather be a fool or a liar in his eyes.

  The table had been set by Abhi and their mother by the time Rito entered the dining room with Rajat. The number of servants in their home had dwindled steadily ever since the death of her grandfather, and after Rajat’s resignation their mother had dismissed all but the oldest members of the staff.

  It wasn’t so much that they couldn’t afford the expense, but she enjoyed the extra privacy, and none of them particularly minded having to do the vacuuming and set the table every once in a while. Rito had never done any chores before she left home for college, and she kind of enjoyed the novelty of it.

  Dinner was served, and they spent the first few minutes catching up, making small-talk. Rito wasn’t used to keeping secrets, especially not from her family, the people she loved and trusted most in the world.

  It made conversations harder, always having to be careful of what she said. She wasn’t particularly good at it. She wondered if she should take lessons from Fasih. He seemed to be a master of doublespeak, spoke it like his mother-tongue. Perhaps her brother was right not to trust him after all.

  Soon, the conversation shifted to politics, as it always did, sooner or later. In particular, Rajat wanted to know about the situation in parliament and the upcoming New Year’s party in Maralana.

  Jehan’s popularity had climbed steadily ever since the resolution of the dam dispute between Eraon and Ishfana and the signing of the water-sharing agreement between the two states. Even his old critics had begun praising his initiative and his innovative approach to conflict resolution.

  “They aren’t wrong, really,” Rajat said, idly mixing curry with his rice. “I mean, if I’d known the boy had such a knack for politics, I’d have gotten him involved with the party sooner.

  “He just never showed any interest in political affairs; only voted in the last election because Ruqaiya told him to.” He shook his head, frowning. “Still, no one can deny that he’s doing good work.

  “He resolved the Vanya dam issue and prevented a water crisis in Eraon, which would probably have cost the exchequer millions and ravaged the state for years. And if I understand things correctly, he also did play a significant role in dismantling that club in Weritlan that was using Amven for child trafficking.”

  Abhijat sneered. “And I’m sure Rinisa Rayeek has her name on half a dozen charities and orphanages. That means nothing. Everything he’s doing is just a front for something far more sinister than anyone can see at the moment. Fasih and his coterie can’t be trusted.”

  “And you know all this because?” Rajat raised a brow, looking inquiringly at his son. “Look Abhi, I know you’re angry with him. And I’m not saying your anger isn’t justified. I was furious with him for months because of what he did.

  “But I’ve known Jehan since he was a boy. And while it’s true he can be an annoying, conniving little shit, I’ve never known him to be malicious. I still don’t agree with his methods, but you can’t deny he’s done a lot of good since he became prime minister. And he cleaned out a lot of corruption in the administration, something I should’ve done while I still sat on that chair.”

  Abhijat nearly jumped out of his seat. “You can’t possibly blame yourself for his betrayal–”

  “Of course I don’t,” Rajat raised a hand, gesturing for the younger man to calm down. “But I also can’t deny the fact that I spent years trusting the wrong people, allowing them to influence decisions and policies that affected the whole country. Members of my Cabinet had received bribes from Maralana, I should’ve known that.

  “I didn’t sit on that chair for personal gain, or because I enjoy wearing a paper crown and smiling for the cameras. Ministers are supposed to serve the people, Abhi,” he said softly. “And if Jehan Fasih is doing a better job of it than I did, I’d be a hypocrite not to accept it and cheer him on.”

  “You may have entered politics to serve the nation, but I can assure you that Fasih doesn’t share your motivations,” Abhijat snapped. “Did you know that his family lost their fortune because of grandpa’s land redistribution drive? His father shot himself in front of his eyes. Is it really so unimaginable that he might want some revenge? Like you said, Papa, you spent years trusting the wrong people. Did it ever occur to you that your beloved child prodigy might’ve been one of those people you trusted more than you should’ve?”

  Rito could see from her brother’s face that he regretted his words almost as soon as they were out of his mouth. He hadn’t meant to snap at their father, but a shorter than average fuse was something of a Shian family trait. She knew all too well what it felt like to say things she didn’t mean, knowing all the while that she’d regret it in the future.

  She’d expected Papa to lash out at Abhijat, to rebuke him in some way. This was, after all, still a sensitive subject for him. But Rajat just smiled ruefully and shook his head.

  “It’s toxic Abhi, this resentment,” he said at length, looking up to meet his son’s eyes. “It’s natural to resent being deceived, being taken advantage of. But prejudice knows no bounds, and it
can make good people do bad things.

  “Your grandfather is the perfect example of that, actually…how prejudice can make you do terrible things with the best of intentions. It can make you self-righteous, to the point that you justify horrific cruelty with a sense of misplaced victimhood.

  “You say that Jehan wants revenge for what happened to his father, and maybe he does. But have you ever considered, my dearest son, that that may be more true of you than it is of him?”

  “Has Qia been in touch with you, yet?” Rito asked Abhijat, trying to diffuse the tension in the room. “How much longer does she plan to stay in Weritlan?”

  Ruqaiya had left for Weritlan over a week ago, for a meeting with some local politicians who were reportedly close to Badal’s family. Rito didn’t know much about it, but from what little Abhi had said, she thought Qia might be looking into some of Badal’s dealings with Maganti, particularly in the time he was Deputy PM.

  “It’s strange how little you can know about someone you’ve worked with for years.” Rajat shook his head. “Badal had always been a little short-sighted, sometimes even arrogant, but I’d never have suspected him of treason.”

  “Well, he certainly wasn’t the only viper you were nurturing in your bosom,” Abhijat muttered, but there was no bite in his voice. He seemed resigned to being the voice of reason everyone ignored.

  “But surely, Ruqaiya will be back before you leave for Maralana, Abhi?” Lyani said, passing round the dessert. “Both she and Fasih can’t be away from the capital at the same time.”

  “I guess not,” Abhi said, digging into his ras-malai. “Besides, I daresay much of this mess will be untangled once we get to Maralana.”

  Rito hoped he was right. She wasn’t sure how much longer she could keep lying to them. “I’m going too,” she said, bracing herself.

  As she’d expected, the reactions ranged from surprise to outrage.

  “Really? But why?” asked her father, frowning.

  “Absolutely not,” said Abhijat.

  “You’d better pack lots of warm clothes,” Lyani said. “Maralana can get terribly cold this time of year.”