Chandra’s cheeks heated with embarrassment. “You have no right to speak when you have us in chains,” she said with clenched teeth.
“Chandrasena! Forgive my sister, Prince Veer.” Aswini finally found the gumption to speak, quelling Chandra with a look. “I apologize on her behalf.”
“I don’t think we need to be pleasant to an enemy who has broken the rules of conduct, Aswini. Who lacks the basic decency to adhere to the rules of war,” Chandra grumbled under her breath.
“If anyone needs to be accused of ill behavior, I advise you to look no further than your own father, Princess,” he said grimly.
“What do you mean?” she demanded.
Veer shook his head and dismissed her, turning to his commander and giving instructions.
Chandra grew alarmed to see that he was planning to have them all transported to a recently occupied fort on the frontier that now served as a garrison of sorts to Rajgarh.
“You can’t do that!” Her shout caused several men to pause in their tasks and look towards them curiously. Veer paused as he was leaving and raised an inquiring eyebrow in her direction.
“Prince Veer,” Aswini pleaded. “Please…let me explain. To stay here in another man’s house without the express permission of our parents will mean we would be shamed. Please let us go. This act doesn’t do you credit.”
Veer signaled his commander to go ahead and approached the princesses once again. “Why should that be of any concern to me, Princess Aswini? I understand your unfortunate situation, but it’s not the end of the road. You won’t be harmed here, that much I can promise you.”
As he turned away, Chandra’s words stopped him once again. “Come back. You dare call yourself akshatriya?” she said, angrily. “When you consider the honor of women to be nothing.” Her sister tried to quiet her, but she wasn’t having any of it. “These foreigners don’t understand a thing.”
“Why don’t you explain, Princess? What am I not grasping here?” Veer approached and crouched at her eye-level.
She cleared her throat, trying to aim for a reasonable tone, ignoring the jitteriness she felt in the pit of her stomach, finding herself the focus of those cold eyes. “It’s not just a question of appearances. By holding my sisters here, against their will, you’re calling their chastity into question, condemning them to a lifetime of solitude. No one else would dare to look at a woman, much less marry, who has that kind of mark on her character.
“And it isn’t just the imprisonment that would ruin their reputations. It’s you, Prince Veer. Your name and regard are sobad across the Saptavarsha that any association with you will taint any prospective brides. You’re not called the scourge of the north for nothing.”
The men in the grove took in a sharp collective breath at her insult.
“For heaven’s sake, Chandra. Stop making him angry. He is going to kill you—” Aswini began in a harsh whisper.
“Eh? But I was only speaking the truth,” observed Chandra, confused, but quieted once she focused back on Veer. Her heart drummed in her chest, and she was suddenly afraid for herself. Those pewter eyes were narrowed so much that they seemed to disappear into slits, and he was massaging the handle of his sword as if half thinking about running it through her. If looks could destroy, she would have been a pile of ash on the forest floor.
“Are all your sisters engaged, Princess?” he asked softly, controlling his obvious anger with impressive restraint.
Chandra felt her helplessness keenly and twisted her hands in her bonds. She saw the flaw in her argument and clamped her mouth shut, refusing to answer his question.
“Well?” he asked.
“I am, and one of my younger sisters,” Aswini answered.
“What about you, Princess?” he asked Chandra, his smooth intonation at odds with the storm in his eyes. “Are you engaged to someone as well?”
“No,” she bit out, knowing what he was going to say next.
“Then how about a deal, Princess Chandrasena? I shall let all your sisters go, including the younger ones not yet engaged. But in return, I want you to stay in their stead.”
Chandra had glared at him, knowing this wasn’t a deal where she held any kind of power.
“Sure, no one might come forward for your hand in marriage,” he had continued as he stood and walked away tothe snickers of his men. “But I doubt anyone would offer for you anyway, once they get to know you and your sharp tongue. Really, I’d be doing the male population a favor.”
* * *
He had offered her a devil’s bargain. One she couldn’t refuse, in all conscience. But he kept his promise and let her sisters leave. She had stayed that night, not dozing off until the wee hours of dawn, a knife in her hand, despite his assurances that she would be safe, much to his silent amusement.
And then there was the incident with the Nature Spirits that night, which made her realize there were some hidden depths to the person who had captured her.
She had been smart-mouthed then. Given how much she had insulted him, she didn’t really blame him for taking revenge by making her stay. He had let her go the next morning, and she knew that had been his intention all along. Because he told her so.
