“I did. I’m sorry I did not accomplish my goal.”
“No matter,” she said softly. “But tell me. Why are you here, upon this path?”
“Our scouts brought news of people here. Women, men, and children. And I hoped, but I didn’t know, couldn’t be sure… ah. Malini.” His voice lowered. “I am glad you’re here at last.”
He took her hands in his own. Looked at her, as if her face were a blazing light, as if she shone brighter than a statue of a mother.
“I’m here,” he said, “to take you to your brother. Your brother is here, Malini. He’s here.”
PRIYA
“Go back to Lady Bhumika,” Jeevan said quietly.
“And if they turn on you?”
He gave her a sidelong look. “Go back to her,” he said.
Priya understood. She gave him a nod of assent and turned back to the camp.
She could feel the Parijati men watching her as she walked. Her back prickled. She wondered if they saw an enemy when they looked at her. She did, when she looked at them.
Malini… Malini hadn’t looked uneasy when she’d entered the Parijatdvipan camp. Instead she’d stood taller, her chin rising. There was a sudden, new grace to the way she’d crossed the ground. For a moment, Priya saw the Malini who had glided across her prison, her hands hovering over Priya’s own, as she’d tasted her first moments of freedom from the needle-flower. Looking at her now, though, Priya realized that she had never truly seen Malini in her element, a royal surrounded by those who venerated her for her blood. What Priya had witnessed in the intimacy of the Hirana, in the lantern light, had only been a shadow of this woman.
Priya pushed her sudden yearning to knowthisMalini—as she’d known the one who had kissed her beneath a waterfall—away.
She returned to the main camp, where people were milling around Bhumika’s tent. The tent itself was silent. As she approached, Khalida emerged, grim-faced. She looked a little ill.
“Where have you been?” Khalida barked.
“There’s a group of Parijati ahead up the path,” Priya said in a low voice, drawing closer so she wouldn’t have to speak up. “They’re allies of Prince Aditya. The princess is with them, and Jeevan and the men are there. I’m going to remain here to keep Lady Bhumika safe.”
“Prince Aditya’s allies,” Khalida repeated. “You’re afraid the Parijati will turn on us?”
“Jeevan is with them,” Priya repeated. “And if they attempt anything, I’ll use everything I have—we all will—to keep them at bay.”
“You have a deal with the princess,” Khalida said, in a voice that needled. Her eyes glittered. “Are you telling me you don’t trust her word?”
“I’m telling you that when there’s a large group of men with weapons who aren’t my friends, evenI’mnot stupid enough to trust them,” Priya said evenly. “I want to see Bhumika.”
“And how will you guard her from in there?” Khalida gestured at the tent.
Priya’s power was depleted, but she let it touch her voice, just a brush of it, when she said, “I’m strong enough to make you move.”
“You can’t scare me,” Khalida retorted.
“I’m not trying to,” said Priya. “We’re allies, Khalida. Don’t be dense. Just move aside, or I’ll make you. And you won’t like that at all.”
“You,” Khalida hissed, “bring her nothing but grief. You know that, don’t you?”
Priya stared at her. Stared, and said nothing.
Without another word, Khalida drew the tent flap aside.
Bhumika was kneeling on the ground. She was nearly silent, but there were low, animal noises of pain coming from her. Her face was damp with sweat.
It was a dark, intimate terror that consumed Priya when she kneeled by Bhumika’s side.
“Priya?” Bhumika gritted out.
