The flower was still there.
Malini closed her eyes. Breathed with her mouth open, sucking in air. Her lungs felt tight, and horror had left her cold.
Then she closed her mouth. Gritted her teeth. Curled her fingers around the flower and with a wrench tore it free.
Blood under her fingers and clear, clarifying pain.
Without thought or feeling, she reached for the liquor and the bandages. She cleaned and wrapped her chest clumsily, relieved she would not have to sew her skin shut. She was sure, in a strange way deep in her bones, that by morning the wound would have closed again, leaving nothing behind.
Kissing Priya had been a mistake. But.
She could use this. She would have to use this. She would find a way.
MALINI
Rao’s arrival was a welcome relief and the first surprise that had brought her joy in a long, long time. She greeted him herself on the mahal’s grand marbled bridge, standing beneath a parasol held by an attendant, a smile on her face as he lowered himself from his chariot and bowed to her. It did not even bother her as much as she had expected to see Sima still on the chariot he’d left, doing her very best not to be noticeable.
“I am glad to see you, Prince Rao.”
“And I you, Empress. Please forgive me for rudeness but—I must see you alone.” There was a light in his eyes she hadn’t seen before. A fierceness. “It is very, very urgent.”
She examined the stone, turning it back and forth in her hands.
It was just black stone, but it felt unlike any other stone she’d held before. Oddly cold. Like ice—though she knew it was not.
She winced as she lowered it back to the table. Her chest ached oddly, a twinge along the rope-knot of her healed scar.
“You didn’t see the way to the mine?”
“No,” Rao said. “I was blindfolded. I’m sure he also took me a winding way, so that I won’t be able to recall the route by sense memory either.”
She nodded, thoughtful.
“So this kai wants land. An ambitious man, is he?”
“He wanted the Lal Qila at first,” said Rao. “But he’ll accept a portion of Dwarali soil instead.”
“He still demands a great deal. But if this stone does as he claims, of course he will have it.”
“He sent one of his sisters to negotiate on his behalf. She remains with some of my men beyond Srugna’s borders. She can bargain for him. He’s promised that her word is his bond.”
Relief was coursing through Malini, far too early.
“Does this heart’s shell have any worth against the rot?” Malini asked.
“They didn’t know,” said Rao. “There was no rot on their land. Not yet.”
“Then we will take it to the Srugani fields and see what it does to them. If it serves in the fields and in battle, then the kai will have all he wants,” said Malini. “You did well, Rao.”
“I’m glad,” he said. “We traveled hard, Malini. I… I will be glad for rest, if you’ll allow it.”
She wanted to ask him if he was well now. Healed. But the question would not leave her lips. It was, after all, absurd. Of course he was not. She was not.
“Yes, rest. We’ll test this heart’s shell,” she said instead. “If it’s of use, I’ll begin my bargaining with the kai’s sister.”
Malini had her opportunity almost immediately.
There were rituals to an imperial visit to a Parijatdvipan court. But these were not normal times, and Malini had chosen not to indulge in them. She had come to support King Lakshan in a time of crisis, she assured him. Multiple feasts and dances and hunting trips were not required and were certainly not wanted.
