“I forgive you for summoning me to your battle,” murmured Priya. “I forgive you for wanting my power and wanting to use me and then—not. I forgive you for the day youdouse me. And I want to remind you that I don’t fear being your weapon. I know you.”
“You know one of my faces.”
“Yes. The one that’s under my hands now,” said Priya. “The real one.”
Priya didn’t hate her then. How foolish, how terrible, that Malini had come to the point where it mattered to her so very much that Priya did not hate her. That on some level, in some way, Priya’s heart was still hers.
She could have reached out, then. Could have saidStay. Could have turned her head and kissed Priya’s palm. Her fingertips. Drawn her close and then down, down onto the bed.
“Go with Rao, in the morning,” she murmured instead. “Go with him and find the crossing. That’s what I ask of you.”
“Yes, Malini,” Priya said, and it sounded likeYes, Empresstoo in a way that made something dark and wanting burn in her blood. There was a smile in Priya’s voice as she rose to her feet; as she slipped away as quietly as she had arrived, her footsteps as much a whisper as her voice. “Whatever you say.”
PRIYA
Priya and Sima traveled together in the juddering chariot along the edge of the Veri, which roiled and glimmered in the rising sunlight. Priya made a point of ignoring Low Prince Ashutosh, who was riding ahead alongside Prince Rao.
It was Rao who went to the village by the riverside and paid a woman to show them the way to the crossing. As she guided them, she looked back nervously every few footsteps. Priya couldn’t blame her.
The crossing she led them to was not quite a ford—not shallow enough to be easily passable by horse or foot—but was a curve in the river where the water was broken, slowed, and softened by small islets emerging from the waves like the vertebrae of a great spine. There were boats on the shore—light contraptions with oars, but properly made, with enough space and strength to carry across a horse at a time, or a handful of men, or some of their heavier weaponry if they balanced it with care.
Priya, glad to be free of the chariot, moved to stand at the edge of the water. It was dark even here, frothing as it rocked against the bank. Sima came to stand beside her; knocked her shoulder lightly against Priya’s. “The owl head over there looks like he’s going to cause trouble again,” she muttered.
The owl head in question was Ashutosh, striding over to Rao’s side.
“If one of us moves closer, we should be able to hear them,” said Sima.
“Are you curious?”
“Of course I am,” said Sima. “Aren’t you?”
Of course she was. But Priya had to bite back a laugh at the thought of her and Sima inconspicuously shuffling toward the two men. Their days of being invisible were long gone, unfortunately.
“Let’s just approach them,” Priya said. “I need to speak to the good Low Prince anyway.”
“Alor is known for its rivers,” Rao was saying with barely feigned patience.
Ashutosh snorted. “Forgive me, Prince Rao,” he said, in the kind of voice that suggested he was about to say something that might in fact be unforgivable, but didn’t much care. “You’re barely familiar with Alor anymore, never mind its rivers. Raised in the imperial mahal as you were, who can blame you? Whereasmyestates are surrounded by lakes. My men are trained for this. We will go first and secure the opposite bank. Your men will follow.”
“And what does Lord Narayan think of this plan?” Rao asked.
“Narayan does not outrank me,” Ashutosh said sharply.
“He’s the empress’s Saketan general,” Priya said. She couldn’t help but enjoy the glare Ashutosh turned on her, even as he bowed his head stiffly in a gesture of respect, which she returned with a smile. “I’m sure he’d like to help.”
“Shall I call him here, my lords?” Sima chirped.
“That would be helpful, thank you,” Rao said with a nod, and Sima turned and left. “Low prince,” he went on, once again meeting Ashutosh’s gaze. “If you are willing to take the risk of forging ahead before my men, we are grateful.”
“It’s no risk,” Ashutosh said. “My men are well trained. And you, elder,” he said, turning his attention abruptly on Priya. “What will you be contributing to our efforts?”
“I am here under Prince Rao’s protection,” Priya said, knowing he’d interpret that asnothing. “Are your men recovering well, my lord?”
Ashutosh’s throat worked. “Yes,” he bit out. “They’ll be joining me in the crossing.”
“I am glad to hear it.”
He gave her one more nod. Said, gruffly, “Prince Rao.” Then he stalked off.
