I stayed close to the fort’s outer wall and away from the shoreline to avoid attracting attention. Thankfully, people were too busy to notice me as they prepared for the five ships gliding into port, slipping through the pink-and-orange waters kissed by the rising sun. I breathed a sigh of relief. Those ships had left, laden with goods, soon after my engagement to Aru. Now, all of them had returned safely after trading Ullal’s latest harvests?—quite successfully, if their messages were to be believed.
The tide of our battle against the Porcugi was surely turning. When the Porcugi first began their attacks, a fleet of ships like that would return with at least a ship or two gone, but now we were seeing far more success. We’d produced countless longbows, and the soldiers we sent with our trade ships fired without hesitation at the first sign of the enemy. At first, we’d been discouraged because adjusting the aim of the longbow was difficult given the speed of the Porcugi?—it worked perfectly well against lumbering elephants, but the Porcugi were far nimbler. A few archers did manage to strike, and even kill, some of the attacking monsters, but I hadn’t expected such small losses to have much impact. To my surprise, the attacks soon slowed almost to a halt. Our infirmary finally began to empty, and Tara spent fewer nights feverishly grinding herbs and concoctions for her patients.
These incoming ships were messengers of hope. Not only did they bring back the wealth from their trades, but they were also evidence that our economy could prosper again. Evidence that my people sorely needed.
“A welcome sight.” Thevan’s voice made me jump.
“I didn’t realize you were there.” I stepped to the side in a silent welcome for him to stand next to me.
It was the first time we’d had a moment together since my engagement was finalized. Yes, we saw each other during my council meetings, but they were much busier with the return of Nikith and Parushi. Thevan had offered me several opportunities to come see the soldiers’ progress with the longbow, but I hadn’t had time?—there was much to do between overseeing my wedding arrangements and preparing to rule my nation from afar.
Or at least that’s what I told myself.
Thevan stepped to my side and stood in the light of the sunrise. It caught the lines and edges in his face that had emerged since the passing of his brother and father. Thevan had never been one to show his feelings, and now even more of his secrets were hidden in the shadows scattered across his face. I wondered if the same was true of mine.
I made myself stop staring at him and gestured to the incoming ships. “I dared not hope too much until they returned home safely.”
“The Porcugi are losing their hold on us.” He stood a little taller as he spoke. “We’ve kept them at bay on land and at sea, and they don’t have their little spy feeding them information anymore.”
Parushi and Thevan had found Ulagan the day after our conversation with Chetan. Eventually he’d admitted his guilt, although he insisted he’d been told that the tincture would just weaken the raja. It didn’t matter. Parushi and Thevan had made sure he was punished, and they’d buried his body without any rites. The idea of one death causing another sometimes made me wonder how many deaths would result from my actions, but I pushed such thoughts out of my head as I replied to Thevan.
“You should be proud,” I said. “As I am. Of you and your soldiers. You have protected Ullal and its future.”
“I swear, everything I do, I do for Ullal. For you, my rani.” Thevan’s voice was softer.
I pretended I didn’t hear the emphasis on his second to last word. We stood in silence for a few moments, watching the ships come into the port and listening to the joyful yells that greeted them.
Thevan took a deep breath and turned to me. His face was fully in the light, and he hardly blinked at all. “Is this what you want? To marry him?”
The question sliced through me, cutting my breath short.
It took me a moment to respond. “This marriage is what I want for Ullal. My people give me so much and ask only that I protect them. This is how I can do that.”
“You don’t needhimto protect Ullal.” Thevan gestured to the port. “Our army has pushed back the Porcugi?—without any of his help. We are on the brink of victory. It’s why I showed you the longbow and why I kept asking you to come see the success of our training. I needed you to know?—I need you to know?—that everything you need to protect Ullal is already here.”
My heart pounded, beating in my chest like a dollu, and I was convinced everyone could hear its thunderous sound. He couldn’t possibly be suggesting?—
Thevan’s voice was scratchy and raw as he stared through my eyes and into my heart. “You can trust me to keep Ullal safe.”
“You know I trust you.” I desperately searched for the right words. “But even you admitted the other day that you’re not sure why the attacks have dropped so suddenly. Yes, the longbows have helped us win some battles but not decisively enough to merit their retreat. What if they come back again?”
“We’d figure it out. We always have. When has there been anything we can’t do?”
“Nikith says?—”
“Nikith has spent his entire life on a cushion and doesn’t know what it means to fight,” Thevan growled. “You are different.Weare different.”
I looked away. Thevan was right: Like any rajkumar, Nikith had been trained in combat, but even he admitted he’d never had a taste?—or inclination?—for it. He preferred his books and his treaties above all else.
Thevan saw my hesitation and seized on it. “You can do whatever you want. Spirits, you could even marry for love.”
My breath caught, and I stared at him.
Thevan lowered his voice and tentatively reached for my hand. His face became an open book, and his emotions were written clearly across it. “If you wanted to.”
My heart fell to my feet as my mouth went dry. It was as if the beaches had emptied their sands onto my tongue. I licked my lips, and he tightened his grasp on my fingers. For a moment, I let myself imagine what it might be like to finally have someone at my side again, someone who knew me and understood me as few people could. What it might be like to stand against the Porcugi with Thevan as my husband and general, leading our troops as we fought to bring Ullal to unprecedented greatness. We would protect our home and drive the Porcugi back to the seas.
But as I looked out over the waves, I saw Aru’s sea-colored eyes staring back at me. I tried to blink them away, but I couldn’t help thinking of his earnestness every time he’d seen me. Nikith had assured me that Aru promised he’d help stop the Porcugi’s attacks on Ullal. If Aru had made that promise with the same sincerity, with the same intensity, that I’d seen in his last visit, then he would surely bring even more resources and strength to Ullal than Thevan could ever hope to.
