Speaking of Thevan brought me back to the day we’d stood together on the beach. I could see the longing in his eyes as he stared into mine, hear the hope he’d dared give voice to, and feel the sting of his anger when we’d parted.
“Thevan is not my concern.” I was unnecessarily harsh, but there was no taking the words back. I continued with a far more even tone. “Aru is. And I doubt that he’ll be relieved to hear what I have to say. I’ll just need to find a way to make him accept it.”
“I’m sure you’ll find a way,” Parushi said.
“I have to. It’s the only reason I’m here.”
We’d finally made it to the records room, and I raised an imperious eyebrow at the guard by the door, hoping he wouldn’t have the audacity to question a rani. Thankfully, he did not. After only a moment’s hesitation, he opened the doors and announced me.
The record keeper’s desk wasn’t too far from the door, and she jumped up at the sound of my name. She was short and slender, and her burnt orange sari was unembellished but made of fine muslin. It took her a moment to believe that I was really standing in front of her. She bowed deeply. “Forgive me, Rani. I did not expect the honor of your presence today.”
“I’m grateful you are here.” I wasn’t about to tell her I hadn’t wanted her to have any warning. “I am looking for records about the Porcugi.”
“The Porcugi?” She blinked at me. “The raja and Vishwajeet can certainly tell you...”
She fell silent as I shook my head.
“No, I’m looking for records from the last time they”?—I paused to find the right word?—“visited our shores.”
“Oh, of course.” She nodded to herself, and I was thankful I’d kept my secret. I was certain Vishwajeet would have found a way to prevent me from seeing the records if he knew what I was after, just as he had prevented me from attending any more council meetings by scheduling them while Aru and I were on our tours. Aru hadn’t shared my frustration about that?—he’d rejoiced at the chance to get a summary from Vishwajeet and avoid listening to his advisers’ “endless droning,” as he put it.
“As you can see, our records have become a large collection over time.” The record keeper swelled with pride as she led us through the rows upon rows of stacked, bound palm leaves. She stopped and gestured at a cluster. “We’ve done our best to organize all the records?—ours and those of lands that have opted to join Banghervari?—by time. You should be able to find something here.”
I thanked her profusely without mentioning that the lands that had “opted” to join Banghervari had often done so after long and bloody wars. Ullal had largely been spared from Banghervari’s ambition thanks to the reputation of our military force, but we had always been made aware of it.
After she left, Parushi and I wasted no time. We started working from opposite ends of the area she’d pointed to, each of us flipping through records as fast as we could.
“This makes no sense,” Parushi said as she read. “This says the Porcugi were tired and sluggish in their movements, which made them easy targets.”
“Same here.” I pointed to the palm leaf I was reading through. “It says their fighting was disorganized and they were easily scattered. Their emissary, Kamran?—he’d said that the first group of Porcugi were explorers. They wouldn’t have known battle strategy, but that doesn’t explain why they would have been exhausted and slow.”
“Maybe we found a way to sneak the Porcugi thati kallu.” Parushi pretended to sip from an imaginary glass and get wobbly.
I rolled my eyes and went back to reading, but most of the records were essentially the same: They marked the arrival of the Porcugi, noted their size and fearsome appearance, but concluded by saying that an alliance of neighboring nations was able to overcome them.
“I’m trying to find something that quantifies the losses, but I don’t see anything,” Parushi mumbled.
“Me neither, but what I don’t understand more is why they don’t seem as intimidated by the Porcugi. When you and I were face to face with that one”?—I shuddered?—“it was terrifying.”
“And it was anything but sluggish,” Parushi agreed.
I tried to think back to what else Kamran had said when he came to Ullal. He’d mentioned they now had a raja and general that understood their strength and wanted to use it to their advantage. “What if this isn’t the first place the Porcugi attacked recently?”
“What do you mean?”
“Kamran mentioned their ambitious raja. What if he set his sights somewhere else before coming here? And that spot is closer than their home? If they’ve established some sort of base between their home and ours, then the journey here won’t be so arduous, and they wouldn’t be as exhausted when they arrive. Maybe that’s why they can fight better than before.”
Parushi put down her palm leaves and stared at me. “For your sake, I hope that’s not true.”
“What do you mean?”
“Your husband is paying a tithe to the Porcugi. If the Porcugi are using conquered lands as bases to get closer to the nations they want to attack, how long until they ask that favor of Banghervari?”
My jaw dropped. “Aru would never...”
Parushi tilted her head and raised her eyebrow. She didn’t have to say what I knew she was thinking.He wouldn’t, but Vishwajeet would.
And given the way things went in Aru’s council, that might be all that mattered. I clenched my fists tight. I knew of only one way to be sure that never happened.
