“I need to find a way to convince him to stop paying tithes.”
By the time we left the records room, it was almost time for my tour with Aru, so Parushi and I headed straight to the main doors. Before we’d gone very far, the raja himself turned a corner just ahead of us, followed by a few guards. He looked just as surprised as we were, but he was more than happy to wait for us to join him. The cerulean embroidery on his lavender kurta perfectly matched the color of my sari.
Aru smiled at me. “You chose well for us today, my rani.”
My cheeks lit up in pink as Aru came and adjusted one of my earrings. As he leaned in, I murmured, “I thought the whole point of these tours was for the people to get to see me. Nobody will bother to spare me a glance now.”
“Anyone who doesn’t have their attention on you is a fool.” He caressed my cheek and traced his finger to my earlobe and down my neck.
“Aru!” I jumped away before he could get to the neckline of my blouse, but his arm snaked behind my back and pulled me closer. “There are other people here.”
“Everyone here wants an heir, so they should be happy to see our affection. If it really bothers you, though...” He gestured to his guards. “Go a bit further away. My wife and I need some privacy.”
The guards hurried ahead at his command, and Parushi dropped back.
“Is that better?” Aru seemed inordinately pleased with himself.
“Yes, much.” I wiggled out of his arms but held his hand as consolation. He leaned in close, but I spoke again before he could do anything else. “Dearest, forgive me, but I must ask a rather uncomfortable question.”
This was one of the few times we’d have alone when he didn’t have other things on his mind, and I was determined to take advantage of it.
“Anything,” Aru whispered as he leaned closer.
Apparently, even at this hour of the day, he had only one thing on his mind.
“In Ullal, I always sought counsel from a group of advisers, but I noticed that you seem to favor the words of Vishwajeet.” I paused to try to find the least accusatory words, but I also wasted no time in getting to my point. “Why do you give one man’s voice so much weight?”
Aru stood straight and pouted. “You want to talk about Vishwajeet?”
“No, I want to understandyou.” I rubbed his arm and beamed at him, hoping to ply his will with compliments. “I know a raja as wise as you wouldn’t do anything without a reason.”
He stopped pouting and put his hand on mine. We took a few steps in silence before he asked, “What do you know of my parents?”
“Very little,” I admitted. “My tutors told me that they died when you were very young.”
“Yes, few people know about the circumstances of their deaths.” Aru licked his lips and squeezed my hand. “But you are my rani, and you should know.”
There were only a few reasons that the details of a ruler’s death would be kept secret, and none of them were good.
As I knew all too well.
“My parents were strong rulers, beloved by their people.” Aru’s eyes glazed over as he kept his focus firmly forward. “But there will always be those who want more power for themselves. My uncle tried to organize a coup. He secretly rallied all my parents’ advisers, including Vishwajeet’s father, behind him, and they... they...”
He didn’t need to finish the sentence. I hugged him, holding him close as I ignored the guards’ wide-eyed stares. “I’m so sorry,” I whispered in his ear.
Aru held me tight for a moment before continuing to walk. “Anyway, they had a plan for all of us?—my parents and me?—but Vishwajeet heard his father plotting, and he saved me. He hid me in a temple after an adaiman led us there. Vishwajeet is the only reason I’m alive. I mean, Vishwajeet and the Spirits, of course. I owe them everything.”
I couldn’t think. I could hardly even breathe. Vishwajeet had saved Aru’s life, and he’d probably never hesitated to use Aru’s debt?—to him and the Spirits?—to his advantage. He’d probably made sure that his voice, and only his voice, was in Aru’s ear ever since that day. No wonder Aru always deferred to Vishwajeet. To him, Vishwajeet was the only one he could trust.
“I became raja far too young, and I didn’t have my parents there to guide me,” Aru continued. “But Vishwajeet has always helped?—he practically raised me, but he asks for nothing in return. The least I can do is listen to him.”
But I needed my husband to listen tome. We needed to be united against the Porcugi, and I doubted that was part of Vishwajeet’s plan. Even if Aru listened to me today, how long would it take for Vishwajeet to convince him to agree to his own schemes?
“Now you see why I rely on him above all others,” Aru said, misunderstanding my wide-eyed silence. “And you can trust him too.”
I had no words for a response, so I just squeezed his hand as we continued toward the exit. We arrived there shortly, and our two parallel palanquins were already set out. Vishwajeet stood next to them, waiting to see us off.
He bowed deeply to Aru. “I have confirmed the route with your guards and the towns. They’ll be expecting you.”
