Page 3 of Her Royal Houseguest

‘You know my plan,’ Vaji said, his expression growing excited.

‘I do.’ And damnation, it was his only choice now.

‘You will go with me?’

Deva shrugged. ‘I don’t see another choice. For either of us.’

‘Yes!’ Vaji crowed. ‘I was very close to leaving without you.’

‘You have the money?’

It wasn’t possible. Monks carried no money.

‘Everything but that,’ his brother said.

‘Money is everything in an endeavour like this.’

‘That is where you are wrong. Money is half. Strategy is the other.’

Deva had no intention of debating so obvious a point. With anyone else he would have doubted the work. But this was Vaji, who had ways of making things happen despite having no money. Perhaps being cursed by one’s own mother had its advantages.

Vaji began first, pulling out several pieces of paper carefully tucked into his saffron robes.

‘This is a list of everything we need for a diplomatic trip to England.’

‘Must it be there? You know father doesn’t trust the English.’

‘Nor should we. The East India Company has done terrible things.’

‘They do not worship as we do.’

‘Neither are they that different,’ Vaji countered. ‘The English forbid rape and murder. They have commandments against stealing.’

Deva gaped at his brother. ‘You have studied their religion?’

‘I have. I can read their language now, and their maps.’

Vaji had always been good with languages, but this was extraordinary.

‘You should give up the robe and work in the trade office.’

‘So I can toil like you do? Day and night, and still get passed over? No thank you.’

Usually Deva would argue that point. He would say that hard work and skill eventually won the day. But today, he had seen just how wrong that was. But to go all the way to England? That was…

Bold. Decisive. And establishing a good trading partnership with England would show everyone in Bangkok how valuable he could be.

‘Can we persuade the English king to forswear the East India Company?’

‘That all depends on the English king. Does he follow the precepts of his own religion?’

‘Do we?’ Deva countered.

Deva’s time in the monastery and in government office had shown him just how many so-called faithful people were truly corrupt. It was one of the reasons he loved his half-brother. Despite all appearances, and in spite of his vicious mother, Vaji was a man he could count on. A man who would do the right thing—eventually.

Deva picked up Vaji’s list and added it to a growing mental list of everything to do before they could set sail. It was a ponderous weight.

And yet, he felt excitement stir. They could do this. They could convince the English king that the East India Company was immoral. Then he would forswear the company and enter into an honest trade with Siam.