Darkly, my father laughed. “Do you think all this conspiring is because I see them as a threat? No, my ignorant daughter. They are as insignificant as your weak mother was. In the annals of time, the speck they make on history will be absolutely indiscernible. You think I care that he loves you? You think I cannot see how you pine after him. I am no fool, Yesubai. Make no mistake. I am completely in control of each and every one of your tiny little lives. What trifles I bestow upon you are because I wish it. That you exist at all is because I allow it.”
He ran his hand over the stubble of his jaw. “Still, there is something to be said for allowing the game to be played out to its inevitable, heartrending conclusion. Very well.” He gave me a final glance then turned toward the window. “Tell the younger prince I wish to meet with him tomorrow at dusk at the border between our lands in the space between the crested hills. I’ll decide then if allowing him to live might provide me with sufficient entertainment.”
I nodded, appalled by what I’d done, and as he departed, I was left wondering if there was anything I could have done differently. Again the silent comfort of sleep eluded me, and I used my darkest veil to hide behind the next day. Not only did it disguise my bedraggled state, but I felt like I needed it to cloak all the evils I’d been a part of. Not for the first time, I wondered if the world might have been better off had I not been born.
Kishan readily agreed to meet with my father and, under the pretense of a sunset ride, we set out to the borderlands. My father was waiting for us. He nodded to Kishan, who had approached wearing only a token sword and a breastplate. The fact that he was woefully unprepared to clash with my father did not go unnoticed by me. I bit my lip until it bled. Even if Kishan had been properly dressed for battle and had not approached as a petitioning bridegroom, he still wouldn’t have been a match for my father.
After the proper genuflecting was done, Kishan announced boldly that he wanted my father to reconsider him. The glitter in my father’s eyes told me that Kishan was behaving in just the manner he expected. “And what token will you offer me in exchange for the loss of the title?” my father asked. “Surely you don’t expect me to indulge your proposal simply out of the goodness of my heart?”
Kishan made various offers of riches, fine horses, battle elephants, and any other trinkets he possessed, but it soon became clear that my father was growing bored.
“I have no need of such things,” he stated flatly. “Kishan, I sense you are a man who can make hard decisions even if a sacrifice or two must occur. Am I right?”
Kishan folded his arms across his chest. “I am known for being decisive in battle.”
“Very good. Then I will be as direct with you as I can. My daughter, Yesubai, has tried to set aside her feelings for you so that she might take her place as the queen and wife of your brother. Unfortunately, she appears to be unable to deny the budding love within her heart and would choose you. Frankly, it would be better for both our families and kingdoms if the two of you had never met, but I am a soft man who understands the passions of the young.”
I raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
Lokesh continued, “Because I am sympathetic to your plight, I will agree to modify the terms of the betrothal.”
Kishan laughed and wrapped his arms around me, squeezing me in a tight hug.
“But…” my father said, the disapproval over Kishan’s actions obvious on his face, “you must agree to my terms.”
Kishan stepped away from me, and the young man in love appeared to have been replaced by the prince worthy of being his father’s son. “There is nothing I can promise you on behalf of my father. I can only give you that which I own. If there is something more you desire, you’ll have to take it up with my parents.”
Lokesh put his arm around Kishan’s shoulders. “Son. May I call you that?” He didn’t wait for Kishan’s answer. “Let’s not involve Rajaram and Deschen just yet. This negotiation is in such a delicate flux, we should proceed carefully. Hmm?”
Kishan nodded tentatively. “What are your terms then?”
“Oh, not much. A trifle, really. You see, I’m what you might call a collector.”
“A collector of what?”
Lokesh laughed. “Many things, but in your case, there is something in your possession that might spark my interest enough to make me consider giving up a title for Yesubai a good trade.”
“And that is?”
“There is an amulet in your family’s possession. Two of them, in fact.”
“The Damon Amulet? What would you want with them? They aren’t of any monetary value. They’re merely trinkets handed down in my family.”
“Yes. I’m aware that they wouldn’t fetch much of a price, but you see, they’re very old.” Lokesh smiled like a jackal. “And I have a special affinity for…old relics.”
“I see.”
Kishan lowered his head, his jaw working as he considered my father’s proposal. Finally, he said, “I will give you my piece, but Dhiren has the other one in his possession. I doubt he would consider giving it up so that I might be able to steal his bride away from him.”
“Yes. I can see how that might be a problem. Still, it’s both pieces or there is no bargain. If we cannot come to an arrangement, then Yesubai will be married to your brother. However unhappy she might be.”
Kishan said nothing but I could see the desperation in his eyes. As much as he wanted me, he knew there was no way Dhiren would voluntarily give up his amulet. Not if it meant losing me.
Behind Kishan I could sense my father gathering his power around him. If he couldn’t manipulate the prince, he would kill him. “Kishan,” I offered, “maybe there’s another way.”
“How?” he whispered. “Ren won’t help us.”
“What if we took him by surprise?”
“What do you mean?”
“Yes, Daughter. What are you saying?” I didn’t miss the implied threat in my father’s voice.
“What if we arranged a robbery?”
“Ren doesn’t keep the amulet on him. Even I don’t know where it is.”
“So my father could send soldiers in disguise to meet Dhiren on his journey home. They would have specific instructions to discover the location of his amulet, and then they could detain him while you go and retrieve it. He’ll never even know we were involved.”
Epilogue
Fade
Things didn’t exactly go as planned. Hajari and a few of my father’s men stole me away from the palace the next night and took me back to Bhreenam, where Kishan met me with open arms. “What’s happening?” I asked.
“Ren proved difficult. He wouldn’t cooperate so he’s being brought here. We’re to greet him in the main hall when he arrives. It’s not what we intended to happen, but Ren left us without any other option. Your father says we’ll have to confront him openly and that he believes Ren will be more amenable if he sees the three of us as a united front. My brother is technically your father’s prisoner, but he assures me he only means to threaten Ren until he gives us what he wants, then he’ll sign a new betrothal agreement.”
“But—”
“Ah, there you are, my dear. If you will excuse us, Kishan, I will escort my daughter to her chamber to rest and change before your brother arrives.”
“Of course,” Kishan said and squeezed my hand as my father pulled me away. When we arrived in my chamber, I let out a small cry when I saw Isha waiting for me. She was much thinner, and her face looked tired, but she was alive, and at that moment, it was blessing enough.
Pointing to the bed, my father said, “You’ll be dressing the part. I expect you to look your best, and as such, you will not adorn yourself in your typical veil. I want you to be a distraction for both brothers. If you’re very lucky, I’ll let one of them live. But should my plans fail”—he stepped forward and cupped my face, forcing me to look into his eyes—“everyone you love will suffer. Do you understand, Yesubai?”
“I do.”
> “Good. I will send Hajari to fetch you. Make your preparations.”
When the door closed, Isha rushed forward. “Oh, my darling girl!”
“Isha, I’m so frightened! He’s going to kill them!”
“Don’t you think about that. Just focus on one thing at a time. Let’s get you dressed.”
Two hours later, I swept through the long hall with bells tinkling at my waist and ankles. My hair was wound with gold and jewels. I’d never worn it uncovered before, and I felt naked without my veil, but I kept my shoulders back and my head held high. Kishan stepped out from behind a pillar.
“Yesubai,” he gasped. “You look…you’re beautiful!”
“Thank you. My father selected my clothing.”
“Perhaps he means to allow us to marry immediately.”
I gave him a small smile. “Perhaps.”
“I promise you, Yesubai, we will find a way to be together. There is nothing I wouldn’t do for you.”
He touched his forehead to mine, and I boldly cupped his cheek with my palm. “I know,” I whispered softly.
Even if my father did allow Kishan to live, I knew it was only a matter of time until he destroyed him and annihilated the small, fragile flicker of love that had grown between us. As I took Kishan’s arm and he led me into the throne room, I knew it would be only a matter of time until he learned of what I had done, and he’d hate me for it. In trying to save the members of the Rajaram family, I’d only ended up chaining them to me so they’d suffer my same fate.
There was no way out. As I strode toward the dais where my father sat, I felt as if I walked to the gallows. The glimmering sparkle of hope had blinded me to reality, and now I sat next to my father, being swallowed up in it. When Dhiren was brought in, the certainty of my desperate situation practically crushed me.
He’d been sorely beaten but that didn’t surprise me. If Kishan was shocked, it didn’t register on his face. Ren was interrogated, mocked, and belittled by my father. That he was allowing his true nature to show through the carefully contrived diplomat he preferred to display meant that he indeed did not intend for the princes to live.
Shame filled me, and though it broke my heart to watch the tragedy unfold before my eyes, I was helpless to do anything to stop it. My father could not be beaten. I knew it and yet I’d deceived myself into thinking I’d find a way. I was a fool.
Through a mental fog, I heard my father say, “Perhaps you require a demonstration of my power. Yesubai, come!”
“No!” Dhiren and Kishan shouted together.
Unable to do more than shake my head, I saw my father gather his power to strike. He was going to kill. I had to do something, but every instinct I had told me to tread carefully. That my father would not forgive any form of treachery. I was frozen in place with terror. Then Dhiren said that my father’s poison ran through my blood. I wondered if it was true.
Hadn’t I conspired to steal from the Rajaram family? Hadn’t I put my own needs above a stranger’s? Hadn’t I concealed weapons and poisons meant to slay the man I’d come to love? My father wasn’t the viper. I was. I’d led these two noble princes to their deaths. Tears filled my eyes as I realized there was no escaping his evil. It flowed in my veins.
The knowledge of what I was, who I was, chafed. I didn’t want to be Lokesh’s daughter any longer. I wanted to be someone good. Someone brave and noble. Someone worthy of the love Kishan had offered. A pathetic whimper caught in my throat. If I did nothing, they would die but Isha and I might live. If I confronted my father, he would kill me along with them and then take out a slow, horrible vengeance on my maid.
My father continued, “Do you want to hear her scream? I promise you she does it quite well. I offer you a choice one last time. Relinquish your piece to me.”
It was the lie that changed everything. All my life, I’d been deathly afraid of my father and his power. Every waking moment, I’d lived in mortal fear of him. When he announced to the princes that he’d invoked such terror in his daughter’s life as to cause her to scream, I realized that it was that very thing that he wanted, and I’d never given it to him. I’d remained as stoic and unaffected on the outside as if my father were not a monster at all, but a man.
Though he had indeed traumatized me to the point of breaking me, he hadn’t. He had never, not once in my sixteen years, caused me to scream. The idea gave me a sense of power like I’d never felt before.
Lokesh—I mentally vowed never to call him father again—had taken his knife to Dhiren and was weaving a spell. I saw light erupting around both of their frames. Before I could make a move, Kishan sprung. He crashed into my father, who used his power to thrust the prince away. As he tortured Kishan while a bound Dhiren attempted vainly to get to his feet, I noticed that Kishan had successfully wrenched the knife from Lokesh’s grasp.
The screams of the two princes stirred something fierce inside me. Something needed to be done. Someone needed to act. I vowed then to be that someone. Against every instinct I’d built over my sixteen years, I gripped the armrests of the golden chair where I sat and stood up.
Feeling freed from the shackles of Lokesh’s oppression, I lifted my arms, murmuring a plea to the gods that I might finally and truly be able to use my ability to heal and protect another. Like the koi fish, I thrust the power I carried inside toward the two princes.
My secret wish was answered. I could actually feel the wounds my father had inflicted on them close. Lokesh bellowed in frustration as I shifted silently, becoming invisible, and grabbed the knife Kishan had dropped on the floor.
I didn’t have experience with fighting like Deschen. I didn’t have a plan. But I had a weapon. Lokesh bent over Dhiren, twirling his talisman, and I struck. With all the force I could muster, I sank the knife deep into my father’s back. He shrieked in rage, and the sound gave me a moment’s satisfaction, but the moment didn’t last. I’d hoped that my attack would distract him long enough to allow the brothers to get away, but he wrenched the knife from his back and shrugged off the pain as if it had been the sting of a bee.
He headed toward Kishan, and becoming visible, I positioned myself front of him and thrust my hand against his chest, shouting, “You will not touch him!”
“Yesubai, no!” Kishan said weakly as he attempted to move me aside, but Lokesh was a tornado of fury. He used the power of the wind. It burst outward from his body in all directions, and as my father lifted me, tossing me aside so he could get to Kishan, the wind carried my body.
When I fell, my neck hit the dais and I heard a crack. I registered pain but only for an instant before a blessed numbness stifled it. Immediately the breath seized in my body. Everything stopped around me, and my surroundings took on a dream-like quality as an eerie silence descended.
I could see Kishan had gotten to his feet, but he seemed frozen, and I wondered if it was due to something Lokesh had done. Then I heard the tinkling of bells and a beautiful woman appeared before me. She took in the bloody scene of betrayal I had initiated and knelt down beside me. Her eyes were kind as she took my hand.
“Hello, Yesubai,” she said. “I’ve always wanted to meet you.”
She was dressed in a sparkling gown and her eyes were as green as a deep forest. She wore a golden circlet on her arm in the shape of a snake. After passing her hand slowly over my neck, she said, “You may speak if you wish.”
“Who…who are you? What’s happening?”
“I am the goddess Durga.”
“A goddess?” Tears filled my eyes. My prayers to the gods had indeed been answered. “Then you’re here to save us?”
Sadly, she shook her head. “No. That is not the reason I have come.”
“I don’t understand. Then why are you here?”
“As I said, I wanted to meet you.”
“Why?”
“I wanted to get a sense of who you are.” She glanced over at the men frozen in place and said quietly, “Specifically, I wanted to know if you loved him.”
/>
“Do I love who?”
“Kishan.”
Perhaps I’d hit my head too hard and was in a sort of waking dream, but the vision of the beautiful goddess seemed all too real to me. And there was something about her that made me want to confess the truth of things. “Yes,” I answered softly. “I love him. I’m sorry about what happened with Dhiren. He’s a good man. He didn’t deserve to be abused in this way. If I could go back and do things differently, I would.”
The goddess studied me and then nodded. “I believe you.”
“They don’t deserve to have their fate tied to my own.”
“I do not wish for you to worry over their fate, Yesubai.”
“But Lokesh—”
She touched her hand to my cheek, leaned down, and whispered, “Your father will be defeated but it will not happen at this time.”
“Will I live to see it?”
She paused, considered the question, and then said, almost as if it was against her better judgment, “I do not think as others do regarding knowing one’s future, so I will answer your question.” Taking my hand in hers, she enveloped mine. I only had a moment to wonder why I couldn’t feel it before she said, “You will not live out this day. The fall has broken your neck.”
“But I can heal myself.”
She shook her head. “The gift of protection and healing you offered the brothers came with a great cost. In defending the two of them, the power within you was consumed. You became truly mortal.”
Tears filled my eyes. She waited patiently beside me until I could speak again. “Have I proved myself to you then?”
“You have nothing to prove to me, Yesubai.”
“Perhaps not, but Kishan said that a gift would be bestowed on even the lowliest of creatures whom the gods deem worthy.”
The goddess hesitated then nodded slightly. “What gift do you seek?”
“Will you…take care of him?”
Soberly, with a hint of relief, she nodded. “I will. I will watch over both of the princes. This I promise you.”