abilities
were gifts from a goddess.
He smiled as if taunting a child with a toy. “You can see there are two missing pieces.”
“These are the pieces I’m looking for?”
“Yes. Once the amulet is made whole, there won’t be anything or anyone I can’t control.
I will be invincible. And if you’re very lucky, you’ll live to bask in my glory. It
won’t be the same as if you were a son, but I never close myself off to new…opportunities.”
He cupped my chin in his hand, his grip tight. “If only you had a bit of fire in your
blood.”
A son? Who would he...? Deschen. She was the woman he lusted for.
“But Deschen might be past her childbearing years.”
“Yes. That is a possibility,” he admitted. “This is why I’m entertaining the notion
of allowing you to marry one of the princes. If I cannot have a son to mold in my
image, perhaps a grandson will do.”
The idea that my father could become even more powerful was astonishing. Everything
made sense. The reason I’d been sent. The skirmishes with the Rajaram family. It was
all to get those amulets and to wrest Deschen from her family.
Now that I knew my father’s true motivation, it was even more imperative that I hide
my abilities. If he knew what I could do, he’d mold me and my progeny into what he
was—a murderous, power-hungry, vessel of evil. The weaker and more docile I appeared
to be, the less he would see me, and the less he saw, the less villainy he’d expect
me to participate in.
“You know what I expect,” he said. “You have two weeks to either announce your betrothal
or find those medallions. For every day after that, I will send you one of Isha’s
fingers in a box.”
Swallowing my horror, my eyes filling with frustrated tears, I murmured, “Yes, Father.”
When I looked up, he was gone.
Five
Betrothed
Sleep eluded me for the remainder of the night. That my father could gain access to
the palace grounds so easily frightened me more than I liked to admit. I despaired,
thinking that I would never truly gain any semblance of freedom, that my father’s
shadow would haunt me and those around me for the rest of my life.
Still, knowing that he had gone to such lengths to insert me into the Rajaram household
meant there must be a limit to what he could do. The fact that he needed me to accomplish
his purpose was an indication that he wasn’t all-powerful. Perhaps, if I was very
careful, and very clever, there might be a way to circumvent his plans, but such a
betrayal would come with a high price. If I was to move against him, I needed to be
absolutely certain of success.
By the time the sun rose, I was dressed and sought out Deschen. Despite the short
time I’d been around her, I sensed that she could be trusted, and if there was one
thing I needed to beat my father at his own game, it was a powerful ally.
I was told that Deschen was in her women’s room and entered without knocking only
to find the queen wrapped in the arms of her husband. Of course, I knew I should have
left immediately, but my feet were rooted to the spot.
The emperor was a handsome man, much like his son, Kishan, the man I’d been thinking
of for weeks despite my determination not to. Deschen’s husband wore his power like
a mantle across his shoulders, and yet he held his wife as tenderly as if she were
a precious flower.
She obviously didn’t fear him in any way. In fact, she boldly wriggled away when she
noticed me and appeared to fear no reprisal whatsoever in rejecting him. Her husband
laughed, not at all angry when she pummeled her fists against his chest, and he seemed
not even remotely embarrassed to be caught passionately embracing his wife. He moved
behind her, wrapped his arms around her waist, and politely asked if I’d slept well.
Though I opened my mouth to reply, no words came to me, and Deschen rescued me from
the awkward situation by reminding him that I was
were gifts from a goddess.
He smiled as if taunting a child with a toy. “You can see there are two missing pieces.”
“These are the pieces I’m looking for?”
“Yes. Once the amulet is made whole, there won’t be anything or anyone I can’t control.
I will be invincible. And if you’re very lucky, you’ll live to bask in my glory. It
won’t be the same as if you were a son, but I never close myself off to new…opportunities.”
He cupped my chin in his hand, his grip tight. “If only you had a bit of fire in your
blood.”
A son? Who would he...? Deschen. She was the woman he lusted for.
“But Deschen might be past her childbearing years.”
“Yes. That is a possibility,” he admitted. “This is why I’m entertaining the notion
of allowing you to marry one of the princes. If I cannot have a son to mold in my
image, perhaps a grandson will do.”
The idea that my father could become even more powerful was astonishing. Everything
made sense. The reason I’d been sent. The skirmishes with the Rajaram family. It was
all to get those amulets and to wrest Deschen from her family.
Now that I knew my father’s true motivation, it was even more imperative that I hide
my abilities. If he knew what I could do, he’d mold me and my progeny into what he
was—a murderous, power-hungry, vessel of evil. The weaker and more docile I appeared
to be, the less he would see me, and the less he saw, the less villainy he’d expect
me to participate in.
“You know what I expect,” he said. “You have two weeks to either announce your betrothal
or find those medallions. For every day after that, I will send you one of Isha’s
fingers in a box.”
Swallowing my horror, my eyes filling with frustrated tears, I murmured, “Yes, Father.”
When I looked up, he was gone.
Five
Betrothed
Sleep eluded me for the remainder of the night. That my father could gain access to
the palace grounds so easily frightened me more than I liked to admit. I despaired,
thinking that I would never truly gain any semblance of freedom, that my father’s
shadow would haunt me and those around me for the rest of my life.
Still, knowing that he had gone to such lengths to insert me into the Rajaram household
meant there must be a limit to what he could do. The fact that he needed me to accomplish
his purpose was an indication that he wasn’t all-powerful. Perhaps, if I was very
careful, and very clever, there might be a way to circumvent his plans, but such a
betrayal would come with a high price. If I was to move against him, I needed to be
absolutely certain of success.
By the time the sun rose, I was dressed and sought out Deschen. Despite the short
time I’d been around her, I sensed that she could be trusted, and if there was one
thing I needed to beat my father at his own game, it was a powerful ally.
I was told that Deschen was in her women’s room and entered without knocking only
to find the queen wrapped in the arms of her husband. Of course, I knew I should have
left immediately, but my feet were rooted to the spot.
The emperor was a handsome man, much like his son, Kishan, the man I’d been thinking
of for weeks despite my determination not to. Deschen’s husband wore his power like
a mantle across his shoulders, and yet he held his wife as tenderly as if she were
a precious flower.
She obviously didn’t fear him in any way. In fact, she boldly wriggled away when she
noticed me and appeared to fear no reprisal whatsoever in rejecting him. Her husband
laughed, not at all angry when she pummeled her fists against his chest, and he seemed
not even remotely embarrassed to be caught passionately embracing his wife. He moved
behind her, wrapped his arms around her waist, and politely asked if I’d slept well.
Though I opened my mouth to reply, no words came to me, and Deschen rescued me from
the awkward situation by reminding him that I was
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