The Go-Between (The Nilaruna Cycles Book 1) by Andrea Ring

cocks her head. “Are
your parents ill?”
    I take a deep breath. “Shiva says
my father will be assassinated before this cycle ends. And my mother, yes, she
is ill. She doesn’t have long to live.”
    Nilaruna grabs my hand without
thinking about it, and this time, I let her. “Oh, your highness, I’m so sorry.
There are no words.” She squeezes tight.
    “Thank you,” I say. “Yes, it’s a
difficult time. Horrible things are happening on every front. I need something
to go right. I need you to say yes to our marriage.”
    Nilaruna gives my hand one more
gentle squeeze and pulls away from me. “My prince, Shiva said…he made it quite
clear…do you know how our marriage will end?”
    She turns her head and gives me
her profile, the healthy one. She focuses on me with a bright green eye. A
stunning eye. An eye that seems to read even my innermost thoughts.
    “Shiva told you of your fate, and
yet you are still sitting here speaking with me?”
    Nilaruna sighs. “I never thought
I’d have a happy life, nor a long one. When I volunteered to be the Go-Between,
I knew about the other girls’ deaths. I knew that was probably my fate. But I
also didn’t have a purpose for my death, and that troubled me. This would at
least give my life some meaning.”
    We joked about touching one
another, but the conclusion, it seemed to me, was that it wouldn’t happen. Not
on purpose anyway.
    But I do it without thinking.
    I grab Nilaruna’s shoulders and
shake her. “I will not let you die, do you hear me? Not on my watch. There is
danger, and there is risk, but I vow to you, Nilaruna Nandal, that if there is
still breath in my lungs, I will return you to your beloved.”
    A tear leaks from her mangled
eye. “I believe you. I will marry you, Prince Kai.”
    I smile — I cannot help it.
This creature is not someone I would have ever considered marrying, but
circumstances are dire. I accomplished at least one thing on my list. At the
very least, this bolsters my spirits.
    “I must speak with your father,”
I say. I start to rise, but Nilaruna speaks again.
    “My lord, I have one more
stipulation.”
    I sit back down.
    “I need to speak with Maja again.
I need to explain to him what’s happened. And…I need to say goodbye.”
    “I told you I will return you to
him,” I say. “A goodbye is unnecessary.”
    She gives me a scathing look, and
I lower my eyes to the ground.
    “Do not start this marriage off
with promises you cannot keep,” she says. “Only truth between us. If I’m going
to die for you, that’s the least you can do for me.”
    I raise my gaze back to her eyes,
and I focus on the scarred one.
    This girl is one my citizens,
entrusted to my care. I have vowed protection for every single person in my
kingdom, and here I am, asking for a woman to turn around and protect me.
    I am a snake.
    “Perhaps this was a mistake,” I
say.
    She frowns. “I ask you to
negotiate with the gods and you do not balk, but when I ask for honesty, you
run away?”
    “That is not what I meant. I…I
didn’t know you when I set off to find you. I thought nothing of you and only
of myself. Yes, I have vowed to keep you safe, but as you said, it is an empty
promise. Shiva has seen your death in exchange for my life, and I may not be
able to change that. It is cruel and heartless of me to pretend otherwise.
    “Shiva said that I can pick any
maiden in the kingdom for my bride, and no matter who it is, I will be saved
and the kingdom will be stable. But when I expressed reservations about having
my bride die for me, he suggested I find a woman who will do her duty for the
kingdom. Who is strong and brave. Who will come to love me, and will be willing
to die for that love. He named you as this woman.”
    Nilaruna’s mouth falls open. “But
he knows I love Maja. And he knows I am not fickle.”
    I shrug. “I do not know you well
enough to judge his assessment. I’m simply trying to do the right thing for
Jatani. And I’m sorry