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
“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
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