“I have duties at night that keep me busy,” said Priya. “Not that I like it. I’ve missed you too. You have to tell me everything I’ve missed. Everything, okay?”
Sima laughed.
“Of course. Where should I start?”
“Tell me about Gauri first,” said Priya. “And Billu, if you like. And—”
And Rukh, she almost said. But then she paused. The words withered on her tongue, unspoken.
Of course. Rukh.
“And?” Sima asked.
Priya shook her head.
“Go on,” she told her. “Start with them. And you. I want to know what you’ve been doing without me, too.”
Thankfully, Sima began to talk without any further prompting. And Priya listened, and thought of the problem of Rukh. Rukh, and his rot, and his loyalties.
Rukh was loyal to the rebels. Rukh was a spy. Trapped here in the Hirana, with no day of ease, Priya couldn’t watch him. Couldn’t protect him from himself.
Priya knew it was her duty to tell Bhumika about him. She knew.
But she wasn’t going to.
The certainty of that seeped through her. Settled into her bones.
There was only so much a single servant boy could learn about the workings of the mahal. He was no trained spy. He was no assassin. He was just a child. He was young and idealistic and dying and alone, and she wouldn’t—couldn’t—be the one to send him back out into the city with nothing. And Bhumika would send him away if she knew the truth, of that Priya was sure.
For a boy with rot, with hunger, with no family… it would be a death sentence.
“I need a favor,” she said to Sima, when Sima eventually went quiet.
“Tell me.”
“Rukh,” she said, and Sima sighed, as if she’d guessed what was coming. “I—can you make sure he’s all right? He’s still so new to the mahal, he doesn’t really know how anything works. And can you check that he has enough sacred wood? If Lady Bhumika has provided any…？ I know it’s a lot to ask.”
“I told you I’d help you any way you need, didn’t I? I’ll try.”
“If he behaves oddly, or you’re worried, could you—send me a message somehow? Leave me a note when you visit?” Priya cursed inwardly. There was no way for her to say anything close to If he betrays the household, let me know with subtlety.
Sima gave her a measuring look, as if Priya’s words had struck her oddly. But she nodded anyway. “You know I will,” she said.
This time it was Priya who hugged her, so fierce that Sima protested, laughing, that she couldn’t breathe. So Priya drew back and said reluctantly, “I should go. The princess will be waking soon. I need to be ready.”
“You’re safe?” Sima blurted out. “And—well?”
“I’m just fine,” Priya said.
“And the princess…？”
“She isn’t a difficult mistress.”
“But still more mistress than you want, I expect,” Sima said, with the faintest, bitterest smile. She reached for Priya again. Clasped her hand, then let it go. “Take care, Priya. And… talk to me again. Assure me that you’re well.”
Priya shook her head. She felt all the banked fury in her, the itch that wanted nothing more than to fling off the responsibilities of the deathless waters and the ailing princess and return to the comforting weight of her normal life. Part of her wanted desperately to leave with Sima, to escape the trap she’d made for herself.
But the rest of her wanted to see this through.
“And what will you do if I’m not well, in the end?” Priya asked.
“Nothing,” Sima said. “I could do nothing. But I’d still want to know. That’s what friends want.”
Dawn came, and the maidservants left. As the first gray light filtered over her charpoy, the princess arose. She gave a groan and placed her face in her hands. Then she raised her head. Her hands trembled. The whites of her eyes were veined red.
“Priya,” she said. “I wish to bathe.”
Priya was used to gentle, strange requests from the princess when she was half asleep. But Malini was wide awake now, standing, her voice a firm command.
Surely it would break no laws to do this simple task, but still Priya touched the hard-earned key on her waist chain. Pramila, she hoped, would not yet be awake.
“I’ll warm the water, my lady,” Priya said, moving around the room to collect a drying cloth, soap, a comb.
“No. I need cold water. Now, please.” She held out one arm, sandalwood pale, beckoning Priya closer.