Page 24 of The Seeker
“You mean like you do?”
“Anamitra’s legacy cannot be preserved on gigabytes!” Patiala waved her hand in a shooing gesture. “Or whatever it is you use to record them.”
Her mother might have looked the same age as Meera, but they were generations apart regarding modern technology. Meera still had to help her mother use email. “Mata, it’s not… Never mind.” She turned to her father. “You haven’t even met this man, but you’re comfortable with him pestering me?”
Maarut narrowed his eyes. “I don’t like any scribe pestering you. I’d rather we were back in Udaipur where we know what the dangers are.”
“Father, please,” Meera said. “We’re not doing this again.”
Her father flared his nostrils. “Yes, Meera Bai.”
“Don’t do that.” She was still uncomfortable with the fact that, technically, her parents were under her authority now that Anamitra was gone.
She couldn’t even have an old-fashioned argument with them anymore. In the end, it was their duty to submit to her wishes. She’d used that power to her advantage when it came time to move to the United States, but it still felt wrong and unnatural.
“I’ll consider this Rhys,” she said, relenting, “but I still want to have some time to get to know him. And Father, if you had time to visit the city and meet him, that would set me at ease.”
Her father’s expression softened. “I’d be happy to do that.”
She quirked her mouth into a smile. “I know you’re missing my pullout couch.”
“I’ll be sleeping on the porch if that couch is my only option,” Maarut said. “Wooden boards are more comfortable than metal bars.”
Roch and Patiala started laughing, but Meera caught the satisfied glance that passed between her parents.
What are you up to?
“I don’t like it.”
Meera glanced over to see Vasu standing near the window in her room, staring out at the oak trees in the moonlight.
“Don’t barge in on me, Vasu.” Meera was reading in bed. “What if I were getting dressed?”
“I saw you born. I saw you take your first steps. I have seen your death.” Vasu turned and cocked his head to the side, examining her. “But it embarrasses you to think I might see you without clothes?”
“Yes. You don’t have rights to me or my body. Don’t assume them just because you are an angel.”
“And don’t assume I would take them.” He slumped into the corner chaise. “All my lovers came willingly to me. Not that you will ever be my lover. You are too important for that.”
Meera frowned. “You have such a twisted sense of sexual relationships.”
“And you don’t? Your first lover was chosen by your great-aunt to educate you in magical sexual practices. The humans you’ve chosen since—”
“I’m not discussing this with you.” It struck Meera that Vasu knew more about her than any living being. Which was slightly depressing. Then again, she didn’t have normal friends. She didn’t have normal relationships. Not even her parents treated her as they would treat a typical daughter.
“The only slightly normal relationships I have,” she mused, “are with people who don’t know who I am. And… you.”
“I know. You’re very lucky.” He lifted a lock of his hair and started braiding it. “I don’t like it.”
“Don’t like what?”
“You. Here. Why did you leave the fortress?”
Meera took a moment to think before she responded. “I think it’s because the only normal relationships I have are with people who don’t know who I am and you.”
“You can’t have normal relationships. You’re the heir of Anamitra. You will always be different.”
“I can try.”
