Page 98 of Her Soul for a Crown
“Where do you go with Kama?”
Ask no questions, tell no secrets.
Anula tucked the knife into her sari. Again, his intent felt more like concern than curiosity…but was that so wrong? “To see a friend who doesn’t know she’s in trouble.”
“Oh.” Reeri blinked in surprise. “I hope all ends well.”
“I won’t let it end any other way.” Anula left Reeri and opened the bedchamber door, vowing that when she claimed the crown, her first act would be to protect the kingdom from those above andbelowthe ground. Nothing would harm her people. That’s all she cared about.
“Good morning, my raejina consort.” Bithul bowed. “The commander is waiting.”
“Bring Kama to the administration building.”
Bithul stilled, half-bent. “Does this have to do with a certain offering she’s expecting?”
Anula raised a brow.
“Unlike my ankles, my ears are uninjured, my raejina consort.”
“Bring her.”
“Do not let hatred beget more hatred. Think of the kingdom. What is the most important thing, now?”
Justice. The word rang through Anula. It had always been justice, as Auntie Nirma had taught her, as Reeri agreed. The Kattadiya flashed in her mind. Their idea of justice was wrong. Not hers.
Right?
“Don’t do anything rash.”
Anula scowled as she marched down the hall and called back, “I am not rash.”
A sighed followed her.
***
The weight of the knife pulled at Anula’s side as she walked into the room where men had once sat at the long table and refused to listen to her.
Now a man stood, waiting for her to be seated first. Anula touched a finger to her necklace. There were so many ways to stop a heart. But Kama wanted one still beating, Reeri wanted a trial and sentence different than Prophet Ayaan’s, and Auntie Nirma wanted the deaths of the men responsible for evil.
“My raejina consort.” Commander Dilshan bowed. Gray hair topped a tall man. Leathery skin and deep wrinkles evidenced that he was a soldier of a long war, living in the elements instead of the palace. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”
His voice was as rough as she remembered, as smug and unaffected. The lack of smile proved his lie, but was death the sentence he deserved? Amma and Thaththa hadn’t deserved to die that night, and yet the man before her had chosen it for them.
Anula sat, held up a hand when he moved to do the same. “I know what you’ve done.”
Commander Dilshan raised both brows. “And what is that?”
He did not use her title. She tore her gaze away and reached for the tea on the table. “Do you care for all the people of Anuradhapura?”
“Of course,” he said, gruff and impatient.
“Even the small villages?”
Silence rang out. Dilshan glanced at the door. Anula poured him a cup of tea, her finger tracing a small diamond at her throat, a sapphire to its right. When he was satisfied that no one was listening, he growled, “Who told you?”
At least he had the boldness to admit to it. “Prophet Ayaan.”
Dilshan frowned. “The prophet? How? Did he foresee my rule?”
