Page 113 of The Burning Mountain
“Wait!” he called. “Where are you going to stay? Moti Mahal?”
“Of course,” she said and threw a bitter smile at him over her shoulder. Shota’s ever-present inscrutable expression broke for a moment, showing the underlying concern, and he stumbled forward, a hand raised as if to console her. But Sameera soon disabused him of that notion by drying her eyes and stepping away. She gave him a grim smile to indicate she was all right, but knew it wobbled at the edges. “Home sweet home.”
He flinched. Probably remembering a long ago promise he had made to her—to give her a place away from where she was born, with which she had a love-hate relationship.
For better or worse, she couldn’t run away from the truth. She was born in a courtesan house, and it would always be her home no matter how much she tried to distance herself from it. Whenever she tried to have a life or relationship, outside the narrow perimeter society drew for her, she only ended up hurting herself further.
55
THE REJECTION
“Iwant to come with you,” said Chandra without preamble the minute she walked into the room.
Veer gave a sigh that came from the depths of his being and set down hiskalam. He had been drafting a missive to one of their frontier garrisons.
Since Vivismati’s withdrawal of support, Bheesmala had given orders to have the mirrors on Rajgarh’s side covered up as well, to protect them from the elements. Without Pourava’s magic, they would degrade rapidly, not lasting a year. The plan was to use them only in times of extreme need to prolong their life. It created additional problems that Rajgarh could ill afford. “Greetings to you, too, Princess,” he said evenly.
Chandra flushed but gave him a quick bow and seated herself.
Exhausted, Veer didn’t look forward to this conversation. He knew what she was going to say, and he had decided on his answer a long time ago. She would disagree with his decision, he knew, but he would rather suffer her anger and hate than allow her to go into danger again.
Chandra sat straighter as he got up to pace the chamber, hands behind his back.
“Why do you want to come so badly?” he asked after a while.
“Because I made a promise to see this to the end.” She twisted in her seat to follow his progress, her eyes wary.
“You’re not needed, Princess,” he said gently, trying to soften the blow.
She stiffened despite the implied assurance that he didn’t mean it personally. “I’m aware, but have you considered that Virat might be there? My brother can work the Lotus Key, but he’s also susceptible to Virat’s powers.”
“And you aren’t?”
Chandra glanced down. “No. But I’ve been working on building better resistance with Vihari’s help. I know I still have a ways to go, but my brother has absolutely no experience in resisting mind control.”
“It’s not the same as working with Vihari,” he countered, as he stepped close and stood looking down at her. “Honestly, I regret I ever taught you how to work with him.”
It wasn’t exactly a lie. He had requested Vihari to allow her to form a blood bond with him, mostly to help her understand that aspect of his magical abilities, but he didn’t know it would lead to this.
He did wish her to build resistance against Virat, now more so than ever, since he had threatened her outright, but it also put her in the unique position of being one of the few people who could, potentially break or resist, Virat’s mental hold.
Chandra flushed angrily. “I’m concerned you and my only brother are going into known danger, and you’re asking me to sit safe and do nothing when I could help.”
“And there, Princess, is your greatest miscalculation about this entire argument,” he said, folding his arms across his chest.“You’re allowed to be concerned for our safety, but we aren’t allowed to do the same for you?”
“I’m not preventing you from going,” she argued. “All I ask is that I be allowed to come with you. Haven’t I managed well so far, in this quest?”
Veer leaned down and deliberately ran his finger across the thin, barely visible scar across her cheek.
“Oh really, so this scar is something you’ve always had?” he asked. Her eyes widened at the sarcastic insult and Veer had never felt less like celebrating victory at winning a score. He buried that weakness and straightened once again, spearing her with a hard look.
“Do not make the mistake of thinking Virat’s an ordinary wizard. He is much more powerful and ruthless than seven years ago. He is a variation on apreta, an abomination that shouldn’t have existed. He’ll kill you on sight.”
“But…” she protested.
“Enough, my decision is final,” said Veer firmly. Chandra seemed to shrink at the quiet intensity in his voice, but her eyes remained mutinous.
Veer knew enough about Chandra to understand that she would never choose the safe option when others were in danger. Which left it up to him to dissuade her. By any means necessary. He couldn’t use logic, because her reasoning for going to Meru with them was actually a sound one.
