Page 16 of Her Radiant Curse

“Now, now, Khuan. I mean no offense. Vanna is special. That much is clear. But my queen is the source of my gold, and without my gold, you wouldn’t invite me here—now, would you?”

Adah smiles uneasily while Meguh bursts into laughter. His laugh is an ugly sound; it reminds me of the broken bell that peals from the Temple of Dawn every morning, harsh and unbalanced. I hear it even from the jungle.

As he laughs, I shake my head, thinking of how little I understand men. As I take out a cloth to catch a stray lizard that’s going after my plate of Mama’s cakes, I notice Meguh’s beady eyes rake over my sister. I shudder with revulsion as he licks his lips, and my hand instinctively grips the hilt of my paring knife. I’ll gut him if he ever harms her.

“I thought Bonemaker’s Arena was the source of your gold,” Adah is saying.

“Only recently,” Meguh replies, stroking the giant white stone around his neck. It hangs from a heavy gold chain, like a moon enslaved. “You must come see it one day. I’ve even brought my best fighter with me, in case the contest for your daughter’s hand needs to be settled in a more…old-fashioned way.”

Adah’s smile thins. A fight is the last thing he wants. This selection is supposed to be about gold, not bloodshed. “I have no doubt that you’ll win her.”

“I know, I know. You’re simply trying to keep the peace, Khuan. I can appreciate that.”

I curl my lip, disgusted with both Meguh and my father. In my hand, the lizard squirms free, leaping for the plate by Mama’s shrine and burying itself in a sugary pillow of cake.

“Get away from there,” I whisper. “That’s disrespectful.”

I lurch after the lizard, trying to grab it by its tail, but I might as well catch a fly with my fingernails. It hops onto the head of Mama’s statue, and as its legs kick up, Mama falls back and rolls off the shrine—

She lands with a quiet thud.

Outside, Meguh rises from the bench. He tips his chin in my direction. “What was that?”

I duck, pressing my back against the wall. I dare not move, not even to close the curtains. The lizard scampers free, hopping out of the crack between the curtains.

“Th-th-that?” Adah splutters. “I didn’t hear anything.”

“Sounds like you’re hiding something.”

“No. No. That…that was nothing. Probably a monkey.”

“I’m certain I saw someone.” Meguh’s voice grows closer, and I sink deeper into a shadow. “I heard you have another daughter, Khuan. One who is rather…unique.”

I stiffen. Unique is not a word commonly used to describe me.

“I’d rather not speak of her, Your Majesty.”

King Meguh’s curiosity is piqued. “So it’s true: she’s a monster.”

I don’t need to hear Adah’s response. I lift myself slowly and peek out at my father and the king.

Adah makes me hide whenever one of Vanna’s suitors comes to call so the sight of me won’t diminish my sister’s value. But with Meguh, I sense there’s more to it. With the others, Adah will lock me in the rice barn or banish me to the kitchen. When Meguh calls, it’s Lintang, not Adah, who comes for me. She doesn’t make me hide—she makes me leave the house altogether.

Quickly now, she’ll tell me. Off to the jungle.

Adah never sends me to the jungle.

But what about my chores?

Never mind that. Go. Don’t come back until the torch on the gate has been lit.

The first time, I was confused. I thought I was being punished, but Lintang is never cruel to me, even though her kindnesses are rare. Not until years later, when I first saw Meguh, did I understand that she pitied me. That was when I started to stay.

“Come now, relax.” Another laugh rumbles from Meguh’s bulging throat. “You’re about to be a rich man.”

Their voices grow distant, and I hear the elephant trumpet once more as the servants prepare the mount. I creep forward as Vanna and Lintang escort the king out of the courtyard. My sister bows to Meguh, and his servants bestow on Adah more gifts and flowers. But as King Meguh climbs onto the back of his elephant, he steals another glance in the direction of the kitchen.

In the direction of me.

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