The Princess Read online

  The former Go-Between, Nilaruna Nandal, has fulfilled Shiva’s prophecy—she drank the poison meant for someone else, and saved both the king and Prince Kai in the process. Maja, her love, came to her aid and saved her life. And then he left.

  Nili’s still unsure of what her heart is telling her, the assassin still lurks, and the rebellion is rising…

  The Princess

  Book 2 in The Nilaruna Cycles

  Andrea Ring

  Table of Contents

  I. HAADY

  II. NILARUNA

  III. PRINCE KAI

  IV. THE KING

  V. FAARIS

  VI. NILARUNA

  VII. MANOJ

  VIII. HAADY

  IX. THE KING

  X. CHIEF BARUN

  XI. FAARIS

  XII. SAPHALA

  XIII. NILARUNA

  XIV. HAADY

  XV. PRINCE KAI

  XVI. AALIYAH

  XVII. MAJA

  XVIII. TANAYA

  XIX. HAADY

  XX. FAARIS

  XXI. SAPHALA

  XXII. NILARUNA

  XXIII. PRINCE KAI

  XXIV. THE KING

  XXV. HAADY

  XXVI. TANAYA

  XXVII. AALIYAH

  XXVIII. MAJA

  XXIX. NILARUNA

  XXX. SAPHALA

  XXXI. THE KING

  XXXII. AALIYAH

  XXXIII. MAJA

  XXXIV. PRINCE KAI

  XXXV. FAARIS

  XXXVI. TANAYA

  XXXVII. MAJA

  XXXVIII. SAPHALA

  XXXIX. THE KING

  XL. NILARUNA

  XLI. LILI

  XLII. TANAYA

  XLIII. MAJA

  XLIV. PRINCE KAI

  XLV. SAPHALA

  XLVI. NILARUNA

  XLVII. MANOJ

  XLVIII. TANAYA

  XLIX. AALIYAH

  L. LILI

  LI. THE KING

  LII. NILARUNA

  LIII. TANAYA

  LIV. PRINCE KAI

  LV. MAJA

  LVI. HAADY

  LVII. AALIYAH

  LVIII. FAARIS

  LIX. NILARUNA

  LX. TANAYA

  LXI. CHIEF BARUN

  LXII. MANOJ

  LXIII. PRINCE KAI

  LXIV. NILARUNA

  LXV. SAPHALA

  LXVI. LILI

  LXVII. MAJA

  LXVIII. FAARIS

  LXIX. THE KING

  LXX. NILARUNA

  LXXI. TANAYA

  LXXII. AALIYAH

  LXXIII. FAARIS

  LXXIV. PRINCE KAI

  LXXV. NILARUNA

  LXXVI. HAADY

  LXXVII. LILI

  LXXVIII. NILARUNA

  LXXIX. MAJA

  FAQs

  About the Author

  Copyright Page

  I. HAADY

  I roll over on the sand and stare up at the blurred sky. My eyes burn, and closing them doesn’t help. They sting fiercely with every blink.

  I gag. I manage to turn my head to the side in time to vomit a gallon of salt water. The vomit is tinged pink with blood, and I panic for a moment, wondering if I’m bleeding inside. But when I run my tongue around the inside of my mouth, I find two open bleeding sores. Spending a night in the ocean has rubbed everything raw.

  I climb to my knees. Just a touch more strength, and I’ll be able to climb to my feet. And if I cannot find that strength, I will force myself to crawl.

  It is not a sense of self-preservation that drives me, oh no. I am a servant, and my life has never been my own. Even alone now, away from my master, in a different province, I do not wish to save my own life for myself.

  I am what I am.

  A servant.

  Yesterday I served Lord Parsa of Bhutan.

  Today I serve the mistress Justice.

  I climb to my feet.

  I take two steps forward. And another.

  One more.

  Saphala Parsa tried to murder me.

  Twice.

  I will see that justice is served.

  II. NILARUNA

  I carefully unwrap Kai’s arms from around my chest and try to ease my legs off the side of the bed without waking him. Kai grunts and snuggles closer, trapping me.

  “Where are you going?” he mumbles.

  “I need air,” I say. “I need to walk. I can’t sleep.”

  He sits up and looks down at me. “May I join you?”

  I nod.

  We slept in our clothes. After Maja saved my life, we were both so exhausted that we just fell in a heap in my bed, clinging to each other. Now that the crisis has passed, my body has rested but my mind won’t quiet.

  Mita, the palace seamstress and the one-time love and mistress of the king, tried to poison him. It was just dumb luck that I was the first one to drink the tainted wine.

  Luck is the wrong word, though. Shiva, the most manipulative god in our pantheon, told us this was coming. We didn’t know who the traitor would be, or how they would strike, but we knew I would be poisoned at some point.

  That’s why Maja tricked Shiva into making him a god, so that he could save my life. My heart still beats because of Maja, the man I gave myself, body and soul, to, the man I pledged to marry, the god who chose to give me up so that I could marry Prince Kai, save the kingdom, and have a long, happy life.

  I still love him. True love does not expire because the object of that love leaves. True love endures, and what I felt – no, feel — for Maja is true.

  But I can never be with him.

  And now, after spending time with Kai, and getting to know him, and seeing his heart and spirit, I love him, too. But it feels like my feelings for one make a mockery of the other. How can I love two men? I have but one heart, and to love another, it should be fully engaged.

  Maybe I love no one. Maybe love is something I do not understand.

  “Ready?” Kai asks, holding out my cloak for me. I nod, and he slips it over my shoulders. I place the veil over my scarred face.

  We exit my chambers and head for the stairs. One of the guards from my door trails at a discreet distance behind us.

  “Shall we go outside?” Kai asks me.

  “If you don’t mind,” I say.

  “I know the perfect place.”

  III. PRINCE KAI

  I’m steeling myself for this walk and the conversation I fear we’re about to have.

  This afternoon, I was helpless. Nili was paralyzed and dying from an assassination attempt on my father, and I could do nothing but scream for the man she loves to save her.

  Why would she choose me after that? If I were her, I’d run as fast as I could into Maja’s arms and never look back. Who cares if they can never marry or have children? After her accident, Nili knew she’d never have those things. All she wanted was a man who would love her and accept her.

  Maja did that.

  And despite my upbringing and my status, I too did that. Me, a prince, a man expected to marry someone from the highest station, met Nilaruna Nandal, an untouchable, and fell in love. And I don’t care that she’s scarred, I don’t care that Shiva insists that we marry, I don’t care about my duty or my kingdom or any of that horse shit that comes with my royal birth. I just fell in love with an extraordinary woman.

  I’ve never been in love before. I didn’t know…oh, gods, the feelings, the angst, the contentment and frustration…I knew none if it. And when Nili leaves me…

  I lead her through the kitchens and out the side entrance to the gardens. Nili used to tend the herb garden for her father, who is the greatest healer in the village of Dabani. Since our gardens are similar, I hope they bring her a measure of peace.

  “Oh, Kai,” she says, running ahead of me o
n the path. She kneels down and puts her face in a clump of mint. “This reminds of me of home.”

  I squat next to her. “Is that good or bad?”

  She sighs. “Good. Herbs have always comforted me.”

  “Do you need comfort?”

  She sits down and leans on her right side, careful of the scar tissue on the left. “I’m troubled,” she admits.

  I swallow hard. “Can you share your troubles with me?”

  She plucks a stem of mint and rubs the leaves between her fingers.

  “I want to leave,” she says, and my heart sinks to my feet. “Now that Shiva’s prophecy has been fulfilled, you can choose any bride in the kingdom. You and your father are going to live, and you don’t need me anymore.”

  I blink hard. I try to swallow the lump in my throat, but I fear that if I speak, I will cry.

  “If I leave, I get to be with Maja,” she says. “I could sense it, the way he feels about me, when he healed me. It’s still there. He still loves me. I think I could convince him that marriage and family are not something I need.”

  Tears well in my eyes, and I bow my head. “I…I understand, Nili,” I whisper.

  She turns her head to me. “Do you? How can you understand it if I do not? Because Kai, I do want to leave and be with Maja. I would have a simple, content life filled with love. But I cannot leave.”

  “You said it yourself,” I tell her. “The prophecy has been fulfilled. I’m sure Shiva—”

  “I don’t care about Shiva!” she growls. “Or the kingdom. Or the fate of the untouchables. The only thing I care about right now is you.”

  I raise my head. “Me?”

  “I still love Maja. But when I think about running away from here, it hurts to breathe. I would be leaving behind a mountain of problems, but I’d also be leaving you. I don’t want to leave you. I love you, Kai.”

  My breath catches in my throat. “You what?”

  “I love you. I know that I’m asking a lot. I’m no one, nothing to a prince, and a part of me will always love the first man who was able to see past my scars, but…I won’t be able to live with myself if I walk away from you without telling you how I feel, without asking you to give me a chance.

  “I love you, Kai. I love your drawings, and your smile, and your great big heart. I love that you have the unbreakable loyalty and friendship of two amazing men. I love that you have been honest with me since the day we met, even if that honesty made us both uncomfortable. I just love you.”

  I turn my head away from her so that she can’t see my tears.

  “And I understand,” she says. “You don’t have to say anything. I’ll pack my things and be out by morning.”

  She starts to rise but I pull her back down. I reach out and pull the veil from her head. She turns away.

  “Please look at me,” I say.

  She does.

  I climb to one knee and grasp her hands tightly in mine.

  She gasps.

  “Nilaruna Nandal, you are the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with. I love you with the heat of a thousand suns, and the depth of the greatest ocean, and with the breadth of my very soul. I love you. Say you’ll marry me.”

  Nili launches herself at me. She plasters her lips to mine and kisses me soundly.

  I laugh against her scars. “Is that a yes?”

  “Yes!”

  IV. THE KING

  As soon as Kai whisked Nilaruna back to her chambers for some rest, I banished my attendants from my rooms and crawled into bed. Where I did not sleep.

  Mita tried to poison me, and almost killed Nilaruna in the process. How did I not see what she was, the bitter, grasping woman she had become? It must be the sickness in my brain — it’s blinding me to reality. I can no longer trust my own judgment.

  Shiva says I have about forty days left to live. Forty days to get Kai married, to position him properly so that when the untouchables rebel, he can maintain stability. Forty days to see my plan through. I can do it, if my brain does not betray me.

  And then there is Zara, the wildcard in this game. Had I known she existed, would I have done anything differently? Would I have banished Mita from my life and bed, knowing we created a daughter together?

  That one decision, to put my ailing wife and son ahead of the love of my life, may have created the current crisis. If Mita is in league with the rebellion, I pushed her into it. She said it herself: she wasn’t noble enough. A twist of fate at birth kept her from the life she wanted and felt she deserved.

  But The Book of the Dying makes it clear — we are born to the station in life we deserve. Our past dictates our present. Mita wasn’t born a noble for a reason.

  I was born to royal parents, but I fear my actions in this life will sentence me to a different fate in the next. And if that’s the case, it doesn’t mean that I’m evil or unworthy, but that the gods are giving me another chance to make things right. How many lives have we all had? How many chances do we need to live the perfect life? Many. Infinite. We’re all just trying to get it right.

  My sickness has turned me into a philosopher. I’ve never had the time nor the inclination to think of these things. But imminent death gives one a new perspective on life.

  Kai is about to marry an untouchable — who would have guessed these turns of events? And she’s a worthy woman, her character up to the task. I have raised him to be a better man than I’ve ever been. Maybe that will earn me some points with the gods in the next life.

  My head aches. It makes me sick to my stomach. I cough weakly, trying to hold down the bile rising in my throat.

  “Shiva,” I manage to gasp.

  He appears and flings himself next to me on my bed.

  “You’re about to have a seizure,” he says.

  “Hand me that damn stick.”

  Shiva grabs the gnawed branch from my bedside table and thrusts it between my teeth.

  “Deep breaths, Jagir,” he says. “This is going to be a rough one.”

  I turn gently on my side, careful of the ends of the stick in my mouth. And then it hits.

  My body goes rigid, and then spasms uncontrollably. My eyes roll back into my head, and my jaw clamps down on the stick so hard that the wood sticks in my teeth. Pain sears through me, my brain rattles in my skull…

  I wake on the floor, staring at one of my lost slippers beneath the bed. My mouth is so dry it’s as though I’ve been chewing sawdust. I lick my lips and taste blood.

  “Here,” Shiva says, dabbing at my lip with a cloth. “Let me help you back to bed.”

  My right arm throbs as I roll over and try to sit up. I must have fallen on it. Shiva takes my other arm and pulls me into bed none too delicately.

  He plumps up some pillows and sets them behind my back. “Do you need a moment?”

  “I haven’t got a moment,” I say. “Just tell me. What’s the mood in the kingdom?”

  “Suspicious,” Shiva says. “The system of runners we’ve had in place did their job, maybe too well. The news of the wedding was leaked three days ago, but your spies are just now beginning to arrive back in Indrapur to report to you. Chief Barun is collecting the reports. He’ll be calling on you in a couple of hours.”

  “Explain suspicious,” I say.

  “Bhutan and Asmar are taking the news with a grain of salt, shall we say. They don’t believe it. They think word of the rebellion has spread to the capital, and this is just a placating gesture.”

  “That’s among the untouchables,” I say. “What of the nobles?”

  “Incredulous. And some are furious. Their daughters were the ones who were supposed to be princess. They’re ready to slit your throat.”

  “Is there anyone on our side from the nobility?”

  “Those in Indrapur and Dabani, in particular. The ones who know Kai are supportive — maybe surprised as well, but supportive. Dabani is already celebrating. Expect a visit from Nilaruna’s parents — they have to show up to save face in the village. I would
advise treating them with due respect.”

  I wave a hand in the air. “I’ll leave that up to Kai and Nilaruna. But I’ll pass along the advice.”

  “As you will. There’s also one noble family in Bhutan who is reserving judgment. The Parsas. Seems that Lord Parsa has a brother who ran off to Dabani to be a fisherman. That brother happens to be the father of my mistress. I’ve had no direct dealings with Lord Parsa, but he’s sympathetic to his brother’s plight.”

  “Is he in league with the rebels?”

  “Being blackmailed by them, actually. He’s not a traitor, but he has fostered his untouchable niece for the past six cycles in the hopes of turning her into a princess. That niece now lives in the palace.”

  I sit up straighter. “Let me see if I’m following this. Lord Parsa’s niece…so your mistress’s cousin, no, sister…is here now? Is she a part of the rebellion?”

  “I don’t know,” Shiva says. “Lili, my love, she has never liked her sister. Too concerned with social climbing and appearances for Lili’s tastes. I’ve never given her a second thought.”

  I cough. “I’ll pass this news to Kai. He can deal with it.” I pause to cough some more. “I’m opening the ports. Those from the other provinces will want to attend the wedding, and they’ll want to see Nilaruna with their own eyes.” Shiva looks away. “Is there a reason I shouldn’t do this?”

  “It suits your plan,” he says. “But you know what I think about your plan.”

  “Hmph. Let us not have that conversation again.”

  V. FAARIS

  “Why didn’t you stay with Nilaruna?”

  Saphala ducks her head. “We quarreled. She is so strong, Faaris, ready to face any danger, and I’m not…I’ve been beaten down. I fear I cannot be the friend she needs me to be.”

  I sit next to her on her bed and stroke her back. “Do not sell yourself short. You survived six cycles in slavery. Not many people can make that claim. You are strong. Just give yourself some time to heal. You cannot expect to be back to normal in a few days.”

  “I do not even know what my normal is,” she says. “Once I was proud and beautiful and confident, ready to conquer the world. But that was when I was a child. I do not know who I am as a woman. I know who I want to be, but I do not know if I’ll ever be that person.”