Poison's Kiss (Poison's Kiss #1)(60)

The guards don’t return with another meal until evening, and by then I’m famished. It’s a different man distributing trays this time, and when he approaches my cell, I try asking about Mani again. But I get even less of a response than before. He acts as if he can’t hear me, and when I repeat my question, he begins humming and moves along to the next prisoner.

I curl up in the corner and start on my dinner—a thick stew, a mug of water and two small loaves of bread. I can hear Kavi in the next cell loudly slurping his stew, and again I’m forcefully reminded of Mani. With every bite I grow more unsettled. I was unkind earlier. To a child. I don’t know what it is about Kavi that makes my stomach churn. Maybe it’s the culture he comes from—the fortune-telling and snake charming. It ruined my life, and maybe I’m taking it out on a little boy because I can’t reach the Naga.

I stand up and move to where Kavi sits with his back against the bars. “I have some extra bread,” I tell him.

He glances up. “But you didn’t eat breakfast.”

I smile at him. “I’ll be fine. I don’t eat that much.”

He shrugs and takes the bread. “Thank you.”

“Sure.” I take a deep breath and force the next words out. “What is the wisdom you wanted to share? Maybe I need it after all.”

“Really?” he asks, and the hopefulness in his voice sends a pang through me.

“Really.”

Kavi closes his eyes and his whole face relaxes. He sits like that for several minutes and then snaps his eyes open. “It’s better when I write it down,” he says apologetically. “But here it is: Suspicion is the only defense against betrayal.”

I roll my eyes. “That’s exactly the same thing you told me last time.”

“Is it?”

I laugh. “Yes, it is.” I can’t believe I let Kavi get to me. He really is just an innocent child pretending to be grown up. “Let me guess. You tell the same thing to all of your customers?”

“No,” he says indignantly. “Of course not.”

“No? Then tell me. What does it mean?”

Kavi purses his lips. “Usually I don’t know,” he says. “But this time I have a pretty good idea.”

“And what is that?”

“Well, I think it means that the guards should be more suspicious of little boys with sticky fingers.” He pulls a key from his pocket and shakes it at me. “And then they would avoid being betrayed.”





I gasp. “Is that—”

“Shh!” Kavi holds a finger to his lips. “Yes, it is.”

My heart starts pounding. He’s holding the key to my freedom, to Mani’s. “Will you help me?” I ask. “My brother is in trouble and I have to get to him.”

Kavi nods slowly as he says, “He who has a full belly has a big heart.” I wish there weren’t bars between us so that I could grab him and hug him close. He’s an odd little boy, but if he can help me escape, I will forever be in his debt.

He presses the key into my palm. “The guards will come in a few hours to put out the torches. You can leave then.”

“Aren’t you going to come with me?”

“Nah,” he says. “They never keep me for very long. Just a few days now and then to teach me a lesson. I’ll be out in no time.”

“What lesson are they trying to teach you?” I ask.

He sighs. “That a person will more easily believe a sweet lie than a bitter truth.” He scratches his head. “And that I shouldn’t sell either one.”

I reach through the bars and touch his cheek. “Thank you, Kavi. You have no idea how much this means to me.”

He grins at me. “You have no idea how much the bread means to me.” It seems that a loaf of bread and a boy’s life can’t compare, but I’m grateful for Kavi’s help.

The next few hours are some of the slowest of my entire life. I pace circles around my tiny cell until a woman shouts out, “Hold still, girl! You’re making me jumpy.” The last thing I need right now is to draw attention to myself, and so I sit and pull my knees to my chest. I run my fingers along the smooth metal of the key. The hope I had earlier is draining away. I don’t know how I will get out of here, or if I can find Mani, or how I can possibly overcome the Naga if I do. I wish I at least had Deven to make the journey with me. But I don’t know anymore if he’s trustworthy or if he only pretended to help me so that I would end up here, locked in the dungeon to pay for my crimes. What will the Raja do to me if I’m caught trying to escape?

Finally the door at the top of the stairway creaks open and the guards come to put out the torches. As soon as the prisoners hear them approaching, the dungeon bursts into a cacophony of noise. The woman who yelled at me earlier begins chanting at the top of her voice, several of the men start arguing with one another, one man mutters as he slams his head against the bars. Kavi bursts into tears.

The guards ignore the whole scene and dispassionately walk down the corridor extinguishing each torch with large metal cones. When all the flames are out, they make their way back to the staircase. Once their handheld torch disappears up the stairs, the dungeon is plunged into darkness. Panic fills my chest. How will I get the lock open if I can’t see?