The Tiger at Midnight (The Tiger at Midnight Trilogy #1)(59)

The scholar’s words instantly made Esha tense. She had assumed the report would inform them that Vardaan had secured an alliance or another reason that would explain the silence from the palace about the general’s murder.

But this? This was much worse. This went beyond the truce—this was about Reha, the lost key to saving the land. If the Fort knew about her whereabouts, found her first . . .

“Is it true? Is she alive?” The hope in the older woman’s voice nearly broke Esha’s heart. The yearning for her, for the lost princess Reha, was strong.

“I don’t know,” she answered. And that was the truth.

They had their own Blades out all over the Southern Lands, trying to discover if there was any truth to the rumors of the Lost Princess surviving. Even if no one knew her real identity, life in Jansa wouldn’t have been easy for the past decade of war. She and Harun would have to double up their efforts to find her.

She had started out hoping to figure out who had framed her and the Blades, who might be against the peace treaty. But she hadn’t expected this.

If Reha was found, it would change everything. There was no chance for peace, no chance for an end to Vardaan’s regime if he controlled the only person with a direct claim on the throne. Three droplets of her blood could fulfill the ritual, heal the land.

She’d be a weapon in the wrong hands. Vardaan would simply keep her prisoner until her death, using her blood to maintain the land through the ritual, all while continuing to wage war, growing his borders until he had built an empire under his name.

Esha resisted the urge to send a hawk immediately, knowing that something this sensitive would have to be delivered in person. And Harun might become hasty. She would get to Mathur in a few days, and she’d have a plan of action by then.

“It also mentions that there was actionable information sent to the Fort. In a note? It’s a bit confusing. Half the information seems to be secondhand, from some group whose name is burned off.” She tapped her fingers against the table. “The only way to interpret this is that the Fort has received and is pursuing information about her whereabouts,” the scholar finished.

Moon Lord’s fists, she didn’t want to imagine what the Senaps might do to the princess if they got to her first. How had they missed this information?

“And the source that is mentioned?” Esha asked, hoping more than she should have that there was something, some clue as to who had been behind all of this.

It had seemed so clear that the person who framed her was trying to prevent the truce, but what if it had all simply been a distraction for her and the Fort?

And she had certainly been distracted.

The scholar shook her head. “Nothing to go off. I’m sorry. I wish I could’ve been more useful.”

She placed a light hand on the woman’s arm. “You’ve been more helpful than you know.”

Esha rushed back through the streets of Amali, pondering her conversation with the scholar. She’d developed the outline of a plan, the first step of which was to get back to Mathur.

A man passed by, looking at her a bit too close, as if he didn’t quite believe what he was seeing. Esha frowned, pulling her turban down lower. Esha walked faster, throwing a sidelong glance behind her. The man had turned to inspect a stall of small, sugar-coated jellies and was no longer focused on her.

Her stomach growled. She’d been so intent on determining what to do next that she had ignored her need for food and rest. She slowed down, letting herself take a deep breath of the mountain air, crisp and clear.

The fruit seller’s stall she had passed in her earlier scouting round was only a few streets away, which also meant she might be able to stop by the market. A new habit of hers—going to the market in every town she stopped in, both hoping and not hoping to catch a glimpse of Kunal.

She was playing a dangerous game, but she was too far gone to care about the repercussions. Something about him made her want to gamble—and win.

He was the only boy in years who she felt was her match. Offered her a challenge. She wondered what it would be like to sit with him, sprawled on low, plush cushions like the ones in the inn’s hearth room below, trading thoughts and stories across the glow of a fire.

It was a dream for another life.

She would be back in Dharka soon enough.

A tiny part of her hoped, against all odds, that if she met him again, she might be able to turn him. That if she turned him, maybe she’d somehow be able to keep him by her side.

Did he know about all that his general had done? Did he deserve to know that she hadn’t actually killed him? Would it matter?

The sweet fragrance of ripe custard apples, dried plums, and fleshy peaches peppered the air as she approached the fruit stall. A scrawny fellow leaned languidly against the back stone wall. Esha tossed him a glance. He grinned at her, all white teeth, his eyes shifting around.

“Hungry, young master?”

She nodded. “How much for two peaches?” Esha dropped her voice low, hoping to pass for a teenage boy going through his changes.

The man gave her a sticky smile.

“Two coins.”

Esha hid her surprise. A bargain. She handed over the two coins and sorted through the peaches, looking for two that were firm and unbruised. The man leaned over her, pointing out the best ones, and she thanked him, snatching up two.

She bit into the first one, smiling as the juices hit her tongue with pops of flavor.