Star Daughter(73)

It felt cozy, the sidereal song reflecting the warm, comfortable atmosphere, and even though this whole visit was just a ruse, Sheetal couldn’t help feeling regretful for the parallel universe where this would have been her life.

“While we are on the subject of schedules, I do need to hunt out those textiles I spoke of.” Padmini slipped away, leaving Sheetal and Minal to it.

Some of the tailors were wary and kept their distance, but others, like Beena from the library, twinkled with anticipation. “I cannot believe we have such an opportunity! Oh, Sheetal, you will shine like the princess you are at the ball.”

“Sure!” said Sheetal, confused. What was Beena doing here?

But she set that aside and imagined Dev seeing her all dressed up, let her delight at sorting through the clothes for the ball pervade the astral melody. An alibi should be thorough, right?

Oops. She cringed. She’d let some of how she felt about Dev seep through, too. No need to be that thorough.

Next to her, Minal asked questions about the different fabrics and fielded queries about her makeup, so soon Beena and her friends surrounded her.

And Sheetal was on the outside again. She felt a pang of envy. How was Minal always so good at this stuff?

Padmini finally reappeared, swaying under the weight of a mountain of tidily folded fabrics. “I am certain many of these will be to your liking.”

The keys. Sheetal relaxed slightly. She got them. “I’m sure, too.”

“Here, let me help you with those.” Ignoring her protests, Minal plucked half the hoard right from Padmini’s arms.

“We should go look at them right now,” Sheetal suggested. She prayed it didn’t sound as artificial to everyone else as it did to her ears. “I can’t wait!”

But the tailors only wished them a good night as they left the atelier. Minal and Padmini bantered about fashion as they hurried back to the champions’ quarters. Sheetal made sure to smile and nod every so often, like she wasn’t terrified someone would figure out what they were really up to. Or worse, walk in on them doing it.

Once they arrived, Padmini urged Sheetal and Minal into their room. “I cannot be seen with you after this,” she reminded them. Her gaze darted back and forth before she dropped her stack of fabric on the dresser and produced a ring of keys. “If you get caught, it would put my brother at risk, and I have worked too hard to secure a place in our house.”

“Trust me, the last thing I want is for Kaushal to get hurt,” Sheetal said, and she meant it completely. The idea that someone would single him out for having once been a half-star like her made her sick.

Minal piled the rest of the fabric on a chair. “We won’t get caught. But if we do, we’ll take the blame for everything. Please?”

Padmini hesitated, as if she might still take the keys and run. “Only because I remember how it was for my brother when he came to live among us. The Esteemed Matriarch and Patriarch have been good to us. I must repay that as I can.” Her long silver waves glittered and sparkled as she uncurled her fingers from the ring and held it out.

Even from where she stood, Sheetal could tell each one was embossed with the symbol of its corresponding nakshatra, just like the doors to the champions’ dorm rooms.

Instead of taking the key ring, Minal folded her hand over Padmini’s. Murmuring words Sheetal couldn’t hear, she flashed a flirtatious smile.

Padmini ducked her head, though not before Sheetal saw her grin. She tenderly brushed aside a lock of Minal’s hair and kissed her cheek. “This was fun,” she whispered. “But please be careful.”

Just gathering intel, huh? Sheetal had never seen Minal with hearts in her eyes like this. It was kind of adorable.

As Padmini sidled past on her way out, she added quietly, so only Sheetal could hear, “Be mindful of your emotions.”

Sheetal stared after her. Great. Had she been careless enough that someone besides Padmini had noticed?

All business again, Minal divided up the keys. “Let’s split up and meet back in our room.”

Sheetal chose the ones for Houses Magha and Revati. “Knock first, and keep it to five minutes, tops. Ready?”

It hit her then, what they were about to do—break into other people’s rooms and go through their stuff. She quailed. Dad would never, ever approve of this. Honestly, neither did she.

But someone was trying to get her thrown out of the competition, and this was the only way to find out what had happened with Priyanka’s marionettes. How did they even know she hadn’t made the whole thing up?

At Minal’s nod, Sheetal headed into the hallway and knocked on Priyanka’s door. Her heart slammed in her chest. What if she drew too much attention and a star came to investigate—what if Priyanka walked in . . . ?

Oh, no—had she let that leach into the starsong, too?

Nana hadn’t told her how much more work it was to keep her feelings tamped down and out of sight when she was under stress. Stress like breaking and entering.

No one answered her knock, and no footsteps sounded either inside the room or out in the corridor. Palms prickling, Sheetal turned the key in the lock.

The door swung open to reveal a room like hers, down to the cloud mattresses, except clothes had been strewn all over the floor, along with dishes and cups, and someone had pushed the desk to the center of the room and buried it in tools: a hammer, a pair of needle-nose pliers, miniature bottles of paint, wires, and paintbrushes. In the corner by the bed, Sheetal spied a partially open hard black carrying case, like for instruments, but this one’s red lining held two puppet-shaped gaps.