Star Daughter(79)
“Yes,” said Charumati. “Every child of star and mortal parents does by the time they come of majority.” She took Sheetal’s tingling hands in hers. “That is why I did not bring you with me; I wanted you to enjoy your mortal life with your papa as long as possible.”
Kaushal glowed, making all the mirrors shine with silver radiance. “But now we can walk together among the mortals and heal their world!”
Save Dad, Sheetal told herself, reining in her threads of panic before they could be heard in the astral melody. What she needed to do to make that happen hadn’t changed. She could figure out the rest later.
Kaushal’s innumerable reflections beamed with fervor. “I know others will join us. Your mother’s plan is a wise—”
“Like my mom said,” Sheetal interrupted, “let’s get through the competition before we start recruiting people. And for me to do that, I need your help.” She explained the situation with the marionettes, carefully leaving out the bit about Padmini’s disapproval. “We just need them to get back into Priyanka’s room without anyone seeing. Only if you want to, of course.”
Kaushal was already nodding. “Whatever help House Pushya and its champion need, I will give.”
Sheetal wasn’t so sure that was a good thing.
Advisors, ladies-in-waiting, and various other attendants all tore in and out of Nani’s and Nana’s study, dodging the waitstaff who replenished the breakfast dishes every few minutes. Sheetal, trying not to flip out every time she remembered what was happening to her, ate and ate and ate her feelings. At least now she knew why her stomach had turned into a black hole.
“Oh, beti,” Nani rhapsodized between discussions about centerpieces and lighting, “such a ball we have prepared for your natal day and ascension into the court! I have waited seventeen years for this.”
She sounded so truly happy that, for a minute, Sheetal just gave in and sank into a daydream, one as comforting as a warm bubble bath. In it, she’d grown up here without the game-playing or the assumptions, just with magic and knowing where she belonged. Now, on the cusp of her ascension to the court, she stood by her mother and grandmother, their three voices and hearts joined in harmony rather than discord, as they poured jar after jar over the balcony railing until stardust illuminated everyone on Earth with silvery light, motivating them to create beauty and art and innovation.
A shiver ran through her. She hated to admit it, but that image was starting to feel more natural than the one of her going back to high school and then to college to study astronomy and folklore.
What did she need to study astronomy for, the astral melody, the cosmic dance, the flame at her core all whispered, when she could be it?
Nani clapped for attention, reminding Sheetal where she actually was, and ordered everyone but the family to leave. She nodded at Charumati, who directed Sheetal through her warm-up exercises. By now, even the lip trill didn’t make her want to cringe.
Which was good, because the rest of her was about to spill out of her skin in a mess of—in a mess of something. She didn’t know what, but nerves crackled through her like exposed wires, and they wouldn’t let her sit still.
She was seventeen today, and she was turning into a star. The astral melody pealed through her, as much a part of her as her own blood. All she wanted to do was set it free.
Nana interceded at the point when Sheetal began to sing. “Save your voice, dikri,” he said. “You will need it soon enough.”
Nani beamed, scattering silver light across the ebony table. Even the white streaks in her immaculate bun shone with it. “That reminds me; we must talk of the ceremony itself.” Sheetal nodded. “You will be expected to present yourself with grace when your name is called. To stand and take your place at the platform, where Padmini will inspire you.”
“Perhaps, jaan, she would like to choose which attendant inspires her,” Nana suggested.
Nani acknowledged him with a nod. “To stand and take your place at the platform, where either Padmini or Beena, as appointed by you, will inspire you. We have arranged for an instrument to be brought out, but it will not be revealed until the necessary moment.”
“To build the suspense. I get it.” Sheetal might not have performed in public before, but she definitely understood the value of a good flourish.
Like the way Dev played to the audience when he was onstage.
Nana grew stern. “And to protect you. We know of the attempt to incriminate you for the loss of the marionettes, beti, and have warded your room against unauthorized entry.”
“Wait, you do?” Sheetal should have expected that. Of course they would have their spies. “Do you know who it was?”
“Do not trouble yourself further with this matter, beti. We will take care of it.” His voice warmed. “I do wish you felt you could have come to us. We are your family, and it is our responsibility to look out for you.”
Sheetal considered that. She wanted to probe more, but if they knew who the perpetrator was, they might also know Kaushal had smuggled the puppets back to Priyanka’s room. Or at least that he was involved somehow. And she wasn’t about to remind them of that.
She caught her tongue between her teeth. Please let them not know that part of it.
“Thank you,” she said finally. “I appreciate that.”
“Such a wretched act reeks of the perpetrator’s insecurity, a belief that their skill alone cannot be enough.” Nani spoke with confidence, a majestic matriarch blessing the newest child of her line. “You, however, have nothing to fear.”