Star Daughter(87)

Sheetal had no clue whether they danced for a few minutes or hours and hours. Each beat of her pulse ricocheted in her chest in time with the gandharvas’ tabla. When her grandparents entered the dance, the knowledge of their presence resounded through her. Her core flared brighter, hotter. She whirled, she shimmied, she clapped and swayed.

Suddenly Kaushal spun her around, and she laughed, letting everything but the music and the movement fade away.

“You are surprisingly adequate at this,” he yelled. Feeling entirely human again, Sheetal stuck out her tongue. “What? It was a compliment!”

Behind him, Sheetal spotted Padmini stalking toward them. Her light dimmed and flickered in alarm.

Kaushal turned to see what Sheetal was looking at. “Hide me!”

Then Padmini was on them. She grabbed Kaushal by the shoulders and wrenched him out of the circle. “I told you to stay in our apartments!”

“Perhaps I had other plans,” Kaushal countered, twisting away.

Padmini pressed a hand to her mouth. Her eyes glimmered wetly. “I know he helped you. How could you ask that of him?”

“I’m sorry,” Sheetal began. “I didn’t want—”

“And then to flaunt him out in the open like this!”

“It was my choice,” Kaushal snapped. “I believe in Charumati’s cause.”

Padmini started to respond, but then, through the shifting storm of blues, Sheetal saw Jeet approaching the table with his entourage—including Dev.

Her whole body lit up, inside and out, and her grin strained her cheeks. Dev grinned back, a private smile that warmed her down to her toes.

Rati helped herself to a frostberry tart. “Have you decided?” she inquired casually, as if they were discussing whether to rejoin the dancing.

“I told you, I’m not doing it,” Jeet said, looking at Sheetal. He grabbed a piece of cake. “Cool party. Must be handy to have family here to clean up your messes and show you off before sticking you in a contest you have no right to be in. What’s that like? Seriously, I want to know.”

“Dude, would you give it a rest?” Dev cut in. “You’re being an ass.”

Jeet stiffened. “Nice. After everything, this is what I get from you?”

“I don’t even know who you are anymore. Can’t you just go back to the way you were?”

“This is who I am.” Jeet’s voice could have turned an entire lake to ice. “Someone who wants to win. I thought you wanted that, too.”

Rati handed the remains of her tart to a nearby attendant. “Indeed. Then let us get on with the matter at hand.” She studied Kaushal. “Here is as good a stage as any, and this one can tell us all about Eshana’s love of half-star brats.”

“Leave him out of this,” Padmini cried, blocking Kaushal from Rati’s view.

“Okay,” said Sheetal, “someone tell me what’s going on. Why do you keep talking about my grandma?”

That was all it took; the spell was spoiled, the enchanted ball an iridescent soap bubble that had burst. Now the suspicions she’d held at bay orbited her like vultures: Nani closing the gates. Nani throwing her a ball to celebrate her majority, her transformation. Rati goading her to confront Nani.

“Yes,” Rati crowed, “who wishes to tell Sheetal about her dear Esteemed Matriarch and her sister, Ojasvini?”

Though her gorge rose, Sheetal tried hard to sound bored. “What about her? She used to live here. So what?”

Rati’s smile widened until it was toxic, a viper’s bite. “So what, indeed?”

Other stars had stopped dancing and were staring now. Including Nani and Nana. Minal and Charumati rushed up, Charumati’s face locked in a struggle between dread and near-smugness. “Rati,” she cautioned, “do you really wish to do this?”

“That is quite enough,” Nani said, her back straight and her head held high.

“What? Do I speak untrue?” Rati asked, all wide-eyed innocence.

“Go,” Nana murmured to Nani. “It is almost time for the competition as it is.”

Jeet moved closer to Sheetal. “You know, some of us really need this break. Ever think about that?” His contemptuous laugh couldn’t quite mask the bleak tone of his question. For a second, under the sallow skin and shadowed eyes, Sheetal glimpsed the vulnerable, hopeful boy Dev had known.

She even felt sorry for him.

Until he said, “You’re sitting here and sneering at my family, but you probably should have bothered to research your own history better.”

Sheetal dug into her cuticle, taking comfort in the old pain. A drop of blood appeared. It was still red.

“Come, Sheetal,” Nani said, softly but decisively. “You as well, Rati. You wish to speak? We will speak.”

Charumati placed a hand on the small of Sheetal’s back and nudged her forward. Trembling, Sheetal followed Nani out of the court.





28


Sheetal gouged her fingernails into her palms as she waited for Nani to say something. Across from her, Rati somehow dominated the familiar sitting room, making it impossible to look anywhere else.

“We are so proud of you, dikri,” Nani said. “You are a credit to our nakshatra and our family.” She didn’t smile, but silver light limned her skin. “I have prepared a droplet of blood for you to take to your father. It will be yours tonight.”