The Library of Fates(22)

“And?” My father furrowed his brow. I could tell that he was trying to maintain his composure but that he was just as shaken as I was.

“Chandradev.” Sikander spread out his palms as though offering my father a gift. “The activity on the border—it’s not a tribal skirmish. It’s my army. And my colonels are there, waiting for a signal from me.”

My entire body went cold. I glanced from my father to Arjun. My heart raced in fear.

“I considered offering you the job of satrap, Chandradev. I thought maybe you’d care more about your own interests. But I’ve realized that I simply can’t leave these sorts of decisions up to you.”

My hands were trembling violently.

“Amrita, leave now,” my father said to me. “Arjun, go with her.” His instincts were, even in this moment, to protect me.

I couldn’t move, but Arjun got up, came around the table, and reached for my arm. I ignored him.

I could stab him right now, if I wanted, I thought. I could grab Arjun’s sword from his belt and stab Sikander in the throat. But my hands refused to cooperate.

Sikander stood up too and faced my father. “So I have some new terms that I’d like you to hear.” He turned to me, a lascivious smile across his face. “I’ve taken quite a liking to your daughter. She’s very spirited,” he said.

Arjun’s hand tightened around my elbow. Or I could grab the knife on the table before him and stab him repeatedly.

“We had an agreement, and now you want to break it.” Sikander shrugged.

I shivered at the mention of this, and this time Arjun successfully pulled me away from the table, but I couldn’t move farther than that.

“If you think I’m going to sell my daughter to you—”

“No one’s talking about selling, Chandradev. You should know by now that I take what I want.” He snapped his fingers, and soldiers appeared from the front entrance to the hall, all dressed in their maroon uniforms, each of them brandishing a sword. All of a sudden, I couldn’t breathe.

I began to piece it all together. Sikander wanted to keep our soldiers busy in the west. The east was what he was interested in. That was where the Sybillines were. And they were exposed, completely unprotected.

Arjun drew the sword he always wore on his belt, but the soldiers stood on the other side of the Courtyard Hall and appeared to take no notice of us—it was my father they wanted. Within seconds, we were outnumbered. Where were our guards? And then I remembered: the zoo. A sinking feeling in my stomach.

He had thought through every detail of this attack. He had never had any interest in negotiating anything with my father. And my father was so concerned about me, he didn’t even realize that we had been compromised.

“We could be done with you in a day. Less. A few hours.”

More soldiers poured in from the east wing, one after another. He was right. We were more than outnumbered. My legs trembled with fear as I noticed two of them, only about ten paces away, brandishing their swords at Arjun and me. One of them smirked in my direction. It took me a second to realize that it was Nico, the man who had been responsible for transporting Thala to Shalingar.

“Don’t be scared, Princess. We’ll take good care of you,” he said. “Sikander wants you in one piece.” He laughed then. I looked at Arjun, his jaw tensed. He kept his eyes on Nico, his sword drawn before him.

“You have to run, Amrita,” Arjun whispered. “I can fight them off. I’ll catch up.” He surreptitiously glanced in the direction of the corridor that led to the west wing. It was empty. We could run. Sikander’s soldiers hadn’t flooded our side of the palace yet. And I had always been a fast runner.

But what about my father? I couldn’t just leave him. I looked at him now, regal and brave, standing in a sea of red coats and swords. A tiny sob escaped my lips as I thought about what Sikander was capable of.

“Go now,” Arjun said. “Through your quarters,” he whispered in my ear. “Through the mango grove. Go to the Temple of Rain. Wait for me there.”

“I’m not leaving my father, Arjun!” I whispered back.

“You have options, Chandradev.” Sikander turned back to my father. “I want you to know that. I’m a reasonable man. I won’t tell my colonels to attack Shalingar unless you give me reason to. You know what I seek: the open trade of chamak—on my terms; control over your territory, including that of the Sybillines; and, of course, your daughter. I’ll take good care of her, I assure you. She’ll be happy in Macedon. As she said herself, one could claim that she is a Macedon by birth . . . and born to a Macedonian mother . . . perhaps an opportunity to reunite them.” He laughed.

I thought about what Sikander was demanding and wanted to scream. For my father, though, I would marry Sikander. I would go with him to Macedon.

“Run, Amrita, now,” Arjun whispered in my ear.

I shook my head. What I wanted to do was run to Papa. I wanted to fight off all those soldiers. I wanted to kill Sikander. I had never felt such hatred for another human being.

I thought of Thala’s words. He says he wants friendship. He says he wants alliance. Don’t believe what he says.

“Do what you will to me,” my father responded. “But leave my child be.”

I looked at my father’s eyes, and in an instant, I could read them, as I always had. Amrita, go now, they were saying.