The Library of Fates(23)

“I’m through with you telling me what I can and can’t have, Chandradev. And besides, I never asked.”

And with that, Sikander nodded to one of the guards.

It was a second. A blink. The flap of a bird’s wing, the moment it takes to say hello, or goodbye. So quick that it made me think of all the insignificant seconds that we throw away. And all the seconds that we don’t too. The seconds that we hold on to, that we return to. I thought about standing with my father on his balcony that morning before Sikander arrived, talking with him. I thought about how much I loved him. I considered the fact that all it takes is a second for life to completely change.

And then I saw the sword flash before my father, watched him drop to the ground. There was something so absurd about it that at first, I couldn’t make sense of what had happened. But when I saw the blood pooling at the front of his shirt, the way his lips trembled, and the startled look in his eyes as he brought his hands to his chest, his palms stained crimson as he pulled them away, I knew that this wasn’t the kind of injury he would recover from.

I wouldn’t recover from it either.

“Papa! No!” I screamed when it all came together. I tried to run toward him, but Arjun grabbed me.

My father’s eyes met mine for the last time that day, for the last time ever. His words came out choked. “Amrita, RUN!”

Arjun pushed me in the direction of the west wing, and I ran, my feet slapping the marble floors, everything around me a blur. Behind me, I heard the clanging of swords, and as I turned the corner, I saw Arjun slice through the uniform of one of the guards before he knocked a sword out of Nico’s hand, and then Arjun turned, running behind me, a band of soldiers on his tail.

“The west wing, NOW!” he yelled. I ran toward my chamber, choking back sobs, tears streaming across my face. Something within me wanted to defy the reality of what had just occurred right before my eyes; I didn’t want to believe it.

We could get help; we could call in the palace healer. A medicine man, the best medicine man in the world.

But I knew that no healer would be called. And even if he was called, it would be too late. I had seen my father’s face as he fell, the color draining from it, his hands trembling. I had seen the blood, vast pools of it. I had seen him choking on his last breaths, a sight I would never be able to erase from my mind.

The walls bleared in my peripheral vision. I cut across another corridor, running as fast as I could. I turned to make sure Arjun was behind me; he was, only paces away. The gap between us and the soldiers was widening. They didn’t know the west wing, at least not as well as we did. Arjun threw a large palm plant down across the passageway.

“Keep going!” he gasped. I turned into the main hall. There were five different doorways. We had a shot at losing Sikander’s soldiers. I dodged back through the main courtyard. Tippu the gardener was watering a large banana tree.

“Tippu! Hide!” I yelled to him.

Arjun caught up. “Get off the grounds, Tippu. Leave the palace. Tell everyone. The palace is under siege,” Arjun said.

It wasn’t till I heard those words that I truly knew it was real.

Tippu nodded and then ran from the courtyard as Arjun grabbed my hand. We had a little bit of a lead on them, just barely. I turned to look at Tippu trying to make it out of the palace as fast as he could. I hoped he would be able to warn people in time.

I was panting hard by the time we reached my quarters. Arjun slammed the large wooden doors shut behind us. He locked them, then shoved a bureau in front of them. The only other entrance to my chamber faced the back of the palace. Beyond that was the mango grove and then the Temple of Rain.

Mala had been sitting on the settee, reading a book, but the moment she saw me, she stood up. She stopped short, her face registering alarm at the state Arjun and I were in.

“Sikander—he . . . the maharaja—” Arjun started. “Soldiers after us. We—”

Mala nodded. “You need to leave the palace now.”

She grabbed some things from the top of my bureau—a scarf, a skin of water, bandages, a bag of coins. I watched as she stuffed everything into a satchel. I realized that she had left them out for me. For us.

She knew. She was the one who had heard us in the courtyard. She knew about our plan. Only, it was going into effect hours earlier than expected, because we had no choice but to run.

Mala placed the satchel in Arjun’s hands before she turned to me. “Here, girl, take this,” she said, handing me a golden dagger. I glanced at it. There were three rubies on the handle.

“What is it?”

“It’s the key you need to get out of here. Keep it on you at all times.” She quickly looked from my face to Arjun’s. “Follow the stone markings. They’ll lead you outside the palace.”

“What stone markings?” I shook my head, terrified sobs escaping my lips.

“Arjun knows. They’ve always been there, in case of an emergency, so the royal family can make a speedy exit, but sometimes one has to adjust one’s eyes,” she said, before grabbing my shoulders and looking me right in the eye. “Listen to me, girl. We’re going to get you out of here! You need to be brave,” she said just as there was a loud bang against the door. I jumped.

“They’re breaking in,” Arjun said as we heard an even louder thud.

“There’s no time, go now!” Mala said, leading us to the back door of my chamber.