The Serpent's Secret (Kiranmala and the Kingdom Beyond #1)(20)

“Spit it out,” I shouted over the wind.

“Well, the truth is, we don’t exactly know where your parents are.”

“What the what?” I snapped around so fast I almost slipped off Snowy’s back. “You told me they were in that demon wellspring!”

Lal grabbed my arm and the horse adjusted itself to stop me from almost plummeting to my doom for the second time in two days.

“Yes, erm, but, well, ah.” Lal had the grace to blush. “That’s probably true. Only, there are a lot of, um, such wells all over the kingdom and beyond.”

“Are you kidding me?” My mind was racing. The princes had lied to me—they lied!

“I am terribly regretful … we let you believe we knew more precisely where they were,” Lal mumbled. “We know they are somewhere here in the Kingdom Beyond Seven Oceans and Thirteen Rivers. Or perhaps very near. We’ll … well, we will just need a bit of help finding the exact location.”

“Is that so? And why should I believe you?”

Neel pulled Midnight next to us. “Come on, stop being such a—”

I shouted over him, poison daggers in every word, “Don’t even think about calling me a 2-D!” I was so angry, I could practically feel the fangs coming out.

“Whoa!” Neel countered. “Look who’s getting her turban in a bunch.”

“I’m not wearing a turban, or hadn’t you noticed?” I snapped back.

Neel looked over at my long hair, which was, as usual, in pinned braids at the back of my neck. “I noticed.”

I felt my cheeks start to burn. I looked away from Neel, but not before I saw that one evil eyebrow rise. Argh, he was impossible!

Neel cleared his voice. “Look, we don’t exactly know where they are, but we’re going somewhere we can find out.”

“Where’s that?”

Lal pointed to the ground below. “Home!”





We were far away from the green valley with its strange bazaar, and had arrived in a place equally as breathtaking. There was a forest to our left, with cackling monkeys and cawing birds. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a herd of brown-and-white-dappled deer run by. Rising majestically to our right was the most awesome palace I had ever seen—not that I’d seen any in real life, but it was more beautiful than any movie or storybook castle. Its spires were golden, studded with diamonds, sapphires, and rubies. Its walls were silver and bronze, with carved decorations in them. Each carved panel on the palace walls seemed to tell its own story. Scenes showed a festival, a wedding, and … yup. Two turbaned princes setting off on a journey mounted on their winged horses.

“We’ve got to find Minister Tuni. He’ll probably have some useful ideas about where we should start looking for Just Kiran’s parents.” Lal’s words melted me a little. Even though he’d lied, he was obviously still willing to help me find my family.

“Let’s, ah, get the horses settled first.” This suggestion of Neel’s was made with a funny, teasing tone.

“If you insist, Brother.” I was curious to see Lal squirming a little.

I wasn’t sure what that was about, but Snowy and Midnight seemed to like the idea. As soon as we dismounted, they trotted off in the direction of what must have been the palace stables. The stables were like twenty times nicer than my house—even before it got totaled by a demon with a sinus infection. The walls were made of bronze, with pillars of marble, and images of flying horses were carved into the outer walls.

“Hurry, Princess! I wanna show you my favorite place in all our kingdom!” Lal dashed off, forgetting at last to act like a fancy prince.

Even though I was still annoyed at him, I couldn’t help smiling. Unlike his brother, it was so easy to see what Lal was feeling. And right now, the handsome prince was happy to be home.

“Come on, he wants you to meet Mati.” Neel frowned at me as he said this, as if irritated that I was still there. At that, all my fear and worry transformed back into anger.

“So do you ever smile?”

Neel raised that eyebrow again. “Only when I have something to smile about.”

He really should change his name to Mr. Smirky Cool Guy, I thought. If Lal was always trying to be princely and proper, at least he was actually nice underneath that fake accent. Neel, on the other hand, kept trying to make himself unlikeable. And boy, was he doing a good job of it.

“You really think highly of yourself, huh?”

“You’re really nosy all the time, huh?” Neel countered.

“I wouldn’t call wanting to know the truth about where we’re going or where my parents are being nosy.” I felt my face heating up and my voice rising. “You’re the ones who lied to me.”

“Well, I’m so sorry this rescue isn’t going exactly according to your schedule, Princess. Would you rather we just didn’t help you and let you get on your way alone?”

“You know that’s not what I meant!” I snapped. “But you could have told me the truth back in New Jersey!”

“Would you have come with us if we told you we didn’t know exactly where your parents were?”

I had nothing to say to that. We’d left Parsippany in such a rush, escaping from that rakkhosh. But if I’d really had time to think it through, would I have gone off with two princes I didn’t know, who didn’t even know how to find my parents? Probably not. And where would that have left me? Alone and no closer to rescuing Ma and Baba.