Chapter 53: [19.2] The Bondmate

When did I become so invested? Tran's a friend, but I shouldn't lose sight of what I'm truly here for.

Yet there she was, on her way to the White Asraam. Another deviation, when she should be looking into the rajinis. But Isla had not slept well; her dreams haunted by masked queens and children dancing before a den of hungry wolves.

She had to see Rinju.

The young girl was overjoyed when Isla came knocking. Immediately they took to the woods separating the White Asraam from the consortial estates. It was the only place they could speak without the house mistress glaring over them.

They spread out a cloth wide enough for two and lay above the foliage. The earth was fresh from the morning showers, the trees coated with spring blossoms. Rinju gathered a basket of ivy and fallen blooms, and Isla showed her how to make a wreath.

'My feet are tired from all the dancing,' said the former.

'Mine are tired from all the serving. I hope you enjoyed the party more than I, at least.'

'I like dancing, actually.'

'I know. I can tell.' She had the same look on her face dancing as Tam Mai would have, whenever she painted.

'Mistress Sasya says she'll teach us the Thousand Blessings next.'

Isla was not familiar with all the Surikh dances – and there were hundreds – so she simply nodded.

'She says it's a welcoming dance, so we need to know it well enough to do in our sleep.'

'You danced very well last night. You could become a court dancer. Join the nayaghra. Would you like that?'

'I don't think my husband would.'

It felt all sorts of wrong to hear the word come out of a nine year-old child's mouth. 'How silly! You don't have a husband.'

The ivy broke in Rinju's hand. She picked up another and fixed her wreath without complaint. 'Not yet.'

'Not for a long time. And even when you do, you don't have to give up the things that please you.'

'A good wife pleases her husband.'

Isla sniffed. 'Is that what Mistress Sasya told you?'

Rinju peered at her with furrowed brows. 'I don't need to be told that. I'm almost ten. I'm not a stupid girl any more.'

A shadow passed over them; a caw rung through the air. Pepper dug itself deeper into Isla's pocket. It would be time soon to take Rinju back. Isla tucked the last strands of her wreath and gently crowned the girl.

'I'm a mahasuri now!' She giggled and jumped to her feet, flourishing Isla with an awkward curtsy. 'Mahasuri Rinju!'

'A beautiful one – but mahasuri don't bow'

'They do for their maharaj. And you can be mine.' Rinju picked up her half-made wreath and plopped it on Isla's head.

Isla laughed. 'Well, my mahasuri. Where would you like this maharaj of yours to take you? If we could go anywhere across the four continents?'

Rinju considered the question, the smile slowly fading from her lips. 'Home.'

Another screech drew Isla's attention to the boughs.

An owl? Isn't it too early for a hunt? She could have sworn she had seen it before.

'I'd like to see Pa and Ma again.'

She turned back at Rinju's voice and dropped her own to a whisper. 'Would you like to come with me, if I could get us out of here?'

The look on Rinju's face said it all. She was young, but not too young to know the consequences of absconding.

Isla sighed and took her hand. Their time was up.

With one last look into the trees, she lead Rinju back. The owl watched them as they walked away, challenging her with its big, bold eyes.

Or I, too, need more sleep. All this fear of bondmates is getting to my head. I may as well jump at every roach in the cellars.

But by the following day, her suspicions were only compounded.

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The audience was held in one of Maha Rama Judhistir's more private chambers this time, and like Isla, the owl had managed to find its way in.

Prijsti had made good on her promise, securing Isla a place amongst the wait – but how the feathered beast came to be perched atop the arched beams was a mystery.

'Neru have mercy.' The Maha Rama had barely walked into the room when he spotted the bird. 'Must with mine own hands I pluck the very feathers off this fowl before it learns where it is not welcome?'

He snapped a wrist towards the owl. Isla's skin prickled, followed not even a second after by a deafening crack. A brightness sizzled towards the beam, leaving the chamber charged with the scent of burning wood. But the owl was unharmed. It had taken flight, and with an indignant caw now fled through the open door.

'Daniswar.' The room was much smaller than his public audience chamber, and yet Maha Rama Judhistir seemed not to have noticed the havoc he wrought. Calmly he continued to his seat – a plush, black beauty of pure velvet that could have easily passed for a throne – and waved a man over.

The so-named man bowed from his corner before approaching. 'Yes, My Serene Highness?'

'Go you forthwith to the Honourable Consort, Rajini Chei.' He sank into the lush pillows. A girl was immediately at his side, pouring him a generous amount of poison whiskey. 'In these very words have my dearly beloved know: Fierce and true as are mine affections, today will be the last I shall ever suffer her beast in my royal capacity. I fear the next of mine private function it attends will be as our main course.'

Daniswar's hooded eyes widened, but he made no protest. Whatever consternations he had in relaying such a threat to the rajini could not possibly come close to the threat of the Maha Rama's wrath for his refusal. He bowed one last time and left.

For the first time since his arrival, Maha Rama Judhistir seemed to note the attendants in his chamber. The two Eling guests standing just across his velvet throne, Maharaj Persi and Khaisan waiting to his left, and Kiet on his right.

'Sit,' said the Maha Rama, and they all sat.

The audience began without further delay, but Isla could not hear for the ringing in her ears. At least she had not dropped her tray, as the serving girl beside her had done. Not that she could fault her for it. Even the Maha Rama ignored the shattered glassware and the girl trembling on her knees.

Isla stooped to help clear the mess, but her mind was on the owl. It belongs to Chei. The recluse. The cunning consort.

If there were more reasons for her to suspect the bird, this would be it.

Later, as they stood dutifully by a hidden alcove in the chamber, Isla asked the serving girl about the owl. 'I have never seen the Maha Rama so angry.' Even then, only his casual display of therokindry and courteously-worded threat had betrayed his annoyance.

'You'll understand,' whispered the serving girl. 'It's always around. In the Maha Rama's public audiences ... his private meetings ... it's probably there when he shits!'

'It's the rajini's bondmate, then?'

'Impossible. Rajini Chei's unblooded.'

'There have been unblooded people throughout history who bonded.'

'Rarely. Odds are bigger she stole Huu from another. That's what the servants be saying, anyhow.'

What absurdity. How is it even possible to steal a bondmate? 'Huu? Curious name. I suppose she chose it for the sound an owl makes.'

'You'd think.' The serving girl leaned in conspiratorially. 'But some like to say it's named Huu because –'

'– it's the rajini's ears,' Isla finished. Huu was a Surikh word for ear, and the pun did not escape her.

The serving girl nodded and gave a small laugh. ''Course that's impossible, since it ain't really her bondmate.'

'You don't know that.'

'It only came a few years back. Right out of nowhere. Ain't it strange to be bonded so late? An unblooded, no less.'

Isla shrugged. She knew little of bonding. There have been stranger things, besides. Then again, a beast needn't be bonded to serve in some way. Just look at Pepper.

But what did that mean? That the owl was Haana's, now under the rajini's care?

It was far too early to jump to conclusions.

I'll need to get close to the rajini somehow, and without her noticing. My best chance would be during her Day of Audience. The Maha Rama's wives each held audience a different day of the week, though not all of them appeared religiously. They were public affairs, so it should not be difficult for Isla to attend ...

'How can you consider this agreement,' said Maharaj Persi, startling Isla from her thoughts. His voice rose even as he spoke to the Maha Rama, 'that would make easier our people to flee to their land?'

'To visit their land,' corrected Kiet. 'And in turn, their people unto ours. The kingdom-clans of Terra Sol have in place a similar agreement. Were it not for their ease of migration, many of their clans would've long perished.'

'You dare compare us to those dryland kerns?'

'They're in fact a highly cultured people. You'd know this, brother, if you travelled a bit.'

Maharaj Persi's face deepened into a shade of red, but he let Kiet's remark go unresponded. Instead, he turned back to the Maha Rama and calmer said, 'Is it not preferable the Elings first show good faith by returning us our defectors, before we take such drastic action as to facilitate so free a travel?'

'With all respect, My Serene Highnesses,' said Aldir, 'The fact is it has never helped to hunt for unpapered foreigners. It further drives them underground, making it impossible for us to monitor and ensure their compliance with the law. And so while we cannot search for and repatriate every man who illicitly flees from this enchanting kingdom of yours, we'll happily return those who do come to the attention of our law.'

'It is a reasonable enough start,' said Kiet for his father's peace of mind. 'And it does not dismiss the possibility of future revisions to our agreement.'

The Maha Rama smiled, though to Isla it seemed more a threat. 'Your words are wise, Kiet. All eggs must be lain ere they are hatched. Do we not all here long for the great ocean to carry the weight of Surikh name? That its tides shall flood upon our shores a lasting prosperity? It is mine hope for this friendship to thrive, in both longevity and its yield.'

The assembly lifted their cups and drank. Isla and her counterpart thereafter stepped in to replenish their wine. She did not miss Maharaj Persi's glowering eyes, nor his son's blank stare. Kiet she avoided entirely.

'I must ask,' said the Maha Rama once all had settled. 'You spoke of Surikh men whom have displeased the laws of your kingdom.'

There was no question, but both Aldir and Sir Edric understood. It was the latter who replied, 'Many who come without papers eventually turn to a life of crime, Your Serene Highness, for there is little else they can do to survive. My personal undertaking is to see this change.' He did not elaborate how; Isla suspected it would cause yet another point of contention.

'What children. Petulant, wild. Hatchlings, forsaken their father to hide beneath a neighbour's shadow, merely to bring shame upon their own home. It behooves me to relieve you of their care.'

'Those we've captured are serving their time, my Rama. As Aldir has said, we'll be happy to return them to Surikhand upon completion of their sentence.'

'Too much have they inconvenienced Elingar. No more should my Honoured Envoy's resources be squandered on account of such defiant children.'

'I see no reason why they cannot serve the remaining of their time here, in their own home,' added Maharaj Persi.

Sir Edric offered a benign smile. 'I'm afraid by breaking Eling law, they must commit to Eling time.'

'Besides,' Kiet started. 'Imagine the financial burden, not to mention security concerns, a shipment of convicts would entail. And forget not the congested state of our own dungeons.'

Isla's ears pricked at the word.

She had been brewing her core. Now she looked for the best target. Maharaj Persi was sharp, made even more precarious by his current irritability. His son, on the other hand, was all impatience and boredom; his own walls deceptively absent, but Isla sensed a swarming emptiness that lay in wait. The very same as Kiet's.

All of them would take time to infiltrate, and the risks should she be caught ...

She did not even attempt a look into the Maha Rama. There was no doubt of the void into which he could readily sweep her.

'I couldn't help notice, my maharaj,' started Aldir, 'the sheer numbers in your cells. Your guards are outmanned at least twelve pairs to one. Even a single riot would prove calamitous. Yet when this previous morning my maharaj deigned escort me to your palace dungeons, I saw the prisoners there all much subdued. Elingar could never enforce such restraint.'

Kiet's smile was sour. 'Are you familiar with the aqhlya plant? Cultivated by the people of Canthor?'

'A hallucinogen popular amongst our street-artists.'

'Also a sedative, curbing both physical activity and theurgic strength. Our guards administer it to the prisoners.'

'Our street-artists are known to grow an unhealthy dependency on the drug.'

'And our prisoners would do anything to obtain their next dose. Which includes behaving well.'

Are they hooking my sister on drugs? Isla caught Aldir's eye, but he could only respond with a small shake of his head.

Kiet misunderstood the gesture. 'It is a complex situation to manage, much like your unpapered foreigners.'

'Why do you bandy words?' said Maharaj Persi. 'The Eling have no comprehension of the risks faced by our guards, the dangerous men over which they stand watch. Their great-grandfathers have never had to bear witness to a slaughter of thirty brave soldiers, dhayang raped and ravaged, fires spread across their palace grounds ...'

'I meant no offence, Your Serene Highness,' assured Aldir. 'It only surprised me, this practice both ... resourceful, yet ...'

Inhumane? Disgusting?

Aldir did not complete his thought. 'I can see its necessity, especially against hardened offenders in their prime ... but women? and children?'

'We keep no female prisoners here,' said Kiet. 'As I'm sure you saw. It would be disastrous for them to share space with brutal men.'

So Tamma isn't in the dungeons? Isla looked to Aldir for confirmation. He nodded, though she could not be sure whether it was in response to her unspoken question, or Kiet's words. But if she isn't here, and she wasn't at the Water Palace, where else could the rajini be keeping her?

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