Gifting Fire by Alina Boyden (read my book .TXT) 📕

in my neck straining to push the words out. “I must have screamed your name a hundred times. I begged for you. I thought you didn’t hear me, but today I learned that you did, that Father had ordered you to let it happen. So did it bother you, hearing me scream your name while he did those things to me?”

A few tears escaped the corners of my eyes as the magnitude of the betrayal washed over me, as I remembered how much I’d trusted and loved him in spite of everything, how hard I had fought to please him. He had been my protector, the one person I was supposed to be able to trust to keep me safe from my enemies. And he had just let Karim do what he’d done.

Sikander’s face turned the color of ash as the blood drained from it. His brown eyes got big and round. So it had bothered him. Good. I could work with that.

CHAPTER 10

I left Sikander there to stew on what he had done to me, and walked out into the courtyard where my father was waiting with Karim and Arjun. Hina had gone back to the baradari to sit with my sisters. The soldiers on both sides seemed to have relaxed a little, realizing that our negotiations were taking too long to lead to a battle. I went to my father, head bowed.

“I presume you’ll be leaving immediately for Nizam?” I couldn’t imagine that the man would stay with me once the marriage negotiations had been concluded.

“No, I will remain here to fortify this city,” my father replied, and for a moment I felt a profound sense of relief wash over me. He was staying with me? I wouldn’t be living directly under Karim’s thumb? God, that was so much better than I’d feared.

“You will be coming with me to Kadiro immediately,” Karim informed me.

“Kadiro?” I hadn’t considered that possibility. If we flew to Kadiro, then I would be surrounded by Mahisagari soldiers. I would have no bodyguards save Sikander. I would have no help from the local Zindhi populace. Shiv wouldn’t be able to deliver my messages. God, nothing would go according to plan.

“That was the arrangement,” Karim said.

“Sikander will be going with you,” my father told me, which was cold comfort. I was surprised when he stepped forward and put his hands on my shoulders. When was the last time he’d touched me in a way that didn’t hurt? He looked into my eyes, and though his expression wasn’t exactly warm, it wasn’t hostile either. “If Karim mistreats you, you are to tell Sikander at once, and he will inform me, and I will come for you. You are my daughter, and no man may harm or dishonor you without harming and dishonoring me.” He aimed that last statement at Karim, but I felt the full weight of it in my heart. It wasn’t exactly the acceptance I’d longed for my whole life, but it was something.

“And you will permit Arjun and his men to return to Bikampur safely?” I asked, wanting to reassure myself of that.

“I will. And the Zindhi soldiers currently under arms will be permitted to return to their homes, provided they do not take up arms against me,” my father agreed.

I nodded, taking a deep breath to steel myself against the pain of going off with Karim as his betrothed. “Thank you, Father.”

He frowned, which could have meant anything. I had another good-bye to say before I left, though.

I looked to Arjun, wishing I could embrace him, but knowing I would pay for it if I did it in sight of Karim after agreeing to marry him. So, I just choked out, “Good-bye, my prince,” and left it at that.

Arjun came to me and wrapped his arms around me. My eyes flickered to Karim’s glowering face, and I said, “My prince, we can’t . . .”

“Karim knows what we’ve meant to each other all this time,” Arjun said, loudly enough that every man heard. He leaned down and brushed my forehead with his lips, letting them linger just long enough to leave a warm glow on the surface of my skin. When he pulled back, he whispered, “I will always love you. No matter what.”

I wanted to make the same promise to him, but I couldn’t. Uttering those words now, with Karim listening, would just deepen his suspicions of a plot to escape. So I bit down on my lip against the pain of this parting, and I bowed my head, praying that Arjun would know what I was thinking, that he would know I loved him as much as he loved me, that he wouldn’t hold it against me for not feeling safe enough to say it out loud.

“Remember what I told you,” he whispered, and I knew in that moment that he understood. I knew what words he was referencing. Do what you have to do to survive.

“I will, my prince,” I whispered back, my voice catching in my throat.

Arjun stepped away from me, and Karim stepped closer, his jaw clenched tightly. He glared down at me, his dark eyes wide with fury. “I permitted that as a courtesy, but from now on, no man touches you but me. Do you understand?”

“Yes, your highness,” I replied, keeping my voice calm and subdued, removing from it any traces of the anger and hatred I was feeling. “With your permission, I would like to explain the situation to my sisters and to Hina and her celas. They must be very nervous by now.”

“Yes, fine.” He gestured to the baradari. “But be quick about it. I want us in Kadiro before nightfall.”

“As you wish, your highness,” I agreed.

I tried to project an image of calm as I made my way back to my throne, where Sakshi and Lakshmi were waiting. I knew that my older sister would be under no illusions about