Page 47 of The Prince Without Sorrow
Chapter Forty-Six
Shakti
S HAKTI WAS STARTLED FROM SLEEP BY THE SOUND of bells ringing in the silence. Loud and insistent, they beat thrice at a deep, steady rhythm. A pause, and they rang thrice once more.
Death.
Heart beating in rapid-fire, Shakti scrambled out of bed. Sleep hadn’t clouded her mind yet: it hadn’t been long since she left Princess Aarya’s chambers for her own. Staff who had been sound asleep had awoken with her and were opening their doors dazedly. The commotion had robbed them of their sleep as well.
Her mind was racing . What was going on?
Bumping shoulders against the crowd of staff who were muttering and whispering as they rushed out into the crisp night air, Shakti decided to race straight to the Obsidian Throne room. It seemed that she wasn’t the only one with such an idea, because by the time she had arrived in front of the great wooden doors, a throng of staff and guards were huddled around it.
Shakti found Ruchira in the crowd instantly, dressed in a light grey sleeping shift, her eyes still heavy from sleep.
‘Ruchira!’ she exclaimed, coughing as she did. Her throat was still sore.
‘Shakti!’ the older woman exclaimed as she made her way to her. ‘Spirits help us, there’s been another death.’
Shakti blanched. Perhaps it was Aarya. She was about to ask which of the Maurya brood had succumbed to death this time, but her question was answered by the giant bang of the throne room doors opening. One of the royal physicians walked out, his face long and drawn before he gently closed the doors behind him.
‘A false alarm!’ He turned to the awaiting onlookers gravely. ‘The emperor is not dead. He has, however, been rendered unconscious. Comatose.’
Shakti’s sleep-addled brain thought first of Adil, before remembering that he was not alive. There was only one emperor, and that was—
‘Arush!’ the screams were coming from inside the Obsidian throne room, ‘ Arush! ’
A voice made frail by months of sorrow. It could only be Empress Manali.
Shakti turned her stunned gaze to Ruchira. ‘What happened?’ she hissed.
Ruchira appeared equally befuddled. ‘I... I don’t know,’ she murmured. ‘The bell rang thrice, and I assumed it was a death. It always means death.’
Shakti cast her mind back some hours ago, before she had been summoned to the princess’s chambers. Back to the argument she’d heard between Aarya and Emperor Arush. Though she had seen the Maurya siblings quarrel before, that one had seemed particularly inflammatory. There had been an undercurrent of insidiousness in their exchange.
The emperor rendered comatose. Who would think to attempt it? Or better yet, who would stand to gain from it?
Aarya , her mind whispered delightedly. Aarya, Aarya, Aarya.
‘What’s the cause of the emperor’s condition?’ she asked loudly to the physician.
‘A series of seizures,’ he replied solemnly, eliciting a gasp from the crowd. ‘Frankly, it’s quite unexpected considering that his health had been excellent. Now, I don’t want to cause any alarm, but the likeliest cause is poison.’
His statement only served to escalate the tension of the crowd who had now begun to speculate about the perpetrator, the true cause of the emperor’s comatose condition. Meanwhile, Shakti’s head was echoing that damned name over and over again in an endless, torturous cycle:
Aarya, Aarya, Aarya .
Her head was telling her that this was connected to the princess. Who else could Emperor Arush have seen so late into the night? The princess was the royal child who most lusted after power and glory. Shakti wouldn’t have been surprised if Aarya had mustered enough depravity within herself to slip a vial of poison into her older brother’s drink. The subsequent guilt would be nothing compared to the jubilation of claiming the Obsidian Throne.
As the head physician made to enter the throne room once more, the great doors opened to reveal Princess Aarya, wearing the same white clothes she had met Shakti in. She gazed upon the crowd, her face unusually bare considering her staunch addiction to maintaining her vanity. But that did not matter. The princess’s eyes were bright, her posture erect, her expression haughty. It was as if Shakti were gazing upon Adil’s face. As if he had not died at all.
Dozens of the palace staff fell silent at the sight of the princess as they dropped into deep bows and hasty murmurs.
‘I’m sure you have heard that my dear brother is comatose,’ she said loudly, her voice firm, clear, and without any inflection. Her eyes found Shakti’s, and she felt an unpleasant heave in her stomach. The princess stared at her for a beat longer than necessary before she resumed her speech. ‘Rest assured, we will uncover the cause of my brother’s untimely condition, be it poison as the physicians claim, or what I believe to be wretched mayakari magic.’
At the mention of mayakari magic, the crowd tittered. Some appeared confused, others disbelieving. Shakti caught hushed whispers that questioned the princess’s sanity.
‘Oh yes,’ Princess Aarya replied. ‘No one leaves until I find the witch. From this point on, the palace will be in lockdown.’