The Chaos Curse (Kiranmala and the Kingdom Beyond #3) - Sayantani DasGupta Page 0,66
to Neel, lowering my voice even more. “Are you okay?”
I’d never seen Neel looking so nervous. He was more the overconfident type.
“I just can’t get over the feeling that my mom is a prisoner,” Neel admitted. His eyes were darting this way and that, like he was sure someone was going to capture him and throw him in detention again at any minute. I wondered if he had a case of post-demonic stress disorder or something. “I can’t help but think that Sesha’s got her trapped in this engagement just like he had me trapped in that prison.”
I gave him what I hoped was a supportive look, without fighting with him again, like I was trying to say “Buck up, little buckaroo!” with my eyes. I’m not sure it worked, as Neel squinted at me and asked, “Do you have something in your eye?”
I sighed. Sesha was awful, that much we both knew. And I also knew how monstrous the serpent king had been to my moon mother when they were together, turning her first seven children into snakes, forcing her to send me into hiding in a different dimension with adoptive parents. And I understood why Neel thought Sesha might be being the same way to his mom.
But I couldn’t forget what I knew of the Queen too, as someone with a less-than-perfect moral compass. Plus, she had looked so happy on that video report by Twinkle Chakraborty. Anyway, the Demon Queen was a tough cookie, unlike my delicate moon mother, and more than capable of taking care of herself.
“I think we should abort the mission,” Neel muttered from behind his beard. “I don’t think this is going to work.”
“Chill,” I said to Neel in an easy tone as some more guards strolled by to our right. “You’re making me nervous.”
“You’re making us nervous too!” It was one of the rakkhosh from inside the horse. Without a word, I banged on the side of the clay animal.
A voice I recognized as Priya’s said from inside the horse, “I’m not nervous!”
“I am!” burbled Tuni again, earning himself a stern look from me.
“I don’t have a good feeling about this, Kiran,” Neel mumbled, chewing on his fingernail.
I couldn’t help it, but I almost laughed at how much our roles had reversed. When I’d first met Neel, I’d known nothing of what it took to be a hero, and I’d been downright allergic to taking risks or standing out. But learning about myself, and where I was from, had changed me. Now I was more than willing to see this pre-wedding invasion through until the end. The problem was, the end came a lot sooner than I thought.
The twisting line of dancing, singing, ululating guests had slowly made its way toward the palace. We walked in past the outdoor guards easily. They waved us on with good-humored jokes about the size of the horse and whether or not it would take off into the sky when we weren’t looking.
“We’re in!” I whispered to the hidden rakkhosh inside the horse as soon as we were in the grand marble courtyard of the palace. Musicians played from every corner, and everything was decorated with yellow flowers—mostly thick marigold garlands that draped richly, in strands of three, six, twelve, and more in every possible direction. In addition to the flowers, which made the air sweet with their heady smells, there were delicate white alpona designs everywhere, along with silk tapestries and rows of colorful flags waving in the breeze.
“You see?” I poked Neel in the ribs with a sharp elbow. “You were worrying for nothing.”
“Oh, really?” Neel was looking around the decorated marble courtyard. “We’re still not in the inner courtyard, and if anything happens here, we’re absolute sitting ducks!”
“I don’t wanna be a roasted chickadee!” moaned Tuni.
I followed Neel’s gaze and realized he was right. I’d forgotten that the Raja’s palace had not just one courtyard. We’d made it into the outer courtyard but still had to pass through more sets of guards before we made it to one of the inner ones. And unlike when we had been outside in the square, here, we were trapped in on all sides by the prettily decorated balconies and breezeways. Now, none of this would have been an actual problem had each of those balconies and breezeways not been populated by a whole mess of guards. Then there was the serious problem of the guard at the front of the courtyard.