“Let’s find my room.” Natesa grabs Yatin by the hand and tows him to an antechamber.
I sit at the driftwood table and wrap a blanket around my shoulders to ease my inner chill. Indah kicks off her sandals and puts her feet up. The damp air adds dewiness to her brown skin and fullness to her wavy dark hair.
“Why does the datu think I’m Ashwin’s viraji?” I ask quietly.
“He assumes you’ll wed the prince because you won the trial tournament.” Indah glances past me to Deven and speaks lower. “Bulan is different than Rajah Tarek. He has only been married once, and it was for love. His wife died years ago. Their only child, the princess, will inherit his throne.”
A female heir? Tarek would have never endowed his throne to one of his daughters. He saw women as accessories, servants, things.
“Princess Gemi is a Trembler like her mother was. She will be the Southern Isles’ first female ruler and our first bhuta ruler in a long while. Bulan believes bhutas and women should be in power to diversify our leadership.”
His coolness toward the prince becomes clear. “He doesn’t like Ashwin because he’s a mortal man?”
“No, Bulan doesn’t know him as well as you. Ashwin was harbored by the brethren until Tarek’s death forced him from hiding. Our informants have been watching you since you left Samiya. The datu will help your people, but only if you are part of the new empire.”
Bulan will only aid us if I plan to marry the prince. I do not have to tell Indah a union with Ashwin is not in my future. She has seen how close I am to Deven. I glance his direction. He tarries at the balcony, out of earshot. “I will be part of the new empire, but not as Ashwin’s wife.”
“You don’t have to wed him,” Indah explains. “Just let the datu think he’s your intended.”
I consider what I must do to maintain the illusion that I am Ashwin’s viraji, and my insides scramble. I do not wish to lie to Bulan, but perhaps I can leave his assumption uncorrected . . . “What about you and Pons?” I ask, eager to veer the topic of conversation to her. “Will you and he wed?”
Indah’s gold eyes darken. “My father disapproves of our closeness.”
“Then why is Pons your guard?”
“He isn’t my guard. He’s the datu’s Galer Virtue Guard. Bulan likes how we work together, so we often receive the same assignment.”
Virtue Guards are bhutas who counsel and protect the physical and spiritual well-being of mankind. I assumed Pons was Indah’s guard because he always hovers near her, but it makes sense that he serves the Southern Isles as a Virtue Guard. Indah has always treated him as her equal.
She slips on her sandals and rises. I did not mean for my prying to shoo her away. “I’ll send for the healer I told you about. He lives on an outer island and should arrive by boat tomorrow. My mother is off island as well, on assignment for the datu. My father said she’s unable to return to meet you and the prince.”
Indah told me her mother serves as the datu’s Burner Virtue Guard. All four divisions of bhutas work together here. “Will you see her soon?”
“I spent time with her before I left for Iresh. We’ll meet again before long.”
Indah starts to go, but I call to her. “Is Lestari really so safe?” The breaker is high and thick, but the palace and city are less guarded than any other I have visited.
“You’re just as safe as the rest of us.” Her frown overshadows her reassurance. Only after she leaves do I work out her meaning.