to be okay,” I said in my most soothing, come-down-from-the-ledge-you-nutter voice. His brother had just been turned into a bowling ball, and he was debating the relative merits of different vampire movies?
“No, I’m serious,” Neel insisted. “Vampires. Like—‘I vant to suck your blood’?”
“Yes, I’m familiar with ‘I vant to suck your blood.’”
“That’s where we got the idea of an enchantment that would banish my mother’s physical form from our kingdom unless someone specifically invited her in.”
Oh, that was what all that permission getting was about. In those old movies, vampires couldn’t enter someone’s house unless they had an invitation. Something I myself had given the rakkhoshi.
To quote the demoness herself: Drat. Dread. Demonic doo-doo.
But something still didn’t make sense. “How did she get inside in the first place, to change identities with Danavi?”
“She must have ridden in on the mist or in the vapor of a storm cloud.” Neel rubbed his eyes. “But she couldn’t take on her physical form until you gave her permission.”
It was all my fault.
“Neel, I’m so sorry …”
“I should have known better.” He shook his head. “I shouldn’t have listened to you.”
“About what?” I felt so bad for inviting the rakkhoshi into the kingdom, I didn’t even realize that Neel blamed me for something else.
“You’re the one who insisted we leave Lal alone.” Neel kicked at the ground in frustration. “Why did I listen to you? A stranger! Someone who has no idea what she’s talking about! Someone so selfish she never thinks about other people’s feelings!”
“It’s not all my fault!” I shouted, my shame and horror making me defensive. “What about you? You didn’t think you should tell me you were a half demon and your mom was out to snack on Lal? Or that you two had come up with some horror-movie spell to keep her out of the kingdom?”
Neel lifted the two spheres onto his shoulders without another word. But his jaw was working like he was chewing and swallowing down bitter emotions.
“Look, Neel, I’m sorry,” I said, blinking back tears. “I’m so sorry. For your brother, for Mati, your mother, for everything.”
Still, the prince said nothing.
“Do you hear me? I’m sorry! I’m going to help make this right—I promise!”
“Don’t you get it?” Neel’s eyes were shining with water, but he ground his words out with a fury that startled me. “You can’t do anything to make this right! Nothing will ever be right again!”
The silence was painful as we walked back to the main part of the palace. Neel set a fast pace even though he carried both the golden and silver spheres, and didn’t look over at me once. My emotions slingshotted between rage and guilt. How dare he blame me? I thought one minute. How could he not? I thought the next.
We walked down a marble hallway decorated with shields and curved swords. The ceiling sparkled with gems set in patterns to look like stars, moons, and swirling galaxies. There were lacy cutouts in the walls that let the breeze waft through, and I could see one after another fountain-filled courtyard stretching off in either direction. At the end of this hall was the throne room, and in front of the throne room stood a pair of moustachioed guards in tunics and baggy pants. The swords in their belts glittered. But they didn’t stop us, instead just bowed to the prince and let us through.
Before the royal audience chamber was a reception area separated from the throne room by a curtain. There were a bunch of people crowded there—merchants and customers arguing about who cheated who, nervous villagers waiting to complain about their landlords, courtiers in silk saris and tunics just milling around for no apparent reason. The glittering curtain parted and a gray-haired man in regal clothes, gold earrings, and miles of gold necklaces came out. He bowed to Neel, adding a kind of unnecessary set of hand waves.
“Your Royal Highness, welcome home.”
Neel inclined his head. “Lord Bulbul.”
“I am the Royal Minister of Sweets,” the elderly man said to me with a flourish, before he caught full sight of me. Then I saw his expression change into disgust. Man, what was this dude’s problem?
In the meantime, the guard parted the entrance curtain and Neel walked through, leaving me behind with Lord Bulbul. As I watched the prince’s retreating back, the hollow feeling in my stomach grew. To make matters worse, I noticed the minister guy was still staring at me. Following his gaze, I realized there was a