❖ QUEENKILLER, KINGMAKER Book 2 ❖
A year has passed since Isla rescued Tam Mai from the dungeons, but her sister's mind is still trapped and broken. There is only one person Isla knows can help her.
Meanwhile across the sea, a prince seeks justice f...
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Sindhu sighed when his eyes landed on the untouched platter, gathering heat under the midday sun. The table was a mess, the cabin stank of warm cake, and Kiet had left not even the shade of his canopy bed all morning.
'If you will not eat, at least allow me to draw you a bath, m-maharaj.' He reached over the table and pushed open the windows. Sea breeze drifted in. The bed curtains shifted.
'I've not asked you to come mother me, Master Mandabu; only to speak of her.' Kiet squinted in the streaming sunlight. His swiftlet, on the other hand, only too gladly made for the open window. 'You've worked a long time for our family. You must have known her well.'
'As well as a servant can know his m-mistress, certainly.'
'Sit.' Kiet gestured to the table.
Sindhu took a chair and dragged it away from the melting cakes.
'People have been telling me strange things about her, of late. Impossible things.'
'Us baseborn fill the time with stories, m-maharaj. You should hear some of the things they say about the M-Maha Rani. It is best not to ... concern yourself with wild tales.'
'Of course. They knew her not like those closest to her did. But I had the privilege of being her son and I fear I have been shielded from her ... less maternal side.'
Sindhu opened his mouth, but all that came were a string of stuttered words.
For the first time that day Kiet rose from his bed and moved to pour him some water from a pitcher. 'What did you think of my mother?'
'The truth is, m-maharaj ... I did not know her enough to have m-much of an opinion, and the higher she rose in her station, the less I knew who she became.'
'The higher she rose? My mother climbed no ranks; she jumped straight to becoming Judhistir's rajini at the age of sixteen.'
'Hardly, m-maharaj ...' Sindhu's brows tapered to a point. 'How do you think your m-mother came to live at the Grand Palace?'
'She wedded the Maha Rama, of course.' Kiet waved his hands, impatient. It was a story so often told—a tale of romance people liked to recite in song and poetry—that it had become for him unbearable to hear. 'She'd been a member of one of his riding parties. Her horse came intemperate, broke away from the group, threw my mother off in the middle of the woods. Fortunately the Rama had chased after them and arrived in time to save her. The rest is history.'
'Ah, yes ... I knew that horse. I worked for your m-mother's family long before she ever came to the Grand Palace. I saw her raise that mare from a foal, break into and train it herself.'
What is he saying?
Sindhu's face was unreadable. He continued before Kiet could get a word in, 'But how do you think she came to be in the hunting party in the first place?'
