Page 39 of A Royal Deception

“Of course,” I replied, surprised that she’d think I’d ever leave a child to suffer the consequences of my actions.

Her face softened, and Shivina gave me a tiny, reluctant smile. There was a knock at the door, and the butler led Raksha in.

“Your household is in an uproar,” she said with a grin. “Rani Ma and Sannata wanted me to make sure your new bride is still alive and in one piece. That’s quite a lot of sympathy for an impostor. Well played, Rani Sa.”

“Don’t call me that,” said Shivina with a shudder. “I just want to rescue my sister and get back to my old life.”

“I’m afraid that won’t be possible. There’s not much left of your old life, from what I hear,” she said briskly. “You’re persona non grata in Sajjangarh Palace. Rajiv has managed to hold off the cops, but there’s a lot of pressure—and money being offered—from the palace, and they won’t hold out against it for much longer.”

Shivina turned a frightened face to me.

“We’ll never make it there in time if we drive there. Can you arrange for someone to pick her up from the palace? And maybe a lawyer to deal with the police?”

“I can do better than that, Shivina. We’ll fly down to Sajjangarh in my chopper,” I replied immediately.

She looked taken aback at the suggestion, but it was the quickest way to get there.

“I don’t want to put you to any trouble,” she said doubtfully.

“It’s no trouble at all. It’s time the Dodiyas faced the full fury of the Mirpur royal family,” I declared. “What do you have for me, Raksha?”

“Evidence and a battalion,” she replied.

“Excuse me?”

“I have the evidence right here, Hukum,” she said, handing me a thick folder. “The Dodiyas are too cheap to have full-time security. They hired a team from an agency for the wedding, and everyone knows those guys have no loyalty to anyone. I found at least three guys willing to give evidence in court just in case you want to take the matter that far. It’ll cost us, but the information is worth the price. As for the battalion, your friends are waiting downstairs. As is your team. It might be better if the Maharaja and Maharani are backed by the Maharaja and Maharani of Trikhera, as well as the Yuvaraj and Yuvarani of Jadhwal. It’ll make a stronger impression.”

“Oh lord! Don’t tell me Dheer dragged poor Diya all the way to Mirpur in her condition,” I said, aghast at the thought of the heavily pregnant Maharani of Trikhera coming all the way.

“The only way he could keep her away was to tie her to the bed,” explained Raksha. “He might have done it too if his sister had allowed it.”

“Well, she’s not going with us. And neither is Isha,” I declared.

“Maybe borrow her Basanti?” murmured Shivina.

“I have my own guns, thank you very much,” I snapped. “Next, you’ll ask to borrow her hyenas!”

“How on earth is she allowed to keep hyenas?” she demanded.

“They are not her pets,” explained Raksha. “We’ve always had hyenas on the outskirts of the villages here. Nature’s garbage disposal, I call them.”

“I hope we don’t need them for this trip. Now, can we focus on the problem at hand? What on earth was Kavya up to yesterday?”

“According to the security guys, two of her friends took her on a hush-hush desert safari for her bachelorette party in the desert. And this is where it gets weird, Hukum. They refused to take the hired guns with them because one of them had her own security team.”

“That’s strange,” I murmured. “You’d think the Dodiyas would want to protect their princess.”

“It looks as if the princess didn’t want them reporting her activities to her parents,” said Raksha.

“She does drugs,” said Shivina suddenly. “That’s what she was hiding.”

“You’re partly right, Rani Sa,” replied Raksha, shaking her head. “When she didn’t return home in the morning as promised, her father sent a team to collect her. And they foundher passed out in her tent. Ketamine overdose. It took them ages to revive her. They had to chopper in a doctor who specialises in emergency medicine. Even then, it was hours before she was fit to appear at the wedding mandap.”

“That’s why they forced Shivina to take her place,” I said triumphantly. “Can you get that doctor’s statement?”

“I’m working on it,” said Raksha. “But it’ll take time.”

“That’s the problem. We don’t have too much time,” I replied, running a hand through my hair agitatedly. “And while the statements from the security guards are certainly damning, they aren’t enough. We can’t threaten the Dodiyas with just that.”

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