Page 17 of Her Soul for a Crown
“No!” The maid waved her off. “No, no! I had to go. I mean, I forgot the fresh mangoes for breakfast in the morning. Cook will have my head if they’re not there. So I went to the palace to fetch some.”
Anula eyed her clearly empty pockets. “Did you eat them on the way?”
The maid looked her up and down, surprise rising. “Wait, you’re a concubine. What are you doing out here?”
“I asked you first.” Anula wagged a finger. “Or should I sound the alarm that an intruder is near?”
“Please, no!” she whisper-shouted, grabbing Anula’s finger. “I’ll lose my position.”
“Then why risk leaving?”
The girl straightened. “I could ask the same of you.”
“But again, I asked first.”
The maid pursed her lips, raised her chin, and made a decision of some sort. “My name is Premala. I’m a kitchen maid.”
Anula ran through the other list in her head. The one Auntie Nirma had her memorize of potential allies, potential enemies. Premala was on neither. Anula had no idea who she was or where she’d come from. It was unlike Auntie Nirma to miss a detail, let alone an entire person.
“When did you start?”
“Just a few weeks ago. So I really can’t afford trouble.” Premala’s face was open, honest except for the tightness at the corners of her eyes.
“My name is Anula, and I like long walks in the night,” she said and held out her palm. Time to buy some trust. “Give me the pins.”
Premala’s gaze dropped to two small jeweled hair clips.
“Next time you sneak out formangoes,” Anula said, turning to the window, “leave yourself an easier way to get back inside.”
Between the frames of the windowsill sat a diamond glinting in the moonlight. She placed a pin beside it, holding the window slightly ajar.
“Then you slide out and in.” She smiled. “Silently, tenderly—no need for anyone’s assistance.”
Premala choked a cough. “Was that a jest?”
Anula winked and lifted herself through the window, before helping Premala and handing back the pin. A clink of metal echoed down the hall, voices rising with it.
“—to think he grew up down the street,” one said.
“Never would have thought he had it in him,” another said. “We’ll have to be more vigilant.”
A cold chill fell down Anula’s spine.Guards.Their shadows crept closer. There wasn’t time to flee—she wouldn’t make the corner. They’d see her or at least part of her.
A hand wrapped around her elbow, pulled her sideways and into a crouch behind a tall potted palm. Premala pressed a finger to her mouth. The vase itself was wide enough to hide them both. The long, thick leaves hung perfectly around the lip.
Premala had saved her.
The unknown, who’d lied about mangoes, had risked helping her instead of thinking of herself. Why? They weren’t allies; they were barely acquaintances.
The guards passed without a second glance. Anula slid out first.
“Thanks,” she whispered.
Premala held up the pins. “You too.” Without another word, she crossed the hall and disappeared into the shadows.
Anula’s eyes narrowed. There was something fishy about thatgirl. No one saved another without reason. The world was crueler than that. Whatever secrets she held close, Anula would have to discover them. She couldn’t have someone disrupt Auntie Nirma’s plans. Too many lives were at stake.
She squeezed the brimming bag of kaneru. Anyone who stood in their way would meet the seeds’ particularly deadly poison. Since the Heavens’ hands were nonexistent, Anula intended to keep her own pathway clear.
