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He was seething with rage, even Isla did not dare speak. Instead she followed him through the consortial gardens; the maze of hedges she could barely navigate in daylight, never mind so late in the evening.

They turned a section and at last Kiet pulled her to a stop. 'How many times must I tell you to play not with Khaisan? Do you understand he lies significantly above the law? Do you?'

'I was brought there by no choice of mine, so yes, Kiet, I understand!'

'You have yourself placed under his eye, and I doubt it will end with you taking seat in a consortial estate!'

That he even thinks I would want such a thing! 'And your sister? She vied for his attentions, too, did she?' Isla brushed the yew leaves from her syarong. 'Do you really not get it? For as long as you live, you will always be a thorn on the maharam's side, and he will pick the whole bush apart to get to you! Except one day, he won't be a maharam anymore, he will be your rama, and you will have to bow down before him. Your sisters will have to bow down before him, your children, your people!'

     
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He did not take her to her grandmother's estate. It was the late Rajini Amarin's gardens they stepped into, her bougainvillea-covered walkway under which they walked, her lotus mandala etched upon her double-leaf doors.

'Why am I here?'

'I'll not risk Khaisan summoning for you in the dead of night.'

Fool. Maharaj Khaisan only wanted her when Kiet could see. 'So you'll keep me prisoner?'

'He'll soon enough forget, short-lived as his attention always is.'

He led her across the foyer, up the grand stairway, Akai following at a respectable distance. Few things have changed since last she visited the estate, but there was a more simplistic touch to the place—less floral and more practical. The velvet curtains had been stripped down, replaced by sheer, silver panel blinds that slid down the entire length of the windows. They caught the moonlight and the fresh greens of the garden outside, tinting the hallway in a cool glow.

But Kiet took her deeper through the everbranching halls and soon the windows were gone, replaced by strips of solid wood wall sconces between rows and rows of endless doors. The ceiling was low, the passage narrow, and their footsteps sounded thrice as loud in the small space surrounding them.

Heads peered out of their sleeping chambers. He had taken her through the servants' wing—Isla recognised his plate-sampler, peering out of her chamber only to stumble and drop to her knees upon seeing the maharaj.

'You'll wake the entire floor, marching like for war.'

'If I march for war, I'm certain it'll be for you!' he growled back.

Isla swallowed her retort. He was clearly in no mood to be further antagonised. When she finally did respond, her voice was small. 'You should not have attacked the maharam. It is a capital offence to assault the crown prince, second in line or no.'

'I guess he'll have to excuse this one transgression, much as I've excused many of yours.'

'He isn't as magnanimous as you.'

'Nor might I be as magnanimous as you think.' He stopped before a door as plain and non-descript as the others. He pushed it open, revealing a sparse, windowless chamber with only a small cot for a bed and a chipped wardrobe small enough to serve also as a desk. 'You'll sleep here for the night.'

Even her sleeping chambers back in Elingar was better than this, but Isla only shrugged. 'We've had vastly different life experiences if you think I find this beneath me.'

'True. I doubt you've ever had to eat a monkey for dinner, for one.'

'I doubt you've had to go a week without eating anything at all.'

'I am putting you here not as punishment, but it is as you say. Different life experiences.' Kiet sniffed. 'No one will expect you here, thus will no one find you. The only chamber safer for you is mine, so unless you prefer to share my bed—'

'Tempting as that is'—Isla squeezed past him and made a show of inspecting the room—'I prefer a good night's sleep.'

Kiet raised a brow. 'I know not what you even insinuate.' The door frame was so small he blocked the entrance entirely when he stood before it. 'The wash rooms are further down the hallway. We'll speak again tomorrow. Get some sleep, and you better have scrubbed that damned henna off by morning or I'll do it for you.'

   
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Kiet was already waiting when he called her to his audience hall. The room was small, and the four men scattered around it made it seem smaller yet; Kiet, soaking in the early morning sun by the fan-shaped window, Akai and Sindhu guarding two opposing corners, and Jinsei stirring his cup upon a low table in the centre of the room.

The latter rose when Isla entered. Kiet turned at the whisper of the door sliding shut.

'A full house, I see.' Isla eyed Sindhu and Akai carefully. Whatever Kiet brought her here for, she preferred they not hear it.

'Master Mandabu arrived only this dawn to bring me news.' Kiet nodded at the aging man. 'He has travelled far and worked tirelessly. Akai will escort him to our hot spring, where he might enjoy some long-deserved rest.'

Isla moved aside to let the two men pass. 'News?'

'Nothing you know not already.'

She looked at Jinsei, but he only lifted his own shoulders. Isla sighed, took the legless chair beside the truth-weaver. 'Fine. Keep your secrets.'

'After all you make me endure? It only is fair.'

'So what have you brought me here for?'

'I'll do it.' His voice was low, his eyes on the closed door. 'I thought upon it all week. All night, after it became clear to me you'll leave me no choice.'

'I leave you no choice?'

'My nephew leaves me no choice.' His eyes darkened, steel in his grey; his voice deep and impatient. Had he always been this striking? 'I'll be your king. But only if you can convince me how.'

Isla's chest swelled with relief. She dropped her hands to her lap to hide the trembling of her fingers. Her throat was suddenly dry when she spoke, 'You know I'm a mind-crafter.'

'I thought as much.' Kiet did not even let her finish. 'You mean to coerce Judhistir into renaming his heir? Even if you succeeded into entering his mind, he'd change it and hunt down the culprit the moment you exit.'

'No. Not a coercion. A manipulation. I will plant the idea itself and let it blossom. He is already open to the prospect of you as rama—his adoration and pride for you is clear. I only need to feed into this.'

The cynicism in his face turned slowly to uncertainty. 'This is something you can do?'

'Yes.' How do you think Dhvani became so blinded by revenge? Isla took a swig of the cup before her, realising too late it belonged to Jinsei.

'No. Even so—entering the Rama's mind is certain death. Unless you catch him sleeping, there never is a moment when his jii—'

'Rice wine alone is enough to dampen one's walls. What do you think aqhla might do?' Isla knew the answer, of course. It was no secret Surikhand used the hallucinogen to subdue their prisoners. 'The Maha Rama drinks only poison whiskey—combined, any taste or scent of the drug will be diluted. And you said it yourself; it is completely harmless in moderation. His cup-tasters won't notice it, nor will they be drinking enough to suffer its effects, but the Rama will become hooked to both drink and drug, his jii will become ... unstable, inconsistent, weak. Over time, it will be gone entirely, and people will only attribute his growing feebleness to age.'

Kiet seemed struck by the idea, though not in a bad way. 'And how do you suggest we tamper with his drinks?'

'All palace food and beverage supplies are stored in the kitchens. This includes the Rama's poison whiskey. It will not be difficult to add a few powder spoons into the mix.' In fact, Isla had already been doing so over the past week during her frequent visits to the kitchen. In between all the kitchenhands and cooks and scullery maids bustling in and out, no one paid any attention to a skinny little thing like her. 'Just leave it to me. I'll take care of it.'

'Absolutely not.' Kiet scoffed. 'Sindhu will secure us the aqhla.'

A better idea. Isla had stolen a batch of aqhla powder from the dungeons that night she visited Arya. She had seen the supply between her search for Arya's pendant, and it was simply not an opportunity to be missed. But it would not be wise to continue stealing from the dungeon's supply of aqhla. Never mind the risks of being caught, the guards will eventually notice if their supply was rapidly diminishing. 'Sindhu will stand out too much in the kitchens; besides, it is best he didn't know what the aqhla is for.'

'If you trust neither my men nor my judgement, I assume you at least trust your truth-weaver.'

'They have no intention or desire to betray the maharaj,' said Jinsei. 'Nor are they working in secret for another party.'

'You are sure of this?'

'I have asked all possible iterations of their loyalty. It is my job to be certain, and for many years, my life depended upon my accuracy.'

'Fine. But it is still a terrible idea to have Sindhu dropping into the kitchens so frequently.'

'It is a terrible idea to have any one of us dropping into the kitchens so frequently,' said Kiet.

'I've been doing so since I was a dhayang at the academy. I take food and drink from them all the time. It would be stranger still if I suddenly dropped the habit, now that I am back at the palace.' Isla sighed at the unyielding scowl on Kiet's face. 'Out of the three of us and your captain and your silver-servant, I am the most inconspicuous option.'

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↝ END CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE↜

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☆ this chapter is dedicated to tienoa ☆

Video: LO-FI SENPAI
Image: Top images—AI art; lower image—original artist unknown

Kiet's finally coming around, but what do you think of Isla's plan?