“Black lung!”Ellie shouted after him.
“Just one!”he called in return, and then let himself be pulled into the circle of men.
Ellie shook her head—and then startled to realize that Padma stood beside her.
Constance’s grandmother glittered with jewels, looking every inch the princess.Mr.Mahjoud had returned to join her, a looming and distinguished presence at her back.
He treated Ellie to an irritated frown—probably because she and Adam had sent him off on a wild goose chase.
“When are you leaving for Korea?”Padma asked lightly.
The garden tipped sideways as Ellie tried to catch up with her words.“Why would I be going to Korea?”
“There is that little matter of George Bates,” Padma replied.
Ellie’s thoughts shot back to Borthwick’s revelation in front of the temple of the Brahmastra.
He’s welcome to whatever the Joseon is hiding…
But Padma had been miles away when the colonel had spoken those words.
Suspicion flared.“How do you know about that?”
Padma’s expression was serene.“I make it a point to stay abreast of these matters.”
Anger snapped through Ellie with a quick heat.“Howlonghave you known about it?”
Padma met her glare without a hint of apology.“Longer than you.”
The anger burned hotter.Ellie reminded herself that they were standing at the edge of a party.If she started shouting, people would notice.
“Then would you kindly tell mewhy you didn’t say anything about it?”
“You needed to focus on the Brahmastra.”
Ellie’s fists clenched.Her head pounded with the effort of restraining her temper.“Thatwasn’tyour decision to make.”
“Wasn’t it?”Padma returned coolly.
Ellie controlled herself with some effort.There were more important things she needed from this conversation than to let Padma know how furious she was.“And what else do you know about Adam’s father?”
“He is searching for a place that the Chinese call Mount Penglai.”
Ellie’s stomach twisted at the words.She knew what Penglai was… and what George Bates must be seeking there.
“You don’t have the funds to make the journey on your own,” Padma declared flatly.“Your money—such as it is—is tied up in London.Mr.Bates never had any to begin with.”
Ellie’s fury was a hot, electric wind roiling inside of her.“Are youblackmailingus?”
Padma’s expression was as placid as a lake in winter.“I believe that I am offering to assist you.”
“Because it serves your interests,” Ellie accused.
“This is a war, Jhia,” Padma snapped.“The men who crush nations under their boots are stealing our own history to help them do it.Did you come here to fight that?Or would you rather go home?”
“That isn’t fair,” Ellie pushed back.
Padma’s eyes flashed with dark, powerful rage.“Neither was what was done to my country.One million dead in Odisha alone, in a single famine, because the Raj destroyed the systems that would have cared for them, offering us telegraph wires and trade restrictions instead.I left because I could not raise my children in a place that reeked of death, and I have never forgiven myself for it.But I am here now, and I will do whatever is necessary to protect my people—along with others like them across the world who are crushed under the boot of empire.”
