He pulled her into a hug, which Constance enthusiastically returned, bouncing on her heels with excitement.
“But why are you here?Why arewehere?What’s going on in Puri?And why are you incognito?”Constance demanded in quick, happy succession.
Padma turned to Vijay’s more sober companion.“Nawaz Chowdhury.I suppose I should not be surprised to find you here.”
“An honor to see you again, Maharajkumari.”Mr.Chowdhury bowed.“Felicitations on your return to India.”
His accent was flawlessly English without even a hint of the foreign warmth that distinguished the words of the maharaja.Listening to it, Ellie might have thought she was on Bond Street.
“Mr.Chowdhury is your uncle’s solicitor and close adviser,” Padma explained to Constance—with an odd glint in her eyes.
“And very dear friend.”Vijay emphasized the remark with an affectionate clasp of the stern lawyer’s shoulder.“Nawaz has been at my side since our days at Oxford together.”
“Is that your dog?”Mr.Chowdhury placidly inquired.
Ellie suppressed a wince.
Kalb was sprinting back and forth along the wall after the remarkably agile lizard, which turned on the dog with a hiss.
The lanky canine skidded to a halt, pulling his tail between his legs with a whine of alarm.
“Over here, buddy!”Adam called easily.
Kalb sprinted across the platform and barreled into the group, nearly taking Ellie out by the knees.
She glared at the dog.He returned the look with a wide brown gaze of unmitigated adoration, tongue lolling out of the side of his mouth.
“Let me fill you in while we walk,” Vijay ordered.
The maharaja led them through the small station building, his distinctly attired servants opening doors and clearing their way.As they stepped into the street, the noise Ellie had been hearing since leaving the train rose into the distinct clamor of a crowd.
Ladies in bright-hued saris hurried past the storefronts, chattering excitedly.Children in loose gowns and sandals raced after a bare-chested ascetic.Young men laughed together with flower garlands draped around their necks, faces painted with ritual marks in saffron or vermilion.Most of them moved in the same direction, toward the source of the now-clear drumbeats.
Vijay pointed to Ellie as they plunged into the thick of it, heading up the road.“You must be Miss Mallory, archivist and historian.”His attention shifted to Neil.“And this would be Dr.Neil Fairfax—though you’re younger than I expected.”
Neil gave a tired sigh.“I’m not, actually.It’s just…” He waved a helpless hand at his admittedly boyish features.“I did try to grow a mustache.”
“It was terrible,” Constance helpfully added.
Vijay’s attention shifted to Adam, who was reluctantly shrugging into his coat.Kalb loped innocently at his heels as though he hadn’t just been trying to devour an unsuspecting reptile.“And you must be the surveyor.”
“Adam Bates.Your… Highness?”Adam finished uncertainly with a polite tip of his battered flat-brim fedora.
Mr.Chowdhury arched a fine black brow.Mr.Mahjoud, following Padma in his excellently tailored suit, made a sigh of long-suffering disappointment.
“That’ll do,” Vijay returned with an amused twinkle in his eye.
They rounded another corner, the crowd growing thicker.Vijay’s servants plowed through it with practiced ease.
“I believe Auntie Padma told you that we’ve been chasing rumors of the reemergence of a lost astra,” Vijay prompted.
“She has.”Ellie hurried along behind him, the racket of music and voices from ahead of them growing louder.“We’ve been reading up on it.I’m currently on the third volume of Mr.Nutt’s English translation of the Ramayana, though I must say the text raises as many questions about the artifact as it answers.”
“All of which I will be happy to address once we’ve sorted out a slightly more immediate difficulty,” Vijay assured her.
“Which is?”Neil prompted, nervously adjusting his spectacles.
The maharaja and his solicitor exchanged a significant look.
