Adam’s fist clenched.
Forty-three communities condemned on the word of a single administrator, from grandparents to infants.Told where they could live.Separated from their families.Subject to untold other discrimination—because who would protect the people of a group that had been branded with such a stamp of disgrace?
The situation promised suffering that would resonate down generations… and all on one man’s word.
Ellie stiffened with furious indignation.“No one should have that kind of power.”
“Especially not Borthwick,” Neil added shakily, likely recalling his time with the man while he had made his illicit copy of the manuscript.
“Is it a good idea to involve these Adrija with that much at stake?”Adam demanded.
“They won’t want Borthwick wandering around their territory, either,” Vijay returned.“And they know how to be discreet.”
“Who will guide them to the village?”Padma demanded.
Vijay glanced significantly at his companion.
Mr.Chowdhury blanched.“Are you quite sure that’s a good idea?”
“They would only need to be led as far as the village,” Vijay countered.
Mr.Chowdhury rubbed a tired hand over his angular features.“Fine.”
Padma rose from her chair in a regal dismissal.“Then it’s settled.They will leave in the morning.”
Vijay treated Adam and the others to a final royal glare as he paused by the door.“If any of you should find yourselves facing the slightesthintof danger—”
“We’ll lay low and call for help,” Adam promised—and tried to ignore the itch of worry at the back of his skull.
Mr.Chowdhury spoke authoritatively from the maharaja’s side.“I’ll see to all the arrangements.You should be ready for departure immediately after breakfast.”
“Any questions?”Padma prompted casually.
Ellie bit her lip with everything she obviously wanted to ask.Neil looked a bit ashen.
Constance bounced on the settee with excitement.“None, Aai!”
“Then go to bed,” Padma ordered.
“Ma’am,” Adam acknowledged—and herded his friends out the door.
?
Fourteen
Neil Fairfax’s mindraced as he walked through the twilit shadows under the ancient, sprawling trees.He was facing yet another plunge into danger, this time in the form of an expedition to a legendary forest in the company of a band of revolutionaries.All of that would have been quite enough to keep him from sleep, but a different worry had carried him outside.
He had found his way to one of the maharaja’s many gardens, the quiet pathways swathed with the gloom of evening.Here and there, light filtered through the leaves from the softly glowing windows of the palace wings that framed the secluded space.
The lamp Neil carried spilled a golden pool of illumination over the walkway in front of him.In his other hand, he held a long bundle wrapped in an old towel.
The air smelled of frangipani.Artificial waterfalls splashed softly into trickling streams that fed the abundant flowerbeds.The many trunks of an enormous banyan tree whispered with the quick movements of night birds while smaller animals scurried through the ground cover.
Neil froze at the sound of a strange, nasal squawk—then breathed a sigh of relief as a peacock waddled onto the path in front of him.
Kalb burst from a wall of fragrant lantana, treating the bird to an excited bark.The peacock startled with a raucous squawk, tail feathers flaring out in a threatening display.
Kalb scrabbled back with a whine.
