Constance beamed at him.
A trumpeting call echoed over the courtyard.
“What on earth was that?”Ellie wondered.
“Think it might’ve been an elephant,” Adam mused.
“An elephant?!”Ellie’s eyes went wide.
“The kid mentioned something about a herd yesterday when she was showing us around the palace,” Adam reminded her.
“Then why didn’t we hear them before?”Ellie protested.
“Because they are only just returned from the southern grazing lands,” a clear voice announced authoritatively from the steps.
Neil looked up to see Vanika, the skinny twelve-year-old from the previous afternoon, bound down to the courtyard with lanky enthusiasm.
She skidded to a stop beside them.“They range in the royal preserve as much as possible, but they’re brought back when anyone reports poachers in the area.Or they need a wash.”
“How many elephants does His Highness have?”Ellie pressed with obvious interest.
“Seven.”Vanika braced her hands on her hips.“They are brought out for festivals and state appearances.”
“Which does not in the least justify the cost of their upkeep,” Vijay added as he strolled out of the palace with Mr.Chowdhury.
The maharaja was simply and elegantly dressed in a white suit with a purple waistcoat.He hopped down the steps with an energy similar to that of the twelve-year-old girl, Mr.Chowdhury following behind him at a more sedate pace.
“You wouldn’t believe the tab for their fodder,” Vijay continued lightly.“But Nawaz insists we keep a royal herd.”
“Because if you do not, you undermine your legal arguments for preventing the Raj from capturing bulls on Nandapur’s land,” Mr.Chowdhury elaborated with the air of a well-worn debate.
“Yes, yes,” Vijay agreed dismissively.“Can’t have them all done in for ivory or used to haul artillery through the jungle.Your guide wouldn’t stand for that, now would she?”He gave Vanika’s hair an affectionate ruffle.“Vanika’s father is my mahout—the elephant handler.”
Neil stared down at the skinny child.“Guide?”
Vanika crossed her arms imperiously.“I should like to see you try to reach Ranyapali on your own.Nobody finds the Adrija Khond if we do not want them to.”
Adam watched the girl with an air of warm amusement, his arm slung around the chestnut mare.“You’re Adrija?”
Kalb greeted the girl by jumping up to cover her face with kisses.She hugged the dog back.“Of course, I am,” she retorted.
“She’s part of the Konja clan,” Vijay elaborated.“Her grandfather was the abbaya—the local leader.”
“Is that why you’re attending school with the princes?”Ellie asked.
Vijay laughed.“She wasn’tsupposedto be—but she kept sneaking in, and she proved better with her mathematics and her Sanskrit than any of the boys.So I told her to stay.”
Neil regarded the lanky girl with a twist of worry.“But will it be safe?”
Vanika frowned at him.“Safe for me to go back to my own village?”
He thought of Borthwick’s cold gray eyes measuring him from across the room and how readily the whip had fallen into the man’s hand—and why a whip at all?
Because it would hurt more, Neil realized with a chill.
“She won’t be going beyond the village,” Mr.Chowdhury declared.
Vanika peeled herself away from Kalb, who dropped to her feet and gazed up at her with unbridled adoration.She glared mutinously at the solicitor.
