Page 25 of Dance of Stars and Ashes

“How are you doing?” Zarya asked.

Amrita pulled away. “I’m good. That was fine. Did it look fine?”

“Yeah. It did. Maybe a little… weird?”

Amrita leaned in closer. “A little bit, but Vikram was very supportive.”

“I’m glad. How are you after last night? I’m so sorry about what happened.”

“It’s okay. I think that was something I needed to do. It clarified some things for me.”

Zarya squeezed her friend’s hand. “I’m very happy to hear that.”

Zarya saw a flash of sadness pass behind Amrita’s eyes for the briefest moment before the princess shook her head and then beamed a smile at her.

“So, please don’t be sorry. I’m glad you did it.” She leaned in closer. “I’m trying to convince Vik to drop your punishment.”

“You don’t have to do that,” Zarya said. “It was still reckless.”

Amrita didn’t have a chance to answer her as some noble courtier tapped her shoulder and then hugged her. Zarya stood back, watching the room. In a corner, Apsara and Suvanna were getting closer to one another, and Zarya smiled. She loved seeing people express their feelings openly. Maybe love was on the horizon, no matter what Yasen said about it being a casual relationship.

Row was chatting with Aarav, who had his arm slung over Lekha’s shoulders. Zarya prayed they wouldn’t be coming back to the haveli later tonight. Didn’t his girlfriend have somewhere else they could do their business? Preferably somewhere Zarya would never have to think about it ever again.

“Zarya.” She turned to find Vikram beside her. “I was wondering if we could speak for a moment. Alone?”

“Sure,” Zarya said.

Vikram wrapped his hand in hers, his skin warm and inviting.

He tugged her out of the crowded room and into a quieter alcove down the hall where they might converse in private.

“What’s going on?” she asked as he moved in, leaving only a small space between them.

“Zarya, I wanted to talk about last night. I was very hard on you, and the guilt has been eating me alive.”

Zarya pressed her lips together. “It’s fine. You are the commander of Daragaab’s army, and soon you will be its steward. What I did was thoughtless, and your anger was justified. No matter what Amrita says about enjoying herself, I shouldn’t have put her in danger like that. Not just her but the entire city. If anyone should feel guilty, it’s me.”

He shook his head. “I let my temper get the best of me. You know that you’re special to me,” he said. “And I—”

“It’s fine,” she said. “Really. You treated me the same as you did Yasen, and he’s your best friend. I would have been more annoyed if you’d been too lenient with me, to be honest.”

The relief in Vikram’s expression was palpable. “I could barely sleep last night,” he said. “Thinking about how I’d spoken to you.”

He appeared so distraught that she felt the need to offer comfort. She wasn’t angry with him.

“How are you doing?” Zarya asked, hoping to move past this. “With everything. With your brother’s return and with the joining?”

Vikram sighed and ran a hand along the back of his neck. The top of his loose robe shifted to reveal his chest underneath, muscled and firm from all his hours of training. She wondered idly if he was still completely naked under there and decided she probably shouldn’t be wondering that.

“As well as I can be,” he said before he turned to face her again and took her hand, holding it up to his chest. He flattened her fingers against it so she could feel the pulse of his heart. “I wanted to ask you something else, too.”

She tipped her head in a question.

“When we spoke in the library at my father’s estate… we discussed potentially pursuing this thing between us.”

“Yes?” Zarya said, the word coming out a bit more strangled than she intended. She’d given a lot of thought to that conversation and everything that had happened since. She still wasn’t entirely sure where she fell on the idea of pursuing a relationship with Vikram, given all of the strings that came with it. But maybe he was about to cut her loose and take the decision away from her. Part of her welcomed it.

“I’d still very much like to continue what we started,” he said. “Have you given more thought to it?”