Page 94 of Queen of Shadows and Ruin

He said the words so matter-of-factly that Yasen choked on his wine. He met Row’s worried look while Vikram continued eating like he hadn’t just dropped a bombshell.

“She’ll hold out long enough for the baby to be born.”

Vikram focused on his dinner, still oblivious to their shock.

“Vik, what’s going on? What aren’t you telling us?” Yasen asked.

“What if this hurts the baby?” Row asked as Vikram’s brow furrowed.

“The baby isn’t your concern,” Gopal said coldly. “When she is born, she will be placed under my care and grow up within my household so that I may protect her.”

Yasen and Row stared at him as Gopal simply picked up his drink and gulped it down in one long swallow. Gopal would keep the child under his thumb as he had with Amrita, ensuring his control over Daragaab. This was why he’d forced Vik to become her steward.

Yasen’s stomach churned with his hatred for this man.

After a moment, he directed his gaze to Vikram, wondering about his reaction to his father’s decision. He couldn’t interpret what he read in the dull reflection of his eyes. He’d changed so much.

Vikram blinked, and then his eyes spread wide. He started coughing violently, and his utensils clattered to the table.

Yasen was up immediately, striding over before dropping to a knee.

“Vik!” He thumped Vikram on the back. Vikram slid off his chair, clutching his stomach.

“The medic,” Gopal said. He pointed to a servant in the corner. “Get the medic!”

Vikram’s attendants had already begun scrambling, passing messages to the guards at the door. It felt like a coordinated dance. Like something that had happened before.

A moment later, a palace healer entered the room carrying a bag, his long robes swishing around his ankles. He dropped down next to Vikram and rolled him onto his back.

Yasen’s blood turned to ice as he looked into Vikram’s eyes. They’d turned completely black, and he was shaking and gasping for breath. The healer grasped Vikram’s collar and tore open the buttons.

Black lines ran all over Vikram’s body like tree branches. Bile climbed up Yasen’s throat as he crawled closer, noticing they weren’t vines but rather his veins filled with some kind of black substance creeping over his chest and stomach and neck.

“What is this?” Yasen whispered. “What’s happening to him?”

“We aren’t sure,” the healer said. “It started a few weeks ago.”

The healer reached into a bag as Vikram convulsed, his back arching as he made a low keening sound. His limbs shook as he writhed on the floor.

Yasen leaned over and framed his face with his hands. “Vik!” he called. “Can you hear me?”

“He won’t answer,” the healer said. “This is the only thing that helps.”

Then he jabbed Vikram’s pectoral with a long needle and depressed the plunger. Yasen watched the clear liquid drain into his friend before Vikram finally went limp. His body relaxed, and the blackness in his veins slowly faded but failed to disappear completely.

He looked over at Row, who stood with his hands braced on his knees, shock and surprise in his face.

Whatever was going on, this was so much worse than any of them had feared.

TWENTY-NINE

Rabin opened his eyes to the blur of a ceiling above him. He blinked, attempting to clear the pounding in his head. When he tried to sit up, he discovered he was held in place, his wrists and ankles strapped to a surface where he was lying.

He tugged on his bindings to no avail as the previous events came flooding back.

Abishek. Ekaja. They’d betrayed him. Done something to him.

But what and why?