Naamah's Curse - Jacqueline Carey [193]
Bao nodded. “Jagrati allows Lord Khaga his harem as a sop to his pride, a place he can go to prove his manhood when she denies him to dally with his assassins. Whatever else happens, we should plan to free the harem.”
“How many are there?”
“Counting the children?” Bao frowned in thought. “Twenty-five or thirty, perhaps. I do not know for sure. I was only allowed there once to search for Moirin.”
“There are children in that place?” Amrita asked in horror.
“Yes, highness.” Bao was silent a moment. “I do not think they were treated cruelly, at least not as children. The Falconer finds them distasteful, and avoids them. Even a woman bearing a child is repulsive to him.” His mouth tightened. “I heard it said that in the harem, it was every woman’s goal to conceive a son.”
“Why?” I asked, perplexed.
He looked askance at me. “If a woman bears him a son, the Falconer would not return to her bed. And she would not have to worry about a daughter growing up and being forced to share his.”
My stomach churned. “And you said it wasn’t terrible there?”
“I was in a very dark place within myself, Moirin,” Bao said quietly. “The hatred that Jagrati carries within her, it is like a sickness. I am still learning to live in brightness again.”
“It is not your fault, Bao-ji!” Ravindra said with indignant loyalty, his narrow hands forming a mudra of reassurance. “The gods always test the strongest heroes, the ones they love best in the world. Surely you passed!”
Bao smiled at him with genuine affection. “You are quite the hero yourself, young highness, rushing to protect your mother as you did! It would have gone far worse for me if you hadn’t.”
“Truly?” Ravindra flushed with pleasure.
“Truly.”
Thus for better or worse, our plan was established. It would take some days to assemble a sufficient force and arrange for supplies and other necessities, such as a battering ram that would have to be carried through the winding maze on foot.
In the meantime, we lived in fear.
Hasan Dar insisted that the Rani and her son continue to sleep in the hidden room. It made sense, for although the assassin Zoka had tortured the secret out of poor Sameera, he had taken it to his death.
Still, I could not blame either of them for being reluctant to return there.
“Would it help if Moirin and I stayed with you?” Bao offered. “I am sure it is against protocol, but…”
My lady Amrita fingered her bruised throat. “Yes,” she said gratefully. “It would help very much, thank you.”
I didn’t think there was room in the small space for another bed. “We can put a pallet of blankets on the floor between you.”
“Even better!” Ravindra clapped his hands together with glee. “Bao-ji can share my bed, and Moirin can share yours, Mama-ji. It will be as though we were a large family, like your family in Galanka, eh?” The notion delighted him. “Yes, I will pretend Bao is my older brother, and you will pretend Moirin is your little sister.”
“I don’t think—” I began diplomatically.
“Would that make you happy, jewel of my heart?” Amrita asked her son. He nodded. She summoned a weary smile. “Then if Moirin and Bao do not mind, we shall do so, and have a game of pretending.”
Bao made a show of weighing the matter. “Do you snore, young highness?” he asked in a serious tone. “Because I cannot abide snoring. Do you steal the blankets at night? Because I do not like to be cold.”
Giggling, Ravindra shook his head. “No, older brother! I promise, I do not do either thing.”
Amrita touched my hand. “Do you mind?”
I smiled at her. “What do you think, my lady?”
She gave me a sidelong glance, a hint of her familiar, amused sparkle returning to her eyes. “I think I am very glad to see my son happy in the midst of this nightmare. I think your bad boy has a very large heart.” She caught my hand and squeezed it fondly. “And I think you do not mind at all, little sister.”
Of course I didn’t.
Even so, my nerves were strung tight that evening as Bao and I ascended the narrow stairway to the hidden room to ensure it was safe, both of us wrapped in the twilight.