“I saw you give it to Gopal.”
Her shoulders tensed. She bent and picked up a soft cotton angarkha to replace the one she was wearing, then she held it out in front of her, as if to examine whether she liked it or not. Finally, she put it on. “Is that all?”
“No. I was there when Sadashiv gave it back to you. And I saw the letter he wrote asking if you were in any danger and whether he should come.”
“You’ve been stealing my letters?” I had finally surprised her. “Rajasi!” she called, and I reached for the dagger on my thigh.
“Oh, don’t worry. Your precious life is safe.”
Rajasi came in from the queen’s room.
“Sita believes I’m conspiring with Sadashiv to overthrow the rani.” She made the idea sound as if it were silliest, most inconsequential thing. But even Rajasi had her doubts now.
“Why did you ask to save his life?”
Kahini became livid. “Are you implying that I’m a traitor as well?” When Rajasi didn’t say anything, she crossed the room to my father’s statue of Durga. “Well then, maybe we should take a look at the secrets our little ganwaar has been hiding.” She nodded at me. “Show us what’s in the compartment.”
I’m sure I looked just as confused as Rajasi.
Kahini went ahead and twisted the head off my murti. Inside, where my father’s prayer beads should have been, were dried green leaves and white flowers. I stepped forward to have a better look, and Kahini thrust them at me. “Hemlock!” she accused. “I know a murderess when I see one.”
Rajasi looked at me. Then she said, “You had this murti fixed, Kahini. I don’t know what game you’re playing, but these are dangerous times.”
Kahini’s voice grew unnaturally low. “Maybe I should question what you’re hiding as well, Rajasi. Because this is poison.”
I grabbed the murti from her hands and shook the contents out the window. “And now it’s gone,” I said, “just as mysteriously as it arrived.”
Rajasi and I left Kahini in the Durgavas, but I was scared. Kahini had placed hemlock in my murti. I thought of Kahini profaning my image of Durga in this way and a hot rage rose up inside of me. I wanted to expose her for the traitor I thought she was. Then I remembered the rani’s reaction the only time I had ever criticized Kahini to her. I’d been afraid of what kind of doctor Kahini had chosen for the rani. At the time, my fears had been misplaced. How could I be certain they weren’t misplaced now?
When I finally found a moment alone with Jhalkari that evening, I asked her what the symptoms of hemlock might be.
“I don’t know. Moti could probably tell you,” she said. “So what do you think about Kahini?”
“I think she can’t be trusted.” I didn’t explain any further. I immediately went to Moti and asked her what she could tell me about hemlock. Next to her, a musician was lazily strumming the veena. Over the sound of her voice, no one could hear us.
“It’s a strong poison,” Moti said. “A person could use it to kill someone over time and no one would ever suspect it. There’d be a great deal of vomiting. A strange heartbeat. Finally, there’d be paralysis and then death.”
I thought of the way little Damodar had died, and then it occurred to me that the raja’s death hadn’t been much different. What if it was possible that Kahini was more than just a traitor?
That evening, Jhalkari made several attempts to persuade me to talk, but I told her, “Not now. There’s too many people.”
Finally she said, “Come under my covers. No one will hear us.”
I crawled into her bed and she put the blanket over our heads. If Kahini wasn’t asleep, then she would guess what we were talking about.
“I think Kahini’s a murderess,” I whispered. Then I told her everything, from Gopal to the ring to the hemlock Kahini had discovered in my murti.
I could feel Jhalkari go very still. “Have you told this to anyone else? To Arjun?”
“Of course not. What if I’m wrong?”
“You aren’t. Arjun has guard duty tonight outside the rani’s chamber. Go now.”
I dressed myself and in the light of the full moon I could see that Kahini’s bed was empty. Where had she gone? Was she with the rani, trying to poison her before I could give her away? The sound of my sandals slapping against the marble woke several guards, who were supposed to be on duty. But in front of the rani’s chamber, Arjun was awake.
“What is it?” he asked immediately.
“Kahini? Is she inside?”
“Not tonight. Why? Is something the matter?”