City of a Thousand Dolls (30 page)

Tanaya’s whisper became a hiss. “Can you imagine? All these years of studies and lessons I went through, all that training? And some mousy little whore thought she was going to share Prince Sudev with me? I tore the necklace from her neck. We struggled, and she tripped.”

Tanaya spread her hands. “I swear, Nisha. I swear, by the Ancestors and by the Five Sacred Rivers, I did not mean to kill her.”

Partygoers swirled past their corner, but the chatter and laughter felt unreal and far away. No one took any notice of them.

“All right, I believe you. What about Jina?” Nisha asked in a low voice.

Tanaya’s face was still stiff with fury and hurt pride. “Jina was in the stairway when I was coming down from the roof. Was it my fault she was poking around where she had no business?”

“So you
killed
her?”

“No.” Tanaya straightened. “Atiy was an accident, and you can’t prove that I had anything to do with those other girls.”

“Tani.” Nisha held out her hand. “You know I’ll have to tell Matron about this. Come with me. Turn yourself in.”

“You think I’m afraid of you?” Tanaya’s smile mocked her. “In a very short time I will be a princess, and you will still be a nobody who no one wants.”

The dead, frozen butterfly in the quarry. Tanaya had crushed the butterfly as carelessly and ruthlessly as she had killed those other girls. Just like she had pushed the boulder onto Nisha the moment she was defenseless.

“Is that why you tried to kill me?” Nisha whispered, the words digging their claws into her throat. She moved her foot so the heavy cast slipped out from under her asar. “Is that why you did this to me? Because I’m a nobody?”

Tanaya’s smile turned sad. “I had to protect myself. And no matter how you or I feel about it, I’m still the more important one. I don’t make the rules, Nisha. You’re alive, and you should be grateful for that and learn from your mistakes. This isn’t a fight you can win. Trust me.”

With that, Tanaya walked away. Nisha stared after her, her eyes burning. Matron’s words echoed in her mind.

Sometimes, Nisha, people are not who you expect them to be
.

Tac touched Nisha’s shoulder, and she jumped. His eyes were as troubled as her own.
What do we do?
they seemed to ask.

Nisha didn’t know. Tanaya’s cruel words were also true. She was the most important novice the City of a Thousand Dolls had ever trained. No one would believe Nisha over her.

But if she did nothing, Sashi would die.

Nisha bit her lip and looked up at Tac. “Can you find another servant to take the table? I need to find Matron.”

Tac carried Nisha through the crowd. She had pulled the black tiger mask down, and the ceramic was cool on her hot face. She felt safer behind the mask, less conspicuous, but more than anything, she wished for a breath of fresh, free air. She longed for the feel of grass bending under her bare feet and the vibrations of purrs in her ear.

But those things were gone for Nisha. And whatever happened next, she had to make sure they weren’t gone for Sashi, too.

As Tac scanned the crowd for Matron, Nisha sneaked a glance through the open door of the throne room. She wanted to see the man Tanaya had thought it worth killing for.

Then she saw him. Prince Sudev was handsome, a slim man not quite thirty, with hair and eyes as dark as ink and the shadow of a beard under his high cheekbones. He leaned forward on the throne, chin resting on his fist. Sometimes he covered a yawn with one perfectly manicured hand. Black-clad bodyguards stood to either side, hands on hilts, eyes wary.

The prince’s long blue-and-silver tunic shimmered like a moth in a darkening forest. His teeth flashed in frequent smiles, but his eyes looked like they had forgotten how to smile a long time ago.

Every time his eyes wandered in her direction, Nisha shrank down. Instinct told her it would be very dangerous to draw the prince’s attention. She wasn’t here to see him. She had to talk to Matron.

Matron stood in an alcove outside the throne room, talking to a man with the two earrings and gold chains of a successful Bamboo caste merchant. Her eyes widened in surprise when she saw Nisha.

“Excuse me, please,” she said to the merchant.

The man nodded and moved away, and Matron pulled Nisha and Tac farther into the alcove.

“What are you doing here? You had strict instructions to stay at the Redeeming table.” Matron lowered her voice. “Nisha, I have seen the prince throw a man in prison because he was offended by his scarred face. He’s the most spoiled and unpredictable of all the Imperial family, and you cannot let him see you. You know it’s an insult to appear before a member of the Imperial family while injured.”

“I’m sorry, Matron, but I had to find you. I know who killed Atiy.”

“What?” Matron stiffened, looking around the room. “Who was it?”

Nisha pushed up the tiger mask and took a breath. “It was Tanaya. She fought with Atiy on the roof. She said they were fighting over the High Prince.”

“She
told
you?” Matron’s hand flew over her mouth.

Nisha nodded. “Just a few moments ago. Matron, I think she killed Jina and Lashar, too. I didn’t tell you before, but someone left a note addressed to me under Lashar’s body. A note telling me to go to the quarry. The edges were torn, so I didn’t realize at first that it was the same paper Tanaya likes to use to write her poems. And Zann used the same kind of paper for her harp pick on the roof.” Nisha felt her voice crack with hurt. “I confronted Tanaya about the paper, but she refused to talk about it. She says Atiy was an accident, but you should have seen her face. She’s behind the deaths, Matron. I’d stake my life on it.”

Matron’s face was the color of ash. “Ancestors defend us. Nisha, you have to get out of here.”

“What? Why? What about Tanaya?”

“I will deal with this,” Matron said hurriedly. “But you have to leave, now. Tac, you have to take her away, somewhere safe. Hurry!”

“I don’t understand—” Nisha started, but her words were cut off by a smooth voice.

“Nor do I.” The designs of Akash tar’Vey’s brown-and-black tunic glittered like scales as he approached them. “But Tanaya was right to warn me just now. She told me you were spreading vicious rumors and trying to cause trouble.”

Nisha couldn’t keep the hurt from her voice. “Tanaya told you that?”

Matron held out her hand. “Akash, Nisha has done what we asked. We asked her to look into these deaths.”

“And she provided us with a most convenient solution,” Akash said, and straightened his sleeves. “A blind healer no one will miss. We did not ask her to fling accusations at the most important novice in the entire City.”

He bent closer to Nisha, his breath smelling of rice wine. “I am willing to overlook this as an unfortunate delusion caused by your accident. But you must never speak of this again.”

Despair was followed by a hot flash of anger. “Don’t you even care that Tanaya might have killed three girls? What if she is guilty?” Nisha’s words were high-pitched and desperate, a grasp after reason.

And Akash’s reply caught her completely by surprise.

“Of course she’s guilty,” he said. “Which is why we needed another suspect. It’s the only reason I allowed the Council to agree to Matron’s proposal. That’s why I held off your buyer and permitted you to investigate. You were never supposed to find the truth, Nisha. You were supposed to find a scapegoat. And you did an excellent job.”

Nisha felt like she’d been punched in the throat. “You used me? You used me to set someone up falsely so you could protect the real murderer?”

Akash waved his hand, the gold of his flower tattoo clearly visible. “It was a distraction. And a better option than trying to cover up Tanaya’s involvement. Even getting rid of Jina left too many unanswered questions.”

His words were like a slap, and Nisha reeled.

Matron gasped. “
You
killed Jina?” she asked. “It wasn’t Tanaya?”

Akash shrugged. “Tanaya came to me in private after Atiy’s death and told me what she’d done. She also told me that the only person who’d seen her come down the stairs after Atiy’s fall was Jina. She wasn’t sure if Jina had seen her, but that’s not the sort of thing you take chances with.”

Nisha’s mind flew back to Zann’s expression on the roof, the look of trapped despair.
You’ll never believe me. No one will. It’s just my word against theirs
.

“Zann wasn’t just talking about Tanaya,” Nisha said, her words soft with horror. “She was talking about both of you. You manipulated her and bribed her into getting those seeds. Because not even Tanaya could get into the private stores of the House of Jade without someone noticing. Did you at least have the courage to put the seeds in her bowl yourself? Or did you get another person to do it?”

“I don’t see how that’s relevant,” Akash said, a scowl creasing his handsome face, a face that reminded her too much of Devan’s.

“So Zann gave you the seeds,” Nisha said, each word costing her. “And Tanaya gave her the asar. And then … what? You thought you’d just use me to make sure no one suspected? But it didn’t work, did it? Because Tanaya killed Lashar. I know that for sure.”

Akash’s scowl deepened. “She’s not as … manageable as we thought. I never would have told Tanaya about Lashar had I known she was so determined. But once you take a life, it becomes that much easier to take another. Even if it’s the life of a friend.” He cast a meaningful look at Nisha’s cast.

“Really, Nisha, why would I bother to bargain with you? I had the Council convinced, I had a buyer, I could have gotten rid of you as easily as that.” He snapped his fingers. “But covering up death is such a messy business. The chance that you could bring me someone else to accuse was too irrestible.”

Nisha felt like she was suffocating. The whole conversation was taking on the quality of a nightmare. Any moment now, she’d wake up in her own bed with the cats curled up next to her.
Let me wake up. Please let me wake up
.

Matron was staring at Akash in disbelief, visible, dark-red anger rising in her face. “You never told me any of this, Akash.”

Akash snorted. “Of course I didn’t. For all your talk about sacrificing to save the City, none of us really believed you would hand us an innocent girl. You are far too sentimental for that.” He enunciated as if each word were a cold iron bar.

“You can’t tell me you didn’t suspect anything. You knew that the necklace Atiy was wearing was missing, that it was twin to Tanaya’s. Who else would have taken it? And Lashar’s death should have confirmed it! We were considering transferring her to High Prince Sudev as a replacement mistress. We were just about to inform Rajni. Who else benefited by her death but Tanaya?”

“I didn’t want to believe it,” Matron stuttered. “I thought after the snake attack that I must have been wrong—”

“A masterful stroke,” Akash crowed. “I was most impressed when she told me she wanted the krait to throw suspicion off herself. I may not like you, Matron, but you do train your girls well. Tanaya is every bit the intelligent and cunning wife who Prince Sudev needs. It’s a pity that she had to show her talents in such a way, but still, she’s a credit to you.”

Matron winced, and Akash’s mouth widened in a cruel smile. “Though if it had been up to me, I would not have pinned our hopes on one girl. My predecessor should have made sure at least three girls had the proper training. Then we could have simply replaced Tanaya instead of trying to clean up her mess.”

He shrugged. “No matter. We have a girl in custody for the killings, and Tanaya is more than ready to become a princess. Once the ceremony starts, she’s the Imperial family’s problem.”

Akash tar’Vey had coldly covered up Atiy’s murder, plotted Jina’s death, and left Tanaya free to kill again, had even given her the name of her next victim—Lashar. And now he was going to destroy Sashi, all to protect himself and his own power. Nisha knew that she had never hated another human being as she hated Akash tar’Vey.

She tried to force herself out of Tac’s arms and put her face as close to Akash’s as she could stand. Staring him right in the eye, she willed him to believe her words. “I won’t let you do this. I’ll tell everyone. I’ll tell the High Prince if I have to.”

Akash smiled broadly, showing his teeth. “Oh, I doubt that very much, Nisha.”

Akash snapped his fingers again, and two heavyset men in black tunics appeared and took hold of Tac’s arms.

“
You
are no longer my concern either. Where you’re going, you won’t be able to tell anyone much of anything. As I told you, we have had an offer for your bond. The buyer raised her offering price and I accepted. She is most anxious to claim you.”

And Kalia tar’Vey, glowing in spotless white and her eyes alight with triumph, stepped out of the crowd. Dangling from her hand was a mask painted with the face of a laughing girl.

“Hello, Nisha.”

FEAR CONGEALED IN Nisha’s chest. She couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe. All she could do was stare at Kalia’s satisfied smile.

Tac tried to pull out of the guards’ grip, but he couldn’t, not without dropping Nisha.

As if from far away, Nisha heard Matron arguing in a low, urgent voice, heard the distant chatter and laughter of the oblivious crowd.

Kalia came closer and ran a cold finger down Nisha’s cheek. Nisha jerked her head away, and Kalia laughed.

“I told you I was becoming more powerful than Matron. And you’ve been very, very bad to cause our family so much trouble.”

Nisha did the only thing she could think of. She spit.

Kalia touched the spit on the shoulder of her asar and wrinkled her nose. “Nisha, don’t be disgusting.”

She grabbed Nisha’s hair, sending pain shooting through her head. She put one smooth hand on Nisha’s exposed neck and tightened.

Matron moved forward, but Akash grabbed her and jerked her back.

Kalia spoke to Nisha, but her eyes rested on Matron. “You belong to me now.”

Nisha tried to speak, but all that came out was a choking noise. Her scalp and neck throbbed. Her vision blurred around the edges. After what seemed like an eternity, Kalia released her hair and patted Nisha’s cheek.