A Princess for the Witch Doctor (Legends of Rahasia Book 3)

Chapter Eighty

I don't put on much clothing. Just the clothes I wore in the infirmary. I steal one of the servant's cloaks to pull it over a plain cotton robe. I replace the stolen cloak with a finer one, one of silk from Okami that Papa Ryu gave me for my fourteenth birthday. I'm sure it more than covers the cost of the servant's one I stole. I don't fix my hair, don't attempt to apply kohl.

            I look at my reflection and see a girl, grinning. A madwoman. Hair raised around her head. A faint scar at her temple.

            I look behind me, the sultan. Sprawled half across the bed, kneeling at my side. Sleeping as peacefully as he can. Cheeks swollen with tears over the memory of his parents' death. I kiss his forehead gently, like one would a little child.

            I then pull my cloak tighter about me. Sneak off to grab Baqir, my bludgeoning club, and Ode Ngayoh's dagger, tucked into General Soleil's belt.

            I just don't care enough anymore.

            I walk past the guards, who hardly make note of me. Who would notice a woman in such a plain cloak? Who would notice a woman much at all if she doesn't wear a crown?

            I make my way to the prisons, cover my mouth with the bottom of my cloak's hood.

            "Please," I sob, "let me visit my brother." I speak in broken Rahasian, hoping to pass as a plain, lost servant girl. "He only stole a little bit of money. And the sir had so much... please..."

            "Go away, girl!" The prison guard laughs and kicks out at me.

            I fall to my knees, clutching piteously at his feet. "Please, sir, please!"

            His lower lip curls in disgust as he goes to kick me. I dodge most of it. He's dreadfully pathetic for a warrior.

            "Come now," the other guard pulls me to my feet. "She's just a serving girl. Have mercy."

            The kinder one waves me on. I wish I could throw a bag of gold at him for his kindness.

            But sometimes the world doesn't give you time enough to reward every hero.

            I kiss his hand and he moves me on. I spit as soon as they close the gate behind me, making my way quickly towards where they're keeping Ingatan.

            I dodge between shadows as guards patrol the halls. Still, I'm surprised how nobody notices a serving girl. I start thinking I'm a shadow myself.

            I pull up to the circular cage in the center of one of the larger, damper prison rooms. The floor's damp with rot. The ceiling letting in little outside light.

            His eyes are closed behind the mask. I tap on the grate until his delirious gaze fixes on mine.

            "I've come to get you out of here."

            "Putri, is that...?" His voice is a mere croak. "How did you...?"

            I pull the set of keys I'd took from the kind guard's pocket when I kissed his hand. "Do you want to make small talk about the weather, or do you want to get out of here?"

            He laughs, weak, as I open the cage door, and willingly throw myself in with the starving lion. But I have teeth too. I'm not afraid anymore, not of anything. Not even of myself.

***

Readers,

ME: I wonder what happens next...

ARNINA: What?! You're the author. Don't you know?

ME: ...