Chetal turned around, shocked, but Jin was gone.

Had he been serious?

"Princess Ara?" Are you there?" Kiara's terrified voice floated down.

Chetal sighed. She pulled herself up the ledge and onto the roof.

"Oh thank the lord you're okay! I thought they really killed you this time!"

And she hugged Chetal.

Chetal awkwardly patted her head. "Hey, it's okay. I'm alright. It's late now. Time to go back to your Ma."

Chetal escorted a rather clingy Kiara to the kitchen balcony the girl had climbed up onto the roof from, and then made her way back to her secret room.

She spent the night tossing and turning in bed, sleep a distant dream.

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Morning brought a knock, and Inharat's voice beyond the door. "May I enter your chambers, Your Highness? Courtier Tenali is with me."

"You may enter," Chetal replied, trying to summon her most dignified voice.

They came in, Tenali looking much more presentable and composed compared to last night, and Inharat like he'd spent the past hours like a block of immovable stone with eyes, zealously guarding the door to her room. Which he probably had. There was an unmistakable shadow of shock and grief over his face. The man was easy to read. Chetal made a note of that.

"I apologize for intruding upon you early in the morning, Your Highness, but there are matters to be discussed that cannot wait. I have requested Guard Captain Inharat to wait outside while I apprise you of them," Tenali said, his face serious.

Tenali had made it easy for her. All she had to do was ask Inharat to wait outside, and then she and he could practice her reaction to the news of the death of her parents in peace. Well, not her parents. Important people, whose deaths someone gave a shit about.

But somehow, in this moment, sending Inharat away felt wrong. Instead, Chetal glanced from Tenali to Inharat, like a scared child who suspects something terrible has happened.

"Where's father, Inharat? Where's mother? Why haven't they come to see me?"

Tenali's face registered the briefest of frowns. He did not approve.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

Inharat pursed his lips. "That's the news Tenali wished to share with you, Your Highness. Last night, there was an assassination attempt on the lives of the Revered Emperor and Empress as well. I regret to inform you that they..." his face broke. "...we have lost them."

Chetal had thought about this moment a lot in the past few hours. There were a few ways people reacted to shocking, distressing news. There was the disbeliever- 'No, you're lying. There has to be a mistake. Let me just go see them!' The wailer - which basically involved a lot of sobbing; the fainter - which was the easiest of them to start, but the hardest to end well. The trick was to control the body's instinctive but obvious giveaways - like the instinct to cushion your fall with your hands or knees. Or to cry out in pain when your head hit the pavement.

She hadn't been able to decide how Princess Ara would react. But in this moment, she felt an emotion rise deep within her body. No, not her body. Princess Ara's. An instinct slammed into her consciousness, wrestling against her will for control. She allowed it to flow through her.

It was rage. She was shaking with the sheer intensity of it, lava pouring down her veins.

Chetal walked up to Inharat, and slapped him.

"You...were sworn to protect them. How could you fail?" she whispered, her eyes on fire.

Inharat, who had stoically borne the slap, fell to his knees at Chetal's words. Her words? Or Ara's words?

"I have dishonored myself, Your Highness." He said as he pulled his sword out of its sheath and offered it to her with both hands. "My life is yours to take."

"What use would that be?" Chetal replied, the words tumbling out of her like someone else was speaking them. "The palace is rife with schemes and intrigues, and the murderers of my parents are still about. I cannot trust anyone except you. Serve me, Inharat. Be my sword. Be my eyes."

Inharat brought his forehead to her feet. "I will not let you down, Your Highness."

And with that, the compulsion making her speak left Chetal.

What in the everliving hell.

"Thank you, Inharat. You may leave." Chetal said, flustered and confused.

"I'll be back with news," Inharat said as he left.

Tenali did not look happy. "That wasn't wise," he said.

"The slap? I swear, it wasn't me. I..."

"No, the gamble. We could have practiced your reaction, but you chose to take a risk. It worked today. It may not tomorrow. I can't help you if you refuse to listen to my advice."

How could she tell him what had happened without sounding crazy? It REALLY hadn't been her. She wouldn't have dared slap the guard captain of the royal palace in a thousand years. The rage, the commanding attitude, it was all alien to her.

"I...I'm sorry. It won't happen again. I'll, uh, seek your advice before deciding on anything."

"Good. Your survival depends on it. I have matters to attend to, but I'll be back be soon. Be ready. If I succeed, we might have your ascension tonight itself."

"Ascension?"

"I'll tell you more about it when I return. Take care."

And he was gone.

"Who are you, and what are your doing in my body?" a girl's voice sounded in Chetal's mind, high-pitched and commanding.

...Ara? Is that you?