Inharat dipped his head. "Of course, Your Highness, my apologies."

Chetal tried to reassert control, but Ara's will, fueled by her fury, had an iron-like grip over the body.

At an order from Inharat, the guards unchained the prisoners, and dragged them to the window. Rain poured down the fear-etched lines of Jeeva's face. The man, Birit, had closed his eyes. He seemed to be praying.

Chetal slammed her will against Ara's.

Why are you fighting me? Do you want to protect the murderers of my parents?

They have a daughter, Ara. She'll be orphaned.

As was I.

Chetal did not know what it was like to lose one's parents, but she did know what happened to orphans who weren't the heir to the Vijaynagara throne. They got sent to orphanages. Like the ones she grew up in. Something inside her broke at the thought of little Kiara being sent to someone like Ahar. Or worse.

Please, I beg you, let's not do anything stupid. We can talk about this.

This is just the beginning. I'll raze all of Jitranga to the ground.

NO.

Chetal felt her will surge like a tidal wave. She crashed upon Ara with all her might. They fought against one another, but there was no time. Chetal pummeled Ara's will into the depths of their joined consciousness, until there was no resistance from the princess.

Chetal, you are killing me.

As the guards forced Jeeva towards the window ledge, Chetal screamed.

"Wait! I have changed my mind. Keep them in the cell for now."

Inharat ordered the guards back.

Chetal's heart was hammering in her chest as Jeeva and Birit were chained to the wall again.

Jeeva stared at her, terrified and perplexed, but quickly lowered her eyes.

A crisis was unfolding inside Chetal. The Emperor and Empress meant nothing to her, and neither did their deaths. In fact, it was because of Jeeva and Birit that she was here at all. And yet, Princess Ara would be expected to have the murderers of her parents executed. And beyond the expectation from others, if she showed any kind of leniency to these two, she'd be making an enemy out of Ara.

But the crisis went deeper. She'd spent the past day just surviving. But however short or long, this was going to be Chetal's life now. She knew what Ara wanted. Ara had her life spelled out before her from the moment she was born. And despite what had happened, her life was still on that path. She'd be the Empress of the Vijaynagara Empire.

But Chetal had her old life wiped away. Her wants back in the city had been simple - food, coins, to not get whipped. And in a burning corner of her heart, vengeance against Ahar.

But Ahar was dead. There'd be no more whipping, no more yearning for a crumpled piece of bread, no more stealing. With all of it gone, the question loomed large before her - what did she want?

It was too big - so big that it was crushing her. She couldn't answer it. And somehow, it felt like unanswered it would kill her. She needed a smaller question. So she focused on the now. What did she want right now?

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She wanted to talk to Jeeva and Birit. Chetal didn't know what she was going to say, but she just wanted to stay with them here for a while. She summoned Ara's imperiousness.

"Inharat, I need to speak to them alone. Wait below the tower with the guards."

"But Your Highness-"

"What did I say about not questioning me?"

Inharat bowed in apology. "Check the chains," he ordered the guards. "Make sure they are secure."

The guards did so, and locked the cell. Inharat gave her a last glance, expressing his strong disapproval of what she was doing, and left after the guards.

Once the steps of the guards down the tower had faded, Chetal sat down cross-legged before the bars.

"Who did you lose in the war?" she asked.

Jeeva did not look at her as she answered. "My father. My brother."

"My wife and children," Birit answered, matching Chetal's gaze.

"Did you not expect to be caught?"

"The shaper had promised to get us out. We also had a backup plan in case she betrayed us. But she never showed up, and the backup...fell through," Birit said.

A question had wormed its way to Chetal's lips. A dangerous question. Barely a day ago, one question had changed Chetal's life. This one could change...everyone's. The asking of it felt like dropping a lit match in a sea of oil, but she felt drawn to it like she hadn't felt drawn to anything before. With trembling lips, Chetal let it out.

"What would you do if I set you free?"

Jeeva looked up sharply. She grimaced as the collar dug into her neck, but didn't look away. Her gaze ran through Chetal like a sword. "Are you mocking us?" she asked.

"No."

"Why?" Birit asked.

Ara hadn't just wanted Jeeva and Birit to be executed. Her rage blazed against all of Jitranga. She would've sent the empire's armies into the kingdom and burned it to ash.

What did Chetal want? She wanted to not have Jeeva and Birit be executed for the murder of the people responsible for killing their families. But she wanted more. A great wrong had been done to the people of Jitranga. It was a wound that had festered until it had taken the life of the entire royal family. Ara's enraged solution was to cut off the limb.

To the royalty, the lives of ordinary people were like those of ants - unimportant, and to be spent at their whims. Lives of people like Chetal. Millions of people would die to the fury of an Empress.

Chetal wouldn't let that happen. She thought through her next words carefully.

"The people of Jitranga have suffered at the hands of the Vijaynagara Empire. I don't want to continue the bloodshed. Nothing I say will bring back your families or mine, but I could pardon you as a peace offering to Jitranga. You have a daughter. Perhaps you can build a new life yet."

Jeeva and Birit stared at her. "Would you really?" Jeeva whispered.

"If you answer my question. What would you do if I set you free?"

"We will take our daughter and go back to Jitranga. And...we will remember your mercy," Jeeva said.

"Your people will welcome you as heroes. What you say to them could change the fate of Jitranga. Of all of Vijyanagara. Carry my message to them - not one of mercy, but of peace. Perhaps together we can mend old and new wounds."

Birit bowed his head. Jeeva kept staring at Chetal, not with disbelief now, but something else. Chetal couldn't parse it.

"I will give orders to have you shifted back into your quarters under watch. Your daughter will be safe until then."

Chetal rose and made her way to the stairs.

"Your Highness?" Jeeva spoke.

"Yes?"

"You will make a fine Empress."