"What do I do after?"

"Let's take this night one moment at a time," Jin said with a smile.

He pulled out a card.

Chetal expected him to show it to her, but he just glanced at it himself and put it back in his belt. Princess Ara's body began to float towards Chetal.

As it came close and turned upright, Chetal noticed the skin was bubbling.

Oh god.

At once it splashed all over her like liquid. She went insensate with the burning pain, weeping and screaming and trying to get away.

"I need you to be very still, Chetal. Or you won't live through this," Jin's voice cut through the pain.

Chetal forced herself to be still. The screaming continued inside her head, but on the outside, with a supreme effort of will, she made herself stay quiet.

"Open your eyes, Princess Ara."

Trembling all over, Chetal looked up at Jin. His face was an inscrutable mask. She looked down to find herself in the bloody nightgown of the Princess.

There was noise at the door.

"They're trying to break the lock now. I must be gone," Jin said walking to the balcony.

"Wait no, don't leave me! What do I do?" Chetal asked, her voice strange and higher pitched than she was used to.

"Pretend you're in shock. Ask for Inharat, the guard-captain. He's loyal to the crown. He'll likely escort you to a hidden saferoom. Once there, demand that Tenali Rama be brought to you."

"Who's Tenali?"

"The court poet."

"What?"

But Jin was gone. The doors slammed open, and a bunch of guards came streaming in.

They quickly made a protective circle around her. "Princess Ara, are you alright?" one of them asked. His uniform was richer than the other guards, and his helmet a different shape.

"Inharat?" Chetal asked uncertainly.

"Yes, it's me. You're safe now, Your Highness. I'm deeply sorry for this lapse in security."

Chetal hugged herself. "I was-I was attacked. I don't feel safe. Take me somewhere else, Inharat."

"Of course, Your Highness. Come with me."

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Chetal followed him out of the room, the guards in a protective formation around them, into a huge hallway that seemed to go on forever.

She was tensed all over. The balance of this body was unfamiliar to her, and she feared that at any moment Inharat would turn to her and accuse her of being a fraud. It felt like a secret everybody knew, but were just pretending to go along with.

Inharat pulled down a painting near the end of the hallway, and a secret door opened up into the wall.

"This way, Your Highness. There are no exits from this room save this one, and I'll guard it with my life."

Chetal looked into his eyes. She saw determination and anger there.

"Inharat, could you do something for me?"

"Of course, Your Highness. What do you require?"

"Send someone to bring Tenali Rama to me."

All the words felt wrong on Chetal's lips. The Princess would probably have used other words. She probably didn't talk like this at all.

But Inharat merely nodded. "I'll send for him at once."

Chetal wanted to thank him, but she bit her lip just in time. Maybe the Princess wouldn't do that?

She went through the door into the secret room. Inharat shut the door behind her.

Chetal collapsed on the fancy bed. She'd imagined months of training in secret before she'd have to play the role of the Princess. Not being shoved into the thick of things with no idea how to be her. Jin had played her.

There was a beautiful, fragrant scent somewhere around. Chetal pushed herself up on the bed to inspect it.

Oh, this was her own smell. Even mixed with the metallic scent of blood, it was intoxicating. People could smell like this? Weird.

She checked her hands, which were small and dainty with nails painted iridescent green. There was no grime under her nails, no marks on her skin.

She stumbled to the life-size mirror in the room.

Her hair, even disheveled, was long and silky. Her eyes were ocean-green, with brown flecks around the edges. Strange. Princess Ara looked beautiful. But more than that, she looked delicate. Fragile. She seemed to be everything Chetal wasn't.

Chetal felt a strange sense of vertigo. She'd lost her body forever. A part of her self. She'd thought she wouldn't care, but in this moment, she did. A wave of raw, aching grief ran through her. Tears spilled down her eyes. No. Down Princess Ara's eyes.

There was a knock at the door.

"Inharat?" Chetal asked, wiping away the tears.

The guard-captain peeked in through the open door. "It's Tenali Rama, Your Highness. Would you like me to let him in?"

"Yes, please."

A young, bald man entered the room. He gave her a deep bow. "Apologies for my disheveled state, Your Highness. I have been informed that there's been an attempt at your life, and that you asked for me. I came as quickly as I could."

"Thank you for coming here. Please take a seat," Chetal said, panicking now.

Jin had told her to ask for this man. But there had been no instructions after that. What was she supposed to do? What was she supposed to say?

He gave her a quizzical look, and he didn't sit down. Crap, had she made a mistake?

"How may I serve you, Your Highness?" he asked.

His tone was neutral, but it was clear this was a searching question. He was trying to find something out.

"I, uh, I need you to find out the people responsible for the attempt at my life," Chetal said, mimicking his words.

Tenali almost fell into the chair at the wall. He got back up and staggered against a pillar. His eyes were wide with shock, and his eyebrows all the way into the clouds.

"Oh dear lord. You aren't her," he whispered.