“I did.” Jaya noticed remotely that her voice sounded robotic, as if she weren’t fully human at all. There was so much pain flooding every nerve fiber that it appeared her brain had responded by shutting down all feeling completely. Grey’s blue eyes, full of a deep hurt, full of rejection, flashed in her mind, and she turned away, toward the window, to stare at the rolling snow-covered hills with a focused intensity. It was impossible to believe where the day had taken her, where it had started. Her mind went blank again. “I’ve been thinking about everything you said. Sorry I didn’t call back sooner.”

“I just don’t know what to do. The situation is—I’ve never seen it this bad before. That bloody journalist published another piece about Isha, about how she’s—she’s—”

“Pregnant,” Jaya finished for him, in that robotic voice.

“Yes.” Her father exhaled. “Supposedly that’s why I sent you girls away so suddenly. They just won’t let the story die! Why can’t they just let it be? Our people are so angry. The invitation Amma had to a major political event in Mumbai is being rescinded—Jaya, we’re losing footing.”

“Yes, you said that,” Jaya said, a distant part of her concerned at just how stressed her father sounded. She’d never heard him this way, so on edge, so thrown. “And you’d mentioned the Hegdes. They’re getting cold feet?”

“Yes, yes.” Her father took a shaky breath. “They say they’re still on board for an alliance, but I could see it in their eyes—it’s only a matter of time before they change their mind. And without their confidence in us, without their partnership… We stand to lose everything, Jaya. Our political position, everything generations of Raos have stood for, gone. Because of a complete lie.” He paused. “It is a lie…?”

“Yes, of course it is,” Jaya said, shocked that Appa was even asking. Evidence, perhaps, of just how serious the accusations were.

“The first story about her wasn’t,” Appa mused. He took a breath. “Anyway, I don’t mean to burden you with this while you’re away, but—”

“But I’m the eldest daughter. The heiress.” Jaya nodded, putting one palm up against the cold pane of glass. “I know, Appa.”

“You’re eighteen now,” he said. “I think it’s about time you took a more active part in what’s going on with the dynasty.”

“I agree. And I think I have a solution.” Jaya’s heart pounded against her rib cage, as if in protest. She ignored it.

“A solution?” Appa sounded more alert now. “What is it?”

Jaya closed her eyes. “My engagement to Kiran Hegde.”

Grey