“Jaya.” Isha waited until she met her eye, her brown eyes glimmering in the muted light of a new day. “Is that what you want for me, too?”

Jaya shook her head. “What?”

“In two years, do you want me to get engaged to, I don’t know, Venkat Samagood?”

Jaya frowned, trying to remember who that was. Her brow clearing, she said, “That kid who tries to look down your shirt at every palace event? Why on earth would you—”

“If it was good for the family,” Isha said, raising her eyebrows. “If something really beneficial would come from that union. Would you want me to?”

Jaya spluttered. “Of course not! You’re much too good for him! You deserve to be with someone you love!”

Isha waited, her eyebrows still raised.

Jaya sighed and pushed her hair back. The pine trees around them shuddered in the brisk breeze. “It’s not the same.”

“Of course it is!” Isha said, frustrated. “There’s not a single difference!”

“The difference is I’m your big sister!” Jaya said, throwing her hands up. “I’ve always known it’s my duty, not just to protect the kingdom, but to protect you!” Oh, bollocks. She hadn’t meant to say that last part.

Isha frowned and dug the toe of her boot into the snowy ground. “What do you mean, protect me? What does you and Kiran getting engaged have to do with me?”

“Nothing,” Jaya said quickly, smoothing out her jacket. “I just meant, in general, that—”

“Jaya, please. I’m not a dummy.”

Jaya looked into her little sister’s face and knew she couldn’t lie to her. Not anymore. Not after all they’d been through, not after how far they’d come. “I… Appa called me. He said there was another article in the paper about you.”

Isha’s face paled to match the taupe scarf around her neck. “What did it say?”

“That you…” Jaya cleared her throat and put her hand on Isha’s. “It was stupid.”

“Please tell me.”

“It said that we came here, to St. Rosetta’s, because you were pregnant. The entire city was in an uproar. We were losing political standing, our reputation was in shreds. The Hegdes said they’d stick by us, but Appa didn’t think that would be the case for much longer.”

Understanding dawned on Isha’s face. Up in the trees, a chickadee called. “And if you and Kiran got engaged, it would show the people that the Hegdes still believed in our family.”

Jaya nodded. “It’d also get people focusing on something else. A royal engagement is pretty big news.”

Isha took a moment, her face lost in thought as she gazed into the woods below them. Then she looked at Jaya. “No.”

“No…?”

“No, you still can’t do this.”

“Isha, it’s too late—”