Venkat couldn’t remember when they’d last spent a single hour together that didn’t revolve around work in some way. He could already see the colorful lanterns dangling over their table. The two of them would trade ideas and stories over delicious food like they used to, while around them lotuses glowed in the water like neon pink pedestals. They’d go not as lord and apprentice but as father and son.

Part of him wanted that so much.

But the rest of him thought of Madhu demanding locks for the runners’ doors. It replayed what Nayan had said about Tanvi and Jai and all the others.

Nayan wanted to talk about family? The runners were Venkat’s family, and he’d been feeding them lies like cakes of sawdust for the spirit. All because Nayan hadn’t trusted him with the whole truth of his plan.

He let that longing show in his face.

Naturally, Nayan caught it.

“Soon,” he said, gratified. “Just you and I. Tonight, however, you care for yourself. I do not want to hear of you anywhere near the archives or the workshop. Is that clear?”

“Got it.” Venkat grinned, too, hoping he looked excited. Hoping the pain and confusion lancing through him like broken glass stayed hidden. Nayan had to believe he was still every bit the faithful apprentice.

“Good.” Nayan laid a hand on his back and steered him toward the double doors. “I have already arranged for a meal to be served on your balcony, and the attendants have been instructed to provide you with anything else you might desire.”

At the exit, Nayan smiled once more. “Now go and make merry. I will see you at sunup tomorrow.”

Whatever adrenaline had been carrying Venkat through the day suddenly drained off, and he felt like a bag of bones with no muscle to hold them up. A dense fog shrouded his brain, and he yawned.

Nayan’s gaze sharpened. “Rest. I insist.”

“I guess it wouldn’t be so bad to take a night off,” Venkat allowed, yawning wider. “So I can be at my best for tomorrow.”

Pulling off this ruse might have been the hardest thing he’d ever done. But, he told his guilty heart, Nayan had never answered his question about the boons.

Nayan was already pushing him in the direction of his apartments. “Good night, my son.”

At first, Venkat did as Nayan had requested, feasting on his balcony and going for a nice starlit swim in the river before collapsing into bed. He even let himself enjoy four full hours of sleep, but that was as far as the night’s luxury could go.

If Nayan wouldn’t tell him the truth, he’d find it himself.