When she reached them, Asha and Sameer stood glaring at each other. A few feet away, Venkat seemed ready to throw something, maybe at them.

“Come on, Asha, let’s just go,” he insisted. “We’re probably already in trouble. Didn’t you say Karan suspected you?”

Ignoring him, she glowered at Sameer. “How many times must I repeat myself? You refused my calls, so I returned here to apologize. To see you one last time, yet even now, you do not listen. Do you know that if I had my choice, I would choose you?”

“Then why’d you quit calling?”

“Because, you preposterous creature, I gave Tanvi my remaining feather-telephone seeds!”

Tanvi hadn’t known that. She felt strangely shy again.

Behind Venkat, two more figures emerged out of the darkness, their features unmistakable. Madhu—and Nayan.

Tanvi’s joints went watery. Nayan had come himself instead of just sending Madhu. Oh, this was bad. She was going to ram Karan’s sparkler crown down his throat, that self-serving little snitch.

Venkat practically shriveled before Tanvi’s eyes as he looked between Madhu and Nayan. She wanted to run to him, to soothe the defeat in his face.

“I told you, my lord,” Madhu said, her wrinkles deepening in triumph. “You thought you could trust them, and they have been lying to you this entire time.”

If only Tanvi could grab some steel wool and scour that oily smugness right off Madhu’s face—the more abrasive, the better. You’re the one working for the garudas!

But then she remembered Madhu’s threat and peeked over her shoulder. They never should have come here, no matter what Asha said.

Nitya wasn’t anywhere in sight; had she listened and stayed put, or better yet, left?

Durga Mata, Tanvi prayed, I’m so sorry I skipped aarti, but if you’re listening, please keep Nitya and Mom away.

“So I see,” Nayan said. His fierce expression left no room for argument. “A very touching performance, Princess, worthy of an award, but it is time to return home. Because of your antics, the garudas might have infiltrated the palace or even captured you again. Was once not enough?”

Asha lowered her head, but not before Tanvi noted the mutinous twist to her scarlet mouth. Next to her, Sameer looked like he’d quit breathing.

“Do you truly think I did not know of your seeds? Of your infatuation with this mortal boy?” Nayan thundered. “We have all been far more than lenient with your thoughtless stunts, yet you continue to put the entire realm at risk.”

Nayan had known about the feather phones? Tanvi shivered. Did he know Asha had given her some of those seeds?

“She just wanted to help,” Venkat said.

Nayan rounded on him. “I expected better of you, my son,” he said. “You know precisely what is at stake here, and yet you disobeyed me.”