Page 25 of Scars and Crowns

"And this time . . . " The promise leaves my mouth before I even realise I've made it. "I'm not going anywhere."

Every word settles somewhere deep inside me. Not because I said it to reassure a child. Because I know it's true. Whatever happened during those missing years . . . Whatever broke the light inside Anamika's eyes . . . Whatever brought her back to this palace dressed in a kitchen uniform instead of carrying the future she'd dreamed about . . . She will not face it alone anymore.

Not while I'm breathing.

Sara studies me with remarkable seriousness. Exactly the way her mother used to. As though she's reading something underneath my words.

Finally . . . She slowly extends her little finger toward me. "Pinky promise?"

I smile. Without hesitation, I hook my finger around hers. "Pinky promise."

She nods once. Satisfied.

The agreement has been sealed. As I rise to my feet, another thought occurs to me. "One condition."

"What?"

"This meeting stays between us."

She squints suspiciously. "No telling your mother that we met."

She considers it with all the gravity of an international peace negotiation. Then nods. "Deal."

I reach over and gently smooth her hair again.

This time she lets me. No complaints. No swatting my hand away. Just a shy little smile that somehow feels like trust.

"I won't let your mumma be lonely." The words leave quietly. Almost to myself.

She nods as though she's accepting responsibility for something very important. "Okay."

I smile. "And one more thing."

"What?"

"Don't ever talk to strangers again." She nods immediately.

The irony of receiving that advice from the stranger she'd happily spent the last ten minutes talking to seems completely lost on her. It makes me laugh under my breath. I turn and begin climbing the staircase.

Halfway up . . . something makes me look back. She's still standing exactly where I left her. The moment our eyes meet, she throws her whole arm into the air, waving so enthusiastically that I'm convinced she's using every ounce of energy in her tiny body.

I wave back. Her delighted giggle echoes through the corridor. The sound follows me long after I've turned the corner. I smile to myself.

God.

She really is Anamika's daughter. I can’t stop thinking about that. Not because she looks like her. Because she carries the same impossible ability to make people feel lighter simply by existing.

And for the first time since afternoon . . . Something inside me feels unexpectedly . . . hopeful. The last seven years have left me with far more questions than answers.

But one thing is suddenly, unmistakably clear. I couldn't protect her from whatever happened before she came back. I can't change the years we lost.

But I can be here now. And this time . . . I'm choosing not to let her walk through another storm alone.

IS HE IN HIS RIGHT MIND?

ANAMIKA

By half past eleven, the entire kitchen knows my name. The message arrives through one of the footmen, spoken in the calm, practiced tone reserved for palace instructions. "Hukum wants to see Anamika Srivastava in his study."