chapter 18

Chapter SeventeenThe Knife Behind the SmileDawn broke over the palace in bruised light.Clouds rolled low and heavy, the kind that whispered omen.Rani stood alone on the eastern terrace, eyes fixed on the horizon where sand met sky. She hadn’t slept.Not after what the dead body at the gate had signaled.Sircar wasn’t playing games anymore.He was sending messages in flesh.Behind her, Bhairav approached. His tone measured, as always.“There’s unrest in the southern outposts,” he said. “Two captains have gone dark. One of them is Sadiq.”Rani’s brow tensed.Sadiq had served her father.Loyal. Unshakable. Or so she believed.She turned. “And the other?”“Rafiq.”She stilled.Rafiq — Maya’s younger brother.Moments later.Maya entered the war room in full black tactical gear, brows furrowed. Her expression was harder than usual — not stone. Steel.“You think my brother betrayed you?” she asked.“I don’t think,” Rani said. “I suspect.”There was a pause.“I gave you everything,” Maya said quietly. “Stood by you even when I didn’t agree. But if you’re questioning my blood—”“I’m questioning mine too,” Rani cut in. “No one is exempt.”They stared at each other for a long time. Two women who’d built an empire together. One glare at a time.Then Maya stepped forward, slow.“If I bring him in,” she said, voice tight, “you look him in the eye before passing judgment.”“You have my word.”That night, Dev sat beside Rani in her private quarters.She hadn’t spoken in ten minutes.He watched her, quietly pouring two glasses of water.“You trust her?” he asked.Rani nodded once. “With my life.”“And yet you suspect her brother.”Rani leaned forward, elbows on knees. “Trust isn’t simple here. It’s a currency. You spend it carefully.”Dev sipped his water. Then:“You don’t have to keep doing this alone, Rani.”She looked at him.The sharp edge in her eyes softened — not for long, just a moment.“I don’t know how not to.”Two hours later.Maya returned.But not with Rafiq.Alone. Blood on her collar. A cut near her temple.Rani stood instantly. “Where is he?”“Gone,” Maya said. “Someone tipped him off. He knew I was coming.”Her voice cracked. Just barely.Rani stepped closer. “You alright?”Maya nodded. “But we’re compromised. He knew things only inner circle has access to.”Dev stepped forward. “Meaning?”“Meaning,” Maya said, turning to Rani, “someone inside this palace is feeding information. Not just to Sircar…”Her voice dropped.“To Veer.”Silence.Then Bhairav entered. He carried a thin file. Confidential. Urgent.He handed it to Rani without a word.She opened it.Flipped through pages.Then froze.Her lips parted slightly.She turned the file around. Showed it to Dev.It was a photo.Grainy.But unmistakable.Veer Raichand.Inside the palace.Two nights ago.Dressed as one of the security techs. Face partially masked, but the scar along his neck gave him away.Rani’s hands tightened around the folder.“If he’s been here once,” Dev said, “he’ll come again.”“No,” Rani said coldly. “He never left.”That night, the palace was sealed.No one in.No one out.Three squads deployed.Every hallway swept.Every corridor watched.But it wasn’t enough.Because when Rani returned to her private chamber — something was off.Her perfume bottles were slightly rearranged.The window latch unfastened.The corner book open to a page she never touched.And on her pillow —A single king of hearts playing card.Its corners burnt.Its center marked with blood.Rani stared at it.Unblinking.Unmoving.Then she said, to no one:“He’s not after my throne.”“He’s after Dev.”Far away, in a tent soaked in desert heat, Veer held a glass of wine.He watched a screen flicker with the palace camera feeds.A voice behind him asked, “Why not just kill her?”Veer smiled, slow. Cruel.“Because death is too fast.”“She took my empire. Now I’ll take the only thing she didn’t know she loved.”(Nxt(