chapter 20

Chapter NineteenThe Room That Shouldn't ExistThe storm broke just before dawn.Wind screamed through the palace walls, flinging dust against the old sandstone like nails scraping bone. The guards doubled at every gate. The palace held steady, but inside — things were beginning to fracture.Secrets don’t stay buried forever.Not in this place.Not when the blood remembers.Rani was already awake when the first alert came in.Maya barged in without knocking — hair wet from the rain, a folder in one hand, gun at her hip. Her dress was almost stuck to her body.“He knew,” she said.Rani didn’t need context. “Who?”“Veer,” Maya replied. “About the armory tunnel. The one we sealed four years ago.”“That tunnel was decommissioned.”“No, Rani,” Maya said, stepping closer. “It was forgotten. On purpose.”Rani’s eyes went cold. “Who told him?”“We don’t know yet. But I traced the breach.” She dropped the folder on the desk. Inside: blueprint maps. Tunnel grids. Guard shift logs. A surveillance shot dated three days ago.It showed someone moving through the tunnel in the dark. Masked. But not fully.A profile. Just enough.Dev.Or someone who looked exactly like him.Downstairs, Dev was training with Bhairav.Blunt weapons. Wooden batons. The clack of strikes echoed through the chamber as sweat poured down both men’s faces.Bhairav, grunting, muttered, “She’s different since you came.”Dev parried. “Better or worse?”“Both.”They circled.“You're not afraid of her,” Bhairav said. “That's rare.”“I’m more afraid for her,” Dev replied, swinging hard. “That’s rarer.”Before Bhairav could answer, Maya entered.“Rani needs you.”Dev turned instantly, face tightening.Something was wrong.He felt it in his chest.Ten minutes later.He stood in front of her.And she didn’t speak right away.Just held the photo in her hand — the surveillance still.She didn’t accuse him. Not directly.She simply asked:“Is there anything you haven’t told me?”Dev’s breath caught.He stepped forward, slowly. “You think that’s me?”“I think Veer is smarter than we gave him credit for. And I think he’s using everything.”Dev looked at the image. His jaw tensed.“That’s not me.”“I know.”Her voice was quiet.But her eyes… they burned.Then she said, almost a whisper:“But there was a room. One I sealed. One I swore no one would ever find again. And now he’s inside it.”Dev stared at her.“You need to show me.”She hesitated.“Rani,” he said, voice rough. “If he’s in that room, then your past isn’t safe anymore. And neither am I.”She looked at him then.Long. Tired. Bare.Then she nodded.They took no guards.Just Rani, Dev, and Maya — armed, silent, moving through the old south wing like ghosts retracing their own history.They passed tapestries that hadn’t been cleaned in years. Paintings covered with dust cloths. Doors nailed shut. Air stale with memory.Until they reached a panel in the wall behind the abandoned prayer room.Rani ran her fingers along the carved edge.Pressed a hidden latch.The wall groaned and shifted open.Maya stepped back, stunned. “I didn’t know this existed.”“You weren’t meant to,” Rani said.The air inside was thick. Cold.They stepped into the dark hallway.The lights inside were dead, but the floor held footprints.Fresh ones.Dev moved in front, knife drawn.They followed the tunnel until it opened into a wide, circular chamber.No windows.No doors except the one they came through.In the center: an old throne.Carved from black stone. Familiar.Rani stared at it like it had reached up and slapped her.“This was his,” she whispered.“Whose?” Dev asked.She didn’t answer right away.Then:“My father. This is where he ruled from, in secret. Not the public durbar — this is where he made the real decisions. Deals. Punishments. Torture.”Dev looked around. “You sealed this?”“After I watched him slit a child’s ear to send a message to her father,” Rani said, her voice as cold as the stone. “After I took his place. I swore no one would sit on that throne again.”Maya was scanning the space, flashlight in hand.There were new items in the room.A cot. A folder. Empty cups. A bullet casing.“He was here,” Maya said. “Recently.”Dev turned toward Rani.And then—His foot hit something soft.He crouched.A note. Folded. Slightly damp.He opened it.Rani’s handwriting.But older.He recognized it instantly — the same style as her diaries she never let anyone read.It was a letter.To no one.Or maybe… to herself.“One day, someone will come for me. Not to love me. But to dismantle me. I only hope, when he does, I’m strong enough not to beg him to stay.”Dev looked up at her.She was staring down at the paper.Frozen.“How long ago did you write this?” he asked.She didn’t speak.And didn’t have to.Because the answer was written in her face.Veer hadn’t just stolen weapons. Or tunnels.He had stolen her words.Outside the chamber, they sealed the door again.Rani didn’t speak until they were halfway down the hall.Then she turned to Dev.“I need you to be honest with me now.”He nodded.“If it comes down to you or me—if he makes you choose…”Dev cut her off, voice iron.“Then I choose us.”And that…Was the moment she let her fingers brush against his hand.Not a grip. Not yet.Just contact.Enough to say she still wanted to believe him.Enough to say she was trying.Miles away, Veer watched from a camera feed.The old throne chamber.He saw them read the note.He saw Rani’s face.He didn’t smile this time.Instead, he whispered:“You should’ve burned that place down, little queen.”“Because now it’s mine.”(Nxt)