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JEFFETT’S SOLDIERS come as I am sitting down for breakfast.
What have I done now?
I look from my plate of roti to them and sigh. They don’t lay a hand on me, but form a square around me as they march me to my uncle’s office. Not a word is spoken until I’m inside and the soldiers have been dismissed.
“Sit,” he says.
I obey.
“Who passed this to you?” He brandishes a piece of paper, waving it in front of my face.
My heart sinks. “What’s that?”
“Don’t deny it, Yosett. Azman found it in your room.”
“What was Azman doing in my room?” How could he betray me like this?
“Just answer the question.”
I set my jaw. I’m not going to make this easy for him. “I can’t see what it is you’re waving about.”
“Stubborn,” he says, then flings it down on the table between us.
I reach out to take it, but he grips my wrist.
“You don’t touch it.”
He lets go of my hand and holds the paper flat on the table where I can see it. I lean forward and inspect it, even though I know what it is. Still, I must be certain. I read my name, the first line few lines, dread pooling in my stomach.
Dear Yosua, I heard about Garett and Marla. I send my sincere condolences. The rumours are false...
Uncle Jeffett snatches it away again and demands, “Who passed this to you?”
How did Azman get it? There was no way for me to destroy it at night short of swallowing it, so I’d stuffed it into my bedside drawer. Why would the guards—and Relka—let him in while I was asleep?
I press my hands against my thighs to keep them from shaking. “I’ve never seen it before. How do I know it’s not Azman who planted it for you?”
A tiny smirk creeps on his face. “He couldn’t have. Three witnesses saw him open your room door and take it out of your drawer.”
How did he even know it was there?
“Witnesses who are all in your employ. They could all be lying.” He’d never admit that Relka is his slave, but the guards at my door these days are undeniably in his pay.
He raises an eyebrow. “All four of them are loyal servants of the Raja. Your bodyguard, your personal servant, your Royal Guards.”
“Loyal servants aren’t supposed to enter the Raja’s room without permission—”
“Should I show this to the Majlis then?”
“No!” I shout. As soon as he smiles, I know I’ve made the wrong move. I’ve just revealed that I know exactly how incriminating that letter is when he hadn’t even shown me the whole thing.
“Then tell me. Was it the troupe? Which one?”
I keep my mouth shut.
“Fine. I’ll kill all of them.”
“You can’t do that! You don’t have the authority.”
He shrugs. “Not yet, but after I show the Majlis this, I will. Then I’ll kill the whole troupe.”
Think, Yos, think. But panic has taken hold of me. There are too many people to protect—Relka and his family, Amanah and the troupe—besides keeping myself alive.
“If you wanted the throne in the first place, why didn’t you just take it? You could have, right at the beginning. My father didn’t want it. I wouldn’t have fought you for it. Why did you go through this whole rigmarole of making me Raja just so you can pull the strings behind it?”
Uncle Jeffett grimaces. “When I came back from Suci to find Bayangan defeated again and Layla dead, I was distraught. I couldn’t do it anymore. I wanted to wash my hands of everything. Retire to the countryside. I thought I could trust Garett to steer you and the kingdom right. It seems I was wrong.”
“He was steering me right!”
“The two of you...you’re both too corrupted.” He pulls himself back from wherever his thoughts have gone, then folds the letter and puts it in his drawer. He makes a show of locking it and keeping the key in his pocket.
“I won’t tell anyone. This will be kept between you, me, and Azman. In return, you will tell me who gave it to you and how they did it. And you will sign off on the new laws that I’m going to pass in the next month.”
“What new laws?”
He jabs his finger with each word. “You. Will. Sign. Them.”
“Uncle—”
“No more negotiations, Yosett. I’ve given you enough grace. You will agree, or I will expose you. And you will write to Mikal saying you will no longer have any correspondence with him, in either personal or official capacity.”
I fold my arms and glare at him.
“If you don’t, you can be sure that three things will happen. You’ll be executed for treason, the entire troupe will be executed, and Relka’s entire family will be sold.”
No. I promised. I close my eyes and swallow hard. I cannot think of any other way to get out of this, not without breaking those promises. “Fine.”
“Thank you, Yosett. Now, who gave you this?”
“Promise no harm will come to him?” Weak, so weak.
“I make no promises but I’ll do my best.”
I study his face, but I can’t tell if he’s lying. “Amanah, the troupe leader.” Well, it might be the one who brushed against me, but Uncle Jeffett is not going to accept ‘a female troupe member’ for an answer. He might just execute all the women in the troupe instead.
“Troupe leaders. Again,” he says with disgust. “I should just ban them for all the troubles they bring.”
“You won’t harm them?”
“I won’t harm the troupe. Now, how did he pass it to you? Azman said he didn’t see anyone passing you anything.”
“I don’t know. I just found it in my pocket after dinner.”
“And Relka didn’t notice anything?”
“Relka can’t be with me all the time.”
“I see. I will remedy that.”
My cheeks heat up. “Uncle! You can’t—”
“You’ve shown that you can’t be trusted. Therefore, I will treat you like a child who can’t be trusted. Now, the letter.” He slides a clean sheet of paper over to me, along with a quill and ink.
I smoothen the paper, pick up the quill, and write as he dictates.
“Sultan Mikal, the time has come for us to cut all ties. Bayangan will no longer be your vassal, nor will we be at your beck and call. Bayangan is sovereign and will remain sovereign without any interference from Terang. Raja Yosett Regis Baya.”
I finish writing and sign it, then push it back to him. He reviews it, making sure I haven’t changed any of his words.
When he’s done, he nods, folds the letter and puts it into his pocket. “I will make sure this is delivered.”
“And how will you do that without the use of troupe leaders?”
“I have my ways.” He waves me away.
“What about this law of yours?” I ask.
“In time, Yosett, in time. You will see it once I have drafted it.”
I open the door to find the soldiers waiting. They escort me back to my suite. Two of them salute and march away, leaving two standing outside my door.
“I’m already in here. You don’t have to stand guard,” I say, arching an eyebrow. “You may leave and return to your normal duties.”
“Tuanku, our duties are here,” one of them replies.
If I can’t send them away, I can at least keep them out. I lock the door behind me, and sit back down at the table to finish my miserable breakfast of cold roti.
Relka avoids my gaze the whole morning.
––––––––
RELKA BRINGS ME LUNCH a little after noon.
“Does this mean I’m not allowed out of my room even for meals?” I ask. I’m bored out of my skull after sitting around for hours.
He stares at his feet.
I sigh and pick at the food. “It’s not your fault. Really, there’s nothing you can do. There’s nothing I can do either. We’re just as powerless here, Relka.”
He doesn’t look up, though he bobs his head.
“Come on, smile a little. I’ve agreed to all Jeffett’s demands, so your family is safe.” I refuse to call him uncle anymore.
Relka’s head shoots up so fast. “You mean it, Tuanku?”
“Yes. I can’t guarantee that Jeffett will uphold his side of the bargain, but I’ll do my part.” The sigh escapes before I can stop it. “He has me in a corner, Relka. If I don’t do as he says, he’ll execute me and Amanah’s troupe, and sell your family. I don’t care if he executes me, but I can’t let him do that to you and your family—or the troupe.”
“Thank you, Tuanku, oh, thank you so much!” He smiles through his tears.
“You’re welcome. Now, have you eaten? Do you want to sit and eat with me?”
“I’ve eaten, Tuanku.”
“Oh, well, sit then, or something.”
He takes a seat beside me.
“Why don’t you tell me about your family? Your father’s name is Sulaiman, right?”
Relka fidgets, looking down at his hands.
“I used to be like you. I grew up as a hostage in the Mahan Palace—I understand how you feel. I just want to get to know you better.”
“My father joined the military after my grandfather lost his business in the war. He was injured during the attack on Maha and had to retire,” he says to the table.
“So, you’ve always grown up in the castle?”
He shakes his head. “We had a house in the city. My Atuk’s house. But Ayah sold it—he wanted to go back into business, rebuild what Atuk had lost.”
“It sounds like your family had money...how did he end up in debt?”
“Ayah set up the business with some friends. When it didn’t do well, his friends took whatever money was left and ran, including everything Ayah had invested in it. Ayah had to take a loan just to feed us and pay the rent. But he couldn’t find work, and with his limp he couldn’t go back into the military. When he couldn’t pay, Tun Jeffett gave him the choice—to be sentenced to hard labour or to give up a child as a slave. I couldn’t let him. He wouldn’t have survived—I was old enough. I—”
“And this is why I want to outlaw slavery in Bayangan,” I say.
“So, you would rather have my father imprisoned and the rest of my family starve to death?” He looks up at me for the first time, mouth twisted in anger.
“No, Relka. It would mean that there will be other ways to pay off the debt. Something that doesn’t mean imprisonment or slavery.”
“Like what?”
I don’t have an answer. “I’ll figure out something, Relka. There must be a way. Believe me.”
He just shrugs and looks away.
“I’m going to read in my room,” I tell him as he moves to clear the table.
I shut the bedroom door and lock it, then pull out the Firman from its latest hiding place. There’s no point in hiding it anymore, not when Jeffett knows I have it, but it’s habit. It won’t do to leave it out in the open where anyone else can see it. I sit on the bed and start reading.
It doesn’t comfort me, not the way it used to. Instead, there’s a feeling of wariness, like a warning. Beware traitors, Rahsia had said. I know who the traitor is now—Azman. I’d trusted him, opened up to him, and he paid me back by running to Jeffett with my secrets.
O Kudus, what did I say?
I admitted that I prayed.
He can have all of Bayangan.
I wince at my own words. No wonder Azman turned on me, if he thought I was unfit and unwilling to be Raja.
What did the rest of Rahsia’s note say? I’ve long since destroyed it.
War is coming and you must stand in the gap. There’s no denying the first part. I’ll do all I can to slow down Jeffett’s machinations, but no matter how much he promises now that he won’t go to war, there will come a time when he won’t be able to stop himself. There will come a time when I won’t be able to stop him, no matter how much I let him threaten or blackmail me. He has too much power. The people think they like me, but they’re already accustomed to respecting him. The nobles pity me after my parents’ murder, but they listen to him.
I close the Firman with a sigh.
O Kudus, how did it come to this? I thought I was hearing you when I decided to stay. I thought this was the right thing to do. Why is everything falling apart now?
I put the Firman back in its hiding place and pace.
There’s a knock on the suite door, accompanied by Jeffett’s voice. “I need to speak to you, Yosett.”
I step out into the living room. Locking the door is useless when Relka lets him in anyway.
“Would you care to explain this?” he holds a letter in front of my nose. I recognise it as the one I slipped to Amanah the night before.
“You can’t blame me for trying. It was before your ultimatum.”
“Fine,” he snaps.
“Where’s Amanah?”
“In the dungeons. You’re barred from seeing him. Don’t even ask. Relka!”
Relka hurries over.
“Get your master ready,” Jeffett tells him, then turns back to me. “We’re making the announcement today.”
“What announcement?”
“That you’re appointing me as Regent to rule in your stead while you take time off to deal with your grief. You will announce it to the Majlis DiRaja and sign the order in front of them. Then the heralds will announce it to the city and the outlying kampungs. Be ready in an hour.”