Chapter 43. Private Ultimatum
The heavy doors to Chaitav's chambers opened without a knock. Only one person in the Peacock Palace would dare such an intrusion, and her presence filled the air before she spoke.
Queen Charula Rajdevan glided inside, her jeweled mantle trailing like the fan of a living sun. Behind her, the guards shut the doors with a finality that seemed to seal the prince's fate.
Chaitav rose from his writing desk, where scraps of parchment lay discarded — attempts at letters he could never send. "Mother—"
"Sit," Charula said. Her voice was silk on steel.
He sat.
For a moment, she studied him, every detail — the restless flick of his tail feathers, the taut set of his jaw, the faint scent of wine lingering on his breath.
Only then, she spoke.
"Do you have any idea," she began softly, "what one million tonnes of gold looks like?"
Chaitav's brows drew together. "I—"
"It fills vaults," she continued, stepping closer. "It breaks the backs of the miners who dig it, stains their feathers with dust for generations. And today, your father and I handed it to Queen Nox… to purchase what is left of your life."
Chaitav's wings hunched, the iridescent green dulling in the dim light. "She gave you a choice—"
"She gave me two," Charula snapped, the first sharpness in her tone. "The gold… or your head on a pike above her court gates. Do not mistake my choice for mercy."
He opened his mouth, but she cut him off with a lifted hand. "Bhavanit will wed the Flamingo princess within the year. His future is sealed. You were meant to be a piece we could move — to strengthen ties, to open new alliances. Instead, you have become a liability so poisonous that Nox will use you as a leash on this kingdom until I find a way to cut it."
"I can fix—"
"You can fix nothing," she said, stepping so close that the tips of her feathers brushed his. "From this moment, you do not act or think without my permission. You will not attempt speak to Raven envoys, which includes any form of communication with them. You will not so much as think of one of Nox's daughters again. I will find you a suitable mate, and you will be betrothed and wed to prevent further damage to this country, your little incident has wrought."
His jaw tightened. "So you would keep me a prisoner in my own court?"
Charula's expression softened into something almost like pity — and was all the more dangerous for it. "Not a prisoner, Chaitav. A pawn. A pawn that remains on the board... and pawns, when they stray from the board, are removed."
He swallowed hard, the weight of her words sinking in.
She leaned closer, her voice dropping to a whisper only he could hear. "If you ever embarrass this family or this country again, I will no longer argue with your father over whether your life is worth the cost. I will tell him to hand you to the Raven Queen myself."
Then she stepped back, composure restored, the queen once more. "You will attend court as usual. Smile when you are told. Dance when I say so. And when I decide you are useful again, in whatever that use may be… You will, one day, thank me for keeping you alive."
Without another word, she turned and left him in the echo of her talons on the marble floor — leaving behind only the faint, suffocating scent of peacock silk and the knowledge that his survival was no longer his own to control.