Forest of Demons by Debbie Cassidy Read Free Book Online

his top lip. “I’m sorry. I . . . I didn’t know.”
    Ravi frowned, “You didn’t know?”
    “The proposal?” She wondered for a moment if she’d made a mistake, but his expression was suddenly closed and she knew she hadn’t. “I didn’t know, but the answer would have been the same. I have a dream and my heart . . . it belongs to another.” She ducked her head.
    “Guru.”
    She looked up at him sharply.
    He smiled. “You’d have to be blind not to see it. But as a friend I can tell you, he’ll never love you back in the same way.”
    Priya felt her temper flare. “I appreciate you saving my life but that doesn’t make us friends. I could never be friends with a man who treats his women so callously.” As soon as the words were out she wished to take them back.
    Ravi’s eyes narrowed. He took a step toward her, his jaw clenched, his body radiating danger. She shrank back against the door.
    “You shouldn’t speak of things you don’t understand.” His voice was low with menace.
    Priya stared at him with round eyes, afraid of what he’d do next but he simply stepped back and walked away into the night.
    The hollow feeling was back.
     
    She entered the hut in the aftermath of a row. Ma was still bristling, and the clanking of pots and pans were the music of her anger. Papa had gone to bed.
    Priya sighed and approached Ma. She reached out to place a comforting hand on her shoulder and was surprised when Ma shrugged her off.
    “Ma?”
    “Don’t! Don’t pretend you’re sorry. Isn’t it every mother’s dream to see their daughter married to a good man? Cared for and happy, so that she may pass on in peace? Isn’t it every mother’s dream to nurse her grandchildren, to see their tiny little faces just once before she meets her maker?” She shook her head, her eyes filling with tears. “Do I ask too much?”
    Priya had no words of comfort, for she knew deep in her soul that she couldn’t give Ma what she desired. To do so would be to condemn herself to restlessness and heartbreak. If she couldn’t have Guru, then she would have her dream. She would have the capital. She stepped away.
    “Sorry. I really am.”
    She turned to see her Papa in the doorway to his room, his face twisted with sorrow, but his eyes filled with empathic comprehension.
    He passed a hand over her head in a soothing gesture as she passed. “I spoke to Pujariji on my walk earlier. Guru and Pratip will meet you in the morning. I’ve drawn you a list. It’s in my satchel.” He smiled tenderly at her. “Follow your own heart, beti, and you will always find peace. Others must find their own; it’s not for you to provide it for them.” That said, he retreated back into his room.
    Priya carried his words into sleep with her and dreamed of castles and silk, adventure and love.

CHAPTER 4
    The next morning dawned hotter than usual, a sure sign that winter was around the corner. There would be a month of intolerable heat and then the chill would come, unforgiving but relatively short. The harvest would be reaped in a week’s time and the grain distributed. People would check their stores to ensure they were equipped for the frost, and once it was upon them, no one would venture out during the red sun hours, which would become unbearably cold. Priya enjoyed the winter despite its brevity, for it brought with it a beauty all its own.
    As she waited beside the forest trail for Guru and his friend Pratip, she felt her excitement grow. A whole morning to spend beside Guru. A whole morning of listening to his voice, his laugh, and to maybe hold his hand. They’d held hands all the time as children, but once his betrothal to Mala had been announced, everything had changed. She felt a pang of guilt. Wasn’t this the exact reason for Mala’s quarrel with her on the morning of her demise? Yet here she was thinking covetous thoughts about her friends betrothed.
    But Mala is dead.
    Still didn’t make it right. She would stop. She