She hears the sounds of her brother laughing somewhere nearby.
“Told you,” he manages to gasp before he stops moving.įor a long moment, Nivedita stands still, staring at his body. She doesn’t even realize that she’s released her arrow until he falls to the ground. She remembers her loyalty to the King, her easily gained obedience. She remembers the look in Ananya’s eyes before she was taken away. The key will dissolve otherwise.” Yash laughs. “Give it to me,” she says, her voice hoarse from lack of use. A rage rises in her as she stares at the sneering man in front of her. Nivedita stares at the glistening object. “I’ll give you your heart’s key,” he says, holding it out to her. She nods.Īnd then one day, Yash arrives to ask for her hand. Her heart is a painful stone in her chest, but it’s easy to tamp down the feelings. Nivedita thinks of Ananya, of kisses in the shadows of trees. “You will marry a man,” the King tells her. That is what she was pleading for, she thinks. “Will you do anything if I keep her alive?” He tells the guards to throw Ananya into the dungeons and turns to his daughter. “Please.”Īt the last moment, the King gives the order to stop. “Please,” Nivedita pleads for the first time in her life, though she doesn’t know what she’s asking. But I will teach you right from wrong.” His hands are hard on her shoulders, holding her in place. “It’s not your fault,” the King says to Nivedita. In the end, the King gathers all the people in his Kingdom.Įveryone watches as a noose is put around Ananya’s neck. “But the princess doesn’t know what’s right and what’s not.” A castle guard spots them together and informs the King. The color on Ananya’s cheeks deepens as she pulls back, and for the first time in her life, Nivedita’s grip on her bow loosens slightly.Ī week before Nivedita’s fifteenth birthday, they are discovered. Two weeks later, Ananya leans forward and gently touches her lips to Nivedita’s. It is there that she meets Ananya, a girl from the village who has come to pick flowers. She’s riding her horse at the edge of the forest, as she sometimes does, to hear the nightingales sing. She keeps looking down at him till his giggles turn into cries, till someone takes him away to calm him down.Īt fourteen, Nivedita has her first kiss. The baby prince giggles and reaches for the curly locks of her hair, but she doesn’t let him touch those. She stands guard over his crib, her lips pressed tight, her eyes alert. The King keeps him under high security and puts Nivedita in charge. When Nivedita is twelve, the King fathers a son. “I killed seventeen today, Your Highness.” She is fierce and unstoppable, and never misses a mark. She’s perfect.”Īt age eleven, Nivedita leads a group of archers into a war against the neighbouring kingdom. “Let her be happy,” he says, but his mouth droops in concern.īy the time Nivedita is nine, she has surpassed Amanat in her archery skills. Nivedita has never asked for anything, and so the King gives his permission, though his advisors tell him not to. “I would have to ask His Highness, Princess.” Her voice is flat, but her eyes are burning.Īmanat’s smile falters. She runs her fingers over the taut string. Nivedita is six years old when the lead archer of the King’s army, Amanat, lets her hold his bow. Nivedita becomes the Princess with the Locked Heart. The King calls for help in carving another key, but none of the keys fit. Nobody finds out who Yash is, for they never see him. Princess Nivedita is one year old when a wizard named Yash locks her heart and steals the key.
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