Sumangali twisted her hands nervously in her lap. “After you became High Tantrika, I swallowed my pride and begged that vile Ghora to arrange a visit to you. He agreed, but only because he was frightened the envoy had planted a spy in Devikota. I wanted Obalesh to fall in love with his brilliant sister—living alone with a sad mother was not good for that bright lad.” Sumangali sighed again and the mournful sound of it was awful to Ishvari’s ears. “But you could not forgive me, could you?” she said, sobbing now. “Were you worried we would shame you with our peasant ways?”

Then Sumangali was shouting, alarming Ishvari with her bitter rage. “Did those monks do nothing for you then?”...

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