The Brightest Fell

by Nupur Chowdhury

  “And if he’s allowed to continue, what’s to say that my brother won’t be next in the line of fire?” Her voice dropped an octave. “Or your sister, for that matter.”

  Abhijat’s face must have shown some fraction of his emotions, because she smiled slightly and looked away. “I’m not an angel, Abhijat. But at least I’m the devil you know. I’ve nothing to gain by harming you or your family; I need your help to protect mine.

  “Fasih, on the other hand…right now, your father is perhaps the biggest thorn in his side. If he can remove Rajat Shian from the picture, he has the world to gain by it. And everything to lose if he doesn’t.

  “And he’ll have the perfect chance to do just that during the New Year’s gala the day after tomorrow; create the perfect alibi for the perfect crime. He’ll kill your father, Abhijat. Just like he killed Badal. And he won’t give a damn who gets caught in the crossfire.

  “You’re the only one who can help me stop it. Stop him. And if you don’t, we’ll both lose everything we have.” She raised her glass. “Think about that.”

  For a minute, Abhijat said nothing. His heart thundered against his ribcage, his mind in a whirl. He felt like a cornered animal, desperate, afraid, and ferocious. Ready to kill or be killed. And really, what other choice was he left with? He hadn’t noticed the trap closing in around him until it was too late. And now, there was only one way out.

  Stop Fasih, or die trying.

  His throat scraped raw, the bitter aftertaste of betrayal on his tongue, he made himself ask, “What do you need me to do?”

  “Where’re we going?” Rito asked, jogging slightly to keep up with her companion.

  “You’ll see,” Milli murmured, glancing back at her with a soft smile. Her fingers encircled Rito’s wrist, her thumb rubbing lightly at her pulse point. Rito barely suppressed a shudder.

  Finally, they reached the end of the corridor and she turned the knob of a large, ornate door. It swung open to reveal what looked like a smaller, cozier version of the banquet hall they’d just left.

  The room was exquisitely decorated, but it couldn’t have accommodated more than a dozen people at a time. The furniture was tasteful, and probably antique. Bright, charming watercolors adorned the walls, between magnificent, floor-to-ceiling windows that looked out over the starlit city-scape, offering a mesmerizing view of Manganic.

  “This is beautiful,” Rito breathed, her feet moving towards the windows of their own accord. “I’d no idea Manganic was so…”

  “Breathtaking?” Milli smiled. “Yeah, there’s more to this city than meets the eye.”

  Rito turned to look at her. Milli’s cheeks were flushed, her shoulder-length auburn hair tousled and slightly windblown.

  Her eyes traveled downwards, and she giggled, getting a proper look at her companion’s outfit for the first time.

  “Cute shrug,” she smirked, stepping forward and burying her fingers into the soft, velvety lapels of the garment. It was a long, flowy thing with embroidered seams that probably went out of fashion half a century ago. Yet, it was oddly appealing, making Milli look more like some character out of a fairy tale than a real person.

  Milli colored prettily, looking away. “It’s my mother’s,” she said quietly, then smiled at Rito, a little self-conscious. “I spilled tequila on mine, on the way over.”

  Rito raised an eyebrow, then burst out laughing, her hands still clutching Milli’s lapels. After a moment, breathless giggles spilled out of Milli’s lips, and suddenly they were both laughing helplessly, holding each other upright, their foreheads brushing.

  Music floated in from the banquet hall at the other end of the corridor, and before she knew what she was doing, Rito found herself moving in sync with the muted melody, her arms around Milli’s waist, while the latter had her palms pressed lightly against her shoulders.

  “I could get used to diplomatic functions, if they’re all this much fun,” Rito whispered into Milli’s ear, leaning in rather unsubtly to deliver the message.

  “Only the ones with spare rooms,” Milli said, turning her head slightly so her face was buried in the crook of Rito’s neck.

  “Mmm, I’ll keep that in mind.”

  A sharp crack, a swift breeze, and Rito threw herself over Milli and pushed her back against the wall, just as a bullet struck one of the watercolors on the wall behind them, shattering its glass frame.

  “Fuck,” she said, breathing hard, her heart thundering against her ribcage. She realized, belatedly, that she’d pinned Milli against the wall, her hands braced on either side of the shorter woman’s head.

  “Oh-oh my God,” Milli stammered, wide-eyed, her shoulders trembling slightly. Then, abruptly, she laughed, a tinge of hysteria in her voice. “My God, you saved me.”

  Another crack, and a bullet whizzed past inches from the back of Rito’s head, shattering a vase that had stood near the door.

  Rito cursed, then placed her hands on Milli’s shoulders, steadying her. “We have to leave, now.” She swung Milli around, making sure to keep her own body between Milli and the windows. She pressed forward, keeping close to the wall and inching them both towards the door. “Just keep moving. I’ll get you out of here, I promise. But you can’t panic, okay? Not now.”

  Milli nodded, her hair brushing the underside of Rito’s chin. “I-I can do that.” Then, with a rueful little laugh, she murmured, “After all, I’ve had practice.”

  Rito frowned, but this wasn’t the time for second thoughts. She reached around Milli’s waist and grabbed the door knob. Another shot rang out, followed by the sound of glass shattering. She heaved the door open with a wince.

  Pushing Milli over the threshold, she followed her out of the room.

  Rito squinted. The lights in the corridor had gone out, and she could barely make out the two shadowy figures rounding the corner near the banquet hall.

  “Mamma,” Milli choked, and rushed forward to wrap her arms around the woman who was now close enough for Rito to make out her features. Madam Ivanovna looked moments away from blind panic, her eyes wide and hair in disarray. She wrapped her daughter in a steely embrace and held on.

  Behind her, Jehan surveyed the corridor, running his fingers lightly over the walls, his eyes narrowed and mouth pinched into a grimace.

  “What happened?” he said at last, after Madam Ivanovna had finally let go of her daughter, though her fingers still remained tangled in Milli’s hair. “I thought I heard...”

  “Gunshots,” Rito supplied, glancing warily back at the room they’d just vacated. “We were being shot at. Or at least, Milli was. I think I was just collateral damage.”

  “You saved my life,” Milli murmured, gazing at Rito with awestruck eyes.

  Rito could feel herself flush, and looked quickly away. Pushing Milli into the wall had been pure reflex, more instinct than strategy. And the bullet might’ve missed her anyway, even if Rito had done nothing but stand there as gunshots rang in her ears.

  But the soft gratitude in Milli’s voice made something in her chest clench painfully, and Rito bit back a groan. This was the worst possible time to develop a crush...on the daughter of a foreign politician she’d met less than an hour ago, at that.

  So of course, now was the moment she had to go and do it, with Jehan Fasih smiling creepily at her from behind the Maganti women. As if her life needed to get more complicated than it already was.

  She glanced down to see Madam Ivanovna take her hand into both of her own, her eyes glistening in the half-light of the corridor. “Thank you,” she said, her voice thick with emotion. “Thank you, my dear. I can’t...” she trailed off, and raised Rito’s hand to her lips.

  Rito stilled, sympathy warring with awkwardness in her gut. What was the appropriate response to having your hand kissed by the parent of your crush? Someone needed to write an instruction manual.

  She looked helplessly over at Jehan, but he just shrugged and grinned back at her innocently, useless as a sack of potatoes.

>   Rito cleared her throat. “So how did you hear the gunshots anyway? If it was audible inside the banquet hall, I’m guessing we’d be dealing with a much larger crowd here than we are.”

  “Madam Ivanovna and I had just stepped out for some fresh air,” Jehan said, stepping forward just as Ivanovna let go of Rito’s hand, still smiling warmly at her. “I’m sure we wouldn’t have heard anything if we were still inside.

  “That said, I don’t think we should be hanging around in the corridor by ourselves. There’re no windows here, and it’s unlikely that the gunmen would try to enter the hotel.” He looked around searchingly. “Still, we can’t be sure there aren’t any assailants hiding in here already.”

  Rito frowned. None of this made any sense. “But who were those people?” she snapped, glaring at Jehan. She could tell he knew more than he was letting on, as always. “And why’re they trying to kill Milli?”

  “They were not.” Madam Ivanovna sighed, settling a gentle hand on Rito’s shoulder. “They were trying to kill me.”

  “What?” And then, Milli’s rueful words floated back into her mind, as if from a faraway place–

  “It’s my mother’s. I spilled tequila on mine, on the way over.”

  She turned her wide-eyed gaze first on Milli, then on her mother. “She was wearing your shrug,” she whispered, a horrified comprehension dawning in her mind. “The gunmen...they thought they were shooting at you.”

  “They did,” Jehan agreed, his tone as matter-of-fact as if they’d been talking about the weather. Rito tamped down on the urge to strangle him.

  Jehan ignored her obvious irritation with a single arched eyebrow and continued, “Which is why you should take my car and get out of here. Madam Ivanovna, I’ll have your car sent back later tonight, but it isn’t safe for you to go back in it right now. The gunmen might have it marked. They might attack you again or follow you home.”

  Ivanovna shook her head. “I need to go to the office, check on some things. This is–” her eyes settled on her daughter, brimming with anxiety. “But Milli...I can’t send her back alone.”

  “I’ll drive her home,” Rito volunteered, looking from Milli to her mother. “I mean, if we’re in Jehan’s car and she’s ditched the shrug, it shouldn’t be a problem. The assassins probably wouldn’t even recognize us. I’m pretty sure they didn’t see our faces. My back was turned to the windows, and Milli was in front of me almost the entire time.”

  “Yeah. Yeah, that should work,” Milli nodded after a beat, taking a hesitant step towards Rito. “I’m sure you’re right.”

  Madam Ivanovna looked between the two of them, then nodded, a tiny smile lifting the corners of her lips. “Thank you,” she said again, before taking a step back and typing something into her phone.

  Jehan took another step forward, reached behind his back, and casually retrieved what Rito realized belatedly was a small revolver. He held it out for her to take. “Just in case,” he murmured. “I’ll send some of my bodyguards with you, of course. But I’d feel better knowing you weren’t completely unarmed, considering...”

  Rito looked at him incredulously. “You-you’ve been carrying a gun around with you all this time? How did you even manage to get it in without being detected?”

  He smirked. “I didn’t spend my life in a laboratory to be thwarted by a couple of standard-issue metal detectors. Now go.”

  Rito gulped, then nodded, taking the gun and slipping it gingerly into her pocket. She wasn’t a particularly good shot, but he was right. The weight of the gun on her person did make her feel safer, ever so slightly more confident.

  Milli slipped her hand into hers, and Rito held on for dear life.

  “Don’t tell my brother about...about the bullets,” she said, turning to Jehan.

  He tilted his head to one side, his gaze curious. She looked away. “Please,” she made herself say, almost choking on the word as it left her mouth. “Just tell him...tell him I left with Milli; that I’ll see him tomorrow morning when I get back to the hotel. I...” she sighed, then sucked in a breath and tried again. “He’ll be worried, if he knew.”

  A moment passed in silence, during which Rito held her breath, unable to look Jehan in the eyes.

  He knew what she was thinking. That Abhijat would blame him for the attack, if he knew of it; would inevitably think that Jehan was responsible for it, somehow. And yet, she couldn’t bring herself to say any of that out loud. Whether it was for Jehan’s sake or her brother’s, she didn’t know.

  He turned on his heel. “Okay. Sure thing,” he said easily. Then, hands in his pockets, he headed back down the corridor towards the banquet hall.

  The mattress dipped, and Rito turned to see Milli pushing herself off the bed.

  “Where d’you think you’re going?” she reached out to tug at Milli’s wrist. “It’s not polite to leave your guests alone, didn’t you know that?”

  Eri rubbed her head against Rito’s thigh and meowed in agreement. “See? Your cat agrees with me.” Rito pushed herself up on an elbow and gathered Eri up in one arm, holding her close. “You should listen to cats. They’re smart.”

  “Not this one. She almost drowned in her own milk bowl just last week,” Milli chuckled, buttoning her nightshirt. “And anyway, I was just going to get you the coffee I promised when I invited you inside. Wouldn’t want you to feel cheated, after all.”

  “I think we can both agree I got more than I’d bargained for on this deal,” Rito smiled, without letting go of Milli’s hand. “Come back here. The coffee can wait. Eri thinks coffee is for losers, anyway.” She tapped the cat on the nose and giggled as it let out a startled squawk.

  “Fine. I’ll serve you cat food for breakfast.” Milli rolled her eyes. “Be careful with her hind legs. She broke them as a kitten. They never quite healed right.”

  “Both her legs?” Rito’s eyes widened as she put Eri gently down on the bed. “How?”

  Milli shrugged, looking away. “Some people threw stones at her, when she was a kitten. They thought she was bad luck. Cause she’s, you know, a black cat. By the time we found Eri, they’d already killed her mother. And she was horribly wounded; so weak the vet was sure she wouldn’t survive.”

  After a beat, she tipped her head back and grinned. “But what do you know? Eri’s a fighter.” She leaned forward and rubbed the cat’s ears affectionately. “No stupid, superstitious assholes were gonna keep her down.”

  “But who’d attack a kitten?” Rito frowned. “What could she possibly have done to anyone?”

  Milli shrugged. “They say if you see a black cat, death is close by. It’s stupid. But then, people are stupid.” She smiled. “And cruel and murderous. What can you do?”

  Rito said nothing for a moment. Then, she pulled Milli forward and looked her steadily in the eyes. “Why did those people attack you at the hotel? Or I guess they wanted to attack your mother.” She shook her head. “But why?”

  Milli sighed, then looked away from Rito, staring fixedly at the far wall. “Grigori. Uh, I mean, President Maganti. He’s my half-brother, you know?”

  Rito nodded, idly massaging the back of Milli’s hand with her thumb. “Is he...”

  “This isn’t the first time he’s tried something like this. Ever since our father died...” she bit her lip, then rolled over on the bed to lie face to face with Rito. “He had me kidnapped, back when I was in school, to blackmail my mother.”

  “What?” Rito could feel the blood draining from her face. She clutched at Milli’s hand. What kind of a brother would do something like that?

  Milli nodded. “Fucked up, I know. After our father died, he wanted total control of the party. My mother refused to give him that, and eventually there was a split. One faction broke away, formed a new alliance with my mother at the helm, including some of the older and more influential party members.

  “Grigori didn’t like that. Ever since he was elected president, he’s been doing everything in his power to undermine all oppos
ition. To position himself as–”

  “A dictator,” Rito finished. “That’s what he wants, right? To turn Maralana into a dictatorship.”

  “He does. And if not for Mamma and her party, he would’ve managed it too. Right now, she’s the biggest political opponent he has in this country. And this isn’t the first time he’s tried to have her killed.

  “And it’s not just her, either. Journalists, judges, activists, bureaucrats...people who oppose him have a tendency to end up dead. Or at least they did, until he got wind of Amven. Once he gets a hold of that, he can wreak havoc without getting any blood on his hands. Might even be an improvement, depending on how you look at it.”

  “Wait, what?” Rito pushed herself into a sitting position, causing a startled Eri to dive under the quilt, meowing plaintively. “Amven as in...the Amven drug? The one Jehan made?”

  Milli frowned. “Is there another one? I wouldn’t know. I only know what Mamma tells me. And she doesn’t always tell me everything–”

  “No,” Rito cut her off. “No, that’s not what I meant. But why does President Maganti want the Amven drug?”

  “Because it’s the easiest way to bring the Opposition to heel, without setting off any international alarm bells.” She shrugged. “Murders are messy. And he doesn’t want to make any more enemies internationally than he must.

  “When domestic terrorists attacked those metro stations in Qayit, Grigori had hoped Naijan would use Amven on the arrested suspects. If that went well – and he’d have made sure it did – there’d be a precedent for using the drug on criminals, or for national security.”

  Rito nodded with dawning comprehension. “Then, it would just be a matter of normalizing the use of the drug on criminals. Once that was widely accepted, all he’d have to do is to have his opponents arrested on false charges and inject them with Amven until they agreed with everything he said. You don’t need to kill your enemies if you can just enslave them.”