Chapter Text
“What’s got you so quiet, Doran?”
Kamal leaned over the edge of the ship’s deck, resting his elbows on the railing just as his friend was.
He’d seen Doran break off from the rest of the group after they talked. Kamal followed him.
Doran continued staring out into the waves as if he might ignore his friend.
The salty mist enveloped them when the ship dipped lower into the waves.
Kamal was used to the distance that Doran created when he was angry or overwhelmed.
After everything they’d just faced in the church and the unknown they were heading back to in Calcutta, Kamal didn’t blame Doran; but he was feeling him out for a different reason.
Kamal had seen Doran’s eyes linger on Deviya. It wasn’t the first time, but this time was different. It was the look in his eyes that stopped Kamal and grabbed his attention.
When Deviya finished speaking, Doran’s lips curled into the slightest smile as if he was impressed with what she said. She definitely had his interest.
Kamal knew his friend well. They’d grown up together so he really didn’t take it to heart at first when Doran looked at her. Doran liked to look at pretty women. He’d always been a ladies man.
And Deviya was beautiful. She turned heads and caught attention. Especially with her newfound status as head of her family. But Kamal was certain that even if she hadn’t been born into one of the 12 influential families, she would still stand out.
When Doran had left Calcutta, Devi was merely a child and Kairas’s younger sister.
Now she definitely wasn’t. She had blossomed into a woman so fast.
Kamal probably would have been surprised if she hadn’t caught the attention of Vidya’s younger brother when he returned. On top of her beauty, she was headstrong and bold.
When Doran first arrived, he had asked him if Deviya was still the spitfire he’d heard of that rode her horse and wielded a dagger at night. Apparently Kairas had told him about her during those simple days when she didn’t have the responsibilities she had now.
Kamal should have gotten the hint then. But maybe he expected Doran to have grown up a little more, like Kamal had himself. Doran wasn’t far behind Kamal, approaching forty.
But Doran seemed to still be the ladies man he’d always been, even though he was married.
When Devi’s eyes met Doran’s, it all made sense to Kamal in that brief moment. He remembered when she’d looked at him that way.
Devi had been pulling away from him since he’d given De’Clare his blessing to marry her. But he especially noticed a change after he’d spoken those harsh words to her. When she’d begged him to marry her himself and he was overwhelmed.
“You need to get over this. This childish crush of yours.”
Her eyes had changed after he spoke those words to her. The simple okay she had spoken physically hurt him.
As her Guardian he was struggling. He was trying to help her keep her family business that Kai and her parents had worked so hard on, all while attempting to bury his growing feelings for her.
He told himself he wasn’t what was best for her. He would only tie her down or create regret when she realized she was stuck with him. He’d almost let himself give in and Vidya had reminded him of how stupid it was. How a marriage between the two of them would help no one. Not Bengal. Not even them.
The original plan of only using the Governor General for a short while seemed like the best thing for Devi at the time.
Of course he didn’t want her to marry De’Clare. He honestly couldn’t think of a single man he would want to give her away to. No one was good enough.
But She wouldn’t have to actually marry De’Clare. That was the plan anyway. It was what Vidya assured him.
But then things changed.
Amongst her uncle returning and the unrest among The Dozen, Devi died. And she came back. And in England she didn’t seem to have as much time for him.
When he felt her drifting away, he told himself that it was for the best. They were in the home of her soon to be husband and perhaps she really took his words to heart, realizing that he wasn’t what was best for her. He hadn’t even been able to save her. As much as that thought hurt him, he used it against himself, further driving the wedge between them.
Regret constantly burned his tongue from the words he’d spoken to her, but he couldn’t take them back.
Until today, Kamal hadn’t thought much about the times she’d stepped into a room and Doran had stopped what he was doing to watch her.
Doran had offered to go to England to help assure her safety and even offered to sit at her bedside.
Kamal had been thankful for his friend’s help. But looking back, he wondered if there had been an ulterior motive.
He specifically remembered when Doran had nearly lost an arm wrestling match to him when Devi’s presence graced the room. And then he’d stomped Kamal’s foot, cheating to become the victor and show off.
Doran had turned down dances at Swinford’s ball. Kamal had seen that himself. He told himself it was because they were British. But truth be told there had been some beautiful women there, vying for attention from their delegation and he was surprised Doran didn’t take advantage of that.
Even the pretty maids at De’Clare’s home fluttered their eyelashes and smiled sweetly but Doran hadn’t seemed to pay much attention to them either.
There had been whispers between some of the other guests that The Executioner danced with Devi at Swinford’s ball. Somehow Kamal had missed that. But Saraswati had told him that her Uncle Doran had rescued Devi from a dance with the grimy Lord Swinford.
Kamal had been thankful at the time. Especially since Doran had told him what Arhat had witnessed. How Swinford had acted around her. He showed blatant disrespect toward his supposed friend’s fiancé.
“I’m just ready to get off this ship. I feel like we’re stuck in limbo. And I can’t do anything,” Doran finally broke Kamal’s thoughts. He watched Doran squeeze his fists tightly. “I can’t get started on the traitor when I’m stuck on this damn boat.”
Someone pulled Kamal’s attention away from his friend for a moment. Governor General De’Clare passed them and opened the door leading inside the ship. He stepped inside. He made sure to ignore the two of them standing nearby.
Doran watched him too. He shook his head as he returned his gaze back to the water.
“And we’re once again stuck with these British bastards.”
It was no secret to any one the hatred that Doran had for the man, but Kamal could tell his friend was being bothered by something else.
It seemed to bubble up in Doran when they discussed the validity of Devi’s marriage. Of course De’Clare insisted it was valid. Kamal contested it.
But Doran’s eyes had flashed with concern when Kamal had brought up the three important parts that would make their marriage valid.
Perhaps it was because Devi would be sharing a cabin and bed with her new husband.
Kamal himself hated the idea. It was why he made it a point to demand that there stay a complete lack of those three points, with consummation on the forefront of his mind. He knew his words had sounded threatening. De’Clare would be a fool to try anything with Devi on the ship with them all in close quarters.
And the marriage would be dissolved soon. There was no need to have her disgraced over this farce of a marriage.
But why did Doran care?
Kamal had assumed that Devi was still angry at him. But now he was starting to think that something was going on between The Executioner and the new Lady Sharma De’Clare.