Different Senses (31 page)

“Those who aren’t watching
Shardul.”

“The men are watching you. And
half the women, probably hoping to scratch your eyes out.”

“Fortunately, I don’t
care.”

I grinned, and twirled her
around.

When that dance ended, Shardul
handed Hita back to her frowning husband with a flourish. Hita
fanned her flushed face and gave Shardul a flirtatious smile, which
only made Sri Ceral frown more ferociously. Shardul turned, and
asked the woman next to them to dance.

For the next hour, he danced
with nearly half the female guests in the room. I danced with
Jyoti, and then Kirin, and Prachi again, once her latest consort
let her go. She nodded at Shardul, sweeping an elderly dowager
around the floor like a teenager. “What’s he up to?”

“I have no idea, but I’m
enjoying the show.” I discreetly pressed my earpiece. “Vik? Any
sign of the bracelet?”

“No, sir. We’ve checked most of
the women now.”

“Keep going. We can’t be sure
the purchaser exists or is here. Oh, and Vik? Ask Shardul to
dance.”

“Yes, sir.” I heard his
grin.

“
You’re the evil
one,
sir
,” Prachi said.

“Stick with me and learn my
methods, my dear.”

When the dance finished, I saw
my mother watching us, and out of politeness, I figured I should
ask the old girl to dance. Kirin had already done so, though
Shardul pointedly had not.

“Mum, would you care to?”

She pursed her lips. “I
don’t know, Javen. You and your friends seem to be enjoying
yourselves a little
too
much.”

I took her hand. “Only because
you know how to throw a great party. Come on, let’s show this lot
how it’s done.”

She was naturally an excellent
dancer, but she felt stiff and awkward in my arms. “Relax,
Mum.”

“I can’t.”

“Are you expecting Timin
Veringe to turn up?”

“Oh, no. We sent an invitation,
but he’s unable to attend this year. He usually does though.”

“Right.” Of course a purveyor
of dodgy merchandise was welcome at the governor’s house, but
Induma Kly hadn’t been invited, even though her late husband would
have been. Mum would never get it.

She tensed again. “Javen, what
are you and your ‘friends’ up to?”

“I can’t tell you, except it’s
about your case. When we find what we’re looking for, I’ll tell
you.”

She made a face, and then her
frown deepened. I followed her gaze. Shardul, dancing with Vik.
Both of them obviously enjoying themselves.

“Disgusting,” she said. “He’s
only a child.”

“He’s twenty. And Shardul’s a
year younger than me. Both adults.”

“Yes, but.... That man was
revoltingly rude to me, and you let him.”

“Shardul? He wasn’t rude.”

“
He was. All that
nonsense about
banis
jewellery.”

“He was only telling you the
truth, Mum. And politely too. If he’d been rude, he’d have left you
in tears. Trust me on this.”

“He’s a dreadful man.”

“He’s a lawyer. They’re paid to
be dreadful. But he’s actually a very good person.”

“He’s been flaunting himself
all night.”

“Asking your friends to dance?
Why is that wrong? The ladies enjoyed themselves. Ask Hita. Or are
you mad because he didn’t ask you?”

“I’d never dance with—”

“
A
banis
?”

She went stiff. “Someone that
rude,” she said coldly. “Are you accusing me of racism, Javen?”

“No, Mum,” I said with a sigh.
“I just don’t know why Shardul bothers you.”

“I don’t like show-offs.”

“Fair enough. He’s certainly
that. But he’s not a bad person.”

“If you say so. Kirin looks
lovely, doesn’t he?”

My ex was dancing with Jyoti.
“They both do.”

“I thought you coming together
might mean you’d reconsidered the break up.”

“No, Mum. It’s years ago
now.”

“Shame. He’s from such a good
family.”

“Yes, Mum.” I regretted my
polite impulse. These conversations had a certain inevitability
about them.

I could hardly shed her after
one dance, so I gritted my teeth and took her for another whirl
around the floor. But as I passed Jyoti, she pointed, and I turned
to see Kirin walking towards a temporarily partnerless Shardul.
Kirin bowed and held out his hand, while I held my breath.

“Javen? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, Mum.” I turned her so
she couldn’t see. Shardul, scowling, took Kirin’s hand like he
thought it was contagious, and Kirin took him out onto the floor.
Jyoti grinned at me. My ex needed his head read, honestly.

I irritated my mother by my
inattention, but I couldn’t take my eyes off Shardul and Kirin
together. Both so handsome and desirable, Kirin, dark and sleek,
Shardul a bright ornament, blazing with life and energy. I wasn’t
the only one avidly watching them. Shardul had drawn a lot of
attention that evening, and now he had all that upon him and more.
Kirin smiled the whole time as if he really enjoyed himself.
Shardul revealed nothing in his expression except studied
concentration, his movements graceful, precise, perfect. A dance to
prove a point, not to woo. The second the music ended, he let Kirin
go, bowed, and moved off the floor.

My mother squeezed my arm to
get my attention. “I think that’s enough, Javen. Your father wants
me.”

I let her go. “Oh, of course. I
should say hello.”

“Yes, you should.”

Dad wasn’t pleased to see me,
and didn’t bother to hide the fact. “Javen, are you enjoying the
evening?” The same tone he’d used in my childhood to demand a
confession of some heinous prank or other.

“Yes, very much. I should
introduce you to my friends.”

“No need. I’ve had reports all
evening about them. Did you bring them along in costume to make a
point?”

“No, Dad. That’s indigenous
formal dress. Why shouldn’t they wear it?”

“They’re not all wearing
it.”

“Next time I’ll make sure they
are,” I said with more sarcasm than was polite.

“Are you here to make a scene
or are you working on our situation?”

“
Oh, I always turn up at
your functions to make trouble, didn’t you know?” I knew better
than to rise to Dad’s bait, but could he not
pretend
to be
pleasant?

“Good evening, Governor
Ythen.”

I turned, startled. What
did
Shardul
want? He smiled and jerked his head slightly,
and I remembered my manners. “Ah, Dad, this is my friend, Shardul
Hema Rishabh. One of our top lawyers.”

“So I hear. You’re clearly
enjoying yourself, Sri Rishabh.”

Shardul bowed a little. “Indeed
I am, sir, and honoured by the invitation. I’ve never been invited
to one of your balls before. Perhaps you don’t like lawyers?”

Dad’s personal lawyer was
standing less than a metre away, and Shardul damn well knew it. Dad
coughed. “Ah, no. An oversight, I think. Always glad to have our
legal community represented at such events. Did you want to talk to
me about something?”

“Only to thank you, sir, and to
ask your son to dance. I believe you owe me one, Javen?”

Dad’s eyebrows hit his hairline
as I nodded. “Yes, I do. Excuse me, Dad, but I did promise.
Shardul, I hope you dance as well as my mother.”

Shardul bowed to her. “I could
never dance like she does. Coming?”

He led me with ridiculous
formality onto the dance floor, just as a slow, rather romantic
number started. “I thought I was asking
you
to dance,” I
said.

“You will, but you needed
rescuing.”

“Thanks. You’ve made quite a
reputation for yourself tonight.”

“Yes. All part of my plan.”

“
A charm offensive?” I
found it hard to concentrate on the conversation with Shardul’s
lean half-bare body pressed against mine.
Bastard
. “Difficult to
believe.”

“Believe what you want. It also
gave me a chance to look at wrists and ask, in a general way, about
recent acquisitions of bracelets and so on. Unfortunately, with no
luck.”

“I appreciate the effort. You
didn’t ask my mother to dance.”

He arched a graceful red
eyebrow at me. “I’m not that big a hypocrite, Javen.”

“But you accepted Kirin’s
invitation.”

“Yes. Nice of him to honour the
poor little ethnic, wasn’t it?”

“He’s been dancing with Vik
most of the night. He’s not doing that as a favour.”

“Whatever you say.” He spun me
slowly, and handed me the lead, smooth as oiled glass.

“Where the hell did you learn
to dance like this?”

“I’m a fast learner.”

“Are you saying that you
learned to dance in the three days’ warning you had of this?”

“Yes.”

“You’re lying.”

He grinned. “Yes. Note, you
asked me if I was claiming it, not if it was true.”

“Prat. So why do you dance so
well?”

“I learned at University. I was
in the dance society. Why, aren’t we allowed to?”

“I don’t know. Are you allowed
to run like hell when all the jealous husbands have to listen to
their wives mooning over you?”

“I have long legs and an
intense survival instinct. You dance adequately.”

“Oh, thank you. I suppose you
prefer Kirin.”

He spun me around again, and
drew me in close. “No,” he breathed.

If I’d had just a smidgeon more
to drink, and a smidgeon less sense of self-preservation, I’d have
kissed him then. He was daring me to, but I wouldn’t kiss him on a
dare. “You looked good together.”

“I look good with anyone.”

“You do.” I moved back a
little, and twirled him. “Change any hearts and minds tonight?”

“Doubt it. But desensitisation
is a wonderful tool, and think how relieved people will be when I
turn up next year in proper Kelon clothes like an obedient
native.”

“I wouldn’t like that.”

“I’ll give your opinion all the
consideration it deserves, Sri Ythen.”

“You do—”

Vik’s voice on my earpiece
interrupted me. “Boss, we found it.”

“Good work. Don’t do anything
until I find you. Where are you?”

“At the buffet.”

“And my mother?”

“Talking to your father near
the musicians.”

“Okay. Stay where you are.” I
focused on Shardul again. “Found it.”

“Fine. But I wish to finish
this dance.”

“By all means, your
lordship.”

He spun me around the dance
floor with the flair of a professional, and if I imagined his slow
burning gaze meant anything other than he wanted to look the part,
then that was my problem. I refused to listen to the treacherous
information my empathy fed me. How much was simple wish fulfilment,
how much the truth? With Shardul, making assumptions was a very
dangerous thing.

When the music finished, he
bowed. “I suppose I’ll have to wait for the other dance.”

I returned the bow.
“Regrettably, yes. We need to get to the buffet. Try to resist the
temptation to charm any more women.”

He took my arm as we walked
through the massed guests, as if we had come to the ball on a date.
Even though I knew it was part of whatever mind game he was playing
with these people, the gesture both confused and pleased me, though
I knew him too well to read too much into it.

Vik was stuffing his face with
pastries. I pinched one off his plate. “Where?”

He didn’t turn. “By the statue
of the man with the bow and arrow. Jyoti and Kirin are watching.
Woman in a green and yellow saree. She’s wearing the bracelet the
right way around but both Jyoti and I saw it and know it’s the
one.”

“Great.” I ate the pastry
unhurriedly. “Right, I need to speak to my mother. Shardul, would
you and Vik keep her under surveillance? If she leaves, I’ll need a
description for Mum.”

Shardul nodded and I headed
over to where my parents were chatting, near the now resting
musicians. My mother scowled at me. “Finished making a display of
yourself, Javen?”

“He’s a very good dancer. Mum,
I need to speak you in private, now. Dad? Can you excuse us?”

“Shouldn’t I come with
you?”

“Not if you don’t want everyone
in the room to know something’s up.”

“This way, Javen,” Mum said,
leading me towards the main residence.

She took me into the library.
“We’ve found the bracelet,” I said.

“Where? Oh, that’s wonderful!
But who—”

I held up my hand. “Wait. It’s
complicated, and the person with it is likely to be completely
unaware of its history. I believe Timin Veringe arranged the
bracelet to be stolen from your office, so he could resell it,
probably for a higher price. There’s a woman here wearing it. I
need you to identify her, and then we decide how to approach
her.”

“Timin? But why? He has such a
good reputation.”

“Not among the indigenous, he
doesn’t. I don’t have time to discuss it, but you must make sure
you don’t talk about this to anyone before we move. Now, come with
me, and I’ll lead you past the woman in question. Don’t talk to her
or stare. She’s wearing a green and yellow saree. Ready?”

My mother’s arm was rigid with
the tension I sensed in her, but to a casual observer, no one would
see anything other than her usual pleasant expression. I took her
past Jyoti and Kirin, who made no move to indicate the woman, but
as they neatly bracketed her, there was no need for them to do
that. My mother stiffened slightly as we walked past, but said
nothing. I walked her back to the buffet.

“Harinakshi Narl,” she said in
a whisper. “She’s a friend. How could she steal—”

“She almost certainly didn’t.
Let’s make our way back to the library. I’ll need you to summon Dad
too, I think.”