The Palace of Illusions: A Novel

1 -- fire -- Through the long, lonely years of my childhood, when my father's palace seemed to tighten its grip around me until I couldn't breathe, I would go to my nurse and ask for a story. And though she knew many wondrous and edifying tales, the one I made her tell me over and over was the story of my birth. I think I liked it so much because it made me feel special, and in those days there was little else in my life that did. Perhaps Dhai Ma realized this. Perhaps that was why she agreed to my demands even though we both knew I should be using my time more gainfully, in ways more befitting the daughter of King Drupad, ruler of Panchaal, one of the richest kingdoms in the continent of Bharat. -- The story inspired me to make up fancy names for myself: Offspring of Vengeance, or the Unexpected One. But Dhai Ma puffed out her cheeks at my tendency to drama, calling me the Girl Who Wasn't Invited. Who knows, perhaps she was more accurate than I. -- This winter afternoon, sitting cross-legged in the meager sunlight that managed to find its way through my slit of a window, she said, "When your brother stepped out of the sacrificial fire onto the cold stone slabs of the palace hall, all the assembly cried out in amazement."--She was shelling peas. I watched her flashing fingers with envy, wishing she would let me help. But Dhai Ma had very specific ideas about activities that were appropriate for princesses. -- "An eyeblink later," she continued, "when you emerged from the fire, our jaws dropped. It was so quiet, you could have heard a housefly fart." -- I reminded her that flies do not perform that particular bodily function. -- She smiled her squint-eyed, cunning smile. "Child, the things you don't know would fill the milky ocean where Lord Vishnu sleeps-and spill over its edges." -- I considered being offended, but I wanted to hear the story. So I held my tongue, and after a moment she picked up the ta ...