Kumar was a man of insatiable greed and barely controlled wrath. His ascent to power was a climb made with iron claws that tore apart anyone that was on the way, no matter who. He was not an extremely intelligent man, but he was good enough with proper cunning, manipulation, and threatening when the moment required. In the months since Lim had first met him, he’d shown very little empathy, remorse, or love to his wife or parents and even less to his subordinates. He had no genuine friends and the only ones around him who still showed alliance were due to fear or extortion.

It was only to his daughter that he showed humanity. For her, he only had kindness, and not a sort of fake masquerade just like Lim was great at pretending once: True love and affection. Exactly as if he was a very different person.

“And if I turn the wheel this way and the other like that, the chair turns!” Said Alishee barely containing her joy.

Kumar’s face gleamed with sincere happiness. “That’s wonderful, my love. Now, why don’t you go show Nana while I have a word with teacher Sarah?”

When the daughter rolled far enough, the proud father disappeared, and the monster who ruled Tamraparni with iron claws returned. He sat, and with an expression that could mean either an attempt to relax or to control his rage, he combed his oily hair backward. “Miss Lim,” he said slowly, closing his eyes in search of the proper words.

Blindly, he searched in his vest for an old ragged piece of paper. Half-opening his eyes, he continued. ”Here it says; ‘Born in Northislay, though race, build and other physical details are uncertain.’ Nonetheless, I find it hard to believe that someone with your appearance and youth was born there and so long ago.”

“I was not born. I was made. I’ve shown you.”

Kumar leaned forward, his rage boiling his blood, his teeth chewing his words. “I’ve seen the wonders of Bandanii, Miss. I’ve seen many men and women with prosthetics like yours. And What you claim to be, well. I don’t think it can exist. I believe you are a person after all, and maybe a smart one. But if I agreed to keep you here hidden instead of delivering to the Rajah, or the Kraken, is because I thought your intelligence was as the reports claim. Intelligence that is supposed to make my daughter walk again, not move with a damn wheeled chair!”

Kumar turned, wrapping his face and nervously checking that his daughter didn’t see that side of him. Containing the rage, he turned with a threatening finger, pointing at Lim. “We have a deal. You make her walk again and I don’t destroy your Kingdom of misfits. If that’s the best you can do, I cannot guarantee the safety of your people. The Rajah, the Grand Admiral, and my Guild are all pressing hard to make an example of them. Because of their wrongdoings, many are raising against us. I’m losing power. Losing money, resources, and allies. I don’t care if I fall as far as my girl is whole again. Damn… if I die to make her happy, I die. But don’t play with me, sister. I swear I will make you pay dearly if you cross me.”

Lim adjusted the blanket over her legs to find calmness. She was facing a desperate man. Desperate and dangerous; and she had no winning cards to play. The only thing she could do was to tame the beast the better she could and convince him with that persuasion she was an expert once. Persuasion that evaporated as fast as her knowledge. “Mister Kumar.” She said, unable to control her nerves. “I can assure you I am up to the task you have commanded me. But as I said, unless you send us both to the Red Island, where my former colleague works, there is little I can do for her in that matter.”

“That won’t happen! I repeat. I’ll provide you with any resources you need. Doctors, material, just ask.”

Lim fidgeted. For months she had made sketches, calculations, and notes that none made any sense at all. It was all a farce, complicated enough so any of the Tampra experts could see how little she remembered. If anyone could do anything for Alishee, it was Donna. “And I repeat. You have seen my progress in the theory. But only one person can follow my instructions to the practice so your daughter can survive the operation. My hands are not steady enough and only that person can do it. And you know where she is.”

As Kumar relaxed his body backwards, with a hand over his chin, his anger turned to doubt. Lim knew he was considering. As she felt the excitement of winning the argument for the first time in weeks, she continued, her voice now trembling with excitement. “We’re talking about a high-risk procedure, and I’m completely sure you wouldn’t risk Alishee’s safety in the slightest.”

Kumar remained quiet. Gaze lost and fixed. One index tapping his temple and the other tapping the chair’s arm.

“Sir?” interrupted one of the servants. “Mister Jeremiah requests an audience,” Kumar growled and waved a hand with extreme disdain. As the man named Jeremiah walked in, he gave Lim a sickening look that turned her insides a lot more than his hideous face did.

“What’s so important that you come to my home to tell?” Kumar said, his blood starting to boil again. Jeremiah’s eye returned to Lim, but this time not lasciviously, but in mistrust. “Miss Sarah is my daughter’s guardian and she is as trustworthy as she is quiet. Talk.”

“We are receiving disturbing reports of rising pillaging in the southwest. The Geckos I guess. With our fleet ready for Ujan and Temasek, I need more budget to deal with that problem.”

“Granted. What else?”

“We have reports of unauthorised ships sailing to the Rigg.” With those words, Lim’s insides twisted even more. Kumar raised suddenly and threatened his subordinate with the same finger he used to do with Lim. “No one. I repeat. No one does anything to the Blue Kingdom.” His pupils shifted subtly towards Lim and locked fiercely for an instant long enough to make clear she understood what was coming was a serious threat. “Not unless I say otherwise. Admiral Naga will inform the newcomers of such orders. That is all. And one more thing…”

Jeremiah, who was already walking back with a bow to leave, stopped without raising his head. “Do not come to my home ever again.”

Kumar seated slowly, following as Jeremiah disappeared behind the bamboo blinds. After a long wait in which he seemed to smooth out his options, he spoke again not caring to show tiredness in his tone. “You know how a suburban nobody like me got to be the most powerful man in Tampraparni, Miss Lim?”

Being cunning, treacherous, impeccable, and immoral? She thought. “I trusted nobody. That’s how. But to remain where I am, I need people like J.J. Even if they are the worst kind to have at your side. That slime is playing me badly. Even my servants obey his orders instead of mine. He has sneaked here for more than a chat, miss. You are no longer safe.”

“He knows who I am?”

“Possibly not. But not many go around in a chair with wheels. There was one lady using those in the same ship that sailed the most wanted person of the Nor-Wes. That J.J. is a hideous clever rat. There have been many people asking about you for months. Your people ask. J.J.‘s people hear.”

Kumar requested a servant who rushed to fill a glass with liquor. The most powerful man in Tampraparni, who had never been seen drinking in front of others, took the drink in one shot. “I’ll prepare everything to sail you to the Red Island. I need to focus entirely on my duties or I will fall. And if I do, your Kingdom is doomed.

“I have been observing you very carefully these months, and although I know for sure that your loyalty is for your friends and kingdom, I see in you goodwill with my girl. I read people much better than you think. I’ll trust you like I trusted no one in my life. But hear me well. If something happens to my baby. The gods of Tampra hear me! you will spend the rest of your days in the lowest of the Hells of Janibah.”

Lim’s lips tightened as she nodded. Kumar’s threat could frighten someone else, but to her, who had been in hell before, it felt like nothing. Instead, she felt hope. The possibility of going to the Red Island was a wish she had desired for a long time.

Perhaps Kumar was right after all. Perhaps that junk that she called a body had been built on top of a human. That was a thought that had plagued her for years. Perhaps something was still left of that flesh. Whether that was true or not, it was clear that what remained, with its vision gradually blurring, a hearing that faded more and more each day, and hair that turned grey and brittle with each combing, time was running out. She needed Donna. She needed more time to see if Rob was doing well on his mission. She wanted more time to fulfill her promise to that little wonderful girl who needed new legs. And above all, she wished for more time to be able to see her family again, which she missed dearly.