The Viper's Curse (The Viper's Den #1)

Chapter 11

"Excuse me!" Mohini spluttered. It seemed like she said that phrase a lot.

"Help me destroy brothels in and out, and I may let you get away with being innocent." The prince said.

"You want me to destroy my livelihood?"

"You said it in more simple terms, but yes."

"Why?"

"Brothels are an unnecessary poison that flood the streets. I have so many women who come to me crying that their husbands are cheating on them with courtesans. The number of courtesans that have come to me with the children they have had with ministers and high class individuals. Through all of these grievances, it seems that brothels are the common evil."

"A common evil!" Mohini scoffed in disbelief.

"Yes, if brothels did not exist at all, then there would not be so many unclaimed children out there. There would not be so many women wondering if their husband coming home late at night means he was working or out with a courtesan."

Mohini closed her eyes in frustration, " You mean to tell me, that it is the courtesan's fault."

"Not necessarily, but yes they are a factor. "

"I just cannot understand you. You say these ridiculous things and then expect me to just be ok with it."

"There is nothing to understand."

Mohini closed her eyes in frustration. She felt hopeless. Anytime she tried to reason with the Prince, she was getting nowhere.

"We will be going to our first location tomorrow. I expect to see you then." The prince turned to leave.

"Wait, I did not agree to this!" Mohini rushed to follow.

"What seems to be the problem here?" A deep voice called out from in front of them.

Mohini peeked over the Prince's shoulder to see the emperor making his way to them.

"Baba, what a pleasant surprise! What brings you to this part of the palace?" The prince said as he embraced his father.

"I was on my way to pray, when I saw the Darogha being escorted away by your guards. I wanted to stop by and see if everything was alright."

"Yes Baba, everything is perfectly fine. The Darogha had disobeyed my direct orders, so I asked the guards to escort him out. I will drop by and give him a nice reminder of what will happen if he does this again."

The Emperor nodded before his gaze fell on Mohini and changed into one of anger and disgust.

"What are you doing here?"

"Good Morning shahenshah." Mohini said as she bowed down deeply.

"Get up girl! I did not ask for your greeting. I asked why you were here."

"Baba, she is here because I summoned her here." The prince said before Mohini could answer.

"You seem to be summoning this girl a lot my son; It's not normal for you."

"What can I say? She piqued my curiosity." The Prince winked.

The emperor forced a smile before turning his attention back to Mohini. Mohini lifted her chin and stared back at him, she was not about to be seen as weak in front of this man – emperor or not.

"My son, if it is ok with you, I would like to have a word with this girl. I want to see why this particular one seems to have your absolute attention."

The Prince stiffened next to her, yet his pleasant smile did not falter. For what seemed to be the hundredth time since her entry into the palace, Mohini felt her heart drop.

"Of course, if my emperor requests it, then who am I to deny it?" The prince said bowing deeply.

The emperor patted the prince's shoulder affectionately, before telling him to rise. The prince's eyes met Mohini's before he left his chambers.

"Now that he is out of the way, tell me why you are actually here."

"Shahenshah, I am not sure what you are thinking, but I am only here for the pleasure of men."

"My son may have believed you, but that does not mean that I will. I have my eye on you. If you try anything funny, then be prepared to deal with my wrath. You do not want to deal with my anger my dear." The emperor passed on, not waiting for a reply.

Mohini sighed a breath of relief. Her mission was getting nowhere but at least no one was suspecting she was a Vishakanya.

"Mohini, what are you doing here? You'll miss breakfast!"

She turned to see Padmini running towards her. Behind her was a tall man with curly hair. Mohini recognized him as the mridangam artist that had accompanied Padmini in her performance.

"Come on! Otherwise we'll run out of food and I'll have to starve until lunch." Padmini said, dragging Mohini by her hand.

"You and your insatiable hunger! This empire will run out of money in order to feed you." The man muttered from behind her.

"Oh, be quiet! It isn't like you eat any less!" Padmini's cheeks turned a deep red color.

Mohini silently observed the exchange with a smile. She noticed how Padmini and this mysterious man were too bashful to look into each other's eyes. However, before Mohini could ask her friend about him, a sentence uttered by the passing emperor made her freeze.

"I see she's also become a whore. Just like her mother."