" I raised my chin and stared back at him. I had no reason to feel embarrassed. After all, he was the one who said Akaran was just as much mine as it was his. The door had been open. And yet, a flush still crept up the back of my neck.
“I was taking a walk,” I said weakly.
“Where’s Gupta?”
“The dining room,” I said before adding defensively, “I only walked a little down the halls.”
His jaw tightened. “I told you that the kingdom’s location makes it dangerous.”
“Gupta told me that anyplace that might hold danger would be locked up,” I retorted. “The door to this room was not locked.”
“Even so,” said Amar. “They might sing through their bindings. It’s better to have an escort.”
“As you can see, I am unscathed from my walk from one hall to the next.”
“Today,” cut in Amar tightly. “Today you are unscathed. Tomorrow is unknown. As is the next day and the day after that. Never make light of your life.”
“I never do.”
The vial of mandrake poison flashed in my mind. Life led me here. Life and the desire to live it.
Gupta burst into the room.
“Oh, good!” he breathed, hands pushing against his knees. He looked like he’d just run from one side of a country to the next. Guilt heated my face. He turned to Amar. “I apologize. I lost track with the riddles.”
“You can leave, my friend,” said Amar. “She is safe with me.”
Gupta looked between us, started to say something and thought better of it. There was a touch of pity in his expression as he looked at the winking lights around us. With one last glance at the garden, Gupta left.
Amar loosed a breath. “I understand, you know.”
I looked up.
“The forced silence…the voices of this palace. "

― Roshani Chokshi , The Star-Touched Queen (The Star-Touched Queen, #1)