Absolution is the final book in the series, "Absolution", a trilogy of young adult fantasy stories set in a magical land called Nusantara. The events unfolding in this book occur five years after the conclusion of the first book Amok.
"Absolution is both a quest for absolution and a journey of faith as Sultan Mikal attempts to restore Kudus’ blessing on the kingdom of Terang and preserve their magical gifts." (Anna Tan)
An Excerpt from CHAPTER 5
Story note:
Tulen is living as a servant in the Impian Palace. In the earlier part of Chapter 5, Tulen is talking to Magda, the head cook & Tengku Nawal’s nanny, in the kitchen when they hear Tengku Nawal throwing a tantrum. They go up to her room to find out what’s going on.
What Tengku Nawal wants, of course, is something we can’t do anything about.
“I don’t want to get married!” she shrieks as we step into the room.
“Tengku? Tengku Nawal? What’s the matter, sayang?” Magda says.
Tengku Nawal flings her arms around Magda’s waist and buries her face in her chest.
“Magda, oh Magda, Ayahanda is a horrible person. He’s forcing me to get married to some fat
old foreign raja!”
Magda flounders. Che Nuri groans from the sofa, her face buried in her hands.
“You’re the only one who loves me, Magda. The only one who doesn’t want to send me away!” Tengku Nawal wails. “Ayahanda doesn’t love me. He doesn’t want me around anymore!”
Yes, because you’re annoying. I keep my head down and stare at the floor to prevent myself from
rolling my eyes.
“It’s only the Sultan of Maha,” Che Nuri grumbles through her hands, “the actual twenty-year-old ruler of this Sultanate.”
My head shoots up so fast my neck hurts. “That’s not a foreign raja.”
“Who asked you, girl?” Tengku Nawal snaps. “You wouldn’t understand!”
I clap a hand over my mouth and stare down at the floor again, my cheeks heating up.
“Magdaaaaaaaa!” she whines.
I can hear rare impatience leaking out from Magda’s thoughts—leftover irritation from our earlier conversation?—before she deliberately pushes it away. She runs a soothing hand down Tengku Nawal’s back.
“Come, sayang, talk to Magda. What did your father say?”
“He sent me a letter,” she wails, passing Magda a crumpled piece of paper. “He didn’t even bother to come and talk to me himself. He sent Nuri here with a letter.”
Her thoughts radiate with hurt and betrayal, and her eyes start to tear up again. By now, I know what’s coming, so I slip out of the room. There’s fresh bawling before I’m even halfway down the corridor.
In the kitchen, I spy an earlier batch of pastries cooling on the table. Didn’t Magda once say that pastries calmed Tengku Nawal? I try to remember when I heard that, but realise she hadn’t actually said it. Should I get pastries to calm the brat down?—I’d read it off her thoughts when I was following her in the market.
I stretch out my Gift towards Tengku Nawal’s room. I can’t catch any single thought from where I am—it’s all a tangled mess of whispers—but the fragments I catch seem calmer, less roiling. I put a few puffs on a tray along with a glass and the pitcher of water I came to get and head back into the tiger’s lair.
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Looking for paperbacks?
Paperbacks are in the process of getting printed. You can pre-order a paperback directly from
Teaspoon Publishing
if you're based in Malaysia!
Living elsewhere?
Ask for Absolution from your nearest independent bookstore!
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Anna Tan grew up in Malaysia, the country that is not Singapore. She is interested in Malay/Nusantara and Chinese legends and folklore in exploring the intersection of language, culture, and faith.
Anna has an MA in Creative Writing: The Novel under a Chevening scholarship and is the President of the Malaysian Writers Society. She can be found tweeting as @natzers and forgetting to update annatsp.com.
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