Sitting up, my legs stretched out opposite of hers, I saw Ana was wrapped in a blanket. She must have made one using the scarf while I dozed. The sun was just peeking over the horizon. We’d slept on the beach all night. My stomach rumbled.
“Is there something wrong?” I asked. “Does someone need you?”
She drew her legs up and wrapped her arms around them. “There is nothing pressing. I just wanted to stop you from snoring.” Ana was smiling again.
I bumped her shoulder with mine. “I don’t snore, Ana,” I said, smiling back.
“Oh, you do. You sound like a bear.”
“Well, then you sound like a dragon.”
“A dragon?”
“Yes, and they’re the worst of all.”
“I do not think so, Sohan. My tiger is the worst of all.”
“Your tiger?” I said, teasing her. “When exactly did I become yours?”
Her smile faltered and I regretted that the light jesting had taken such a turn. Trying to ignore the tension, I got to my feet and offered her a hand up. “Since I’m apparently your tiger,” I said, “I’d suggest you feed me before I decide to bite off one of your arms. I’m famished.” Squeezing her arm as if testing for tenderness, I added, “On second thought, I’d better eat your leg. Your leg would satisfy me at least until lunch.”
I kept her hand in mine after she was up and was gratified to see a blush brighten her cheeks. “Then perhaps I will have to put stewed tiger tail on the menu as revenge,” she said as I unashamedly eyed her long legs. “It’s only fair.”
Tucking her hand on my arm, I led her away from the ocean and up to the tree line. “Tiger tail would provide very little sustenance. You’d need a large hunk of meat.” I thumped my chest, puffing it out deliberately.
She poked me in the ribs and pursed her lips. “I am afraid your chest meat would be too muscular and stringy for my taste. Maybe if I roast it over a fire, it will pass as edible.”
We casually joked with one another as we made our way through the trees. Then, as she took hold of the Rope of Fire, I touched her hand to stop her. “Ana?” I said.
“Yes, Sohan?”
“Where do you want to go?”
She paused, considering, and then said, “I…I believe I am ready to see to the next task on Kadam’s list. That is, if you are,” she added, peering up at me through her long lashes.
“You are content, then, to allow Sunil and Nilima to be together?”
“I believe I am. Nilima is a good choice for Sunil.”
“I agree,” I said and waited for her to ask the next question, the one that screamed to be asked, but she didn’t.
Digging my foot into the sand, I wondered if I was as ready to move on as she was. Ana waited patiently and quietly for me to say something. She wasn’t bothered by silence, which was another thing I liked about her. Instead of feeling pressured, I felt the calm peace that came with knowing she completely supported me. Whatever I said next, she’d accept. We were quiet for another long moment.
“I think,” I finally said, “I think I am prepared to follow you to the next place.”
She put her hand on my arm and said, “There is still nothing final in what we do. If you wish to further explore your feelings, there is time.”
Cupping my hand over hers, I squeezed it lightly. “Thank you.”
Ana smiled warmly and snapped her fingers. The leather bag appeared.
“How did you do that?” I asked.
She shrugged. “I simply searched for its position in time and space and drew it to me. When something belongs to the goddess Durga, it seeks her out naturally.”
As she pulled the list from her bag and perused the next item, I considered her words and wondered if her tiger would also be naturally drawn to her. I wasn’t sure if I liked that idea or not. Though, as my eyes drifted slowly down her bare legs again, I had to admit that there were a lot worse punishments than being bound to a woman such as her.
Ana flicked the Rope of Fire. The flames ignited, cracking and sparking, and a portal opened up. She held out her hand and I took it. Then, together, we leapt through.
Chapter 12
Lost Boys
My nostrils flared when we landed and my stomach lurched. Ana coiled the Rope of Fire and, after instructing the scarf to dress her in her typical hunting dress and soft boots, attached it to a strap at her waist. She offered to make me new clothes too, but I was used to my black shirt and pants, though I did accept a sturdily woven pair of shoes. It was night and the sky was full of stars. Too full of stars for a great modern city. We were in the distant past. “Where are we?” I asked.
“I am not certain,” she said as she pulled the bag across her shoulder. It contained all her weapons except the bow, which hung there from a loop when she didn’t keep it on her back. She murmured some words and handed me a bag of trail food, containing jerky of some type, dried fruits, and nuts. She pulled out a handful for herself and popped a nut in her mouth before saying, “Kadam’s instructions only say that we must liberate the Lady Silkworm.”
“Lady Silkworm? Are you sure?”
Ana nodded and I thought as I ate. It had been a long time since Kelsey told me the story of Lady Silkworm. I wasn’t entirely sure I could still remember all the details. She handed me a water pouch from her pack. Now that we had all the gifts of Durga and the amulet was whole, the Golden Fruit could access the water piece of the amulet and give us water. As much as I liked tea and lemonade, water was what I craved most. I drank deeply and handed her the bag to refill. “I only recall bits of her story,” I said. “Kelsey met her in a temple, and she told Kelsey that Durga had saved her from marrying the emperor who killed the man she loved. He was a cloth seller or silk maker, I think.”
“Are we meant to save both of them then? Her as well as her silk maker?” Ana asked.
“I don’t know. Kadam never wanted us messing up history.”
Finished with my meal, I drained another waterskin and handed her back the bag. After she stowed it in her pack, Ana turned in a circle and then crouched down to study the road we’d found. “Wagons have gone this way,” she said, pointing to the east. “If we are to find the emperor, we’d better find a city first.”
We walked side by side until an hour or so before sunrise. I’d offered to carry the pack for her but the most she would agree to was to take turns. I understood the feeling of security in having your weapons on your person, but the burden of carrying all the weapons was a heavy one, even for us. The sky was dark and gray and the countryside was beginning to waken. Birds sang, welcoming the sun, and we were soon joined by a fellow traveler who sat atop a cart filled with hay. The scent of pipe smoke drifted down to me.
“Hello?” I called up to him.
The surly man mumbled a greeting, and I ran through languages in my brain until I figured his out. My Mandarin was not strong on my own, but the power the goddess had at her disposal made communication smooth.
Even though the man understood me, he still didn’t appear overly friendly.
“We are travelers seeking an audience with the emperor,” I pressed. “Can you tell us if we are following the right road?”
“The emperor?” He stared at us in amazement and then began laughing. Though he thought us naive at best, he told us to stay on the road until it forked after two more hours on foot and then take the path to the right. He soon left us behind as we slowed to talk.
“I believe we’re in China,” I said, “based on his clothing and the dialect he used.”
“Did Lokesh not come from China?” Ana asked.
“He did, but it would be too much of a coincidence for him and Lady Silkworm to be born around the same time and place, especially in China. From everything Kadam and Kelsey put together on Lokesh’s origins, I would guess that he was born a few centuries earlier than this, during a time of warfare. You are right that we should be careful though.”
We passed others on the road, and as we walked
, Ana asked a lot of questions about what Sunil’s life would be like now that he lived in Nilima’s time. I told her all about what marvels the future had to offer and how women were given opportunities to work and learn alongside men. We spoke of modern transportation, movies, medicine, computers, and cars, and how money was stored in banks rather than in a home. Even though I was mostly sticking to the pleasant things, she expressed concern over Sunil having no money. I told her that Nilima was very financially comfortable and Sunil would be able to learn a trade if he wanted to.
“Can he not be a warrior?” she asked. “He is skilled in combat.”
“Warriors are different in that time. Wars are not fought with arms and swords or bows and arrows, they are fought with great machines or bombs.”
“Bombs?”
I tried to think of something she would understand. “Do you know catapults that throw heavy rocks?”
“Yes.”
“A bomb is like a great rock, only much more powerful. Instead of breaking a wall, it will flatten an entire city.”
“I see.” She mulled the idea over in her mind before saying, “There is not much honor in winning with a bomb.”
“No,” I agreed. “Unfortunately there aren’t many opportunities for a man such as Sunil or I in the future.”
“But Ren seems to have adapted well.”
“Ren has always been a diplomat. He signs papers and smiles, charms old women, and flatters old men. That is a skill that is still useful in the future.”
“Ah.”
The early-morning air was crisp with the bite of fall. The sun broke over the horizon and I glanced over at her. She worried her lip with her teeth. “What is it?” I asked.
“I do not wish to offend you with my question.”
“I will try not to be offended. What do you wish to know?” I wanted to show her that I could be as understanding and accepting of her as she had been with me. For far too many months, I’d pushed her away, preferring to be alone in my misery. There was a lot more to her than met the eye, and I found, for the first time ever in our relationship, that I wanted to get to know her better, and have her know me as well.
“What…what would you have done in the future had you gone back to be with Kelsey?”
“I…” My mouth snapped closed. We walked in silence for a moment.
“I have offended you,” she said. “I apologize.”
“No, it’s not that. I…I suppose I never thought much past the idea of being with her. I knew I wanted a family. We had plenty of money so I didn’t need to work or have a career. I guess I would have just gone to the office every day.”
“Work? Office? Do you mean that room high in the sky with the walls of glass?”
“Yes.”
“What do you do in there? Jab your fingers repeatedly to make the magic window tell you things?”
I grunted and rubbed my jaw. “Mostly, I spent my time making trouble for Nilima. Board meetings bored me. I have no mind for finance or business. Though the computer, or magic window, as you call it, is a very useful tool, I much prefer laboring with my hands.”
Ana nodded though her brow was furrowed. I knew she was trying to understand what I was talking about. I’d explained some things to her but there was a lot I hadn’t bothered with. “I, too, prefer to labor with my hands,” she said. “I cannot imagine a life of sitting.”
More travelers appeared on the road and we fell silent. I thought back to the dull and seemingly endless days I’d sat in that office, trying to pay attention to the things Nilima taught me. I couldn’t imagine a more intolerable life. I wasn’t cut out for that. The jungle was my home. Truthfully, I felt more at ease in the past than in the future. My workplace didn’t have the sounds of ringing phones or dinging elevators. It was full of jangling horse bridles, the cries of battle, the twang of a loosed arrow, and the clang of sparring swords.
Not that battle was all that filled my mind. I liked being in nature. Cities stifled me. I felt trapped inside them. Instead of plush carpets or tiled floors, I longed to walk on rustling leaves. Well-worn footpaths instead of sidewalks. I liked the slow and easier life of the past. Without Kelsey and my brother to anchor me, I often felt out of place in the future, like a relic, or an old sword, rusting on a wall somewhere. The cultured quiet of the past called to me.
The more I thought about the noise—the brash booming voices of the media, the never-ending advertisements, the constant need to acquire more and more as if fulfilment in life only came through the possession of objects—the more I realized how difficult a life there would have been. I wondered if Kelsey would have been happy living quietly at my side.
Once, as a gift, I’d given her a key. In my dreams, I’d imagined building a home in my old jungle and living a simple life with her. But would she have embraced that life or despised me for it? Would our children have abandoned us and grown to hate me for holding them back, away from the modern world and all it offered? The idea left a caustic taste in my mouth. I’d never asked her how she felt or what she envisioned for our future.
I thought getting Kelsey to commit to me would be the hardest part, but perhaps the difficulties would have been more than I expected. A life in Kelsey’s time might not have been easy for either of us. I ground my jaw, not wanting to accept that I had any limitations, that I might not have been successful according to the standards of Kelsey’s world. Love was supposed to be enough. To consider what might have happened next made me feel dispirited.
Ana’s arm brushed mine and I felt the soothing tingle of our connection. Her stride matched mine. She walked confidently with her head high and her shoulders back, though we were in a place and a time unknown to either of us. Her hair was tangled and she had a smudge of dirt on her face, but she was still unmistakably beautiful. Even without the airs of a goddess, Anamika was the type of woman who could crook her finger and any man with any sense would come running. The strange thing was, she didn’t seem aware of this power.
There was no doubt in my mind that she would be even more out of place in the future than I was, and yet I could still envision crowds parting for her as she strode boldly through them. They’d fall back in awe of her as if she was as magnificent and rare as a unicorn in the center of a city. The glittering dust of magic would trail behind her, and all would follow in her footsteps, hoping that just a little of her radiance would rub off on them.
We’d fought in many battles together, and when I thought of my role as her tiger, of carrying her into combat, the overwhelming feeling I had was one of pride. We’d passed through mud, fleas, death, and fields of fallen soldiers and she never flinched. Not once. She was firm in her resolve to fulfil her role as goddess. No one deserved it more than she did. She was pretty much the perfect choice. Ana was just perfect all around.
“I believe that is the city wall up ahead,” Ana said with an authoritative voice.
Squinting, I shaded my eyes. “I think you’re right. What’s the plan?”
“Do we need to change our appearance?” she asked, trusting my opinion.
“I don’t think anyone would recognize us. We might need to update our wardrobe, however.”
“Wardrobe?”
“Clothing.”
“Ah. Then we will be ready to do so.” She nodded curtly and we strode together through the city gates.
The city was bustling. We followed the bulk of the travelers and ended up at a central market. The cloying smells of cooking meat were coupled with the bitter tang from the offal of pack animals. Yards and yards of silk whipped in the morning breeze. I guided Anamika in that direction, hoping to ask the vendor some questions about silk makers and the seamstress who lived in the emperor’s house.
A snarling dog beneath the table leapt at us and kept barking until I growled softly deep in my throat. He whined and tucked his tail before slinking off. The vendor finally turned to us, his eyes widening when he saw Anamika.
“Some pretty silks for a pretty lady?” he
asked. “I have the finest the city has to offer.”
“We’re looking for a certain silk maker, one who might have recently fallen out of favor with the emperor?”
I saw the shutter fall over his eyes. This was a man who liked possessing secrets.
“Perhaps a small token of our sincerity might help you remember?” I suggested.
He held out a plate and Anamika dropped a gold nugget inside. It bumped around loudly, and the man quickly snatched it up and rolled it between long, dirty fingers. His nails were overgrown but filed smoothly. Probably so as to not ravel the silk. He peered at us keenly, then said, “You must be very confident in your woman to allow her to hold your purse strings.”
I leaned forward. “Who said they’re my purse strings?”
The man deftly pocketed the gold nugget and turned his attention fully on Anamika. The corner of his mouth was lifted in a sly grin. He drew out a lovely roll of blue silk and held it up to her face.
“Not the blue,” I murmured. “She should wear gold.”
Anamika lifted her eyes to mine and gave me a small smile. “It is lovely,” she said to the vendor dismissively. “Tell me, have you remembered anything about the silk maker?”
The man moved away and clucked his tongue before bringing back a gorgeous embroidered scarf. “Ah,” he said, “but you haven’t seen the best we have to offer.”
Proudly, he unfolded the square and revealed it in all its splendor. Anamika gasped and touched the threads that wove together to show winking dragons and a phoenix. Boldly, the man lifted his hand with the scarf clutched between his fingers, as if he was going to touch Ana’s cheek. “Feel it against your skin,” he said.
Before he could get near, I grabbed his wrist in a firm grip, stopping him just inches from her face, and forcefully pushed his arm back down. “The lady doesn’t like to be touched,” I warned.
With the easy, dimpled smile of an experienced salesman, he backed off. “Of course, of course,” he said, his temper wily and bombastic. “I was merely offering her a closer view.”
Tiger's Dream (Tiger's Curse Book 5) Page 19