Tiger's Dream (Tiger's Curse Book 5)
Page 29
“Imagine what she’ll look like in a couple years,” his fellow said and whistled.
“True,” the first man said, then frowned. “Of course, he’ll wear her out long before she becomes a woman.”
Enraged, I sprang to my feet and wrapped my hands tightly around the bars of my cage. My temper boiled hot enough to melt the iron. “Don’t even speak to her,” I warned, my voice hushed and menacing. “If either of you come near her again, I will kill you. Your pain and suffering will be so slow and terrible you’ll beg for death. That I promise you.”
One of the men inched back as if sensing my sincerity. The other boldly stepped forward and insinuated that I, too, must have a thing for green eyes. That was the last mistake the man made. Quick as a snake, my hand shot out and I grabbed the front of his shirt. Yanking him toward me hard, I bashed his face against the cage. His nose broke and blood streamed down his face. Before he could reach for his sword, I pushed his hand away and took it myself.
Grabbing the scrambling man’s neck, I ran him through the belly, then yanked the sword back to stab his friend as well, but the man hurried toward the stairs, shouting for help. Lifting the sword, I slammed it down on the lock of my cage, shoved the dead man aside, and did the same to Ana’s lock. When it broke, I opened her cage and beckoned her forward. She shook her head, her green eyes wide and frightened.
“I won’t hurt you,” I said. “I promise. Your father sent me to rescue you.”
“My…my father?” she asked.
“Yes. It was all I could do to prevent Sunil from following me.” I tried to smile but feared it looked more like a grimace.
Her eyes filled with tears at the mention of her brother, and she reached up a trembling hand and placed it in mine. She got up hesitantly as I glanced at the open cellar door. It was only a matter of time until reinforcements showed up, and moving slowly to encourage her trust was eating up the minutes. I tried not to think about what had been done to her, especially when I saw her limp. When I felt sure she’d come with me, I said, “Now stay behind me. I’m going to have to fight. When we get upstairs, I want you to find a place to hide. I’ll come for you, I promise.”
She nodded and we started up to the cellar door. A mercenary met me at the top, but I dispatched him quickly enough and threw his body down the stairs. Reaching back behind me, I felt for Ana and brushed her shoulder with my fingertips. I tried to ignore the fact that she immediately pulled away. “Come on,” I said gently. “We’ve got to keep going.”
My eyes stung in the light after being trapped in the dark for so long. I was met only by the frightened faces of two children when we reached the main level of the house. I gestured that they should join us and get behind me. We made slow progress through the rooms. The clinking chains of the children made me wince. Soon I had Anamika and six of the others. I had no idea how I was going to get us out safely. With the number of men guarding the citadel, it was practically impossible, but I had to try.
I held my finger to my lips to keep the children quiet as I peeked in room after room. They were all empty. As silently as I could, I opened cupboards, looking for more weapons or for keys to the children’s chains, but found nothing except a kitchen knife. I slid it into the waistband of the sash wrapped around my waist. Creeping through the house, I came upon the front door and opened it just a crack. There were too many guards.
Pressing my head against the door, I whispered a silent plea for help though I didn’t really know who could help me. The children followed me to the back of the house, moving as soundlessly as they could. It was surprising just how good they were at being quiet. It wasn’t right. Children should be laughing and playing, not cowering in fear.
My eyes took in everything as we passed through the back of the house—the lack of adults, the hasty mess that been left in a recently vacated kitchen, the pile of dirt on a half-swept floor. This was a trap. I could feel it. When I peeked out the back door and saw no one, I breathed a little sigh of relief. Turning to the children, I warned them to stay behind me and follow my lead. From the angle of the sun, I could tell it was midmorning. We made it all the way to the corner of the house, but there were too many men for me to get past.
Stealing back in the direction we’d come, I looked around the other corner and saw a similar scene. Then I heard the unmistakable sound of a sword being drawn. Slowly, I turned and saw that we’d been surrounded. While we’d been creeping around the house, the men on the other side had gotten into position. Several of them held children in tight grips while many others had bows and arrows trained on me, ready to fire.
All I had was a handful of children now pressed behind me against the house, a bloody sword, and a knife. I’d failed. The irrational hope that luck would somehow find me burned away and blackened, leaving an ashy taste in my mouth. Looking up, I could see dozens of reinforcements who’d been hidden before, suddenly standing up on the battlements above. The master of the slaves stood among them looking down on me with a mixture of disappointment and sorrow.
Wearing a new turban, this time green, the man who bought me pushed through his men and clapped his hands, a saccharine grin on his face. “Well done,” he said. “I must commend you for getting this far.”
I said nothing in response.
He eyed me shrewdly. “I have to say, I’m a bit surprised. You didn’t go after the treasure I thought you would.” The man peered at the children behind me, specifically Anamika. “Though I cannot disparage your good taste”—he reached into a bag and pulled out the phoenix egg—“I have to admit that I’m disappointed to see that you chose to leave this behind. Perhaps it is not as valuable as I thought it was.”
The turbaned man rolled the egg between his hands and continued. “It was left on a table in plain view for you, but you passed right by it, as if you didn’t even care about it at all. But, then, I suppose it is possible you would have returned for it later.”
The phoenix egg sparkled in the light of the sun. Truthfully, I hadn’t even seen it. I was too focused on saving Anamika to give the truth stone any thought.
The man instructed a few of his soldiers to remove the children as well as the sword I carried. I gave it over easily. So far, they hadn’t discovered the knife. While they were distracted with the children, I casually pulled it out of my sash and pressed it into the young boy’s hands who stood behind me on the left. I recognized him as the one who resided in the cell beside mine. When I glanced back, the knife had totally disappeared and there was no sign of it in his clothing. I winked when he gave me a slight nod.
The turbaned man approached, not at all afraid of me. I suppose he shouldn’t have been, not with over fifty men at his disposal. When the men had led off every child except Anamika, a man stepped up and took hold of her arm. “Gently, gently,” the turbaned man warned. “No one hurts this one but me.” He gave Ana a cloying smile, touching her cheek with his finger, and she visibly shrank. It was if all the bones in her body were melting beneath his gaze.
“Get your hands off her,” I threatened.
My new owner turned interested eyes on me and laughed heartily. “Have you fallen under her spell as well? She is a pleasant diversion. I have to admit as much.”
He watched Ana until her slight form disappeared into the house. My hands tightened into fists. I wanted to sink my claws into his quivering belly and slowly eviscerate him, then watch as the scavengers closed in. Only then, after he’d suffered, would I open my mouth and bite down on his skull, crushing it while I ripped his head from the stump of his neck so that the last thing he’d ever see would be my teeth before he spun into the darkness where such evil souls belonged.
“Now then,” he said, oblivious to my dark thoughts. “I think you and I have much to talk about.” For a heavy man, he moved quickly. Spinning, he shouted over his shoulder, “Bring him.”
Now that I’d been outside, the redolent stench of the cellars was obvious to me, even without my tiger nose. The man I’d killed
was still in the same spot, and the turbaned man slipped in his blood, smashing his shoulder on a cage. “Clean that up,” he hissed angrily at a man behind him as he straightened his tunic.
Without ceremony, I was slammed into the same chair I’d sat in before. My feet were manacled to the floor but only one of my hands was fastened behind my back. The burly guard took my other arm and slammed it down on the table. I tried to wrench it away, especially when the turbaned man slid a blade from the pouch he’d set down. “Hold him,” he said as he approached.
They had to bring in another man to hold me down. An hour later I was exhausted and bleeding from several deep cuts on my forearm. He hadn’t even asked me a question. “Now then,” he said, as he walked behind me. “I’ve left your fingers and hands alone for the time being simply because I think you might need them to release the magic inside the egg.”
“What makes you think it has magic?”
He raised his eyebrows. “There are many stories of such treasures. I’m a man who barters for money but also in secrets. I know something of value when I see it. There is magic in this stone. I’d bet my life on it.”
“I know value when I see it too,” I spat. “And you aren’t worth the lice living on the backs of beetles, eating the dung that clings to your camel’s—”
The punch came from the side and I felt a molar loosen in the back of my mouth. I spat blood and was gratified to see it landed on the turbaned man’s pristine jewel-crusted shoes. He hopped back and picked up a knife with a carved hilt. His face mottled, he brought the blade to my throat and could have easily drawn it across, especially when his guards grabbed my hair and yanked my head back, exposing it.
He seemed to think better of ending my life, and his eyes grew thoughtful as he drew the side of the blade down one cheekbone and then the other in a menacing sort of caress. “You’ll regret that,” he said, almost too pleasantly. “Now then, where was I? Ah, yes. I was talking about value and why I’ve left your fingers attached to your hands. I would assume you are intelligent enough to value them. I am fairly certain you don’t need two ears though.”
He pressed the knife into the skin between my ear and my scalp. “What do you want to know?” I asked as warm blood trickled down my face.
“You already know the answer to that question,” he said, panting with something akin to joy. “Don’t waste my time.”
“I’ll tell you how to work the magic,” I said. “But you have to give me something in return.”
He paused. “Is your life not enough of a gift?” he asked.
“Let her go and I’ll stay here, work for you, be your slave, whatever you want. Just let her go.”
“Of whom do you speak?” he asked, walking around to face me.
“You already know the answer to that question,” I said with a mocking grin.
Livid, he slammed the knife down, pinning my hand to the table. It hurt but I’d been hurt worse before. Fiendish delight lit his face, but his exuberant expression soon fell when he saw I didn’t scream, beg for my life, or even flinch.
I looked down at the knife and then lifted my head to show him I had no fear of anything he could do. He narrowed his eyes slyly, then lifted another knife and plunged it into my shoulder. Blood pooled around the wound, coursing thickly as he twisted it. I grunted but, again, didn’t cry out, sensing he was the type who liked that sort of thing.
The puffs of his breath washed over me as he stared into my face, seeking signs of my faltering. The fact that he enjoyed the torture was obvious. That, more than the pain he inflicted, made me want to hurl my dinner, not that I actually had any food in my belly.
“This is becoming monotonous,” I said. “Either kill me or let her go. I’m not afraid of death. I’ve stared it in the face too many times, but I assure you, I am a man of my word. I will tell you the secrets of the egg if you release her. You just have to decide how badly you want it.”
He studied my face intently. Finally, he pulled away and nodded to his guard, who removed the knives and tightly wrapped my wounds. The tang of my own blood permeated the room. Slowly, patiently, the turbaned man cleaned his knives and inserted them back into the pouch of tools he used to torture people. I watched him with indifference as I pressed my tongue against my loose tooth.
This man had a lot in common with Lokesh, I decided. But Lokesh was a hard act to follow. I’d seen much worse than this fellow could dish out. The blood soaked the wrapping on my shoulder and hand and continued to trickle down my face as well. The hot beads of blood dripped from my chin and stained my shirt, but I felt distant from the whole thing.
Strangely, I was almost grateful to Lokesh for that. Overcoming him had given me a level of self-confidence that I’d never had before. His utter ruthlessness required us to elevate all our heroic, brave instincts to fight him as equals. Without him, I wouldn’t have the fortitude and strength I possessed. Any other villain I’d faced since—warlords, despots, tyrants, and criminals—just couldn’t compare. This one, though, deserved to die. And would, in fact, perish at my hands or claws, at my first opportunity.
He didn’t scare me. His knives, the posturing, and his flights of rage were nothing more than inconveniences. I honestly didn’t care about the weapons he traded either, or the fact that he bought and used slaves. But a man who did such things to children deserved the wrath of the goddess and her tiger, and one way or another, we would rain it down upon him.
When his knives were put away, I said, “Take the stone between your hands.” After he did, I added, “Now, tell me that you will let the girl go free.”
He hesitated for just a beat and then said, “Yes, yes. If you tell me the secret of the magic, I’ll set her free.”
The phoenix egg stayed dark. “You’re lying,” I said.
“You are in no position to question—”
I shook my head. “No. I mean, I know you are lying because the stone stays dark. When someone speaks the truth, the stone glows from within. Watch it carefully, and I will show you.” Leaning forward, I said, “When I escape, and I assure you I will, there will be no shadow too dark, no closet too hidden for me to find you, and when I do, I will bring your death within that hour.”
When I finished speaking, the truth stone glowed with an inner light, and the turbaned man lifted his hands away quickly, crying out, “It lives!”
“Yes,” I said. “It is a living thing, and when the truth is spoken, it glows.”
He sat back and rotated the stone, peering at it carefully as it dimmed. Tilting his head, he said, “This is a trick.”
“It is no trick,” I said. “Test it yourself. See if you can trap it in a lie.”
The man sat back, licking his lips as he looked from the stone to me with heavy lids. “My mother died when I was four,” he began.
The stone glowed, illuminating his face with a devilish light.
“I love camels,” was his next attempt and the fire inside the stone darkened. “I can trust my personal guard,” he said, and the stone stayed dim. He made eye contact with the guard at my side and the man swallowed, his forearms tensing.
Ignoring the guard for the moment, he uttered statement after statement, declaring everything from his favorite fruit to the name of a mouse he’d once kept as a pet to the place where he kept his gold. Truth, lie, lie. He then practiced on his guard, asking him a series of questions, and it quickly became evident that all was not as he had supposed within his household. This went on for some time until he finally sat back, satisfied.
“This is a valuable treasure, indeed,” the man said. “With such an object, no man will ever be able to lie to me again. There are so many possibilities.”
My mind worked at the same time his did. There were many things a man such as him could use the stone for. It was dangerous leaving it in his hands.
“Why did you leave it behind?” he asked me, pulling me from my thoughts.
I shrugged. “Saving the children was more important.”
> He glanced down at the stone but it remained dark.
Sighing, I said, “I didn’t see it.”
The egg glowed.
“Ah.” He smiled contentedly. “I find there is much I want to ask you, but I confess that I’d like to test out this stone of truth a bit further first. Take him back to his cell,” he said to the guard and then warned him. “And do not think I will forget the truths the stone revealed about your loyalty,” he said. “I’d tread very carefully if I were you.”
The nervous guard bowed quickly and jerked me to my feet, cuffing me for good measure before his master left, shutting the door behind him.
“He’s going to kill you, you know,” I said as he escorted me back to my cell.
“Shut up,” he warned.
The man shoved me into my cell and headed up and out the cellar door, locking it as he did. Even though it was early afternoon, we were all plunged in darkness. I took the edge of my shirt and pressed it against my bleeding mouth.
When the footsteps above disappeared, I heard a soft voice nearby. “I’ve still got the knife,” the boy whispered. “I’ve used it to open my lock.”
“Good job, son,” I said. “Do you think you can open mine?”
“I think so.”
“Be careful. When you hear them come back, make sure you get back in your cell and close the door.”
“I will.”
A moment later, I heard the swing of his door as it creaked open, and soon the young boy was working on my lock.
“I can’t do it,” he said. “Here. You can try yourself,” he added, trying to pass me the knife through the bars of my cage.
“You’re going to have to do it,” I said gently. “My hand has been injured.”
“Did he take your fingers?” a voice two cells away asked. “He took two of mine.”