Tiger's Voyage

by Colleen Houck

  During a break, I was admiring a Spanish sword when I asked Jnsèlóng where all his treasure came from. He sipped from his jewel-encrusted goblet, smiled, and offered me an arm. “Would you like to see my castle?”

  I peeked over his shoulder, and Ren and Kishan both shook their heads.

  I rolled my eyes at their overprotectiveness. “Yes, I’d love to,” I replied. “As long as you promise not to trick me out of any information.”

  He snorted gray smoke into his hand and held his palm out to shake. “Dragon’s honor.”

  Ren rose, and they went through a complicated verbal dance assuring my safe return, and the dragon’s promise that he wouldn’t probe me for information. They both accepted before Jnsèlóng tucked my hand into the crook of his arm and took me for a stroll.

  I asked again about his wealth. He responded, “All the treasures of the sea belong to me.”

  “So this is all sunken treasure from lost ships?”

  “Mostly. In centuries past, a wise cargo captain would throw me a trifle to appease my appetites. If they forgot, I’d have to do something about it. It’s a fair trade, after all. Safe passage in exchange for a small bauble. It’s not too much to ask, is it?”

  “And if they refused or forgot, what exactly did you do?”

  “Bah, spare me that judgmental look in your eye. I’m not a monster.”

  I folded my arms across my chest and raised an eyebrow.

  He threw up his hands in disgust. “Fine. I’d harass their ship until they remembered, or I’d let the storms have them.” He stuck a finger in the air. “I get paid no matter what. It’s the law of the sea.” He walked over to a marble statue of Aphrodite and stroked her arm. “Hello, beautiful.” He cleared his throat as if embarrassed to be caught talking to a very … voluptuous version of the goddess of love and turned back to me. “In the old days, such beautiful things were carried in ships. Now I could sink a fleet of them and get not much more than a hunk of scrap metal.”

  I touched the delicate fingertip of Aphrodite. “That’s probably true. These types of things are almost certainly flown across the sea now if they’re moved at all. They’d likely be holed up in museums.”

  “Hmm. Every once in a while, I can catch a plane, but only when there’s lots of moisture in the clouds,” he mumbled.

  “Catch a plane? You mean you purposefully make airplanes crash?”

  He frowned. “Not as many as I used to. It’s a big effort, you know, and very little reward. Besides, Bermuda is pretty far from home.”

  “Bermuda? As in the Bermuda Triangle?”

  “I have no idea what triangle you are talking about. Dragons such as I waste no time on geometry except when it’s used in art.”

  I poked him in the arm several times to illustrate each word. “You are a terrible dragon. All of you just make trouble. What’s the point of your existence?”

  “You want to know the point of my existence? Come with me. I’ll show you.”

  He led me through another opulent hall with carved walls depicting the great sculptors of the world at work. They were lovely, and I felt myself softening at the sight. Surely someone who cares for the world’s most priceless treasures couldn’t be all bad.

  We stopped at heavy wooden doors, ornately fashioned and polished to a gleaming sheen. He clapped his hands, and the doors opened. We stepped inside a warehouse of the most exquisite things I’d ever seen. Centuries-old paintings looked as new as if they’d just been finished. Statuary was glossy and perfect. Diamond chandeliers hung from the ceiling, casting rainbows around the room as the light bounced off jewels as big as footballs. Ancient tapestries hung as if they’d just been woven.

  He let me touch everything, pleased that I took such an interest in his collection. I found a golden replica of the Titanic, a life-sized horse cast in bronze, a queen’s tiara encrusted with diamonds and emeralds, and a perfect white pearl the size of a globe resting on a red, velvet pillow.

  Each step made me gasp as I beheld the splendor of his treasure room. I lifted a hand to touch the head of a jade tiger and smiled. “It’s so amazing.” I turned to look at the dragon with an expression of awe. He seemed smug. “Still … it doesn’t justify killing people,” I charged.

  “Doesn’t preserving all of this make up for it? How many of these things remain on the surface—ruined and uncared for?”

  “Too many,” I admitted.

  “There, you see? I’m preserving humanity’s most precious contributions.”

  “But no one sees it but you.”

  He hedged, blew some smoke out of his nostrils, and abruptly turned, expecting me to follow.

  I did, and the doors closed and locked right behind me. Though he was short, he strode quickly ahead. “I know … I know,” he said through clenched teeth. “Yínbáilóng has been after me for years to stop sinking ships and downing planes.”

  “Yínbáilóng?”

  “Yes, the white dragon. He’s the eldest and has opinions about everything, including drowning humans.”

  “Maybe you should listen to him.”

  “Maybe. But then what would I do? It’s not like I get many visitors down here, and I don’t want to sleep all the time like Qnglóng or go crazy like L sèlóng. All he thinks about is hunting.”

  “Maybe you could help people. Leave a coin under their pillows like the tooth fairy.”

  “Are you serious? Perhaps you didn’t get enough oxygen on the way down. You are nothing if not interesting, my dear. Give up my treasure? Bah! The last thing I would ever do is give up my wealth. Come. We’ve left those crafty brothers alone too long. They’re probably devising new ways to cheat me out of more of my fortune.”

  “Well, it’s nothing you don’t deserve.”

  “Ha!” He led me back into the room, seeming somewhat distracted by our talk. This time during the bartering if he got particularly greedy, I’d raise an eyebrow, and he’d be distracted enough to make a bad agreement.

  I would casually insert extra items in Ren’s wish list, like not sinking any ships in the next century or not going to Bermuda anymore. Ren added them in without questioning me.

  Occasionally, Kishan would lean over to whisper something to Ren as well, and among the three of us, we made some headway. Jnsèlóng was scowling all the time and after a particularly bad loss, he began crying. He wept crocodile tears and talked about all the people he drowned. He seemed truly repentant, and I felt terribly sorry for him.

  He asked if I had a tissue, and I scrambled around for a moment, then pulled out the Scarf and asked it for a tissue. It shimmered and changed into a beautiful monogrammed handkerchief. Embroidered on it was:

  I stared at it for a moment, puzzled, then it hit me. Alagan Dhiren Rajaram. I flushed and gave the Scarf a mental warning to cut it out.

  “Here you go,” I said to the dragon, and handed it to him just as Ren’s hand darted toward mine.

  The dragon snatched it away and pressed it to his wet face. Ren sighed and dropped his hand, and it took me another few seconds to realize that what I thought were Jnsèlóng’s heaving sobs were actually heaving peals of laughter.

  As he wiped the tears from his smiling face, I folded my arms and accused, “You tricked me.”

  He pointed a finger and wagged it happily at Ren. “And that’s why you never allow women into the bartering chamber. Your magical cloth is mine!” he tittered in delight.

  Ren smiled evilly. “You don’t even know what you have there. The cloth is cursed, you know. I’m actually glad you took it. The curse can only be transferred if another person willingly accepts it, and you played right into our hands.”

  “You’re bluffing,” the dragon said with a laugh and looked at Kishan. Kishan shook his head as if in pity.

  “I only wish he was, dragon,” Kishan added. “It’s a terrible curse too. It weakens a man to the point of death, but perhaps it won’t affect you in the same way.”

  “What … what do you mean?” the dragon
asked.

  “It makes you fall in love. With her.” Ren tossed his head toward me while my face registered shock.

  The automatically suspicious dragon narrowed his eyes and peered at me, as if trying to glean the truth from my expression.

  “She’s already tried to work her wiles on you, hasn’t she?” Ren suggested.

  The dragon stammered, “Well, no. Not … exactly.”

  Kishan spoke up, “Did she make you feel guilty? Make you want to improve yourself? That’s part of what she does. Before you know it, you’ve lost yourself to her. You’re not the same dragon you used to be.”

  “Now wait just a minute!” I threatened.

  “See?” Ren interrupted. “She doesn’t want to be exposed. Believe me. If you keep that Scarf, you will soon be besotted with her. She’ll have you giving up whatever is most precious to you.”

  “She wouldn’t.”

  “That’s what she does,” Kishan said. “Oh, you won’t notice it at the time, and you’ll even thank her for it. She’ll make you think it’s your idea, and she’ll have you eating out of her hand in no time. Just wait. Can you feel it now? It’s already eating away at you, isn’t it? Festering in your gut?”

  Ren elbowed Kishan. “She’s probably already got her hooks into him. See? He’s squirming under her gaze already. He’s been making bad agreements ever since he came back into the room. He shouldn’t have been left alone with her.”

  Kishan replied, “Yes, you’re right. But it’s a classic mistake. Anyone could have made it, even a dragon.” He sighed. “Well, she’s drained us of all of our resources, so I guess she’ll be happy enough to move on to her next victim.”

  The dragon swallowed dryly and darted a glance at me, then laughed shakily. “You three had me … had me going for a minute there, but I don’t believe you. You’re fabricating this whole thing.”

  “Are we?” Kishan leaned forward. “I can tell you right now, I’ve never loved someone as fiercely as I love her. I would do anything to protect her and keep her by my side. I’d want to kill anyone who took her from me.”

  I snorted at his obvious jibe at Ren. Subtle Kishan. Real subtle.

  Kishan paused to study my expression but only briefly. “However, I would stay my hand if I felt assured that you were the one she really wanted.”

  That wiped the smile off my face. Did he mean that? I knotted my fingers and twisted them, tense and edgy after Kishan’s declaration. I knew that he loved me, but I guess I’d never considered that he was as intense about it as Ren was. Could I callously brush him aside the way Ren wants me to? No. I can’t hurt him like that. He is good to me, a good man, and I do love him.

  Phet said they were both pillows in a world of rocks. I could find a place to rest my head either way. Kishan turned to me and winked. I half smiled back and bit my lower lip. Of course there was another possibility. Perhaps Kishan exaggerated his feelings for the dragon’s sake. But his golden eyes met mine, and I knew he hadn’t been exaggerating. He really loved me that much, and he really would let me go.

  The dragon began to sweat, recognizing the truth of Kishan’s words.

  Ren had been sitting forward, rubbing his hands together in slow revolutions as he listened to Kishan talk. He glanced at his brother briefly, and then sat back and turned his head to look in my eyes. He smiled and spoke quietly. So soft was his voice that he seemed to be speaking only to me. Everyone leaned forward to hear him, myself included.

  “I don’t think I could be so generous. You see, I’ve loved her since the moment I laid eyes on her. I’ve been tortured to the point of death in her name. I would journey across the world to see her smile, to make her happy. When she becomes yours, dragon, and binds the threads of her Scarf around your heart, I will probably wither and die, for I am as wrapped up in her as a vine that clings to a tree seeking sustenance. She’s tied me to her for eternity. She’s my home. She’s my reason for being. To win and hold her heart is my only purpose.”

  My breath caught as his words faded. The room became as still and as sacred as a church. It was as if he’d just taken a vow. He couldn’t tear his eyes away, and I couldn’t either. I didn’t even question Ren’s sincerity. I absolutely knew he meant every word he said. If there was anything he left out, it was that the object of his devotion wasn’t worthy of him … that holding something as precious as his heart had almost destroyed her … that she was afraid that if he left her again she wouldn’t survive.

  As I sat there looking into Ren’s eyes, I had an epiphany. The green dragon had forced me to open my heart to Ren again, to admit the depth of my feelings, and in that moment, I suddenly realized that I was the most selfish person on Earth. I was a coward. A chicken. I was implementing my modus operandi again, my fallback for emotional trauma. Keeping Kishan near me meant I didn’t have to risk anything. He was my shield.

  He protected me from the relationship roller coaster ride that was Ren. I loved Kishan, and I believed I could be happy with him, but I also had to acknowledge that it wasn’t exactly the same. Ren’s love was an all-consuming fire, but Kishan was more like … a space heater. Comfortable, steady, reliable. Both kept me warm, but one could burn me. Singe me to ashes. If Kishan left me, I would cry, I would hurt, but I would move on, sadder but wiser.

  Loving Ren was like loving an atom bomb. When he went off, and it was just a matter of time before he did again, he would destroy everything around in a ten-mile radius. Of course, I always managed to be standing in the middle of the bull’s-eye. Shrapnel had mangled my heart. Twice. Kishan tried to pick up the pieces and hold them together by sheer will, but there were gaps. Pieces were missing.

  Oh, my heart tried to fool me. It beat thickly, warmed by Ren’s words, by his promises, but it wouldn’t matter in the end. Something or someone would take Ren from me, or he’d once again sacrifice himself nobly, and I’d be stuck in the same place I was now, only Kishan would have given up on me by then. I’d be totally, desperately alone. Just like with Li before, I had to choose. I had to pick between the consuming love of Ren that I was so desperate for I sometimes forgot to breathe, and the steady glow, the endless kindness and comfort that Kishan offered me.

  After a long moment of thick silence, Ren sucked in a lungful of air. His chest heaved as if he’d forgotten how to breathe. I responded in the same way, and the room came slowly back into focus. I shoved my thoughts to the side and tried to focus my attention on the task at hand while Ren turned his attention back to Jnsèlóng.

  “Do you doubt the truth of our words now, dragon?”

  Jnsèlóng’s neck had turned purple as if the very idea was choking him. I couldn’t help but giggle. The dragon turned toward me and held out the Scarf. “Take it back! I won’t lose my treasure to you, you … you succubus!”

  Ren raised a hand. “Now, now, Jnsèlóng. Do you think us novices? We will not take it back. You won it, and her, fair and square.”

  “Take it! Please! I’ll give you other jewels, more gold.”

  Ren rubbed his jaw and considered it. “No. That’s not good enough. It’s quite a burden to be bound to her. You are only feeling the beginnings. Believe me … to take the Scarf back would cost a mighty sum.”

  “Anything. You can have anything.” He leaned forward and whispered loudly, “She would make me give away all my treasure to … to humans. She’d have me,” he flapped his hands in the air, “fairy about leaving coins under pillows. That’s no life for a dragon! No! I won’t do it! You must take it back. I beg you!” the dragon pleaded.

  I played along with their game and kept the dragon distracted by sending him meaningful glances. He set the Scarf gingerly on the arm of his chair and sat as far away from it as possible. I whispered for the Scarf to change shape from time to time, making heart-shaped pillows, cross-stitched handkerchiefs that said “I heart dragons” on them, and a pillowcase embroidered with Kelsey + Jnsèlóng stitched all along the edges. The dragon squealed and twisted away uncomfortably each time.<
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  After that the negotiations progressed quickly. Ren was able to get back everything we brought with us, plus safe passageway to the white dragon’s castle, some interesting information about the Seventh Pagoda and its gatekeeper, a commitment from the dragon for five centuries of safely escorting all manner of ships and aircraft, and ended with a variety of treasures, including the life-sized jade tiger. The dragon even ensured delivery. He clapped his hands and told us that all of our treasures would be found on our ship when we returned.

  With the bartering complete, Jnsèlóng abruptly stood and announced it was time for us to go. He would actually take us to the white dragon’s castle, which was also underwater, give us a warm introduction, and then leave. As Kishan and I began to head out of the room, Ren asked us to go on ahead without him. Kishan automatically reached out his hand for mine. I relished the warmth of it and stepped closer.

  When Ren reappeared, he had a big smile on his face, and I noticed that he slipped something into his pocket as the dragon spoke.

  The dragon walked with him and whispered conspiratorially, “Of course, of course,” patted Ren on the back as if greatly relieved, and said, “And I wish you every happiness too.” Then he hurried us to the door.

  Ren’s smile only stayed until he noticed I was holding Kishan’s hand. He growled quietly, but I turned my head, avoiding eye contact. As Jnsèlóng passed us, I couldn’t help but flutter my fingers at him in a flirty wave.

  He squeaked and, giving me a wide berth, said, “Now when I change into my true form and leave the castle, you will only have a moment before you begin to feel the effects of the ocean’s pressure. Take a deep breath and swim out to me, grab onto one of my spikes and then you will be able to breathe comfortably, and the pressure will lessen. And try not to slip off, that would be … unfortunate.”

  The dragon ran a few steps and dove through the invisible barrier of his front door. He swam a bit as a man, and then the castle rocked slightly as his dragon form burst from his human skin like a tidal wave. His long tail ended in a fin and, though he had claws, there was webbing in the spaces between. His sinuous golden body sparkled in the dark water lighting the area around him with a saffron glow. He turned and appeared to be waiting impatiently for us.