The Tiger Prince

by Iris Johansen

  “You want to see me slave at your command and then lose everything.”

  “That would be one way to punish you, wouldn’t it?” He smiled. “Do you wish to tear up the contract?”

  She had had little hope of getting him to give her better terms, but she’d had to make the attempt. “It will be done on time.”

  “Then I believe we have nothing more to discuss.” He nodded politely. “I’ll see you on Cinnidar.”

  She watched him walk away, bold, tough, and dauntingly confident.

  But she would not be daunted by him, blast it.

  She would give him his railroad and grab this chance for an independent life for herself and Li Sung. She would work harder than she ever had in her life and not give herself a chance to think of anything else.

  The mandarin would not win this time.

  t is truly a palace,” Li Sung murmured, his gaze on the massive structure on the hill. “But it is not what I’d expect of Ruel.”

  Jane’s grasp involuntarily tightened on Bedelia’s reins as she looked at the magnificent palace. Two rows of cypress trees bordered the sides of the road leading up to a courtyard whose center point was a large marble fountain. The central section of the palace was domed, with wings sprawling with faultless symmetry on either side. The long veranda, extending the entire length of the palace, was interspersed with eight arched columns and sported white marble fretted balustrades that shimmered like diamond lace in the late afternoon sunlight. Everything about the structure spoke of exotic beauty … and power. Ruel’s power. At that moment she did not need such a potent reminder that this was Ruel’s kingdom. “Why not? He always said he wanted a palace.”

  “Words are not actions. Men like him are not truly comfortable surrounded by luxury any more than we are.”

  “Well, at least Ian will be comfortable.” Jane glanced over her shoulder at the large carriage containing Margaret, Kartauk, and Ian lumbering up the hill a few hundred yards behind them. “He stood the trip very well, didn’t he? Much better than the trip to Scotland.”

  “He’s stronger now.” Li Sung’s tone was abstracted as he narrowed his eyes against the glare of the sun setting beyond the palace. “I think I see Ruel on the veranda. Let us hurry.”

  The man on the veranda was only a blur of white from this distance but she, too, knew it was Ruel. Jane tensed and then forced herself to relax. She had been dreading this moment since they left Scotland and must not reveal any hint of nervousness when she again confronted him. “You go on. I’ll stay with the carriage.”

  Li Sung gave her a shrewd glance. “You cannot avoid him for the next seven months.”

  “But I don’t need to rush to meet him. I’m surprised you’re so eager. You certainly didn’t display any vast amount of enthusiasm when I told you I’d signed the contract.”

  “Because you were afraid. I’ve never seen you afraid before.”

  “I’m not afraid. It’s a splendid opportunity that could mean a great deal to us. Naturally, I wish everything to go well.”

  “And why should you fear it will not?”

  “I don’t fear—you read the contract and Medford’s report. We can do this, Li Sung.”

  “And the compensation is extraordinarily generous,” he said thoughtfully. “Too generous.”

  “That penalty clause isn’t all that generous, but Ruel will comply with the terms of the contract.”

  “Yes, he will keep his promise. I admit I feel better about the arrangement since we’ve arrived. Perhaps this Cinnidar is the paradise Ruel believes it.”

  “He never said it was paradise.” She made a face. “And the problems Medford stressed in his report certainly don’t indicate any celestial Eden. Jungle, steep mountain grades, marshlands, tigers, elephants.”

  “We can do this, Jane.” Li Sung smiled faintly as he repeated her own words.

  “Hoist with my own petard.” She felt a sudden lightness of spirit. “Of course we can. Why do you feel better about it now?”

  “I do not know. It is a feeling without a reason. I saw the island and it—” He hesitated.

  “Called to you?”

  “Do not put such nonsensical words in my mouth. Islands do not have voices with which to call.”

  “Ruel says this one called him.”

  “He spent years searching for gold. No doubt he saw the mountain and his miner’s instinct prompted him to believe this foolishness.”

  “No doubt.” She smothered a smile. Li Sung was, as usual, scoffing at the mystical even while obviously feeling its magnetism. “And to what instinct did you respond?”

  “It was most probably the instinct to abandon that ship and get my feet on firm ground again. A man who cannot swim is always uneasy on water.” He kicked his horse into a trot. “I will see you at the palace.”

  Her smile vanished as she watched him disappear around the curve of the road. Strange that both Ruel and Li Sung had felt the same magnetism for this place. Beauty? From that mist-shrouded mountain to the quaint village encircling the harbor, Cinnidar was undoubtedly lovely, but neither Li Sung nor Ruel was susceptible to mere scenery. Perhaps it was because the island possessed an almost magical ambiance. The air seemed lighter, easier to breathe, and yet the fragrances … vanilla, sandalwood, jasmine, the cedarlike odor of deodar and a hundred other scents too subtle to distinguish assaulted the senses with every breath.

  Dear God, she was reacting as besottedly as Li Sung, she thought impatiently. Cinnidar was just a place like any other, a place she would mold to her needs as Ruel had molded it to his.

  “Jane.”

  She turned to see Margaret’s head poking out of the window of the carriage.

  “How far? Do you see it yet?”

  Jane silently pointed to the palace on the hill.

  Margaret’s eyes widened as her gaze followed the gesture. “Merciful heavens.” She started to laugh. “I believe I’m impressed. The rascal always said he’d do it.”

  Two white-coated servants rushed to open the door of the carriage the instant it stopped before the entrance of the palace. Four muscular native men appeared a moment later, bearing a huge thronelike chair mounted on four carved poles and shaded with a scarlet-silk tasseled awning. Another boy grabbed Bedelia’s reins and led Jane toward the hitching rail, where Ruel stood with Li Sung. Ruel was dressed all in pristine white, his suit and shirt as elegant and impressive as the palace that was now his home.

  He nodded politely. “Jane.” He stepped forward and lifted her from the mare. “Welcome to Cinnidar.”

  “Thank you.” She could feel the warmth of his hands through the cotton of her shirt and it sent a little shock of sensation through her. She stepped quickly to the side, breaking his grasp. Too quickly. She could see by his suddenly intent expression she had revealed what she had wanted so desperately to conceal. She promptly made it worse by saying hurriedly, “I didn’t see any sign of Medford’s tracks on the way from the harbor.”

  His brows lifted. “Do you think I lied to you?”

  “I didn’t say that.”

  He nodded to the west. “Medford’s camp is a mile beyond that rain forest. You’ll meet him at dinner.” He turned and walked toward the carriage.

  Kartauk had already stepped down to the ground and was brusquely motioning the servants aside. “I’ll help him. He’s used to me.” He ducked into the carriage and emerged with Ian in his arms. He deftly settled him on the cushioned chair and tucked a silk throw over his knees. “There you are.” He grinned. “The last time I saw one of these chairs it was occupied by the maharajah who was being grandly transported around the royal garden. You look much better in it.”

  “Well, I feel like a bloody fool,” Ian said sheepishly. He leaned cautiously back in the chair. “But it’s comfortable enough.”

  “That’s all that’s important.” Ruel’s gaze raked Ian’s face. “How did you stand the trip?”

  “You’d know if you’d bothered to meet us at the harbo
r,” Margaret said as a servant helped her from the carriage. “I’d have thought you’d have had the courtesy to meet us yourself instead of sending that bevy of servants to the harbor. After all, we’re here at your insistence.”

  “I’m properly chastened.” Ruel’s eyes twinkled. “I realize excuses are unacceptable, but I feel I should explain I arrived here from the mountain only an hour ago. You’d have been even more disapproving if I’d met you in the extremely disheveled and smelly state I was in at that time.”

  “Then you should have made arrangements to arrive earlier.” Margaret cast a glance at the carriage. “However, I must admit the carriage was quite comfortable and your servants eager to please.”

  “I’m glad my humble efforts weren’t wasted.” He gestured to a tall, golden-skinned man who had just come out of the palace. “This is Tamar Alkanar. I brought him from his village to watch over Ian.”

  Like the other servants, Tamar Alkanar wore sandals, a waist-length white coat, and a colorful saronglike length of cloth that draped his narrow hips and ended midcalf. Two broad brass bracelets shone on both wrists. A gentle smile lit his fine features as he inclined his head in a bow. “I am most happy to greet you.” He bowed even lower to Ian. “Be assured I will serve you well and obey your every command.”

  Margaret nodded graciously at him but turned immediately to Ruel. “We don’t need him. Jock stayed at the harbor to supervise the unloading of the luggage, but Ian will prefer he—”

  “Jock doesn’t speak the local dialect,” Ruel interrupted. “You’ll need Tamar to help you supervise the other servants.”

  “And to protect you from the heathen hordes,” Kartauk murmured, shooting her a sly smile. “They delight in eating virtuous Scots, you know.”

  “It wouldn’t surprise me. But I’ve managed to survive three years of your barbarity, so I imagine I’ll have no trouble evading them.” She started up the steps, motioning to the bearers. “Come along, and mind you, be gentle with him. He’s not a sack of rice, you know.”

  “They will be careful. I will not permit any harm to come to him.” Tamar’s thick, glossy pigtail bounced as he hurried up the steps to open the tall, carved door for them. A moment later Kartauk, Margaret, and Ian’s entourage disappeared within the palace.

  Ruel turned to Jane. “Tamar will be back in a few minutes to show you and Li Sung to your quarters. I felt it necessary to get Ian settled first.”

  “Of course.”

  “Would you like to go around to the back terrace and get your first good look at the rest of the island? The palace is perched directly over the canyon.” He didn’t wait for an acquiescence but led them quickly around the palace to a many-leveled terrace tiled in cobalt-blue and emerald-green mosaic. The waters of an ornate fountain tumbled leisurely from terrace to terrace into pools arranged with geometric precision and bordered with white jasmine trees.

  Ruel led them through the splendid garden, past a number of reflecting pools, and then up three steps to still another terrace. “The view of the canyon is quite spectacular … and intimidating.”

  “More intimidating than Lanpur Gorge?” Li Sung asked.

  Ruel stopped at an ornate stone balustrade. “See for yourself.”

  They stood on the edge of a sheer cliff that plunged hundreds of feet to the valley below where the jungle spread a dense green carpet as far as the eye could see to the east and west. To the north loomed the mountain, rising with the same stark abruptness as the cliff on which they were standing.

  “Medford’s survey said it was over a hundred miles from the canyon wall to the mountain. It doesn’t look that far from here,” Jane said.

  “I guarantee it will seem a lot farther when you’re trying to hack your way through that jungle,” he said dryly.

  She had no doubt of that. “Has the mountain no name?”

  “Why should it? There’s only one.” He smiled. “I wouldn’t have the temerity to give her a name.”

  He had said that about his pet fox, she remembered suddenly. He had not given the pet he loved a name for the same reason.

  “It might offend her and she’s been very good to me.” A note of affection threaded his words, and his regard held a warm possessiveness that had not been there when he had strolled through the grandeur of the palace gardens.

  He is not a man to be truly comfortable in palaces any more than we are, Li Sung had said.

  “The river doesn’t have a name either,” Ruel added.

  “River?” She glanced back at the jungle.

  “You can’t see it from here because of the trees. It runs south to north before curving east to empty into the sea.”

  “If your mountain was so good to you, why did it take you three years to scrounge out enough gold to get you even this close to your goal?”

  He shrugged. “She offered me opportunity. I couldn’t ask more than that. I wouldn’t have felt the same sense of accomplishment if she hadn’t made me work for it.” He grimaced. “Which, I assure you, she did.”

  She understood exactly what he meant. There was no better feeling in the world than work successfully accomplished against odds. It always gave her a—

  She experienced a sudden rush of alarm. She must not allow herself to feel this sense of kinship with Ruel.

  She quickly shifted her stare from the mountain to the jungle to the east. “I expected to see the sea. The island must be wider than I thought.”

  He nodded. “It’s only three hundred miles long but it’s over six hundred wide.” He pointed to the west. “But you can see a faint glimmer of sea there.”

  “Can we see the road you cut through the jungle from here?” Jane asked.

  Ruel shook his head and pointed to the south. “It’s beyond those trees. You’re planning on laying the tracks on the mule track?”

  “If possible. We’ll have to do more clearing and widening, but it will still give us a head start. What about my supplies?”

  “I’ve had Medford’s crew transport them to the base camp on the mountain. See how helpful I’m being?”

  “I’m sure it’s greed and not goodwill that’s making you so accommodating.”

  He laughed. “That’s true.”

  “We’ll start out for the mountain tomorrow morning. I’ll need a map.”

  “I’ll do better than that. I’ll go with you and shepherd you all the way to the mountain.”

  She tensed. “That won’t be necessary. I wouldn’t wish to inconvenience you.”

  “It’s no inconvenience. I have to go back to the camp anyway. I returned only to make sure Ian is settled.” He smiled. “Take advantage of the little help I offer now. Once we reach the mountain, your job officially begins and you can expect nothing else from me.”

  “I expect nothing now.”

  “Not even an interpreter to make your needs known to the workers?”

  “I’ll get Medford to recommend someone.”

  “Tamar has a cousin who is already at the base camp. Dilam worked as a crew supervisor for Medford, is well liked by the other Cinnidans, and knows elephants.”

  “I need someone who knows railroads, not elephants.”

  “You may find it to your advantage to know both. Those jungles have been home to the elephant herds for centuries. They’re not fond of intruders in their domain.”

  She frowned. “Medford’s report mentioned elephants but no particular problems. However, I’ll accept your Dilam, if I consider him competent.”

  “Oh, Dilam’s exceptionally competent.”

  “And loyal to you?”

  “How suspicious you sound. Dilam won’t be a spy in your camp. The Cinnidans are a very independent people. Even I can’t buy their loyalty.”

  “That must be a great disappointment to you.”

  “No, actually it pleases me.” He glanced at Li Sung and raised his voice. “And the Cinnidans have your fondness for pigtails, Li Sung.”

  “What?” Li Sung turned away from the balustrade, an
d Jane noticed again that expression of total absorption he had worn ever since he had arrived on Cinnidar. “Oh, yes, I noticed on the way from the village. This proves they must clearly be a very superior people.”

  “Clearly,” Ruel agreed solemnly.

  “And they’re extremely handsome but they don’t look Indian. Their skin is more golden than dusky and they’re taller and huskier than most of the Indians I saw in Kasanpore. Are they of mixed blood?”

  Ruel shook his head. “Tamar tells me the Cinnidans originally came from one of the Polynesian islands in the South Seas and settled here. Abdar’s great-grandfather’s ‘annexation’ was very brutal, and the Cinnidans refused to have anything to do with the Savitsars or their retainers. They moved all their tribes away from the coast to the jungle in the canyon. Since the canyon was nearly inaccessible, they were untroubled by any interference.”

  “Very clever.” Li Sung started to turn back to the balustrade, when his attention was caught by something else. “Who lives there?” He pointed to a charming pagoda-style cottage with a curling slate-blue tiled roof a short distance from the terrace.

  “No one. That’s the summerhouse. I had it built to use as a retreat when I needed to get away from the palace.” He smiled at Jane. “I haven’t used it yet, but I’m sure I will soon.” Before she could speak he turned away. “Ah, here’s Tamar. If you’ll excuse me, I’ll see you both at dinner.”

  Jane breathed a sigh of relief as she watched him saunter toward the palace. Except for that brief moment of intimacy when they had first arrived, Ruel had acted with the casual courtesy and good humor of a host welcoming honored guests to his domain. She had no hope his behavior would continue in this vein, but she would gratefully accept any respite until she got her bearings.

  “What do you know about elephants?” she asked Li Sung as they followed Tamar into the palace.

  “Elephants?”

  “Ruel believes they may prove a problem. Didn’t you hear anything he was saying?”