Monsoon Mists (35 page)

Jamie shut his mouth, but stared hard at the Rajah. The man narrowed his eyes and put his head to one side. ‘No, let him speak, Bijal. I should be interested to hear his theory, even if it proves to be wrong.’

The vizier’s expression turned stormy and his lips tightened, but his master had spoken. Jamie almost smiled. Now it was time to see if his theory was correct.

‘Well, my belief, Highness, is that the real thief was none other than your vizier himself.’

‘How dare you?’ Bijal roared and took a step towards Jamie, the
katar
once again making an appearance.

‘Bijal! Let him finish.’ The Rajah
at his most imperious waved his vizier back. ‘Continue, foreigner. What proof have you of such an accusation?’

‘For one thing, the talisman in your hand is a fake.’

Another gasp went through the crowd and everyone’s eyes turned to the object in their master’s hands. He frowned and held it up to the light in order to study it more closely. Jamie saw him scrutinising the ruby and wondered if the Rajah could tell the difference between that and a red diamond. Possibly not. But surely he must be familiar enough with this jewel to see that part of the inscription was missing from the sapphire? He held his breath, waiting for the verdict.

The Rajah nodded at last. ‘He is right. This is not mine.’ He fixed his gaze on Bijal. ‘What is the meaning of this?’

‘I … I … what? I don’t understand. There must be some mistake. My spies assured me …’

‘I’m sure it’s not my place to dictate to you, Highness, but if I might suggest a search of the vizier’s person?’ Jamie cut in.

‘Yes, immediately.’

The guards hurried to do their master’s bidding, surrounding Bijal at once. He tried to shove them off, but two of them grabbed his arms while the others patted his clothing and checked the contents of his sash. It wasn’t long before one man held up a package that was very similar to the one in the Rajah’s lap. He rushed to hand it over.

‘No! But what …?’

The expression on Bijal’s face was almost ludicrous, but Jamie didn’t allow himself so much as a smile. They weren’t out of the woods yet.

Again, the Rajah held up a talisman to the light and checked the inscription in detail. When he had finished, he had a face like an avenging god.

‘So, you thought to make a fool of me. Why, Bijal?’ The vizier said nothing. He had stopped struggling and stood with his head bowed, seemingly a broken man. ‘And my brother?’ the Rajah continued. ‘You tried to make me think he had stolen from me, but it was untrue, wasn’t it? Did you have him killed also?’

Jamie didn’t understand any of this, but assumed it made sense to the Rajah. The more crimes the vizier had committed, the better, in his opinion, as that might be in his and Zar’s favour.

‘Answer me!’ the Rajah roared, as formidable as a tiger in his wrath. ‘Why have you done this to me? I have always treated you fairly.’

Bijal lifted his face at last and sent his master a look of venom. ‘
You
may have, but your father did not. He was my father too and I was the eldest, yet he chose not to marry my mother and therefore you inherited the throne. But it was my birthright.
Mine!
’ he hissed.

‘Your mother was a
nautch
girl. My father couldn’t marry her. How could you even think such a thing? Preposterous.’

‘She was not always a dancing girl. She was highborn, but her father’s kingdom was taken away.’ Bijal had a haughty expression now, defiant and almost regal. Jamie supposed the man had nothing left to lose.

‘If she told you that, it was a lie,’ the Rajah insisted. ‘My father told me exactly where she came from. Trust me, she was no princess.’

‘How dare you speak thus of my mother? She was royal, I tell you, she was! More royal than you!’ The vizier’s face darkened and he wrenched himself free from the men who were holding onto him. Before Jamie had time to move, the man threw himself forward and grabbed hold of Zar’s wrist, yanking her hard up against him, her back to his front. The gleaming
katar
made another appearance, this time held against Zar’s neck. She stared at Jamie with eyes that were huge with terror. Jamie froze.

‘Take one step closer to me and the woman dies,’ Bijal hissed, backing slowly towards a side door. ‘I may have lost this throne, but I’ll find another.’ Zar had no choice but to follow.

Jamie looked around, his brain working furiously to find a solution. He saw both Zar’s father and Sanjiv trying to edge towards the exit, presumably to attempt to intercept Bijal, but the vizier saw them and nicked Zar’s chin so that a few droplets of blood oozed over her magnolia skin. She didn’t make a sound, but her face was now drained of all colour.

‘Stop right there,’ Bijal ordered. They did.

Jamie felt numb. He glanced at the Rajah, who was scowling, obviously at a loss as to what to do.

‘You gain nothing by killing her,’ Jamie shouted. ‘The Rajah’s men will capture you outside. There’s no escape.’ He hoped to stall the man by talking to him until he could come up with a solution.

‘We’ll see about that,’ the vizier muttered, but he didn’t stop moving.

He was almost by the side exit now and Jamie tried to gauge how quickly he could reach them. If he could make Zar kick the man or something, there might be enough time for him to tackle Bijal to the ground. He stared into Zar’s eyes, willing her to understand that he wanted her to create some kind of diversion and saw her blink, slowly and deliberately. She got the message.
Good!

Before either of them could do anything, however, a small brown streak came tearing along the wall and jumped up with a growl, attaching itself to Bijal’s backside.
Kutaro?
What the hell was he doing here, Jamie wondered fleetingly, but there was no time to think about it. Bijal let out a shriek of pain, losing his concentration for a moment, which was long enough for Zar to kick the man’s shin and duck out of his grip
.
From behind the crowd, another small shape hurtled into the vizier’s legs, toppling him off-balance at the same time as Jamie sprinted across the room and grabbed the hand that was holding the deadly
katar
.

‘Nooo!’ The vizier flailed as he fell to the floor, but Jamie didn’t give him a chance to get up. He threw himself on top of the man, fighting for possession of the
katar.
Desperation made Bijal strong, but Jamie was stronger and forced the man’s fingers to open until the weapon clattered to the floor. Quickly, Jamie picked it up and pointed it at Bijal’s throat.

‘Don’t move so much as a muscle or you’re dead,’ he breathed.

‘Help the foreigner,’ he heard the Rajah order, and very soon Bijal was once again being gripped by two sturdy guards. This time they didn’t take any chances, however, and tied his hands behind his back.

Jamie got off the floor and he and Zar both turned to Roshani and her dog, who were standing panting next to them. ‘What on earth are you doing here?’ Jamie asked. ‘I thought I left you safe at home.’ Although part of him was angry with the little girl for disobeying him, there was no doubt she and her furry friend had saved the day. Without them … no, he didn’t even want to think about what could have happened. It had been too close a call.

‘We follow. Walk. See bad men take you away. No like. Elephants very slow.’ Roshani explained in a whisper.

Zar shook her head, but said with a smile, ‘You’re impossible, but thank you, you saved my life.’ She opened her arms to the little girl and hugged her close, while Jamie grabbed Kutaro’s collar and made a fuss of him, murmuring ‘Good boy, yes, you’re a very good boy.’

‘Who are these newcomers?’ The Rajah’s imperious voice interrupted their reunion.

Jamie stood up and lifted Kutaro, cradling him in his arms so he wouldn’t escape and cause any mayhem. He bowed as best he could. ‘Apologies, Your Highness, this is my, er, ward and her faithful dog. They must have followed us here, although I’m not quite sure how they were able to enter the building …’

The Rajah waved a hand. ‘No matter. I’m pleased that all has ended well.’

‘For you maybe!’ Bijal had seemingly found his voice again, and began to shout imprecations at the Rajah. ‘You’re occupying someone else’s throne. You’re a sham, an impostor, a bastard and—’ One of the guards hit him, cutting off the sound.

‘And you’re deluded,’ the Rajah said, quietly but firmly, then nodded to the guards. ‘Take him away. I will deal with him later. And his henchman too.’

Bijal’s black gaze swept over Jamie, Zar, Sanjiv and Evans, as well as the little girl and the dog, but they all stared back. The vizier couldn’t harm them now and after his callous dispatching of William, he’d not receive any sympathy from them.

When Bijal and his servant had been led out of the room, the Rajah turned back to Jamie. ‘What is your name, foreigner?’

‘James Kinross, Highness.’ He indicated his companions. ‘And this is my wife, Zarmina, my ward Roshani, my friend Sanjiv and my wife’s father, Thomas Evans.’

His Highness stood up and bowed formally to all of them. ‘You have my eternal gratitude and my apologies for any inconvenience caused. You shall all be rewarded and you are, of course, free to go.’

Jamie and the others bowed back, even Evans although Jamie wasn’t sure the man understood what had happened.

‘Thank you, Highness. No reward is necessary, we were pleased to be of assistance.’

‘I insist. I always reward those who help me.’

‘Then I thank you again and may we wish you good fortune for your forthcoming nuptials.’

The Rajah smiled and held up the talisman. ‘Now that I have this, that is assured. And having a duplicate might help fool any future thieves. Thank you again, my friend. I wish you a long and happy married life also. Ravi, bring one of the diamond caskets.’

The man returned very quickly with a beautiful little chest, inlaid with mother-of-pearl and ivory, but Jamie soon found that the outside was the least valuable part. The servant lifted the lid to show them that it was filled to the brim with uncut diamonds.

‘I hope you can have something done with these. I am told they will yield stones of good quality,’ the Rajah said. ‘I’m sorry, but as I am not at home, I regret I don’t have any finished ones to give you.’

‘This is more than generous, Highness, thank you!’

Jamie knew that he could cut these stones himself and with eyes trained by Akash, he saw at once that the Rajah spoke the truth – these would be uncommonly fine diamonds.

As they stumbled out into the early morning, Jamie took Zar’s hand and guided her towards the waiting elephants, making sure that Roshani and Kutaro were close behind.

‘Come on, you two, you’ll have to sit on our laps.’

‘We ride on elephant? Yes! I never before.’ Roshani’s face was wreathed in smiles and she hurried over to the
mahout
who helped her up into the
howdah
, lifting Kutaro up as well. Jamie pulled Zar towards the waiting animal.

‘He’s truly letting us go? I can’t believe it.’ Zar had a dazed look on her face, but sounded almost breathless with relief. ‘Your plan worked.’

Jamie twined his fingers with hers and gave them a squeeze. ‘Well, it would have done if it hadn’t been for Bijal, but thankfully Roshani and Kutaro came to our aid. You helped as well though, thank you. I couldn’t have planted the real talisman in Bijal’s sash without you.’

And as they set off back towards Surat he realised that he’d spoken nothing but the truth. He couldn’t have managed it without Zar. They made a good partnership.

In fact, they were made for each other.

Now all he had to do was convince her of that, because he wasn’t at all sure she felt the same.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

‘There you are! How are you feeling now?’

It was late afternoon of the day after their ordeal at the hands of Bijal, and everyone had slept late. Zar had eventually woken up, had a leisurely meal in bed and then ventured outside as the rain had stopped for a while. She was now sitting in Jamie’s courtyard, on the rim of the little pond, trailing her hand in the water. The courtyard wasn’t as nice as her own as it lacked flower pots, but was still beautiful in a less cluttered way. She looked up to find Jamie standing next to her.

‘I’m fine, thank you,’ she told him. ‘Relieved it’s all over and, truth to tell, a little sad about William.’ She saw Jamie raise his eyebrows in surprise. ‘I know, he didn’t treat me well, but to be honest, he did have some cause. And whatever he did, his life ended too soon.’

‘Well, I’m glad you can find it in you to forgive him. I think it might take me a little longer,’ Jamie said drily. ‘May I?’ He indicated the space next to her.

‘Of course.’ She laughed. ‘It’s your pond after all. I should really go back to my own house, but somehow I can’t face it yet. In fact, I was thinking perhaps I ought to sell it and buy another property. There are too many bad memories.’

Jamie nodded. ‘Good plan. I need to sell some property myself now.’ He looked away. ‘I don’t suppose you’ve changed your mind about marrying me? Now we have a whole chest full of diamonds to share, you needn’t worry I’m after your fortune.’ He glanced at her, his mouth quirking into a teasing half-smile.

Zar took a deep breath before answering. She couldn’t let on that his smile affected her and didn’t return it with one of her own. ‘No, I … don’t think it’s a good idea.’ She managed to keep her voice even, but it was amazingly difficult to remain outwardly calm. Part of her wanted to throw herself into his arms and say ‘yes, of course I’ll marry you, I love you’, because she’d had to admit it to herself now. She’d fallen in love with this man, even though it was no use, for by the sound of things he was preparing to leave India soon if he was selling his assets and she’d be left behind. Why put herself through such humiliation? He didn’t love her and she was sure he was only asking her because of some chivalrous notion that he ought to.

‘Right.’ He stared at the ground. ‘Well, feel free to stay in this house for as long as you like. I need to travel to Madras with Sanjiv and then on to Bombay. I shall be gone for at least a month, possibly more. Are you still happy to take care of Roshani for me? You’ll have Kamal and the new
sepoys
I hired to guard you and if she’s a nuisance, I can always take on more staff.’