Tiger’s Destiny (35 page)

“Why do you all stare at me like large-eyed puppies waiting for a bone?” she hissed.

Kishan was the first to react. He twisted around and prostrated himself before her. He bowed his head, and said, “How may I serve you?”

“Durga?” I whispered.

She looked exactly like the goddess we’d visited four times. Only this version had two arms instead of eight.

“What is a Durga?” she spat sharply, “and why is that one putting his face onto the floor? Has he lost control of his faculties? Perhaps his mind is as feeble as his body.” She leaned over and addressed Kishan in a loud voice as if he were hard of hearing. “You may stand up now. You have mistaken me for someone else.”

Kishan raised his bowed head and narrowed his gaze at the woman. Growling, he rolled quickly to his feet.

“What’s going on?” Ren whispered.

Anamika answered. “What’s going on is that we are at war, and I don’t have time to coddle weaklings.”

“Weaklings?” Kishan spat. He took a step toward the woman, but she only raised an eyebrow and looked him up and down with a disdainful expression.

I squeezed Kishan’s arm, and he stopped moving but continued his stare-down with our hostess. “Anamika, this is Dhiren Rajaram, and this is his brother, Kishan.”

“Anamika?” Kishan said. “Is that what she’s calling herself?” he mumbled hotly.

The goddess-like woman put her hand onto a dagger strapped to her waist. “Are you suggesting I am not who I say I am? I am Anamika Kalinga, advisor to Chandragupta, the most esteemed female champion in the history of my people, and the daughter of great kings.” She fixed a stormy gaze on Kishan. “I have bested men larger and smarter than you. You would be wise to treat me with respect,
durbala
.”

“
Durbala
?”

Whatever that word meant caused Kishan to lose it. He strode toward Anamika and seized her wrist before she could pull her knife. Even though he was a few inches taller, she still managed to look down at him. If steam could have billowed out from his nose and his ears, it would have. I’d never seen him so angry before.

“Kishan,” I said softly and held out my hand.

Settling down, he let go of Anamika’s wrist and returned to my side.

Ren deftly inserted himself between Kishan and Anamika. He bowed slightly and said, “Forgive us. We have traveled far from our homeland, and despite appearances,” he turned and gave Kishan a warning look, “we are grateful for the hospitality you’ve shown to us.”

He then launched into Hindi and introduced himself and Kishan more formally. I caught the names but that was about it. Anamika switched languages easily, and words flowed silkily between Ren and the leggy woman. The ease with which she talked with Ren and the change in her demeanor irked me. She lowered her guard with Ren, and soon she was all smiles and laughs.

Kishan and I watched and listened, and I honestly didn’t know whether to trust her. Frowning, I shifted, uneasily wishing I could understand what was being said.

At one point, Kishan interrupted, changing back to English. “My fiancée is weary. Might I ask for some food and a place where she may rest?”

Ren turned to look at me. I flushed under his scrutiny. I couldn’t help but feel like he was comparing me with Anamika—and I fell short. Through tight lips I protested, “I’m fine. I don’t need to rest.”

“Perhaps that would be for the best,” Ren argued quietly.

With a smirk, Anamika replied, “I’ll have my men prepare the
softest
bedding they can find.”

I bristled again while Kishan added, “I’m sure Kelsey would find that most welcome.”

As soon as Anamika stepped outside the tent, I folded my arms across my chest and turned to Ren and Kishan. “Let’s get one thing straight right now. I don’t care what century we’re in or even what planet we’re on. You two don’t speak for me. If either of you has got it into your heads to make me play the role of the little fiancée who needs a big strong man to think for me, you’d be wise to reassess your position! You are not going to send me off to my room so that I miss out on all the important discussions.”

Kishan said, “Kells, I didn’t mean . . . I wasn’t trying to get rid of you. I just wanted you to be comfortable.”

“I’m perfectly capable of making myself comfortable.”

“I know, it’s just . . .”

“Just what?”

“It’s just that we don’t exactly fit in. Our clothes are different, our speech, our mannerisms. Kelsey, I announced our betrothal and made efforts to see to your comfort to protect you. A single woman doesn’t fend for herself. Not in this kind of environment.”

“What about the Queen Bee over there? I don’t see a ring on her finger, and she seems to be fending for herself just fine.”

“It’s different for royalty,” Kishan explained. “She is likely protected by her man-at-arms or even a group of bodyguards.”

“But you’re forgetting that I can protect myself.”

“It doesn’t hurt to keep up appearances.”

As I stewed over his words, Ren added, “I apologize for leaving you out of our conversation. I was simply trying to assess who she is and what languages she speaks. It will help us to determine where we are and what point in history we are in without asking outright.” He took my hand. “I didn’t intend to brush you aside. I’m sorry.”

“Oh,” I sighed. “Well, I don’t like her, and I don’t trust her. We should leave.”

“Where else do you expect us to go, Kelsey?” Ren asked.

“We should be looking for Lokesh.”

“We don’t know where to find him,” Kishan stated. “I don’t like the harridan either, but our best option is find out what she knows.”

The harridan
? I raised my eyebrows. Kishan had never treated a woman with anything but respect.

“What exactly does
durbala
mean?” I asked Ren as Kishan busied himself inspecting the tent.

“It depends on how it’s used, but the word can mean ‘small,’ ‘sickly,’ or . . . ‘impotent.’”

I clapped my hand over my mouth to stifle my giggle. “No wonder he’s mad.”

Ren gave me a lopsided smile, retrieved our backpack, and sorted through everything to count all of our weapons.

Picking up Anamika’s fallen hairbrush, I twirled it thoughtfully and remembered her blistered feet. “Well, she’s obviously not the goddess, so why does she look like Durga?” I wondered aloud.

Ren took the trident from his belt and ran his fingertips down the length of it before placing it into the backpack. “I don’t know, Kells. But we were brought here for a reason. We just need time to figure out what that reason is.”

“Are you hiding our weapons?”

He nodded. “For now. They are of exceptional quality. I wouldn’t want someone to see the gold and make plans to take them. Speaking of which . . .” Ren rose and gently lifted the sleeve of my T-shirt. His fingers brushed against my skin, and I shivered as he slid Fanindra down my arm. Bright blue eyes sought mine, and a familiar lopsided smile appeared as he watched my reaction to his touch. Saying nothing, he let out a soft sigh and placed Fanindra into the backpack; then he moved on to retrieve Kishan’s weapons.

Anamika returned, followed by several men carrying rugs, pillows, and platters of food. They positioned the bedding behind a curtain, set the food on a low table, and waited at the entrance.

“Kelsey will stay in my tent,” Anamika announced.

Kishan was about to protest when Anamika raised her hand.

“I allow no impropriety among my men, and I won’t make any exceptions for you and your betrothed. I will, however, give you my vow that she will remain safe with me. The two of you will be assigned a tent to share and will be given proper clothing and . . . boots.”

I had forgotten that Ren and Kishan had no shoes. They’d switched from tigers to leap through the vortex and wore only their loose shirts and pants.

Anamika examined my jeans and T-shirt with a puzzled expression. “Perhaps some of my clothing can be cut down to accommodate your smallish stature,” she offered.

No one had ever called me small before. I stood up as tall as I could. “Just because you’re freakishly large does not mean I am small. My height is considered slightly above average in my homeland, I’ll have you know.”

“Indeed.” Her mouth twitched.

I took the backpack from Ren and slammed it over my shoulders. “I have my own clothes anyway. There is no need to cut any of your precious warrior-Barbie outfits.”

Anamika made a noise suspiciously like a growl and signaled a guard. “Take the men to their tent.”

As the brothers were being escorted away, she said to Kishan, “You may return to visit your little woman at the morning meal.”

Kishan and Ren both paused at the tent opening to look at me. I jiggled the backpack to reassure them I could take care of myself. They nodded and disappeared.

A servant entered and poured water into our goblets. Anamika sank onto the floor to make herself comfortable on the pillows. Placing my backpack as close as possible, I joined her and picked up my cup. The liquid was icy and fresh—the most delicious water I’d ever tasted.

“It’s wonderful!” I remarked after draining my cup.

Anamika grunted. “The water comes directly from the mountains. I also find it refreshing. Now, please, eat. I wouldn’t want your fiancé to accuse me of starving you.”

There were several different dishes, including bowls of toasted almonds, spicy chickpeas, pickled potatoes, lentils, and a few small pieces of fire-roasted meat. Anamika nibbled on a fragrant white fruit called lychee.

I picked up some flatbread and used it to scoop up chickpeas and the meat. “How did you hurt your feet?” I asked.

“My feet are none of your affair.”

“They looked pretty bad,” I remarked as I tried the potatoes.

She grunted but didn’t say anything more. I watched her as I ate.
Who is she and why does she look like Durga?

After she pulled off a small piece of flatbread and ate it, she turned her body away from the table as if she couldn’t look at the food any longer.

“What’s wrong?” I asked. “You don’t like the food? A woman like you probably doesn’t like to eat anything she didn’t hunt down and kill herself, right?”

“I am no longer hungry.”

I paused with a piece of plump lychee fruit pinched between my fingers. “You’re full?” I was confused, but only for a moment. I’d met women like her before, women like Ren’s annoying girlfriend, Randi. “Oh, you’ve got an Amazon figure to maintain.”

“I do not understand ‘Amazon figure.’”

“A figure is the shape of your body, and Amazons are these tall, beautiful women who live in South America. They are warriors who don’t need men to take care of them.”

“I have no concern for the shape of my body as long as it is strong. An Amazon, as you call me, may be what I am now but I was not always so. I like men.”

She’d said it with such sincerity that I couldn’t help laughing. “I understand. I like men too,” I said. “So why are you an Amazon now?”

Anamika brought her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. “I was not always alone. I had a brother . . . Sunil. He was my twin.” The ghost of a smile appeared on her lips. “He was the
senani
, in command of our forces.”

“What happened to him?”

“He was taken. Captured by our enemy.” She paused. “He is likely dead or so my men would have me believe. You asked about my feet. I dreamed my brother called to me, and I left my tent to find him. His voice compelled me forward, and I pressed on, not caring that my feet were cut by sharp rocks and torn by thorns and brambles. When I woke, I found I had experienced a walking dream and was far from my camp.”

“I’m sorry about your brother, Anamika.”

“We came here with thirty thousand foot soldiers, twenty thousand chariots, and five thousand battle elephants, along with dozens of spies and messengers. In the last battle, my brother was lost and our
sena
, our army, was struck down, hobbled. Hundreds of our elephants were overcome, and all that is now left of our proud warriors are a few thousand, most of whom are injured.”

“Your enemy sounds formidable.”

“He is a demon,” she said tiredly.

“Why don’t you eat a bit more?” I pressed. “You need to keep up your strength.”

She turned to me with piercing eyes. “I will not. This food is more than most of my men get in a month. How can I eat more when they are starving?”

I paused in reaching for another piece of flatbread. “Your men are hungry?”

“Hunger is the most trivial of their sufferings. I have asked them to return home, but they refuse to desert me, and I cannot leave until I determine what has happened to my brother.”

With a pointed glare, she got up and thrust aside the sheer curtain dividing the sleeping area. Anamika lay down on the floor of the tent and wrapped a thin blanket around her body. Whispering hushed words, I used the Golden Fruit to refill the bowls of food and even add a few more. Then I asked the guard outside the tent if he would distribute the food to the men.

The bowls were quietly removed and a hush fell over the camp as the men sought their tents for warm blankets. I peered up at the bright stars and wondered which tent belonged to Ren and Kishan. Shivering, I closed the flap and rubbed my arms.

Finding my pile of blankets, I wiggled between them and attempted to sleep. I lay there thinking about how warm I’d be if I was nestled between my tigers and clutched my blankets tightly as the night cooled to freezing temperatures. Finally, I could no longer stand it. Glancing at Anamika’s inert form, I asked the Divine Scarf to make thick blankets and to soften the thin pallet I’d been given. I also made cozy mittens, cushioned socks, and a knit hat to cover my ears.

I was finally comfortable, but I still couldn’t rest knowing that Anamika had only a thin blanket and threadbare clothing. Commanding the Scarf once again, I hoped that she wouldn’t hear the whisper of threads as they covered her body. When the Scarf’s work was done, Anamika moaned and rolled in her newly made thick blankets. Her sore feet were now encased in cashmere socks, and a soft pillow cushioned her head. I risked a peek through the sheer curtain. She’d drawn the blankets up to her nose, and her long black hair spilled across the pillow.