Authors: Colleen Houck
Tiger's Promise (11 page)
I knew I needed to move carefully and slowly with her, so I only attempted the most
courteous, the barest, of gestures and touched my lips briefly to the back of her
hand, longing for the day when she’d be comfortable enough to allow me to hold her
in my arms, and bid her farewell.
As I watched the caravan leave, I wondered at my newly betrothed state. We would be
apart for much longer than I wanted. If there was anything I’d learned about Yesubai
in the short time we’d spent together, it was that she needed constant coaxing, much
like a hesitant mare, and I worried that the tenuous steps forward we’d made would
be for naught if we were separated too long. It would be far too easy to let the fragile
relationship we’d begun backslide to the cold distance we’d experienced at first meeting.
That was when I decided I’d write to her. Every day if necessary. If I couldn’t be
with her in person, I’d bare my soul to her on the page. Then, perhaps, when we met
again, we’d feel that the distance between our hearts wasn’t so hard to bridge after
all.
sneak peek from
Prologue
Her wild heart raced, pounding chaotically like the stream she’d paused at. Her thin
limbs trembled and as moonlight cut across her form, I could see her pulse throb and
her eyes flick back and forth, alert to danger. I watched her from the shadows of
the trees, a black specter intent upon her demise. After sticking her nose in the
air one last time, she nervously lowered her head for a drink.
I sprung from my hiding place and tore through grass and brush, eating up the distance
like a shooting star. My claws scraped against a gnarled root thrusting up through
the ground like the arm of a rising skeleton and she heard the noise.
Bounding swiftly, the deer jerked to the left. I leapt, but my teeth caught only the
thick fur of her winter coat. She let out a frightened squeal of alarm. Charging after
her, my blood raced and I felt more alive than I had in months.
I pounced again and this time wrapped my claws around her heaving torso in a deadly
embrace. She struggled beneath me, bucking as best she could as I bit her neck. Sinking
my teeth in, I clamped down on her windpipe. Crushing it would suffocate her and I
believed it was a gentler, more humane way to hunt but, suddenly, I felt as if I was
the one slowly asphyxiating.
The exhilaration I felt when I hunted leeched away and I was left once again with
the emptiness that constantly threatened to consume me. It smothered and choked, killing
me unhurriedly in the same manner as I was taking the life of this creature.
I opened my jaws and lifted my head. Sensing a change, the deer lunged into the creek
knocking me off her back in the process. As she disappeared into the undergrowth,
cold water washed over my thick fur and for a moment I wished I could just breathe
it in and let go. Let go of my memories. Let go of my disappointment. Let go of my
dreams.
If only I believed death would be so kind.
Gradually, I made my way out of the stream. My paws were as caked with mud as my thoughts.
Disheartened, I shook the water out of my fur and was futilely trying to get the mud
out from between my claws when I heard a woman’s laugh.
I whipped my head up and saw Anamika crouching on the limb of a tree, the golden bow
across her shoulder and a quiver of arrows strapped to her back.
“That was the most pathetic hunt I’ve ever seen,” she mocked.
I growled softly but she ignored the warning and continued making comments.
“You chose the weakest creature in the forest and you still couldn’t bring her down.
What kind of tiger are you?”
She nimbly hopped down from the thick branch. Anamika wore her green dress and as
she strode towards me I was momentarily distracted by her long legs, but then she
opened her mouth again.
She put her hands on her hips and said, “If you’re hungry, I can bring down your meal
for you, seeing as you’re too weak to do it yourself.”
Grunting, I turned my back on her and loped off in the other direction but she quickly
caught up to me, matching my speed even as I darted through the trees. When I realized
there was no shaking her, I halted and switched forms.
As a man I spun to her and bellowed in annoyance, “Why do you insist upon shadowing
me, Anamika? Isn’t it enough that I’m stuck here with you day in and day out?”
She narrowed her gaze. “I am as much stuck,” she rolled the word across her tongue
since it was fairly new to her, “here with you as you are with me. The difference
is that I do not waste my life away yearning for something I shall never have!”
“You know nothing about what I yearn for!”
She raised an eyebrow at this and I knew what she was thinking. In reality she knew
everything
I yearned for. Being the tiger of Durga meant that the two of us shared a bond, a
mental connection that linked us every time we assumed the form of Durga and Damon.
We tried to give each other space but we both knew much more about one another than
we were willing to talk about.
I knew she missed her brother, terribly. She also hated taking on the role of Durga.
Power didn’t interest her which actually made her the perfect choice to rule as a
goddess. She would never abuse the weapons or use the Damon Amulet for selfish purposes.
That was something I admired about her, though I’d never admit it.
There were other things I’d noticed that I’d come to respect in the past six months.
Anamika was fair and wise in resolving disputes, always thought of others before herself,
and she wielded weapons better than most men I knew. She deserved a companion who
supported her and helped make her burden easier. That was supposed to be my job, but
instead I often wallowed in self-pity. I was about to apologize when she started pushing
my buttons again.
“Believe it or not, I am not following you around to make your life unpleasant. I
am simply assuring that you do not hurt yourself. Your thoughts are continuously distracted
which means you put your well being at risk.”
“
Hurt
myself? Hurt myself! I can’t
be
hurt, Anamika!”
“
Hurt
is all you’ve been for the past six months, Damon,” she said more quietly. “I have
tried to be patient with you but you continue to display this, this…weakness.”
Angrily, I approached her and jabbed my finger in the air next to her nose, effectively
ignoring the barely noticeable yet appealing dusting of freckles across it and the
long lashed green eyes a man could lose himself in. “Let’s get a couple of things
straight, Anna; first, how I feel is
my
business and second,” I paused then as I heard her suck in a breath. Concerned that
I was frightening her, I backed up a step and stopped shouting. “Second, when we’re
in public, I am Damon, but when we are alone,
please
call me Kishan.”
I turned my back to her, raised my hand to the trunk of a nearby tree, and let the
angry fire she always brought out in me dull back down to dead smoking embers. Concentrating
on slowing my breathing, I didn’t notice her approach until I felt her hand on my
arm. Anamika’s touch always shot warm tingles through my skin, a part of our cosmic
connection.
“I am sorry…Kishan,” she said. “It was not my intention to anger you or bring your
volatile emotions to the surface.”
This time her irritating comments didn’t bother me. Instead I laughed dryly. “I’ll
try to remember to keep my ‘volatile emotions’ in check. In the meantime, if you quit
pestering the tiger he wouldn’t be so quick to show you his teeth.”
She studied me silently for a moment then walked past me, heading back towards our
home with a stiff back. The fading sound of her muttering disappeared as she moved
through the trees but still I caught the phrase, “I am
not
frightened of his teeth.”
I felt a passing guilt at letting her return home alone but I’d noted that she wore
the Damon Amulet and knew there was nothing on this earth that could harm her. When
she was gone, I stretched and wondered if I should return to the home we shared, shared
being a relative term, or if I should stay the night in the forest. I’d just decided
to find a nice piece of grass to sleep on when my body stilled, sensing the presence
of another person.
Who would be here? A hunter? Had Anamika returned
?
Slowly, I circled, making little to no sound and when I’d fully revolved I jumped
back, my heart slamming in shock.
A little man stood before me as if he’d appeared out of nowhere,
which he probably had
. Moonlight shone on his bald head and, as he shifted, his sandals crunched the grass.
We hadn’t seen the monk since that fateful day when I gave over my fiancée, the girl
I loved more than life, to my brother. The day I watched my dreams, my hopes, and
my future leap through a vortex of flame and disappear, extinguishing like a lamp
run out of oil.
I’d been depleted ever since.
“Phet,” I said simply. “What brings
you
to my version of hell?”
The man took hold of my shoulder and peered at me with lucid brown eyes.
“Kishan,” he said gravely, “Kelsey needs you.”
1) Despite the danger, Isha stayed with Yesubai. Was the sacrifice worth it?
2) Lokesh takes out his anger on his daughter and constantly threatens her.
Why does he keep her alive?
3) Why do you think Yesubai decided to wear a golden veil to the king’s party
even though she knew her father preferred lavender?
4) Yesubai inherited powers from her father yet her father cannot heal or become
invisible. Why do you think her powers manifested differently?
5) How does Yesubai feel when the king announces she will be married? Why?
6) Flowers and gardens are a theme in this book. Yesubai compares herself to
a flower that’s been shut away from the sun. Are there other comparisons you can make
between Yesubai and a flower?
7) When Yesubai drives up to the king’s home with her father, she passes three
gates guarded by animals—monkeys, tigers, and elephants. All of these creatures are
found in the Tiger’s Curse series. Were there any other symbols or references you
noticed that are recurring themes?
8) Lokesh met Kishan in the king’s hanging garden. What do you think was Lokesh’s
true purpose? Was it more than what happened on the surface?
9) Is Deschen different than how Ren and Kishan described her previously? How
so?
10) The story of the koi fish leaping up a waterfall held significant meaning
for Yesubai. Do you think she was truly granted a gift from the gods?
11) Yesubai wonders if the Rajaram family and the world would have been better
off if she had never been born. What would be different about the Tiger’s Curse if
she hadn’t been?
12) A theme for this story is “the apple not falling far from the tree.” Is Yesubai
doomed to become a villain like her father? How is she different from him?
13) Ren says that Lokesh is a coiled cobra and his poison runs through them all.
In what way is this true?
14) The main theme for the Tiger Series is that true love requires sacrifice.
Did Yesubai truly love Kishan? Did Kishan truly love Yesubai? Did he love Kelsey?
How has he changed after his experience with Yesubai?
15) How are Kelsey and Yesubai similar and how are they different?
16) Is the opening poem
Early Death
reflective of Yesubai’s experience? How so? Was her death “kind”?
17) Why do you think Yesubai was unable to heal herself at the end of the book?
Could there be more than one reason?
18) Durga kept Yesubai alive long enough to ask one question. What was it and
why was it an important one?
19) Assuming Durga had the kamandal and could have saved Yesubai’s life, why
didn’t she?
20) Is Yesubai a different person than you expected? Do you like her more or
less than you did before? Why?
There are a few people I wanted to show appreciation for in helping me get this novella
organized and ready to share. First, I want to thank my agent, Alex Glass, for his
tireless support and effort on my behalf. I think he was nearly as excited as I was
to get to work on this project.
Thanks to Cliff Nielsen for his beautiful art once again. You are an inspiration and
a delight to work with.
Heartfelt gratitude goes to my early reading group. My sisters, Linda, Shara, and
Tonnie. My mom, Kathleen. My brother, Jared, and his wife, Suki, and my friend Linda.
You guys are all awesome and inspiring and you’re always willing to grab an oar and
help move this ship along.
Deep appreciation goes to my copyeditor, Amy Knupp at Blue Otter Editing, and to the
e-publishing team at Trident Media Group, Elizabeth Parks, Emily Ross, Lyuba DiFalco,
and Nicole Robson. You guys all deserve a party.
Finally, a standing ovation for all my dedicated readers, tweeters, and bloggers who
constantly beg me for anything tiger. This one’s for you. =)
New York Times
Bestselling Author Colleen Houck is a lifelong reader whose literary interests include
action, adventure, science fiction, and romance. Her first four novels,
Tiger’s Curse, Tiger’s Quest
,
Tiger’s Voyage
, and
Tiger’s Destiny
were
New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly
bestsellers. Formerly a student at the University of Arizona, she worked as a nationally
certified American Sign Language interpreter for seventeen years before switching
careers to become an author. Colleen lives in Salem, Oregon, with her husband and
a huge assortment of plush tigers.
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