Soul of Fire (38 page)

And Lalita wondered why Sofie was so despondent that she refused food and drink. As if it should be an astonishing thing! Had not the last person who had promised to care for her betrayed her, just like her parents had?

At that moment, she
heard
something. Or not quite heard. It wasn’t a sound—or not quite a sound at the level ears could perceive. It was neither words nor shouts nor groans, just a suspicion of things sliding around. . . .

The sound St. Maur made when he changed shapes. Oh, it was ridiculous. But that sound roused Sofie from her stupor. Shooting a glance at the two men, now huddled—their backs to her—talking in a corner of the clearing, Sofie realized she could leave without being noticed.

Swiftly, she entered the verdant jungle to her right, hunching over so as to get lost in the confusion of vines and bushes and ground cover. Hurrying, she realized that a tiger might leap out at her, but that seemed a distant fear. She must see what had changed shape that way. She must see if it was St. Maur.

Her heart beat fast, her mouth felt dry and she knew that she was a fool. But then, suddenly, forcing her way between hanging vines, she saw another clearing. And in the clearing . . .

St. Maur was dressing in that careless way of his, without so much as a glance as he fastened his trousers and the buttons of his shirt. And in front of him stood Lalita.

A surge of something—not quite jealousy, because of course she could not feel jealous of a man for whom she did not care at all—shook her. Lalita had secrets from her. It only needed this betrayal to confirm her impression that she was destined to be betrayed by everyone in her life, mercilessly and without respite.

It was with some difficulty that she managed to concentrate on the words that Lalita was speaking, so she heard only the end of it.

“. . . . a flash of wings, over the trees,” she said, “and I thought it best if I came to see what was happening, and whether it was you. Miss Warington is having her tea, you see, and I thought she wouldn’t notice I was gone.”

Sofie’s hands clenched into fists. Why was it so important that Sofie not notice? She suspected that Lalita intended to betray her somehow, and it was hard not to wonder how.

“It is good that you came out to meet me,” he said. His soft, cultivated accents made Sofie’s stomach tie into knots, and she didn’t know why. It must be the memory of his sudden transformation, which still felt like a betrayal to her. “I was wondering how to approach you without . . . without calling Miss Warington’s attention. I do not wish to cause her distress.”

He dared! And why would he think seeing him would cause her distress? Such monstrous conceit. And this from the man who had advised her not to fancy that every man she came in contact with her had a passion for her. He should take his own advice.

“Why do you wish to talk to me?” Lalita asked, visibly surprised.

“I don’t know how much you heard of the tiger’s words,” St. Maur said. His face looked pale and set—the way he looked when he shifted into human form after having spent the entire night flying in dragon form. “I don’t know how much of it you understood. Do you know about Soul of Fire?”

“Of course,” Lalita said, hastily. “I know it is the ruby that Charlemagne used to bind all the power in Europe to himself and his family. I was in England.” There was something vaguely defensive to her tone. “I read European legends and novels.”

St. Maur smiled. Was that one of his ironic smiles, vaguely patronizing of all creatures not fortunate enough to be St. Maur, peer of the realm and dragon? “Yes, of course. I should have remembered. But what I mean is, do you know—”

“I heard the tiger say that the ruby demanded as dowry for Miss Warington was in fact that same ruby. I heard that the King planned to use it—after he sacrificed my mistress to cleanse it—to find the other ruby, Heart of Light, which would allow him to be lord of the world.”

“Very well,” St. Maur said. Why did he sound so tired, as though only his willpower was keeping him going? “You see, then, the danger in which she stands. I flew ahead, to Meerut, where the Captain Blacklock fellow whom she expected to marry lives.”

Expected
to marry? Sofie’s doubt seemed to be reflected, at the same exact time, by Lalita’s own sharpened look. “Expected?” Lalita said.

St. Maur shrugged. “I confess, I expected him to be more willing. You know what she is like. I can’t imagine a man made of flesh and blood not wishing to unite his life to hers.”

Sofie found that she had taken a deep, sighing breath, and was surprised the two interlocutors in the clearing hadn’t turned to look at her.

“I know that the captain danced attention to her most faithfully.”

“Yes, but apparently he meant nothing by it. I think he admired her excessively, but I don’t think there was ever an intention to marry her. Rather, he was scared at the thought of marrying her—scared that he would have to do so to protect her honor. And I . . . I will confess that I told him he should not marry her unless he wanted to, because it seems to me indecent—almost insulting—to have her shackled for life to someone who doesn’t love her.”

Sofie took in a deep breath, more startled at the pain she
didn’t
feel.

“But sir!” Lalita said. She looked horrified and had leaned against the trunk of a tree, facing Sofie. It was Sofie’s impression that Lalita would have liked to fall to a sitting position, and would have done so had there been anything nearby upon which to sit. “Think how short her life might be if she remains a virgin and falls into the hands of the tigers. You must know they are following us even now.”

“I know,” St. Maur said, and his terrible tiredness was like a pall hanging over his speech. “I know. I flew to Meerut and back over two days, and I saw and heard it all. They have sentinels posted at intervals. They are in constant communication by means of growls that transverse the jungle.”

“I’ve heard them,” Lalita said, and shuddered in turn. “I’ve heard them, and I know that they mean trouble. So how can you say it’s fine for the Englishman not to marry her? When her continued life might depend on her being a wife, not a maid?”

St. Maur shook his head. “I don’t know what to do, nor what to think. All I know is that I cannot, in clear conscience, advocate she marry a man who has no chance of loving her, and who will indeed resent her if he has to offer her his name.” And in response to Lalita’s puzzled look, he added, “He has hopes of a rich wife.”

“Oh.”

“But that is not all—I have observed you from above, and attempted to make sure that Miss Warington was safe, but that is not the main worry. You see, I have on me a scrying device. I was sent to India—as you might or might not have heard—to get the very jewel the tigers want, though it is no part of my plan to sacrifice Miss Warington to it.

“But for finding it, I was provided with a scrying device that will point me to the ruby. I operated that device and . . .” He shrugged. “Try as I might, it shows me your group.” Was it Sofie’s impression, or did Lalita look alarmed at these words? “Therefore, I must assume that Miss Warington has it.”

Sofie almost stepped forward, saying,
No, you fool, you must not assume any such thing.
But of course he’d said he had no wish to see her, and she was too much of a lady to impose her presence on a man so wholly unwilling to be in her company.

“Yes, it is something she would do, is it not?” Lalita said. “We both of us knew where the ruby was kept, and Miss Warington went running madly from the room when she realized that her mother would force her to marry the tiger. I can very well imagine her stealing the ruby before she ran out into the balcony, as an additional revenge against her parents.

Sofie frowned. What was Lalita thinking? Why, Lalita had helped her pack! Lalita had seen everything that went into her bag.

“Yes,” St. Maur said. “That is exactly what I feared. And, you see, that was why I returned. Since Miss Warington has the ruby, every effort must be made to separate her from it and to have one of your cousins keep it. Should Miss Warington—forbid the thought—fall into the tigers’ hands, then all is not yet lost, provided you can be sure the ruby doesn’t fall into their hands as well. This would allow time for Miss Warington to be rescued.”

Lalita smiled—a pale, worried smile. “Yes, I see your plan. And meanwhile, we’ll stay in the air as much as possible. That should keep the tigers from being able to catch up with us.”

“That,” St. Maur said, “is an excellent plan. I see Miss Warington is in most competent hands.”

“Oh, sir, of course,” Lalita said, blushing with pleasure at the compliment. “She has been my best friend, and I have been her companion since she was seven. I will defend her to the utmost of my strength.”

St. Maur surveyed her with an amused gaze and said, “I’m sure your moral strength is phenomenal, but perhaps you’d best trust her to your cousins when it comes to physical strength.”

Lalita smiled back at him, and said, “I’m actually stronger than I look, but of course my cousins are better equipped to perform the duty of bodyguards.”

“Very well, Miss . . . ?” St. Maur said.

“Lalita.”

“Very well, Lalita,” he said. “I will leave now. Remember, I entrust you with her life and her safety and I will be counting on you to keep both of those intact.”

She bowed to him, but said, just as he started undressing, “Where are you going now?”

“It doesn’t matter, does it?” he asked. “Somewhere. I thought . . .” He spoke slowly. “I thought all these years that I was too much of a coward to take my own life. And so I am. This is why, sometimes, it is useful to have a lawful and strongly constituted state at your back. It does that which you are not willing to undertake yourself.”

“Sir!” Lalita said, in a tone of surprise and shock, though Sofie was not sure at all what was so surprising or shocking about his words. She couldn’t quite understand what he meant by having a well-constituted state at his back, though.

“Never mind,” he said, calmly. He’d finished undressing. The whole ceremony was familiar to Sofie, almost to the point of being comforting. She had seen him do it every morning, before changing into a dragon and letting her climb on his back.

She could imagine herself on his back now, her hands tangled on the golden neck ruffle. Remembered the feel of his muscles operating the powerful wings. Strange how one could be so high up in the air, over utterly alien country, knowing oneself pursued by vicious beings, and yet feel so safe, so utterly calm and protected. But that had been then, and that feeling was now gone forever.

Now she must get out of the vicinity of the clearing before St. Maur changed completely and took the wing. He might very well see her lurking and realize she had heard his conversation with Lalita. Sofie didn’t know why she shouldn’t overhear it, but clearly he thought it was important to keep his very presence here a secret.

“Are you sure you don’t wish to see Miss Warington?” Lalita asked.

St. Maur, fully undressed, shook his head. “No. I would not wish to. She made it abundantly clear she did not wish to see me again.”

Sofie started to move toward him. Then she remembered his relish in torturing the young tiger, and stepped back. Could he truly imagine himself to be any maiden’s dream?

Part of her wished to stay where she was, to watch him change into the dragon. She wished, with a passionate intensity, to see the firefly wings spread against the sky. But she knew better. She made her way back, tracing the way she’d come by the broken branches and bruised leaves. She heard the roar of a tiger in the distance and wondered if that meant the tigers were near. Insanely, desperately, she wished they were.

It is a horrible thing,
she thought,
to be young and female and to feel so lonely, so utterly devoid of protectors and of anyone who might care for me.

She made it to the clearing just in time. The two males had disappeared. She wondered if they’d noticed her gone and gone searching for her.

Moments later, Lalita came into the clearing. “What, miss?” she said. “All alone here? Where have those two good-for-nothings gone?”

Sofie shrugged. She hoped she projected the same despondence she’d been showing since Lalita had found her. Internally, though, she was thinking furiously.

I don’t have the ruby, yet St. Maur said his scrying device pointed him back at this party. And why would he think or say so, except that it was true? He wasn’t trying to lie to me. He didn’t even think I’d overheard it. And he certainly wouldn’t be lying to Lalita, would he? Not when he flew back for a day, probably without sleeping. How tired he must be! And how hungry. All just to bring me warning of what he perceived as a danger. Surely he wouldn’t lie to me. So he saw the ruby with us. And if I don’t have it, who does? And why are they hiding it from me?

TIGER, TIGER!