The Tiger Prince (19 page)

“After I get my statue.” Kartauk smiled. “How do I know you won’t flit away?”

“How do I know you can really help me?”

“We’ll just have to trust each other, won’t we?”

“I seem to be the only one required to trust,” Ruel said dryly.

“Which is only fitting. My work is worth more than any prize you can hope to win from the maharajah.” “How do you know?”

“Because my art is worth more than anything in heaven or hell,” Kartauk said simply.

“I see.” Ruel gazed at him a moment before nodding. “Three days?”

“Four.” Kartauk smiled. “Come early tomorrow morning and be prepared to spend all day.”

At that moment Jane entered the chamber and moved toward them. “No sign of Pachtal. I went back two miles and I think I would have seen him.”

“Does that mean I’ve been washed clean of the suspicion of perfidy?” Ruel asked.

“No, it means Pachtal didn’t follow us … this time.” She took off her coolie hat and slicker and dropped them on the stone floor before stepping closer to the fire. “Hello, Kartauk.”

“Jane.” Kartauk nodded. “You’ve grown thinner since I last saw you. Are you well?”

“Of course.” She didn’t look at Ruel as she addressed Kartauk. “He has something to ask of you.”

“We’ve already come to an understanding,” Kartauk said.

“Already?”

“Fortunately, I discovered I had an unexpected prize with which to bargain,” Ruel said lightly. “Kartauk likes my face.”

She nodded with instant understanding. “I should have known.”

Kartauk laughed. “Yes, you should have. It’s a cheap price to pay for a face like his.”

“Perhaps not so cheap.” She turned to look at Ruel. “I believe it’s time you told us just what property you want to buy from the maharajah.”

He tensed. “Why is that important?”

“It’s not important in itself, but you know everything
about us and we know nothing about you. That knowledge gives you an advantage I don’t want you to have.”

He was silent a moment and then said, “I want to buy an island called Cinnidar from him. It’s about two hundred miles off the coast in the Indian Ocean.”

“And why do you want to buy this island?”

He hesitated again. “Gold.”

“You’re mistaken,” Kartauk said instantly. “If there were gold on any island owned by the Savitsars, Abdar would have known about it. He’s mad for gold and scoured the entire province for deposits.”

“I’m not mistaken. It’s there. A mountain of gold, the richest strike I’ve ever seen.”

“Then why has no one found it before?”

“It’s not accessible. The mountain is on the north end of the island and sheer cliffs make it impossible to breach from north, east, and west. A deep canyon over a hundred miles wide intersects the center of the island and cuts it off from the south.”

Kartauk’s brows rose skeptically. “It’s impossible to get to but you know it’s there?”

“I’ve seen it.”

“How?” Jane asked.

“I believe I’ve said enough for your purpose.” Ruel smiled crookedly. “Now you know enough to pique Abdar’s interest in Cinnidar and destroy my plans if I betray you.”

“If you’re telling the truth.”

“He’s telling the truth,” Kartauk said slowly, his gaze fastened on Ruel’s face. “Tell me, have you ever heard the story of El Dorado?”

“Yes.”

“That gold was supposedly at the bottom of a fathomless lake. Your Cinnidar gold may prove just as elusive and your money wasted.”

“Cinnidar is no El Dorado. If I can get the maharajah to sell me the island, I’ll find a way to get the gold out.”

Kartauk suddenly smiled. “I hope you do. There can never be too much gold in the world for me.”

“Since I’m laboring to provide you with material for your art, I suppose you wouldn’t consider waiving payment for your information?”

“Certainly not. If Abdar finds out what you’re trying to do, he’ll undoubtedly cut your throat, and then where would I be?” Kartauk turned to Jane. “So you must bring him here for the next four days so I may capture his likeness while his neck’s still intact.”

“Unless you’d care to give me directions on how to get here,” Ruel added.

“I’ll bring you.”

“I thought that would be your choice,” Ruel said. “You’d be much more comfortable out of the rain in your cozy little bungalow.”

“No, I wouldn’t.” She shivered and drew closer to the brazier. “Though it’s much chillier in here than out in that warm rain. This fire is dying down. We need more wood, Li Sung.”

“Soon. First you need to dry off.” Li Sung got up and limped toward the cot in the corner. “I’ll get a towel.”

“I don’t have time. I’ve wasted half a day already,” she said. “And when I get back to Kasanpore, I need to go to the site and—”

“Make sure Patrick is doing his job,” Li Sung finished for her as he grabbed a towel and came back toward her. “Do you intend to spy on him every day?”

“I’m not going to spy on him. I want only to make sure the job is going smoothly and he knows everything I’ve been doing.”

“And that he is truly working and not sitting under a tree guzzling whiskey.” He knelt beside her and brusquely wiped her face before shifting to a position behind her. He lifted her heavy braid and closed it between folds of the towel to dry it. “It’s a wasted effort. You can do little if he chooses that course.”

“It’s different this time.” She started to turn her head to look at him. “He really is—”

“Sit still. How can I dry this ugly hair if you keep swiveling your head about?”

“I didn’t ask you to dry my hair.” She looked forward again. “And this is foolish. It will only get wet again when I leave.”

“That is true, but it will make you feel better and I will know I did the proper thing.” He continued to dry her hair. “Now be quiet and let me behave foolishly if I wish.”

Ruel felt a queer pang as he gazed at them across the fire. The bond of affection between them could not be mistaken. Affection … and trust. Christ, what was wrong with him? For some reason the sight of them together filled him with anger and rejection. What did he care if she gave the Chinese boy the trust he had forfeited? Yet, he did care.

“No, you’re no sodomite.” Kartauk dropped down next to him.

Ruel turned to see the sculptor studying him again and was immediately on guard. “I told you that.”

Kartauk spoke softly so the two across the fire would not hear. “You did not tell me you lusted after my friend Jane.”

He felt a ripple of shock. “And if I had told you?”

“I would have warned you to take care. She has done much for me and I will not have her destroyed.”

“I have no desire to destroy her.”

“Desire and carelessness are two different things.” He shrugged his massive shoulders. “But she is on her guard with you. Perhaps I will not have to act.”

“Thank you,” Ruel said dryly. His gaze returned to Jane and Li Sung across the fire. That nagging dissatisfaction was growing within him with every passing minute.

“They are very close,” Kartauk commented. “It’s natural that they take care of each other.”

“So I see.”

“It disturbs you.”

“Why should it disturb me? God knows, she needs someone to look after her. Reilly appears to make a poor job of it.” He changed the subject. “Why do you enjoy working in gold?”

“It’s the metal of the gods, the only one fit for a great artist. That’s why I stayed so long at the palace. Not many patrons can afford to furnish such rare materials.”

“Then why did you leave?”

“I thought where my work was concerned the end always justified the means.” He shrugged. “I was mistaken. To my infinite horror I found I possessed a conscience.”

“What do you mean?”

“Abdar wished me to perform certain tasks I found distasteful. I refused him.”

“And he was angry?”

“Extremely. He threatened to cut off my hands if I did not obey him. Naturally, I could not permit such sacrilege. When I left, he persuaded my weasel of an apprentice, Benares, to do what he wished, but Abdar knows there is no comparison.” He raised his voice and called across the flames in the brazier. “I hope you brought something in that knapsack other than rice, Jane. I’ve eaten so much rice my eyes are starting to slant like Li Sung’s.”

“What a fortunate miracle,” Li Sung murmured. “That is how all eyes should be shaped.”

“I brought beef and beans.” Jane smiled at Kartauk. “I hope by the time they’re gone, you will be too.”

“But where?” Kartauk grimaced. “Great artists must have patrons, and patrons enjoy displaying their treasures. Inevitably, Abdar will hear of one of my magnificent creations and find me.”

“Yes, where?” Jane turned and challenged Ruel. “You said you’d find a safe haven for him.”

“Which now includes a patron who keeps his work secret,” Ruel said testily.

“You’re the one who said you’d give me anything I wanted.”

His lips tightened. “And I will.” He turned to Kartauk. “What about returning to your home in Turkey?”

“I left only jealousy behind when I left. It’s no safer than anywhere else for me.”

Ruel frowned. “Then I’ll have to think about it.”

“Think first about how to get him out of here,” Jane said.

“I’ve already decided about that.”

Her eyes widened. “You have?”

“The trial run to Narinth the night before you officially turn the railroad over to the maharajah. We station Kartauk on the line somewhere outside Kasanpore, pick him up when we’re out of the city, and hide him on the train. We deboard him before we reach Narinth and from there he can make his way to the coast.”

Kartauk chuckled. “Very clever. I can see why you decided to let him help us, Jane.”

“It might work,” she said slowly. “If Abdar doesn’t suspect anything.”

“Oh, he probably will suspect. It’s our job to misdirect those suspicions.”

“How?”

“I’ll think of something. I’ll have plenty of time to meditate while Kartauk is baring my soul.” He stood up and reached for his slicker. “In the meantime, I think we’d better start on our way back to Kasanpore.” Ruel smiled. “And not so I can rush immediately to the palace and reveal our friend Kartauk’s whereabouts to Abdar. I thought I’d go see if Patrick is tending to duty.”

“But I was going to—”

“And now I’m going instead.” He picked up her slicker and put it over her head. “Call it a penance. Don’t you think I deserve a penance?”

“Oh, yes, I’m sure you deserve anything anyone could think of to—”

He interrupted. “Then send me out in the rain after our charming Patrick.” He picked up her wide-brimmed hat and put it on her head, carefully tying the cords beneath her chin. The service gave him an odd, deep, primitive sense of satisfaction, soothing the abrasive unrest he had known. Suddenly he realized Kartauk was not as perceptive as he believed himself to be. It hadn’t been lust ripping at him this time. This was what he wanted when he had watched her with Li Sung. He had
been fiercely resentful of the bond of affection and trust that allowed Li Sung to perform those services instead of him. He quickly turned away and said gruffly, “Besides, I’ll get a chance to look over the terrain and decide on the best place to hide Kartauk while waiting for the train.”

“How did Jane find you?” Ruel asked Kartauk.

“Hold your head still.” The goldsmith carefully shaved the plane of the cheek of the wooden statue on the table in front of him. “She didn’t find me. I found her. I was hiding in the bazaar at the time and, when I heard she was inquiring about a goldsmith to execute the door, I went to her bungalow.”

“You took a big chance.”

“I was desperate,” he said simply. “I hadn’t been able to work for nearly three weeks and I felt as if I were starving to death. I’d had to leave my tools at the palace when I bolted and couldn’t carve so much as a chess piece. I couldn’t stand it any longer.” He turned the model so more light would fall on the left side of the statue. “I might have been able to resist if the door was to be anything but gold. Jane tells me your passion for gold equals my own.”

“What else did she tell you?”

“That you’re ambitious, ruthless, and self-serving.”

“True.”

Kartauk laughed. “And honest.”

“Did she say that?”

“No, that’s my own judgment.” Kartauk’s gaze wandered across the chamber to where Jane and Li Sung sat on the floor playing cards. “She appears to be having trouble accepting you might also have a virtue or two. I didn’t disabuse her. She’s much safer believing only in your satanic qualities.”

“You told her Abdar was searching for you and she still let you do the door?”

He nodded. “I didn’t intend to tell her, but after we
met and I realized what she was, I decided the best course would be to throw myself on her mercy.”

“And what is she?”

“A caretaker. She can’t help herself from nurturing and caring for those in need. Didn’t you realize that?”

“I’ve never thought about it.”

Kartauk shot him a shrewd glance. “Or never permitted yourself to think about it?” He didn’t wait for a reply. “Anyway, I cast myself under her wing and let her care for my needs in return for my labor on the door.”

Ruel frowned. “You didn’t care that your presence would endanger her?”

“I cared, but I had to work. I couldn’t let anything stand in the way of that.” Kartauk lifted his head. “You should understand. I’d judge you’re also a driven man where your Cinnidar is concerned.”

“Yes.” His resentment and condemnation of Kartauk was completely unreasonable, but then, nothing about his attitude toward Jane made any sense. “Li Sung said you were the one who chose this temple as a hiding place.”

“I found it suitable. A temple should always shelter beauty and greatness. Besides, I knew I could dismantle one of the interior walls for my furnace.”

Ruel’s eyes widened. “You tore down one of the temple walls?”

For the first time Kartauk’s tone became defensive. “It had fine square stones and I needed a furnace to cast the door. No one ever comes here to worship anymore, and it’s much better I put the wall to good use.”

Ruel chuckled. “I’m sure it is.” His smile faded as his gaze was drawn to Jane, as it had constantly been during the past days. He had told her he was going to try to think of her as a child, but that intention had gone up in smoke that first day at the temple. What the hell was wrong with him? It had never been like this with any other woman. He couldn’t keep his eyes away from her. He wanted to touch her.