Tiger's Quest (54 page)

Mr. Kadam interrupted, “That would have been me. I disguised myself as a tiger and ran off into the jungle to spring a few traps and draw off some of the soldiers.”

“Right,” Kishan said. “Kelsey began blowing stuff up, which drew off any stragglers, so I met virtually no resistance getting into the camp. Finding Lokesh was another matter. I had to take out his highly trained ring of guards. I disabled several of them with the chakram and took out the lights before they even noticed me. After that, I used my appearance to my advantage.”

Suspiciously, I inquired, “How exactly did you use
my
appearance to your advantage?”

Kishan smiled widely. “I acted female. I stumbled into the room, feigned shock and fear, and asked all the big, strong men to protect me, saying that there was a crazy guy trying to kill me with a golden disc. You know, I batted my eyes and flirted. Women stuff.”

I crossed my arms and stared Kishan down. “Uh-huh. Please go on.”

Kishan sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Before you get all huffy, which is your standard reaction to me, just stop, because I know what you’re thinking.”

I folded my arms across my chest. “Oh, really? And what am I thinking?”

“You’re thinking that I’m trying to stereotype women and you in particular.” He threw up his hands in exasperation. “
You’re
not like that, Kells. I was just playing the hand I was given and trying to use all my assets!”

“That’s fine when you’re using your own
assets
, but
not
when you’re using mine!”

“Fine! Next time I’ll go as Nilima!”

Nilima said, “Hey! Nobody’s using
my
assets
either
.”

Mr. Kadam interrupted, “Perhaps we should continue the story?”

Kishan glowered and began muttering about women in a military operation and that next time he’d go by himself.

“I heard that. You would have been carved up by Lokesh without me.” I smirked.

“Indeed.
Every
person was vital to our success,” Mr. Kadam said. “I will move on to my part, and you can finish later, Kishan.”

He sat back and folded his arms across his chest. “Fine by me.”

Mr. Kadam started by telling Nilima how liberating it was to be a tiger. “The power of the tiger is beyond anything I’d imagined. We weren’t sure if the Divine Scarf worked only with human disguises, so we’d tested changing into an animal. It seems we can change to either Kishan’s or Ren’s tiger forms, but no other animals. When we arrived, I assumed the form of Kishan’s black tiger. Then Miss Kelsey wrapped the Scarf around my neck right before we parted.

“I ran through the jungle and found several baited traps. I sprung two of them, which set off alarms, and soon heard the tread of soldiers’ feet chasing me. Shots were fired, but I was faster than they were. At one point, a group of them thought they had cornered me. They were about to fire when I changed to a man, the sight of which shocked them, and gave me a moment to spring the trap. I pulled on a rope attached to a haunch of meat, and the soldiers were lifted into the air in a large net. I left them dangling from the treetops and ran back to the camp for phase two of my plan.

“By the time I reached the camp, Miss Kelsey had already destroyed one of the two watchtowers. The villagers were running in every direction, frightened for their families. I stood behind a tree and changed my appearance again.”

Nilima leaned forward. “What did you become this time?”

“I took on the form of a local Baiga god named Dulha Dao, who they believe helps to avert disease and accident. I rallied the people to me and told them I was here to help them overcome the stranger. They were more than happy to help me tear down the
house of the evil one
. Miss Kelsey left the
gada
in a discreet location for me to use. It’s normally heavy for me, but when I wielded it as Dulha Dao, it felt light. With the villagers’ help, I knocked down the wall and the people helped me to incapacitate Lokesh’s men.”

Nilima asked, “What did you look like?”

He blushed, so I interrupted, “Oh, Mr. Kadam as Dulha Dao was definitely nice-looking. He looked similar to the tribesmen, except taller with a much larger frame and he was handsome. His hair was long and heavy, and part of it was wrapped in a jura at the top of his head with the other part flowing down his back.

“He was muscular, and his rather nice torso and face were covered in tattoos. He was bare-chested, covered with heavy beaded necklaces, and barefoot, and he wore a wrap-around skirt. He looked very alarming, but in a good way, especially, I imagine, when he was wielding the
gada
.”

When I finished my description, everyone was staring at me, and Nilima was laughing.

“
What?
” I asked, embarrassed. “Okay. So, apparently I find burly Indian men attractive. What’s wrong with that?”

Kishan was frowning, Mr. Kadam seemed . . . pleased, and Nilima giggled.

“Nothing at all, Miss Kelsey. I’m sure I would have thought the same thing,” she said.

Mr. Kadam cleared his throat. “Yes . . . well . . . I appreciate the flattering description, regardless. It’s been a long time since a woman found me . . . burly.”

I started giggling, and Nilima soon joined me.

Mr. Kadam asked, “Are you ready to continue?”

“Yes,” we voiced in unison.

“As I was saying, the people rallied to me, and we tied up all the guards. Then we moved in on the command center. The doors were heavily fortified and locked. We searched the men for a key but couldn’t find one. It was easier for me to knock a hole through the wall than to take down those doors. I finally broke into the complex to find Kelsey and Kishan prostrate on the floor and Lokesh nowhere in sight. The room was full of some kind of candy.”

“Jawbreakers,” I added.

“How did that come about?” Nilima asked.

“I had to do something, and the Golden Fruit was the only weapon I could access, so I wished for a hailstorm of jawbreakers.”

“That was very clever. We never practiced that one. It seemed to work well,” Mr. Kadam commented.

“It wouldn’t have worked for long. Lokesh bounces back quickly. The only thing that drove him off was you. You and the Baiga saved the day.”

“So Lokesh had the power to freeze you?”

“Yes.”

“Did you note any of his other powers?”

“Yes.”

“Good. We will discuss them later.”

“Okay. I’ll write down everything that happened while it’s fresh.”

“Very good. Continuing on, after Kishan and Kelsey found Ren, the Baiga wanted to move away from the camp as quickly as possible. They loaded everything they could carry, and filed into the jungle. We accompanied them partly because I felt responsible to get them as far away from Lokesh as I could and partly because it was in the direction we needed to go anyway. Just before we left, Ren picked up a knife and pierced the skin of his arm.”

I leaned forward. “What was he doing?”

“Removing a tracking device Lokesh had put in.”

I looked down at my white tiger with sympathy. His eyes were closed, but his ears were flicking back and forth. He was listening.

“We journeyed with the Baiga, had a feast with them, and left right after I signaled you, Nilima.”

“You play a deity very well,” I teased.

“Yes. Well, it seems they believed all four of us were deities. If I’d seen the things they had, I would believe we were deities too.”

I asked, “Did they really use magic to hold Ren there?”

“When I spoke to them about it, the
gunia
claimed he
did
have power over tigers and used his magic to hold Ren there. He can create a barrier of sorts around the encampment to protect his village from tiger attacks. However, he said that about a week ago the spell was switched to
attract
tigers to the village instead. It seems the soldiers have been plagued by tiger attacks all week.”

“Ah, so that’s why Kishan could get in?”

“Apparently.”

“Does that mean Ren could have gotten out?”

“Possibly, but Lokesh does seem to have powers of his own as well. I presume that using the Baiga to contain Ren was just a back-up plan in case Lokesh was too distracted to incapacitate Ren himself.”

I spoke softly, “He’s horrible. Ren was his ultimate prize, his trophy. The one he’s waited for and hunted for centuries. He wouldn’t have let Ren escape.”

Kishan interjected, “I think he’s lost interest in Ren. He’s after someone else now.”

Mr. Kadam shook his head discreetly.

“Who?” I asked.

He said nothing.

“It’s me, isn’t it?” I stated flatly.

Finally, Kishan spoke, addressing Mr. Kadam. “It’s better that she knows so she can be prepared.” Turning to me, he said, “Yes. He’s determined to go after you, Kells.”

“Why? I mean, why is he after
me
?”

“Because he knows how important you are to us. And because . . . you beat him.”

“That wasn’t me. That was you.”

“But he doesn’t know that.” Kishan shot me a meaningful look.

I groaned softly and only half listened as Kishan began describing our fight with Lokesh. I offered comments only when Kishan forgot something.

Ren was watching us now and listening intently to what we were saying. I set my uneaten plate of food on the floor, hoping he might be interested. He watched me curiously, and then stood up and came a few steps closer.

He ate the eggs but pushed the pieces of French toast back and forth, unable to get them in his mouth. Cautiously, I used my fork to pick up a thick slice. He delicately pulled it off the fork, and swallowed it in one gulp. I did the same with the other one. After he licked the plate clean, he lay down near Kishan and began licking sticky syrup from his paws.

Kishan had fallen quiet, and when I looked up, I saw him watching me. His eyes crinkled at the corners with just a touch of sadness. I looked away. He frowned and started speaking again. When he got to the part where Lokesh threatened to kill me and stop my heart, I interrupted him and clarified.

“Lokesh wasn’t talking about me.”

“Yes, he was, Kells. He must have known who you were. He said I’ll kill him, stop his heart.”

“Yes, but why would
you
, disguised as
Kelsey
, be concerned about
me
in my Baiga servant disguise? He said kill
him
, not kill
her
. He merely thought I was betraying him.”

“But Lokesh threatening to kill you was why I stopped.”

“That may be why you let him go, but he wasn’t threatening me.”

“Then who was he threatening?”

I looked down at the white tiger and felt my face flame red.

“Oh,” he said dully. “He was threatening
him
. I wish I would have known that at the time.”

“Yes, he was threatening Ren. He knew I wouldn’t do anything to harm him.”

“Right. Of course you wouldn’t.”

“What does that mean? And what do you mean you wish you would have known that at the time? Do you mean you wouldn’t have
stopped
?”

“No. Yes. Maybe. I don’t know what I would have done. I can’t predict how I would have reacted.”

The subject of our discussion perked up the tiger’s ears. He looked at me.

“Well, then I’m glad you misunderstood. Otherwise, Ren might not be here right now.”

Kishan sighed. “
Kelsey
.”

“
No!
It’s nice to know you would have been willing to sacrifice him!”

Mr. Kadam shifted in his chair. “It would not have been an easy decision for him, Miss Kelsey. I have trained both boys that, though each individual is of great importance, sometimes sacrifices for the good of all must be made. If he had the opportunity to rid the world of Lokesh, his first reaction would have been to end the tyrant’s life. The fact that he stayed his hand at all speaks to the depth of emotion he felt at the time. Don’t think less of him.”

Kishan leaned forward, pressed his fingertips together, and stared at the floor. “I know how much he means to you. I’m certain I would have made the same decision if I had known Lokesh was speaking of Ren and not of you.”

“Are you sure about that?”

He raised his eyes to mine, and several unspoken thoughts passed between us. He knew what I was asking. There was more to my question than Mr. Kadam and Nilima were aware of. I was asking Kishan if he would knowingly let his brother die to secure the life he wanted to have. It would be easy for him to step in and fill Ren’s shoes if Ren wasn’t around any longer. I was asking him if that’s the kind of man he was.

Kishan studied me thoughtfully for a few seconds and then, with utter sincerity, said, “I
promise
you, Kelsey, that I will protect him with my life, until the end of my days.”

His golden eyes glittered and pierced mine. He meant it, and I suddenly realized that he had changed. He wasn’t the same man I’d met in the forest a year before. He’d lost the cynical, sullen, woebegone attitude. He was a man fighting for his family, for a purpose. He’d never make the same mistake he’d made with Yesubai again. Looking into his eyes, I knew that no matter what happened in our future, I could rely upon him for anything.

For the first time since I met him, I saw the mantle of a prince fall about his shoulders. Here was a man who would sacrifice for others. Here was a man who would do his duty. Here was a man who acknowledged his weaknesses and worked to overcome them. Here was a man telling me that I could choose another, and that he would watch over us and protect us even if it broke his heart.

I stammered, “I . . . apologize for doubting you. Please forgive me.”

He smiled sadly. “There’s nothing to forgive,
bilauta
.”

“Shall I pick up the story from here?” I asked softly.

“Why not?” he replied.

The first thing I told Nilima was how I used the Golden Fruit to stop up the gas tanks with sponge cake and the guns by filling them all with beeswax. The problem was that it worked only on the guns and cars I could see. That’s why Lokesh had been able to escape in his car and the men I couldn’t see still had weapons that worked.