The Golden Barbarian (11 page)

And the gleam of the steel of the dagger pressed to her throat!

She was going to die. It wasn’t fair. She didn’t want to die just as life was beginning to be so interesting.

“Where is he?”

He was talking about Galen, she realized with a wild surge of relief. Which meant he must not have killed Galen yet. The knife bit into her flesh, and she could feel warm liquid flow down her neck.

“Where?”

“Here!” A dark shape appeared suddenly behind her assailant, and she saw the glint of steel as a dagger was held to the man’s throat. “Get off her, Tamar.”

The man on top of Tess froze. “I can slit her throat before you can draw another breath, Galen.”

“Why bother? You wouldn’t live to enjoy your victory.”

The man hesitated, and then, incredibly, he threw back his head and laughed uproariously. “Ah, Galen, you always did have a persuasive tongue.” The dagger moved slowly away from Tess’s neck. “Put away your dagger and we’ll talk. It’s over.”

“I think my steel is more persuasive than my tongue,” Galen said dryly. “Throw away your knife.”

The man carelessly tossed the dagger aside.

“Now, get off her—slowly.”

“With great regret. I’ve always admired your taste in
kadines.”
The man swung off her. “Why don’t you light the lantern so I can get a better look at her?”

“You light the lamp. I want my hands free.”

“Distrustful bastard.” The man Galen had called Tamar moved toward the gleaming copper lantern hanging from the tent pole a few yards away. “I told you it was over.” A moment after the sound of flint on stone a flame flickered in the copper lantern.

Tess could see Tamar’s face now. He was young, no older than Galen, with a black beard, cropped close, flowing black hair, and dark eyes. He stood a little above average height, and his handsome features lit with a flashing smile as he turned to face Galen. “Very good, Galen. When I heard you had a woman with you, I was sure you’d be sleeping the sleep of a dead man tonight.”

Galen shrugged into his white robe, covering his nakedness, the dagger still in readiness in his hand. “You made so much noise cutting through the tent wall you’d have wakened the dead, Tamar.”

Tamar grimaced. “You were always the panther-footed one, not me.” He chuckled. “Do you remember the night you crept into the harem of that old—”

“That was the past.”

Tamar shook his head mournfully. “Ah, how I miss those days. What times we had.”

“Why are you here?”

Tamar raised his brows. “Why, I came to see my old friend Galen Ben Raschid.”

“Why?” Galen repeated.

Tamar shrugged. “I was curious.”

“And did you kill any of my men while you were making your way through the camp to satisfy your curiosity?”

Tamar shook his head. “No one got in my way.”

“I wonder if you’re lying.”

“Would I lie to you?”

“If it suited you.”

“True, but in this case it’s not necessary. I killed no one.” His glance turned to Tess. “My sentries told me she had red hair.” He studied her critically. “Wonderful skin, but she’s not your usual
kadine
, Galen. I think I must examine her more closely to see what drew you to her.”

Tess scrambled to a sitting position. “Galen, may I be told who this person is?”

“Her accent is strange,” Tamar noticed. “Have you been raiding outside Sedikhan?”

“The woman has just come from France. I found her in a café in Dinar.”

Startled, Tess stared at Galen.

“I should have known. You always did like the Frenchies.” Tamar strolled toward Tess. “Is she good?”

“Good enough.” Galen glanced at Tess and then stiffened as his gaze fell on her neck. “You son of a bitch, you’ve cut her.” He strode across
the tent and fell to his knees beside Tess and asked her, “Are you all right?”

Tamar frowned. “What’s wrong? It’s only a little nick.”

Galen didn’t look at him. “You’ve outstayed your welcome, Tamar.” He touched the tiny cut on her throat with a gentle finger. “Don’t be frightened.”

“I’m not frightened.” She glared at Tamar. “Why should I be afraid of a man who slithers like a snake in the dark to attack a sleeping woman.”

Tamar flushed, and his lips took on an ugly twist. “Shall I show you, whore?” He gazed at her defiant face for a moment before he said flatly, “She needs teaching. I believe you must give this one to me, Galen.”

“When have I ever given you anything belonging to me?”

Tamar looked at him in surprise. “She is only a woman. We have shared women before.”

“I’ve not had her long. She still entertains me.”

“I’ll make a bargain with you. Give me two nights with her and you’re free to travel across my territory with no interference.”

“It’s not your territory.”

“It is if I say it is.”

“Not if I say it isn’t. Words mean nothing.”

“But blood means all,” Tamar said softly. “And you know how I love the taste of blood.”

“Yes, I know.”

“But no more than you,” Tamar said. “You go berserk when the battle fever hits you.”

“Then you should be cautioned about rousing that fever,” Galen said wearily.

Tamar gazed at him, a multitude of emotions flicking across his face. “Are you challenging me, my friend?”

“I’m warning you, Tamar.”

Tamar’s glance went to his dagger lying on the carpet.

The muscles of Galen’s thigh pressed against hers and now Tess felt them tense, as if preparing to spring.

Then Tamar’s teeth bared in a grin. “Not tonight, Galen. I have a raid planned against the El Kabbar in two days’ time.” He bowed mockingly. “So keep your woman. I’ll find plenty to amuse me in the El Kabbar camp.” He glanced around the tent. “Now, give me a goblet of wine, and I’ll leave you.”

Galen looked pointedly at the cut on Tess’s throat, and his lips tightened. “No wine under my roof, Tamar.”

Tamar frowned, then shrugged. “Oh, very well. Then just give me my dagger.”

“You’ll find it sticking in the big palm by the pool after we leave tomorrow. I’ll not risk you slitting one of my sentry’s throats simply to ease your frustrations.”

“How well you know me.” Tamar chuckled.
Then his smile faded. “But you don’t know yourself, my old friend. Come back to my encampment with me, and I promise you will learn.”

“Good-bye, Tamar.”

“Until next time.” Tamar tilted his head at Tess. “She is too skinny, but I like them small. It makes a man feel powerful as a bull to gore the little ones.” He bowed to her. “At our next meeting I’ll be delighted to teach your lady to have a more docile tongue.” He strode out of the tent.

Tess let out the breath she didn’t know she had been holding. “That was … interesting.”

“Interesting? I’ve noticed you have a passionate fondness for that word.” The surprise in Galen’s expression was wiped away by respect. “But yes, you might call Tamar interesting.”

“What else would you call him?”

“Murderer, rapist, bandit. There’s no more vicious sheikh in Sedikhan than Tamar.”

“He spoke as if he knew you well.”

“We grew up together in Zalandan. For a time his father’s tribe and the El Zalan were joined by a treaty. When Tamar came to power, the treaty was broken, and he returned to the north.” He stood up, walked over to the tent pole and blew out the lantern. “You can go back to sleep now. He won’t return.”

“Why did he come? I could make no sense of him.”

Galen shrugged out of his robe and moved back toward the divan. “Who knows why Tamar
does anything? Whim directs him.” He lay down on the cushions and stretched out his big limbs. “He’s a lawless brigand, a total savage.”

“But you were once friends.”

“Once.”

He fell silent, but Tess could still feel the tension emanating from him.

“Why did you lie to him about me?”

“It was best. Tamar has no desire for Sedikhan to be united. He enjoys his life exactly the way it is. He might have been much more determined to have you if he’d known you were part of my plan.”

She suddenly remembered the word Tamar had used in referring to her. “What is a
kadine?”

“A woman of pleasure.”

“Couldn’t you have named me your wife and still kept my identity a secret?”

“Perhaps, but he would have been suspicious. Tamar knows I have no desire to wed.”

A strange pain rippled through her at his words. She swallowed. “Of course, I understand.” She lay still, pondering the extraordinary events of the last quarter hour. After a time she spoke again. “You say no one knows why Tamar does anything, but I think you do.”

“Yes, I’ve always been able to gauge what Tamar was going to do next.”

“How?”

He was silent so long she thought he wasn’t going to answer. “Because he’s my mirror.”

“What?”

“He’s what I was. He’s what I could become again.”

Startled, she blurted, “But you said he was a vicious bandit.”

“Yes.”

“A brigand and a rapist.”

“Yes.”

She became conscious of the waves of emotion radiating from his rigid body. She could sense violence, controlled with difficulty, within, but no trace of the malice that Tamar had exuded. “You’re wrong. You could never be like him.”

“I’m not wrong,” he murmured almost inaudibly. “But it won’t happen. Not if I’m strong. Not if I fight it. Not if I’m vigilant …”

Chapter 4

“Galen tells me you had a visitor last night,” Sacha said as he lifted Tess into her sidesaddle at dawn the next morning. “You needn’t worry that it will happen again. Kalim was mortified that Tamar had managed to slip by his sentries.”

“Galen reprimanded him?”

“Galen seldom reprimands. He simply told Kalim he was disappointed in him.”

“That seems a strange way to handle the matter.”

“It’s Galen’s way, and it’s always proved effective. The
majiron’
s ‘disappointment’ has more sting than a tongue-lashing from another leader.”

She wrinkled her nose. “Kalim probably wishes
that savage Tamar had cut my throat. It’s obvious Kalim has no liking for me.”

Sacha glanced away from her. “That’s only your imagination. How could he dislike you when he doesn’t know you?”

Tess recalled the brief look of resentment on Kalim’s face when Galen had introduced
her
and shook her head. “It’s not my imagination.” She caught sight of Galen. He was riding out of camp at Kalim’s side. “What do you know of this Tamar?”

“Not much. There have been a few skirmishes between his tribe and the El Zalan in the past few years, but Galen usually tries to avoid him.”

“Why?”

Sacha shrugged. “I have no idea. Galen doesn’t talk about him.”

“They were children together. Perhaps he still has a lingering fondness for him.”

Sacha shook his head. “Galen wouldn’t let friendship interfere with the good of the El Zalan. It’s probably that the tribes are so widely separated they don’t get in each other’s way.”

And cows could fly. “Yes, that must be it.” She gathered the reins. “Let’s go. Galen has left the oasis.”

“There’s no hurry.” Sacha swung up into the saddle. “You’re to ride in the rear with me until we reach Zalandan.”

“I can keep up,” she said, hurt. “I ride better than you.”

“That’s not the point. Galen has to ride up
ahead with Kalim and lead the escort, but he wants to keep you away from the main party.”

“Mother of God.” Her hands clenched on the reins. “First, I’m penned up in that tent, and now I’m forced to eat the dust. I’m getting very tired of being placed in—”

“I’m hurt,” Sacha interrupted, pulling a face. “You’ve not seen me for years and yet you are already weary of my company.”

“You know that’s not what—”

“Five more days,” he coaxed. “Things will be different in Zalandan.”

She scowled. “Freedom?”

“To some extent.”

She kicked her horse into a trot. “To a great extent,” she said through clenched teeth. “I have no liking for all this smothering. When we get to Zalandan, I will no longer tolerate it.”

“Majira
, wait!”

They both turned to see a young man galloping toward them. As he reined in, he flashed a broad grin and inclined his head in a polite bow. “Greetings,
Majira
. Since you’re not to be with the main party, Kalim has sent me to protect and serve you on the journey. My name is Yusef Benardon.”

“I believe I can assure my cousin any protection she requires, Yusef,” Sacha said dryly.

Yusef stared at him guilelessly, his black eyes like sparkling buttons in his round face. “Very well, then I will protect you, Sacha. It makes no difference to me.”

“Protect
me?
” Sacha said blankly.

Yusef lowered his lids to half mask the mischief glittering in his eyes. “You think the honor bestowed on you is too great? I admit having the greatest warrior in Sedikhan put at your disposal is enough to dazzle and humble most men.”

Sacha closed his eyes. “I believe I’m beginning to feel ill.”

Yusef waved his hand airily. “You see? The
majira
does have need of me, since you’re clearly of a delicate nature.”

Tess smothered a smile as she saw Sacha’s eyes flick open in outrage. It was all very well for her cousin to joke about his delicate sensibilities, but he couldn’t tolerate others doing so.