Tiger Thief (14 page)

S
harat lifted his head, but when he tried to move he discovered that his arms were stuck. The landslide had almost buried him alive.

Struggling to loosen the blanket of rubble that pinned him down, he managed to pull himself free.

“Aya?” he called out weakly.

There was no reply.

Gasping for breath, Sharat was wracked by a fit of coughing. He rubbed his eyes. It was completely dark. The licker was nowhere to be seen.

“Aya?” he called out, loudly this time. “Where are you?”

Still there was no reply.

Stumbling on the uneven surface underfoot, Sharat felt around. On all sides his hands met stone. He really was in
a cave now, there was no mistaking it. But where was Aya?

With a feeling of panic, he threw himself into digging through the rubble until he came to a layer where the boulders were wedged tight. Finally, after almost breaking his fingers he fell back against the wall. He was all alone.

“Aya! Please give me a sign that you’re alive!” he cried again in desperation.

Nothing happened.

Sharat had never felt so lost. First Emira and now Aya. It seemed as though everything was against him. In despair he slid down the wall. Silent tears wet his cheeks, but he no longer cared. Putting his head in his hands he curled up in a little ball and let them flow.

Just then he became aware of a gust of wind blowing insistently against his face.

At first it hardly registered. But as the wind blew a little harder, his mind began to clear.

All at once he sat up with a gasp.

If there was air blowing into the cave it could only mean one thing. There must be a way out. And if there was a way out, perhaps there was still a chance of finding Emira!

Taking a deep breath, he wiped his eyes and pulled himself to his feet. He was rewarded by another gust of wind. Raising his arms he realised it was coming from overhead so, feeling a growing sense of determination, he reached up and began to climb. To his relief he found a gap in the rock.

For a moment he stopped, turning back to the cave.

“Aya! I’m going to find the Prince of Jinnis, but I promise I’ll come back and get you,” he called.

Again there was no reply, but praying that he would find a way to make his promise come true, Sharat pushed aside his grief and began to feel his way along.

It was difficult going. The space between the rocks was narrow and jagged. Several times he almost got stuck, and then he fell, hurting himself quite badly.

Cursing, he sat up and clutched his injured knee, but this time, instead of despairing, he found himself getting angry with the Queen of the Forest.

“Why did you send me this way?” he gasped. “Why?”

Glaring out into empty space, he clenched his fists, but then his anger turned to excitement as he noticed a dim red glow opening up a crack in the darkness up ahead.

Pain forgotten, Sharat got to his feet and clambered towards the light. As he eased himself through a crack in the rock, he found himself clinging to the walls of a great cavern. He couldn’t see the ground, but as he gazed up in wonder he saw that the dome overhead was lined with a web of branching cords that glowed like the embers of a dying fire. Carefully, he pulled himself on to a ledge and reached up to touch one of the branches. Whatever it was felt flexible and strong, almost like leather. With a start he realised that he was looking up at the roots of some ancient tree. But before he could investigate further, the silence was split by a burst of rippling music and the walls of the cavern lit up with a flash of colour.

Freezing, Sharat looked around, seeking the source of
this dancing light. With a thrill he noticed that the rocks themselves were lighting up in time to the music, but these weren’t just any rocks; they were jewels, and with every note that pierced the darkness more and more of the cavern was illuminated by massive crystal formations that hung from the ceiling and encrusted the walls.

Just then he heard an inhuman shriek and saw a flash of gold come shooting towards him.

The licker! Still alive.

As the mechanical insect made a beeline for his eyes, Sharat lost his balance. Arms flailing, he thought he was sure to fall when one of the glowing cords detached itself from the dome above and dropped into the palm of his hand.

Without thinking, his fingers closed around the root, and he swung away from the wall while the licker smashed into the rock behind him and tumbled into the abyss.

Swinging wildly, Sharat held on tight, his head spinning while the music echoed around him. Then all of a sudden the music stopped, and he heard a voice calling up from below.

“Sharat!” it cried. “Is that you?”

S
harat could hardly believe his ears.

Peering down at the cavern floor, he caught sight of the most spectacular outcrop of all. An enormous geode had split open like an oyster-shell to form a pool lined with sparkling diamonds. Next to the pool stood a small figure with a mop of curly hair.

Sharat felt his heart leap. “Aya!” he called out. “You’re alive!”

With a final swing, he let go of the root and dropped into the water with a splash.

As he bobbed to the surface, Aya was waiting for him at the edge of the pool. Her clothes were wet, but she was grinning broadly.

“I thought you were dead!” said Sharat as he swam
over. “How did you get down here?”

Aya laughed. Her hair hung in curling tendrils around her face, her eyes were bright and her cheeks were flushed. “The earth cracked open and I fell straight into this pool,” she said.

Sharat pulled himself up to sit next to her. “You’re shining,” he said.

“It’s the water,” Aya told him. “Try some!”

Sharat bent down to drink his fill. The water tasted pure and clean, and as he drank a sense of wild hope rose up inside him.

He looked around. The fiery roots that traced the cavern’s dome were pulsating gently as they meandered between the twinkling rocks. It felt as though they had landed inside the heart of some living being.

“This must be the sanctuary the Queen mentioned,” he said.

Aya’s eyes shone. “That’s what I thought, too.”

“What was that music?” asked Sharat. “It sounded like the rocks were singing.”

A secretive look came across Aya’s face. She shook her head. “It wasn’t the rocks,” she said, clutching her bag to her chest.

Sharat eyed her suspiciously. “What have you got in there?” he demanded. Playfully, he reached over to grab it.

“Careful!” cried Aya. She tried to snatch it back, but Sharat was too quick for her. He held the bag out of her reach. Then, before she could protest, he opened it up and
pulled out an oval drum. On the surface two silver hands were folded demurely together.

Sharat took a sharp breath. “Fonke’s instrument!” he said, looking at Aya in shock.

Aya’s lips tightened. “It’s not Fonke’s,” she said. “It’s
mine
. My mother gave it to me when I escaped from the
Zenana
. Nara must have stolen it when she rescued me from the sewers.”

“
That’s
why you were hiding in the market,” said Sharat.

Just then the silver hands began to unfold cautiously. One of the fingers reached out to touch him, then pulled away quickly.

He almost dropped the instrument in shock. “It’s alive!”

“It started moving as soon as I got out of the pool,” said Aya. “It was telling me what to play.”

Sharat’s eyes widened. “You must have brought the jewels to life!”

“I know,” said Aya. “It woke them up, just like it woke up the ghosts in Fonke’s shop.”

Sharat glanced around the cavern. “I wonder if we could use it to wake the Prince of Jinnis?” he said.

“We have to find him first,” said Aya. She jumped to her feet. “Come on! Let’s explore!”

Sharat hesitated. “I’m not sure we can find him on our own,” he said. “I think we’re supposed to have help.”

“What kind of help?” asked Aya.

Sharat frowned as he tried to remember the dream. “The Queen didn’t have time to explain,” he said. “All
she mentioned was a name. I think it was
Vasuki
.”

“Vasuki?” said Aya. “Who’s
that
?”

As she spoke, they felt a rumble in the earth and bubbles began to rise up out of the pool at their feet.

“What’s happening?” said Aya, staring down into the crystal depths of the pool.

The water was starting to churn now, as if stirred by an invisible spoon. With a hiss something sleek and black broke the surface.

With a cry of recognition, Sharat grabbed Aya and pulled her back.

“Watch out!” he said. “It’s a snake!”

The head of a mighty serpent shot out of the pool, black on one side and white on the other. Its face was stretched in a hungry gape, but just when it seemed that the mouth could open no wider, the head split in half, until there were not one, but two serpents rising up out of the swirling water.

Aya’s eyes took on a look of terror. “Two snakes!” she cried. “Run!”

Turning, she tried to find a way through the wall of crystals that rose up steeply around the pool. “Ow!” she cried as she almost cut herself on the jewels.

Sharat’s heart was pounding in fear. “This way,” he gasped, grabbing her hand as he desperately tried to find a gap in the rocks. But no matter which way he turned, he was blocked by the glittering gems.

“There’s no way out!” cried Aya, clutching Sharat’s arm.

For a moment they stared at each other in horror. Then, realising that they had no choice, they spun around to face the monster in the pool.

R
earing up out of the water, the serpent’s heavy coils glistened in the light of the crystal cave. One side of the serpent was black, the other was white, and a scarlet tongue flicked from each of its mouths. With a ripple of pure muscle it half slithered out of the water, the bottom half of its coils still intertwined, while its upper halves swung around to face Sharat and Aya, glaring down at them with unblinking green eyes.

“We are Vasuki, Primordial Naga, holder of ssspace and time, and creator and destroyer of life,” the snakes hissed in unison. “Who dares to call us here from the depths of the earth?”

Sharat and Aya pressed themselves against the wall of gems that trapped them at the edge of the pool as the
two serpents fixed them in their sights. Sharat’s heart was pounding, but he knew he was going to have to say something.

“It was me,” he said, trying not to let his voice shake.

The snakes narrowed their eyes, their tongues flicking as they turned to inspect him. “Human beings?” they whispered. “What are
you
doing in this sssanctuary?”

Sharat took a deep breath. “The Queen of the Forest sent me,” he said.

The snakes eyed Sharat and Aya with increased interest. “How ssssweet of her,” hissed the pale serpent, his voice deep and masculine. A drip of saliva dropped from his mouth as it widened in a grin. He turned towards his dark twin. “Look, sssister,” he said. “One each!”

Sharat felt a pang of alarm. “No, no! It’s nothing like that,” he said quickly. “The Queen told me you’d help me.”

There was a glimmer of disappointment in the pale serpent’s eyes. “I sssee,” he said. “What a shhhame.” He swung his head around to examine Aya. “What about this one?” he whispered.

Aya shrank back in horror.

Sharat put out a protective hand. “She’s with me,” he said sharply.

Both heads turned towards Sharat again. He tried not to draw back as their delicate tongues tickled the skin of his face.

“Sssweet little things,” whispered the dark snake, her voice softer and more gentle than that of her brother.
“Look at them, they’re only children.” She peered down at them. “But why would the Queen of the Forest sssend you to us?”

Sharat felt dizzy as he looked up into the serpent’s glittering eyes. “I’m looking for the Prince of Jinnis,” he said.

“Why would
you
be ssseeking the Prince of Jinnis?” hissed the snakes.

Sharat swallowed. “My tiger’s been stolen,” he said. “She’s a prisoner of Doctor Rookh.”

The pale head let out a hiss of disgust. “We know this
human
,” he said. “Even now his ssslaves are looking for this cave.”

“Then help me find the Prince of Jinnis!” said Sharat. “He’s the only one who’s strong enough to defeat him.”

The serpents hesitated as they considered this. Then the dark side spoke. “It is possible that we may help you find the Prince of Jinnis,” she said. “But first you must answer our riddle.”

Sharat cleared his throat. “The Queen never said anything about a riddle,” he said. “What if I get the answer wrong?”

As he spoke the pale serpent’s mouth opened a little wider and its eyes gleamed hungrily. “If you fail to guess the answer, then you must offer yourself, and your sssweet, sssucculent little sssister as a sssacrifice,” he hissed.

Sharat felt his heart contract. He glanced anxiously over at Aya. Her face was pinched with fear as she stared
at the writhing serpents.

“I’ve got to
try
,” he said. “It’s my only way of saving Emira.”

Aya tore her gaze away and caught his eye. “I’m … I’m sure the Queen wouldn’t have sent you here if she thought you would fail,” she said, trying to sound convincing.

Swallowing, Sharat turned back to Vasuki. “All right, then,” he said. “I’ll answer your riddle.”

The twin serpents reared into the air, writhing. “Are you sssure?” they asked.

Sharat nodded. “Yes, I’m sure,” he said.

Vasuki’s eyes glowed and the heads began to sway. “Very well,” they said. “Riddle us this and riddle us that.”

And then they began to speak, each one of them alternating lines in their soft, sibilant voices.

As they spoke, Vasuki’s voice became hypnotic, and the serpents began to slither out of the pool, wrapping themselves around Sharat’s body, overlapping each other until they were holding him tightly in their embrace.
Sharat held his breath. Soon the snakes’ heads swung just centimetres from his face.

“Ssso … what am I?” they hissed into his ears.

Sharat tried to ignore the coils that were surrounding him as he squeezed his eyes shut to think.

A riddle for time, a riddle for space, a riddle that reveals a hidden place
.

Something someone had told him was edging at his memory. What was it?

My riddle’s a doorway, my riddle bears fruit, my riddle will root out the lies from the truth
.

Sharat opened his eyes. Vasuki’s twin heads were still staring hungrily at him.

My lower seeks earth, my upper seeks light, I dance in the wind and breathe at night
.

He cast his eyes up and caught sight of the luminous roots that still glowed in the domed ceiling of the cavern above.

I drink with the moon and feed on the sun, within me heaven and earth become one
.

Just then Sharat remembered the Queen in her garden, shadowed by leaves, and suddenly he knew the answer to Vasuki’s riddle.

He looked over at Aya. Her face was tense, waiting for his answer.

“It a tree!” he said, his voice shaking. “It
must
be. Trees have their roots in the earth and their branches reach for the light.”

“Yes!” said Aya, her voice light with relief. “That’s
exactly what I thought. Also, Uma told me she waters her trees at night. It stops them drying up.”

Vasuki slowly loosened its coils from around Sharat’s body. For a moment of terror Sharat felt sure they were going to eat him. Then, all of a sudden there was a shiver of magic as the snakes disappeared and in their place stood a man and woman.

Tall and well formed, the couple had a sinuous grace. Neither of them had any hair but they were covered in fine scale-like markings that traced their skin and continued down the tight sheaths that encased their bodies. They would have been a matching pair, but the man was as pale as the moon and the woman was darkest ebony.

The woman turned her emerald gaze to Sharat.

“A tree is the correct answer,” she said.

Sharat felt his shoulders drop and he threw Aya a quick smile, but he knew it wasn’t over yet.

“How do I find the Prince of Jinnis?” he said, glancing at the man and woman on either side.

Now that they were in human form they weren’t quite as frightening, but Sharat still shrank back as they seized his hands. Their grasp was cool and muscular.

“Gaze into the pool and tell it your desire,” the dark woman whispered in his ear. “Only then will you find what you seek.”

“I knew it was a magic pool!” exclaimed Aya.

Sharat looked down. The water in the crystal pool was perfectly clear and still. Light shimmered up from the stones below and he could see Aya’s reflection behind
him. As he caught her eye she gave him a quick smile of encouragement and he took a deep breath.

“I’m looking for the Prince of Jinnis,” he said. “Where is he?”

Just then, the water began to shiver, breaking up the surface into tiny ripples. Then, slowly, all the reflections died down and the pool became still and black, and Sharat peered into the depths. With a thrill of excitement he saw the figure of a boy appear out of the darkness and begin walking towards him.

“There’s someone coming!” he said, glancing up.

“Keep watching!” hissed the pale man.

The figure in the pool strode forward. Then he lifted his head.

Aya gasped.

Sharat stared down at the vision in front of him. He was surprised to see that it was just a boy, perhaps only a year or so older than himself, crowned with leaves and robed in white. He leaned closer.

“Are you the Prince of Jinnis?” he asked.

As he spoke he could see the boy’s mouth moving.

“What are you doing?” said Sharat urgently. “Come here! I need your help.”

Again the boy seemed to be mouthing something.

Sharat shifted and the boy in the pool shifted, too. It was as if he was playing. Sharat felt himself getting irritated.

“Why won’t you answer back?” he asked. Impatiently, he reached down towards the pool, but as his fingers
touched the water the image shivered and disappeared, and the surface returned to normal.

He stepped back, frustrated.

“It didn’t work,” he said. “He’s gone!”

“Are you sure?” asked the dark woman.

As Sharat gazed down into the water, the surface shimmered briefly back to life. For a moment the older boy looked back up at him through glowing eyes. Then, as he watched, his own features appeared over the top like a ghostly image, until the two faces were as one.

Frowning, he looked from the woman to the man, and back again.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he demanded.

The dark woman shook her head. “It is not for us to interpret what the pool is showing you,” she said. “You must draw your own conclusions.”

Sharat stared at her. Then he glanced back down at the water again. The pool was showing him his face, there was no doubt about that, but there was something magical about the image. For a moment a wild thought occurred to him, but no sooner had the thought arisen than his logical mind clamped down in disbelief.

“It can’t mean
I’m
the Prince of Jinnis,” he blurted. “I come from the circus.”

The pale man lifted an eyebrow. “Are you sure?” he asked.

“Of course I’m sure,” said Sharat. “My father is the circus ringmaster. I’ve lived there all my life.”

Aya took a sharp breath. “What about your mother?”
she said, looking up at him, her eyes wide with excitement.

Sharat felt his stomach twist. His mother. The mother he had never known. “Can jinnis and humans
have
children together?” he asked.

“That depends on what shape the jinni choses,” said the dark woman. “It is not unknown for a jinni to take human form and marry into the world of men.”

Sharat remembered Uma’s story about his mysterious mother, her connection to Emira and the fact that she’d sent them both out of the city to protect them from the Empire. His heart skipped a beat.

“I suppose she
could
have been a jinni,” he said doubtfully.

“Trussst the crystal pool,” hissed the pale man. “It never lies.”

Slowly his body began to narrow and he began to sway.

The dark woman smiled. “Have faith,” she whispered.

As she spoke, a long tongue flickered between her lips.

“They’re turning back into snakes!” gasped Aya.

Sure enough, the two figures before them were beginning to change, their arms shrinking as their shoulders disappeared and they slid gracefully into the crystal pool. Moments later, the twin heads of Vasuki emerged, dripping with water.

Sharat shivered as he watched the metamorphosis, but he no longer felt afraid. All he could think of now was the vision in the pool. Could it really be true? Was
he
the Prince of Jinnis?