Tiger's Promise (8 page)

Deschen often summoned Kishan to the women’s room, pretending she needed him only
to ask him to take me down to the kitchens to fetch a sweetmeat for her or to escort
me to the garden to cut some new flowers. Once she outright lied and said that I’d
complained of being bored and would he mind teaching me how to ride. It was obvious
that her intention was to purposely throw us together.

Considering the fact that I was to be married to his brother, the situation was awkward.
Still, I relished being with Kishan. In the hours we’d spent together, I’d come to
rely upon him. I loved seeing the glint in his golden eyes when he laughed, and the
warmth of his smile filled my heart in an unexpected way. I’d never thought I’d be
able to depend upon a man. The experiences I’d had with them had been less than pleasant,
but Kishan was different.

Reliance soon became trust. Trust led to admiration. And then, before I was even aware
it happened, admiration transformed into a longing that was at once terrific and terrible,
and I realized I was in love. Despite this, Kishan remained as proper and as distant
as a cousin.

As the long weeks passed and rumors of Dhiren’s return began to circle, I wondered
if I had somehow misunderstood Deschen and my father. That Kishan’s feelings regarding
me had changed with time. That he now accepted me more as a sister and no longer desired
me as a man did a woman.

All the while, nearly daily, letters came from Dhiren. He spoke eloquently of the
life he imagined for us together, and though my answering correspondence was brief
and even somewhat curt, his responses to me grew warmer over time—more emotional and
intimate. After sneaking out the secret passageway into the garden to avoid Hajari,
I found a bench and was sitting there, the latest pages from Dhiren crumpled in my
fist, and wondering what I was doing to this poor family when Kishan found me.

“Yesubai? What’s wrong?” he asked.

He sat down next to me and pried the pages from my fingers. Smoothing them out on
his thigh, he read:

My Dearest Bai,

The months we’ve been apart have weighed on me. How I wish I was at your side this
very moment. Despite my mother’s request, my intention is to return home after my
visit to this town, passing over the last few stops. I may even arrive before you
receive this letter. I must admit that every time I close my eyes I see you. I am
the most fortunate of men to be betrothed to a woman as beautiful as you are. The
way the light shone on your face…

Kishan stopped reading, the pages hanging limply from his fingertips. “Kishan?” I
asked. “Kishan, say something.”

He didn’t. Giving me only a brief glance, he rose and quickly stalked away toward
the garden maze. “Where are you going?” I called out as he disappeared behind the
hedges.

I finally found him at the center of the maze. He leaned over the fountain, hands
splayed against the rim, his back toward me, and he didn’t turn to acknowledge me
before speaking.

“Bai?” he asked quietly. “He calls you Bai?”

“Yes. No. I never asked him to.”

“But you don’t mind it.”

I wasn’t sure how to answer him. Isha called me Bai and I’d always liked the name.
It felt like a secret between the two of us. It was a name meant for someone who loved
me.

Finally, I replied, “I would prefer it if he didn’t use that name, actually.” Approaching
Kishan from behind, I continued in a soft voice. “I know that you call your brother
Ren, but I’ve only ever referred to him as Dhiren. Honestly, I don’t know if I would
ever feel comfortable calling him otherwise.”

I was trying to convey to him in a small way that it wasn’t his brother who I loved.
Kishan still wouldn’t look at me so I babbled further. “My father always said that
nicknames are only used by lower castes of people.” I winced at my own words. They
sounded cruel, and it wasn’t what I intended to tell him. I’d just insulted not only
him but his entire family.

“He’ll be home any time now,” Kishan said.

“Yes.” I answered.

“And then you’ll marry him.”

“Isn’t that what’s been arranged?”

“Is…”

“Is…what?”

“Is it what you want?” He turned toward me then and stretched out his fingertips,
running them down the length of the veil covering my hair. The thin fabric, already
loosened, dropped away from my face. “Yesubai?”

The way he said my name was almost a caress. My limbs trembled, and though we weren’t
standing any closer than we had in the past, I sensed the distance between us closing.
The air wrapped itself around the two of us and warmed my skin.

“I…” My lips trembled and I lowered my head, unable to remain wholly myself while
trapped in his gaze. “I do not love him,” I finally murmured.

Kishan sucked in a breath and gently ran his fingertips along my jaw to my chin, lifting
my head so I could drown in his golden eyes once more. “Do you love someone else then?”

Mutely, I nodded.

“Tell me,” he said as I watched his lips form the words. My pounding heart made me
feel overly tense, as if the only thing I could focus on was the tingling of my limbs.
With a sluggish voice and muddled thoughts, I whispered. “I wish that you were my
betrothed.”

One heartbeat passed and then another, and the moment felt hot and frozen at the same
time. Then he smiled, and it was sunshine and heat and unspoken promises wrapped in
a single expression. Before I knew what was happening, he pressed his lips against
my palm and kissed the tender skin. His lips moved over my wrist slowly before he
took hold of my other hand.

The hazy fog that had enveloped my mind thickened, and I became a being of feeling
and sensation. All I wanted was more. More of his lips. More of his warmth. More of
him. He’d moved up to my neck when I was finally able to focus on his words. He had
been saying he’d speak to my father.

I placed my hands on his chest and pushed him hard. Abruptly, I stepped away, and
I felt the absence of his warmth as keenly as if my own father had frozen the blood
in my veins. “No,” I whispered.

“What do you mean, no?” he asked, as confused and as affected as I was.

“I mean, we’ll have to be careful. My father is a…he’s a hard man.”

Kishan’s expression turned stony. “I won’t allow him to hurt you any longer, Yesubai.”

“Please just…just give me some time to talk with him. Perhaps I can persuade him to
reconsider.” When he looked doubtful, I added, “I promise I’ll try to find a way for
us to be together.”

“Ren will return soon. If we are to alter the terms of your betrothal, then something
must be decided quickly.”

“I will send word to him immediately.” I took his hands in mine and pressed my lips
to his fingers. “Please, Kishan, let’s just keep this between us for the time being.”

He agreed and escorted me back to the palace. I called Hajari to my side and sent
him to my father with a letter saying that I must speak with him immediately. That
night my father appeared in my room, and even though I had carefully prepared for
his visit, my hands still shook when he appeared. “Dhiren approaches and is expected
to arrive within a few days. Kishan has declared his feelings for me openly, and I
believe that there is not much he wouldn’t do to stop the wedding.”

“I see,” my father said. “Please go on.”

“If you were to encourage him in his suit, it is very likely he will find a way to
give you the items you seek. Perhaps then they would no longer be a threat to you
and there would be no need to destroy them.”

Darkly, my father laughed. “Do you think all this conspiring is because I see them
as a threat? No, my ignorant daughter. They are as insignificant as your weak mother
was. In the annals of time, the speck they make on history will be absolutely indiscernible.
You think I care that he loves you? You think I cannot see how you pine after him.
I am no fool, Yesubai. Make no mistake. I am completely in control of each and every
one of your tiny little lives. What trifles I bestow upon you are because I wish it.
That you exist at all is because I allow it.”

He ran his hand over the stubble of his jaw. “Still, there is something to be said
for allowing the game to be played out to its inevitable, heartrending conclusion.
Very well.” He gave me a final glance then turned toward the window. “Tell the younger
prince I wish to meet with him tomorrow at dusk at the border between our lands in
the space between the crested hills. I’ll decide then if allowing him to live might
provide me with sufficient entertainment.”

I nodded, appalled by what I’d done, and as he departed, I was left wondering if there
was anything I could have done differently. Again the silent comfort of sleep eluded
me, and I used my darkest veil to hide behind the next day. Not only did it disguise
my bedraggled state, but I felt like I needed it to cloak all the evils I’d been a
part of. Not for the first time, I wondered if the world might have been better off
had I not been born.

Kishan readily agreed to meet with my father and, under the pretense of a sunset ride,
we set out to the borderlands. My father was waiting for us. He nodded to Kishan,
who had approached wearing only a token sword and a breastplate. The fact that he
was woefully unprepared to clash with my father did not go unnoticed by me. I bit
my lip until it bled. Even if Kishan had been properly dressed for battle and had
not approached as a petitioning bridegroom, he still wouldn’t have been a match for
my father.

After the proper genuflecting was done, Kishan announced boldly that he wanted my
father to reconsider him. The glitter in my father’s eyes told me that Kishan was
behaving in just the manner he expected. “And what token will you offer me in exchange
for the loss of the title?” my father asked. “Surely you don’t expect me to indulge
your proposal simply out of the goodness of my heart?”

Kishan made various offers of riches, fine horses, battle elephants, and any other
trinkets he possessed, but it soon became clear that my father was growing bored.

“I have no need of such things,” he stated flatly. “Kishan, I sense you are a man
who can make hard decisions even if a sacrifice or two must occur. Am I right?”

Kishan folded his arms across his chest. “I am known for being decisive in battle.”

“Very good. Then I will be as direct with you as I can. My daughter, Yesubai, has
tried to set aside her feelings for you so that she might take her place as the queen
and wife of your brother. Unfortunately, she appears to be unable to deny the budding
love within her heart and would choose you. Frankly, it would be better for both our
families and kingdoms if the two of you had never met, but I am a soft man who understands
the passions of the young.”

I raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

Lokesh continued, “Because I am sympathetic to your plight, I will agree to modify
the terms of the betrothal.”

Kishan laughed and wrapped his arms around me, squeezing me in a tight hug.

“But…” my father said, the disapproval over Kishan’s actions obvious on his face,
“you must agree to my terms.”

Kishan stepped away from me, and the young man in love appeared to have been replaced
by the prince worthy of being his father’s son. “There is nothing I can promise you
on behalf of my father. I can only give you that which I own. If there is something
more you desire, you’ll have to take it up with my parents.”

Lokesh put his arm around Kishan’s shoulders. “Son. May I call you that?” He didn’t
wait for Kishan’s answer. “Let’s not involve Rajaram and Deschen just yet. This negotiation
is in such a delicate flux, we should proceed carefully. Hmm?”

Kishan nodded tentatively. “What are your terms then?”

“Oh, not much. A trifle, really. You see, I’m what you might call a collector.”

“A collector of what?”

Lokesh laughed. “Many things, but in your case, there is something in your possession
that might spark my interest enough to make me consider giving up a title for Yesubai
a good trade.”

“And that is?”

“There is an amulet in your family’s possession. Two of them, in fact.”

“The Damon Amulet? What would you want with them? They aren’t of any monetary value.
They’re merely trinkets handed down in my family.”

“Yes. I’m aware that they wouldn’t fetch much of a price, but you see, they’re very
old.” Lokesh smiled like a jackal. “And I have a special affinity for…old relics.”

“I see.”

Kishan lowered his head, his jaw working as he considered my father’s proposal. Finally,
he said, “I will give you my piece, but Dhiren has the other one in his possession.
I doubt he would consider giving it up so that I might be able to steal his bride
away from him.”

“Yes. I can see how that might be a problem. Still, it’s both pieces or there is no
bargain. If we cannot come to an arrangement, then Yesubai will be married to your
brother. However unhappy she might be.”

Kishan said nothing but I could see the desperation in his eyes. As much as he wanted
me, he knew there was no way Dhiren would voluntarily give up his amulet. Not if it
meant losing me.

Behind Kishan I could sense my father gathering his power around him. If he couldn’t
manipulate the prince, he would kill him. “Kishan,” I offered, “maybe there’s another
way.”

“How?” he whispered. “Ren won’t help us.”

“What if we took him by surprise?”

“What do you mean?”

“Yes, Daughter. What are you saying?” I didn’t miss the implied threat in my father’s
voice.

“What if we arranged a robbery?”

“Ren doesn’t keep the amulet on him. Even I don’t know where it is.”

“So my father could send soldiers in disguise to meet Dhiren on his journey home.
They would have specific instructions to discover the location of his amulet, and
then they could detain him while you go and retrieve it. He’ll never even know we
were involved.”