Tiger Prince

"You do not believe me?"

"I believe you think you will triumph." He smiled faintly. "However, as my Margaret was wont to say, Ruel was never one to be accommodating."

"He will have no—"

"Kartauk is not here." Pachtal hurried back into the chamber. "We have searched the palace and the grounds. We found only one Ci

Abdar swore as he whirled back to Ian. "Where is he?"

Ian's lids lifted. "May I suggest you ask Kali?"

"You defy me?" Patches of color flared in Abdar's cheeks. "You miserable cripple. You have the temerity to express contempt for me?"

"I do appear to have that temerity. I'm a bit surprised myself. For a while I was afraid I wouldn't be able to do this well. Ruel is much better at this sort of thing than I am." He met Abdar's gaze. "Yes, I do have contempt for you, Abdar. Both for you and your heathen goddess of destruction."

"Kali will show you her power. She will strike down all who—"

"Kali does not exist," Ian interrupted softly. "There is no real destruction. What is destroyed merely becomes something else."

"You lie." Abdar's eyes blazed at him. "She does exist. I will show you, she exists." He turned to Pachtal. "Where is Benares?"

"Still at the ship."

"What is he doing there?" Abdar screamed shrilly. "Send for him. What good is he, if he is not where I want him?"

"You said you might not need him," Pachtal said soothingly. "You thought if Kartauk was here, he might be persuaded to—"

"But Kartauk is not here. He ran away to the protection of that Scottish dog. I must make do with Benares. Tell him to come and bring the masks."

"All of them?"

"Of course, all of them. I must meditate and surround myself with power before I launch my attack on the Scot."

"Would it not be better to go now and surprise him?"

"We have no surprise now that Kartauk has carried word to him of our arrival. I will crush him at my leisure." His plump, childlike face lit with a smile as he stared at Ian. "You are too weak and drug-ridden to be worthy of a place in my collection, but I believe I can use you to strike fear into your brother's heart." He turned to Pachtal. "Do it. We will use that Ci

"I have never failed you in this, have I?" Pachtal asked.

"No, and you must not fail me now." Abdar left the room.

Pachtal smiled at Ian. "You have displeased His Highness. I fear you will suffer for it." He came toward him. "But first we'll wait a few hours for Benares to arrive and the laudanum wears off. I must strive to get the appropriate response."

Eagerness surged through Ian. It would soon be here. When the moment came, he must struggle, he must fight it as decreed by holy law, but it was coming nearer.

He could almost see the light.

"It was not my fault." Benares's voice cracked with panic. "I'm only a craftsman. You are the one responsible. It was your mistake."

"I made no mistake," Pachtal said harshly. How could it have happened? he wondered. It was incredible. "I will not take the blame."

"You must take it." Benares's eyes were glittering, his hands shaking. The goldsmith had never before dared to speak to Pachtal in this ma

He was not without fear himself, Pachtal realized. Abdar had been growing stranger and darker ever since his father's death, and he did not know what effect this blunder would have on his temper. Abdar's rage might fall on him as well as on Benares, and he had no wish to join the collection gracing Abdar's walls.

"I will not ask you to take the blame." He turned away. "Pack it in a box and send for that Ci

"He will be very angry," Benares said doubtfully.

"Not as angry as if he had seen this . . . this monstrosity." He nodded at the gold mask. "You keep your counsel and I'll keep mine, and we will both survive."

"My God, it's Margaret!" Ruel jumped to his feet and moved toward the rider approaching the campfire.

Jane followed him, her heart pounding with fear. Margaret's very presence here heralded disaster, and she was riding astride, her white gown dirty and torn, her fair hair streaming down her back.

Ruel grabbed the reins as her mare skidded to a stop. "Ian?" he asked curtly.

"Behind me," Margaret gasped. "I told Medford to keep him at his camp until I could come for him. Kartauk said you had to know at once."

"Know what?"

"Abdar. Two hundred men . . . the dock was burning . . ."

Ruel swore. "Dammit, I didn't expect this so soon! How far behind?"

She shook her head. "I don't know. There was no sign of pursuit as I came down the canyon. Medford said he'd start to strike camp and put a watch on the trail."

"Let her get down," Jane said as she moved closer. "Can't you see she's exhausted?"

"Sorry." Ruel's voice was abstracted as he lifted Margaret down from the mare. "Kartauk?"

"I'm not sure." Margaret leaned against the saddle and closed her eyes. "He may have been following Ian's chair. I saw a horse . . ."

"Come and sit down." Jane slid her arm around Margaret's waist and led her toward her blanket near the campfire. "Get her coffee, Ruel."

Ruel turned and walked toward the pot hanging above the embers.

Margaret collapsed on the blanket. "I think Kartauk . . ." She wrapped her arms around herself to still her trembling. "I believe he meant ... to stay."

"Why would he do that?" Jane asked.

"Because he's a foolish man who thinks only he knows the proper thing to do." In spite of the tart words, tears were ru

"Even if he did stay, that doesn't mean he's dead." Ruel thrust the metal cup into her hand. "Kartauk's a clever man and Abdar wanted him alive."

"for how long?" Margaret asked fiercely. "He told me about that monster. Kartauk won't give Abdar what he wants, and when he refuses, he'll die."

"You said he might have followed Ian," Jane reminded her gently. "You don't know that he stayed."

"That's right." Margaret took a deep breath. "There's still hope, isn't there? I'm behaving very foolishly." She sat up straighter. "Kartauk said to tell you that Abdar's force were foot soldiers, armed with English rifles, and he did not believe there would be reinforcements."

"With two hundred armed men they probably think he won't need them," Ruel said grimly. "Since I have no army at all." He jumped to his feet. "But he's wrong, damn him."

"What do we do?" Jane asked.