The Tiger Prince

by Iris Johansen

  Ruel grimaced. “So much for my lauded power. May I point out I’ve done all the work so far?”

  “It is the responsibility of those who hold power to care for those weaker than themselves.” Li Sung settled into his bedroll and turned his back on them. “It is only fair, after all.”

  Ruel turned to look at her, and she could see the reflection of the flames in his eyes. She stiffened as tension gripped her. As long as Li Sung was there, Ruel maintained a civilized facade. But now Li Sung was going to sleep, leaving her to face Ruel alone.

  “I agree with Li Sung.” She quickly set her own plate down, settled into her bedroll beside Li Sung, and shut her eyes.

  She heard Ruel swear softly and then chuckle. “I believe there’s something wrong with both your reasoning, but I’ll not argue.”

  No, Ruel never wasted time arguing about the unimportant things, she thought. He would perform the menial tasks with perfect good nature and matchless efficiency and save himself for the bigger battles.

  A short time later she heard Ruel crawling into his blankets across the fire. Then there was silence except for the rustling night sounds of the jungle surrounding them, the crackle of the wood in the fire … and the occasional trumpeting of an elephant.

  Li Sung was probably right about the elephants being neither sad nor lonely, but the sound still filled her with melancholy.

  Another elephant trumpeted in the darkness.

  She had thought Li Sung asleep but apparently she was mistaken.

  His murmur was almost inaudible but still held an element of wistfulness. “Power …”

  Ruel’s mining camp was a tent city as different from his palace as Kasanpore had been from Glenclaren. A hundred or so tents dotted the landscape, a sight not so different from the temporary tent camps of her childhood.

  The thought caused Jane’s hand to involuntarily clench on the reins.

  “Is something wrong?” Ruel’s gaze was narrowed on her face. “I know it’s not the palace, but I didn’t think it was that bad.”

  She forced a smile. “Nothing’s wrong. It just reminded me of—”

  “It is not the same,” Li Sung interrupted. “See how clean it is here? No rubbish. Perfect order.”

  She felt an easing of tension as affection surged through her. Trust Li Sung to sense the bitter memories and step in to soothe and comfort her. “No, it’s not the same.”

  “Same as what?” Ruel asked.

  She stiffened warily as she saw his arrested expression. “Li Sung and I have seen quite a few tent cities over the years.” She added quickly to forestall further questions. “But none this clean. Are you responsible?”

  He shook his head. “The Cinnidans are incredibly fastidious. The first thing they demanded when I came to terms with the workers was a communal bathhouse, a belim tent, and two hours a day for belim and time to police their living quarters.”

  “Demanded?”

  “Did you think I was using slave labor?”

  “Let’s say I didn’t find you so compliant in our negotiations.”

  “I had no choice with the Cinnidans.” He grinned ruefully. “They deigned to work in my mine only on their own terms. If I hadn’t acceded to their wishes, they would have stayed happily in their villages and watched me work myself into the grave no matter how much money I offered them.”

  But he bore them no ill will. Jane noticed the same affectionate possessiveness when he spoke of the Cinnidans as when he had looked at his mountain. “Money has no appeal to them?”

  “Money has appeal for everyone, but the Cinnidans don’t regard it as necessary to ‘felicitous living,’ as they call it.”

  “And what do they think is necessary?” Li Sung asked.

  “Children, serene surroundings, time to learn from their teachers, and belim.”

  “Belim?”

  “Games. Cinnidans love games. You can almost always find a game of some sort in progress.”

  “And we’re supposed to get them to work?” Jane asked dryly.

  “They’re not lazy, but I had a problem with that when I first came here until I realized the secret. You make work a game and put the workers in competition with each other. Every night we declare a winner and award a prize.”

  “What kind of prize?”

  “It changes every day. A day off, a trinket, money … The local council gathers to decide the prizes every two weeks.”

  “And you head the council?” Li Sung asked.

  He shook his head. “No one is allowed to sit on a Cinnidar council except the Cinnidans. I’ve been here three years and never been accorded that honor.” He smiled. “But Dilam tells me if I continue to behave in a proper manner, in another year or two I may be permitted to attend, if not participate.”

  “Is Dilam on the council?”

  “Oh yes, Dilam heads the council. A most extraordinary individual.” He cast a glance at the setting sun. “I’ll take you over to the belim tent. Most of the workers gather there for dice and card games before supper. I believe it’s time you met our Dilam.”

  They heard the laughter and excited shouts issuing from the huge tent in the center of the camp from a hundred yards away.

  When they entered the tent the noise was deafening. The tent was unfurnished except for colorful rugs covering the bare dirt floor and elaborately carved brass filigree lanterns that illuminated the excited faces of the men and women gathered in several groups. Jane smiled in amusement as she remembered Li Sung’s comment about the superiority of the Cinnidans because they wore their hair in pigtails. Well, these Cinnidans certainly had a fondness for the practice; she had never seen so many pigtails in one place. Men and women alike wore their long, dark hair pulled back into thick single braids.

  Their entrance received little attention from the crowd, though a few men hailed Ruel with more friendliness than respect. Ruel answered with equal casualness while he looked around the tent. “Ah, dice … I thought so. Dilam loves dice. This way.” He elbowed his way through the crowd to a circle of men and women kneeling, playing dice in the far corner.

  “Dilam, could I speak to you?” Ruel called.

  One of the glossy dark-maned heads bent over the dice lifted. “In a moment, Samir Ruel.”

  Jane stared in shock. Dilam was a woman.

  Dilam’s glance shifted to Jane. “Ah, they are here? Good.”

  “I thought you’d approve,” Ruel murmured to Jane. “It seems you’re not the only woman capable of bossing a railroad crew.”

  Dilam rolled out the dice. Immediate groans and derisive whoops erupted from the other players. She grinned and said something in Cinnidan before calling to Ruel, “They do not like it because I’m lucky. I told them the gods reward with luck the one who has already been given the gift of cleverness.” She began gathering up the stakes. “Wait for me outside. It’s too noisy in here for greetings.”

  Ruel nodded and steered Jane and Li Sung from the tent.

  “A woman?” Li Sung asked.

  “Medford asked the Cinnidar high council for an intelligent native to supervise his crew, and they sent Dilam. On Cinnidar you don’t offend the council by refusing their choice.”

  “She speaks English very well.”

  “She learned it in only four weeks. I told you she was extraordinary.”

  A moment later Dilam strolled out of the tent and came toward them, moving with a springy step and athletic grace. She was of middle height, with broad shoulders and a body that appeared both strong and lithe. She was dressed in a dark green tunic, loose black trousers, and brown sandals that, though worn, appeared spotlessly clean. “You are Jane Barnaby?” She beamed. “I give you greetings. I am Dilam Kankula. You may call me Dilam.”

  “Thank you.” In the dimness of the tent Jane had received only a fleeting impression of sparkling dark eyes and an equally gleaming wide white smile. Now she could see the woman was probably close to her thirtieth year and those fine eyes were set in a square face whose only
other claim to beauty was a well-shaped mouth and an expression of intelligence and good humor. “Ruel didn’t tell me you were a woman.”

  “But it is better, yes? We will work in harmony and understanding. I will not have to teach you my value as I did Samir Medford.”

  “And are there other women on the crew?”

  “Oh yes, but not many. Men are better for physical labor. Women have more endurance and reasoning power, but men possess more physical strength. It is best to let the men do what they do best and leave the rest to us.”

  “I beg your pardon.” Li Sung’s tone had a distinct edge as he stepped out of the shadows cast by the huge tent.

  Dilam’s gaze swung to Li Sung and her eyes widened. “You are Li Sung? I did not see you there in the shadows behind Jane.”

  “Even though I’m a mere humble man destined to do only what he does best, I do not stand in the shadow of any woman.”

  “I meant no insult by my words.” Her tone was absent, her expression totally absorbed as she gazed at Li Sung. “But it is the truth, you know.”

  “I do not know.”

  “The Cinnidans have a principally matriarchal society,” Ruel said. “Did I forget to mention that?”

  The devil knew very well he hadn’t mentioned that important fact, Jane thought crossly. Ruel’s eyes were shimmering with mischief as he looked from Dilam to a bristling Li Sung.

  “I’m sure we’ll all get along very well,” she said.

  “If she does not try to treat me as a mindless beast of burden,” Li Sung said caustically.

  “Oh no, that is not my intent.” Dilam frowned earnestly. “You misunderstand my words. Men are truly splendid creatures.”

  “Creatures,” Li Sung echoed. “Like mules or elephants perchance?”

  “They do not deserve to be bunched together. Elephants are much more intelligent than mules.”

  “And where do men rank in this bestial hierarchy?”

  “By the gods, you’re prickly,” Dilam said, exasperated. “What do you wish me to say?”

  “I wish you to explain these acts of splendor of which you deem men capable.”

  “I think you wish to quarrel with me.” Dilam shrugged. “Men are good hunters and warriors. They can also be fine craftsmen.”

  “But we are not worthy to govern?”

  Dilam shook her head. “Their temper is too hot. Before women took over the council, we had many tribal wars.”

  “And now I suppose peace reigns under your benevolent council.”

  “Not always.” She smiled cheerfully. “But since it takes us nine months to bring a child into the world, we think much more carefully about starting a war that will crush out their lives.”

  “I’m sure your men have an equal concern for their children,” Li Sung said stiffly.

  “Then why do they war?” She held up her hand as he started to speak. “We have no real quarrel. I can see you are different.” She added, “In some ways.”

  Jane could see Dilam’s words were only exacerbating Li Sung’s irritation and interceded hurriedly. “Will you show me to my tent, Dilam? Perhaps we could discuss—”

  Dilam was shaking her head. “Samir Ruel will show you where you sleep.” She smiled and pointed her index finger at Li Sung. “I take you.”

  “That is not necessary,” Li Sung said coldly.

  “It is a pleasure, not a necessity. You are angry with me and I must make things right. I think we nesling before supper.”

  Jane heard a sound that was half gasp, half snort from Ruel

  “Nesling?” Li Sung frowned as he cast an inquiring glance at Ruel.

  “Copulation,” Ruel murmured.

  “That’s another thing men are good at,” Dilam said with another beaming smile. “Nesling.”

  “How kind that you approve our carnal capability.” Li Sung looked at her in outrage. “I think not.”

  “Oh,” she said, disappointed. “I do not please you?”

  “You do not please me.”

  “You please me very much. I find you …” She made a face as she read his forbidding expression. “Oh, well, perhaps you will like me better later.”

  “I doubt it.”

  “You will not change your mind?” she asked wistfully. “I am truly excepdonal at nesling.”

  “I will not change my mind.” Li Sung turned to Ruel. “Where is my tent?”

  “I’ll show you.” Ruel was trying to keep from smiling as he told Dilam, “I’m afraid you’ll have to be satisfied with the discussion Jane suggested. Bring her to the candmar in an hour.”

  Dilam watched them as they walked away. “It is not a good beginning.” Then she noticed something else. “He limps.”

  “His leg was crushed when he was a child. It doesn’t hinder him. You’ll find he works harder than anyone on the crew.”

  “I know this.” She shook her head gloomily. “But the limp explains much. I could have wished for an easier task.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Dilam didn’t answer, her gaze still on Li Sung’s retreating figure.

  “What is a candmar?” Jane asked.

  “What?” Dilam’s glance shifted back to Jane. “Oh, candmar means eating place. We all eat together at one campfire in the center of the encampment.” She turned and started in the opposite direction. “Come, I will show you where you sleep and then we will come back here. We have time for more dice before supper.”

  Jane shook her head. “I need to study the map and find what problems there might be on the—”

  “We will go play dice,” Dilam said adamantly. “Gambling gives zest when one is tired and downhearted. Your head will be clearer when your heart is more content.” She studied Jane. “You must learn to enjoy life. You are too solemn.”

  “I have to build a railroad in seven months. That’s a solemn matter.”

  “Li Sung is also too serious.” Dilam jumped on to another subject. “You nesling with him?”

  “Me?” Jane chuckled. “We’re only friends.”

  “Friends nesling. Sometimes that is very pleasant.”

  Evidently Cinnidar culture was very different from her own, Jane realized. She tried to clarify. “We’re like brother and sister.”

  “Oh, that is good. Then we will also be friends.” Dilam smiled broadly. “You nesling with Samir Ruel?”

  Her smile faded. “No, I don’t.” She stiffened as a sudden thought occurred to her. “Do you?”

  Dilam shook her head, looking at her curiously. “Why does it matter to you?”

  “It doesn’t matter,” she said quickly. “I only wondered.”

  “You lie,” Dilam said flatly. “It matters.”

  Dilam was right, the raw sharpness of the pain that had torn through her at the thought of Dilam and Ruel together had shocked as well as frightened her. She quickly changed the subject. “Ruel said your people didn’t get along with the Savitsar rulers.”

  “They tried to make slaves of us. We had no weapons to fight them, so we had to run.” Dilam’s lips tightened. “That time must never come again. One of the reasons the High Council decided to work with Samir Ruel was that we knew it was inevitable that others would again intrude.”

  “And you preferred the intruder be Ruel?”

  “He was an intruder at first but no longer.”

  “You work well with him?”

  Dilam nodded. “Samir Ruel is fair, works as hard as any of us, and knows how to laugh at his mistakes.”

  “But you still won’t allow him on your council.”

  “In time. He belongs to Cinnidar, but we must season him.”

  The idea of anyone seasoning Ruel brought a smile to Jane’s lips. “I’d like to see that.”

  “You will.” Dilam stopped before a small tent. “This is yours. My tent is two down the way. Refresh yourself and I will come for you in fifteen minutes.” She changed her mind. “No, thirty minutes. I have something to do.”

  Jane’s smile lingered as
she watched Dilam walk away. She liked the woman. Her bluntness might be a little discomforting, but her good humor and vitality were refreshing. She might also be as valuable as Ruel claimed if she was as energetic in work as she obviously was at play.

  Her smile turned to a chuckle as she remembered Li Sung’s outraged expression before he had stalked away with Ruel. Yes, Dilam’s presence was definitely going to make their task more interesting.

  Li Sung was sitting on the ground, fastidiously devouring a piece of roasted rabbit when Ruel arrived at the campfire ninety minutes later, but Jane and Dilam were nowhere to be seen. “Where’s Jane?” Ruel asked.

  “I have not seen her. I do not know where she is.”

  Since Dilam was also missing, Ruel had a good idea where they both were. The gambling in the belim tent was still going strong, and he had learned Dilam never liked to be disturbed when she was gambling.

  A moment later he was elbowing his way through the crowd in the tent. He spotted Dilam almost at once playing parzak, a Cinnidan card game, but Jane was not with her. “I thought you’d be here,” Ruel told Dilam as he glanced around the tent. “Where’s Jane?”

  “Over there.” Dilam motioned to the dice corner. “But you must not disturb her. She is winning.”

  The throng was so thick he couldn’t see any of the players at the dice circle. “It’s time for supper. Food is more important than gambling.”

  “You never think so when you are the one who is winning.” She threw down her cards and stood up. “I will go with you to the candmar, but we will let her stay here and have her pleasure,”

  “Oh, will we?”

  Dilam nodded. “She needs to win. She has no joy.” She took Ruel’s arm and started to pull him from the tent. “We will send Li Sung for her later.”

  “I doubt if Li Sung will allow himself to be sent anywhere by you.”

  “I know,” Dilam said glumly. “It is his crippled leg, I think. He is going to cause me much trouble.”

  Laughter. Jane’s laughter—excited, full-bodied, and free, ringing through the tent.

  He stopped in his tracks, ignoring Dilam’s tugging hand as he turned back. He felt a sense of shock as he realized he could not remember ever hearing Jane laugh like that. Certainly not in Kasanpore or Glenclaren.