How terrible could it be? He was not repulsive—he was handsome, at least from the neck up. His hands had been soft but did not feel weak and he was not old. He was clean and smelled of scented soaps and perfumed oils. Some of the men in the court beyond the curtain had not looked especially clean. Pleasing this man was surely better than being sport for all and sundry.
“Well?” Sukumar’s tone was impatient.
Leandre took a deep breath and reached forward to unfasten the breeches. She had to lean close to see how they worked and she heard his breathing quicken as her head came close to his lap. She finally figured out that one button would release the flap of fabric that covered him from neckline to groin, and she tugged it free.
She stared down past his chest—softer than it had appeared under the robes—to his cock, which twitched in anticipation. At least I will have no problem fitting it all into my mouth.
Surrendering to the inevitable, she sank to her knees. This is something I know how to do. Leandre and her husband had spent many hours exploring the most minute details and nuances of the pleasures their tongues, lips, teeth and fingers could bring to one another. If you are going to do something, you may as well do it right. If Sukumar wanted proof that Leandre knew how to give a man pleasure, he would get it. Even if I have never before had to perform in front of an audience. She put Phanishwar and Poornima from her mind.
Settling into a comfortable position, she cupped one hand around his balls, gathering them into a gentle grasp. She looked up at his face—he watched her with great concentration—and dipped her thumb and index finger into her mouth, sucking them for a moment before pulling them out, now glistening with moisture. She put them around his shaft, teasing the head with her forefinger while she slowly moved her thumb up the line on the underside. She felt an answering pulse from beneath the smooth skin and Sukumar’s breathing grew ragged.
I’ll wager this will not take too long. She squeezed him gently as she extended her tongue and lowered her head toward his cock, preparing to encircle the tip and rapidly flick the head while her hands kept up their pressure on the shaft and balls. He is about to burst already.
The moment her mouth met his flesh, Sukumar groaned aloud. “Ah, my foreign whore. Who taught you such things? Did the men who killed your husband line up and impale you as well? Did you suck their shafts while your husband jerked and danced at the end of their rope? When they fucked you, did your screams drown out his death cries?”
Her body went rigid. All of it. Sukumar’s groan turned into a scream. Leandre tasted blood and realized what she had done. Stumbling back, she stared at him with hatred. “You should know better than to insult a woman who has your cock between her teeth,” she snarled, forgetting where she was.
“Get her out of here,” shrieked Sukumar. Poornima reached for his damaged groin, probably trying to comfort him, but he slapped her hands away. The curtain was pulled abruptly aside and Leandre caught a glimpse of the startled faces of the court beyond before the fabric fell back into place.
The confused guards pointed their swords first at Phanishwar, then at Leandre, then at Poornima, who screamed in terror. Sukumar was frantically trying to examine his now-shriveled member to see how badly she had bitten him and yelping like a dog when his fingers met the wound.
“I should have bitten it off,” Leandre snarled. “How dare you speak of my husband’s death! You are not fit to clean his slop pot!”
Thankfully she had spoken in her own tongue or the two guards probably would have beheaded her on the spot. As it was, her tone was sufficient to relieve their confusion over the identity of the villain in this situation, and both sword points were soon aimed between her naked breasts.
“I said take her out of here! Why do you stand like statues?”
“Where shall we take her?” one of the guards managed to stammer. “Is she to be killed?”
“Yes!” thundered the rajah who, apparently satisfied that his cock would not fall off, was rearranging his robes while the fluttering hands of Poornima tried to soothe him and ended up doing the opposite. “Take her to the garden and cut off her head.”
The two men started to pull Leandre toward the curtain, and she thought her knees would buckle when Sukumar spoke again, more calmly but still loud enough that she was sure everyone on the other side could hear. “Stop. I have a better idea.”
Roughly pushing Poornima away, he came to stand in front of Leandre. He panted and his eyes shone with a dark light. “Since you seem to like the tigers so well, you can be their next meal. They like a little sport now and then.” He addressed one of the guards. “Prepare her. Go!” He turned and strode from the back of the dais, going out through a door Leandre had not previously noticed. Crying, Poornima stumbled after him. Phanishwar stood, wringing his hands and sputtering.
“What have you done, you stupid girl? I will lose everything. I will be cast into a pit!”
Well, at least that is something, Leandre thought as the two guards pulled the curtain aside and dragged her through.
Chapter Five
The Sacrifice
A few breaths of the evening air made Bhavesh feel better. Perhaps he would have an opportunity to speak to the woman later. It was hard to predict what would happen in the palace.
As if to confirm his thoughts, the sounds of an uproar filtered through the tiger enclosure from the great room. Bhavesh hurried around the cage and back into the room to see what was going on. All eyes were turned to the curtained dais, where the fabric swung crazily as if a fight were going on behind. He started pushing through the crowd, heedless of who he might be casting aside, when the curtain swung open and two guards came through, dragging the woman of Eriu between them.
She was naked, and her honey-colored eyes were as wild as a spitting cat’s. She looked around at the crowd in fury, trying to kick the guards and a few onlookers that pressed too near. Her hair flew around her wildly, like the mane of a great beast made from golden threads. Was that blood on her lips?
The crowd drew back in delighted horror as the guards pulled her toward the opposite side of the tiger enclosure into the far part of the garden. Bhavesh tried to fight his way closer, but they were out of sight within moments.
Everyone chattered at once, their eyes bright with excitement at the unusual spectacle. He tried to make sense of what they were saying but their excited babble defeated him. He caught sight of Gupta.
“Ah, my young friend. Did I not tell you the matter was not—”
“What has happened?” Bhavesh cut him off, not wanting to hear his gloating. “Where are they taking her?”
“To be prepared for sacrifice.” Gupta whispered the last word in feigned horror. He was obviously as delighted as the rest of the crowd at the unexpected turn of events. “Sukumar is going to feed her to the tigers!”
“He will not really do such a thing!” Bhavesh was torn between disbelief and horror. “Even in the places where tiger worship is still practiced, no one really sacrifices humans to them.”
“Ah, but these are true Bengals of the Sundarban. It is said they prefer the flesh of men and women to all other foods.” The old man lowered his voice. “This will not be the first time Sukumar has disposed of someone who displeased him in this manner, you know. Although I do not think he has previously done it in front of the entire court.”
“Surely they will not want to watch?” Revulsion roiled through Bhavesh’s stomach.
“Look at them. What do you think?”
He looked around at the bright eyes and faces and listened to the excited whispers. With a sinking feeling, he realized Gupta was right. These vultures would eat any offal Sukumar laid before them. And Bhavesh was one of them.
“Well, I do not plan to watch this disgusting…uncivilized…” Words failed him.
“Oh, I would not watch it either, but our host might be displeased if he arranges a special entertainment and we decline to enjoy it. I would excuse myself on the basis of age, but
that might not be a good idea. So I suppose I must swallow my misgivings and attend for the sake of his hospitality.”
I’ll just bet you will, you old buzzard. You will be swallowing your misgivings from the front row, if I am any judge of men. “I think I have had just about enough of Sukumar’s hospitality,” Bhavesh growled, and fled to his rooms.
Bhavesh had not arrived at Sukumar’s court with his own servants, but his family connections had rated a room in the “good” part of the palace, where the slaves of Sukumar’s household saw to his needs. They had unpacked his belongings and placed them in the elaborately carved cupboards that came with the chamber, and he had no idea what had happened to his baggage. Any of the servants would probably be happy to pack for him, but not without the potential that word would get back to his host. Bhavesh could probably come up with some other reason for needing his bags, however, and he hunted for a servant to tell him where they were kept.
The halls, usually bustling with activity, were empty and silent. It appeared that everyone had gathered somewhere to discuss the coming spectacle. He looked behind doors and curtains, becoming increasingly more agitated and no closer to his goal. Of course, with slaves available to lift and carry, there was no reason such things should be kept close at hand. His bags could be in the stables or in one of the farthest out buildings, for all Bhavesh knew.
He returned to his room, temporarily defeated. He noticed the ewer of wine that had been delivered the night before, which he had not gotten around to drinking. He poured himself a cup and set it on the floor next to the bed, then lay down for a moment and massaged his throbbing temples. When had this cursed headache come upon him? He just wanted to get out of this foul place and did not need any roadblocks.
He had a sudden vision of standing before his mother’s door. Bhavesh, why have you returned so soon? Has Sukumar given you a title already?
Mother would just have to understand. There were some things a man could not do and keep his honor. Even if Sukumar planned to make him heir to the throne, Bhavesh would still not watch him feed some helpless woman to tigers.
Then stop him.
Bhavesh snorted. Just how was he supposed to do that? Appeal to the rajah’s better self? Bhavesh had yet to see evidence he possessed one. And even if he did, Bhavesh had barely done more than pass the minimum courtesies of hospitality with the rajah. Bhavesh had a feeling tonight would not be a good bet for their first private conversation.
Get someone else to speak to him? Who would that be? From what Bhavesh had observed Sukumar had no close advisors, only wheedling toadies who agreed with his every whim. None of them would ever deign to suggest that slaughtering a human being in front of a crowd of women, children, old men and everyone else might be a bad idea.
Maybe the tigers will not be interested.
Unfortunately, Bhavesh knew better. Gupta was right—the Bengal tigers of the Sundarban had acquired a taste for human flesh centuries ago, if the stories were to be believed. Bhavesh’s father, not a superstitious man, had said it was because the tidal waves that washed up the rivers and into the marshy jungle every few years during typhoon season left so many bodies behind that the tigers had no reason to hunt for months. And if Sukumar had fed them in this manner before…
Bhavesh shuddered. No, he did not want to see anyone fed to tigers—and most especially not this woman. From the moment he had seen her, he had wanted to speak to her, to touch her, to be alone with her.
That was why he had to go back.
Even if he could do nothing to help her—he supposed he still hoped for some miracle allowing him to do so—Bhavesh could not leave knowing she had died alone in front of a crowd of people who took only pleasure from her suffering. At least one person would care about her death.
He swallowed the wine in one gulp, refilled the cup and drank it down again. Thus fortified, Bhavesh headed down the corridor and back toward the hated hall and the dreaded events scheduled to take place there.
It was far too late to regret her rash behavior, but Leandre tried. Maybe if I apologize, he will spare me. She barked out a short laugh, drawing a curious glance from the old woman who was draping her in a white robe under the watchful eyes of the armed guards. Even with her life at stake, Leandre knew she could not look at Sukumar and apologize with enough sincerity to convince him.
“The robe is white so the blood will show,” said a voice from behind her. Leandre did not have to turn her head to recognize its source. Apparently Poornima’s efforts to calm Sukumar had been rebuffed, and she had come to taunt her would-be rival instead. Leandre wanted to make a scathing retort, but both her glibness and her command of Poornima’s language seemed to have temporarily fled.
She came around so Leandre could see her in what was no doubt her richest attire. Perhaps she had chosen red to ensure that Sukumar did not lose his temper and toss her into the cage too. No thrills for the crowd if the gore didn’t stand out. Poornima addressed the old woman, who was now pulling Leandre’s hair tighter into an elaborate headdress of pearls. “That is good enough. Do not waste too much time on her appearance—the tigers will not be put off their appetites by a few loose strands of hair.”
The old woman bowed her head and stepped away from Leandre. The two guards came forward to take her arms, but she stepped back and shook her head. “I will walk by myself,” Leandre said in their language. “You will not have to drag me.”
“Keep your swords pointed at her back,” cautioned Poornima shrilly. “She may try to run.”
Run where? she wanted to ask, but a sharp point at her buttocks reminded Leandre not to pause. She took a deep breath and, willing her knees not to buckle, strode with as much dignity as possible through the door.
Duncan did not faint when he approached his executioner. She would not dishonor her husband’s memory by behaving less bravely than he had when faced with his own death. They strode down the short hallway and back to the court hall, where Sukumar stood on the platform. If Leandre had thought him ostentatiously dressed and bedecked before, she had underestimated his taste for self-ornamentation. His robes were black, his trousers and turban gold, and he wore so many jewels that he must have needed help mounting the platform.
It does not matter if I stare at you now. Leandre looked at him as coldly and evenly as she could manage. She hoped her trembling was too slight for him to discern. It was the real reason she had not wanted the guards to touch her—she did not want them to be able to report afterward that she had been quaking with fear.
The room was silent except for a soft rustling sound which came from the tiger cage. Akhilesh must have resumed his pacing. As much as Leandre had enjoyed staring at them before, she could not bear to turn her gaze in that direction now.
Sukumar had not yet deigned to look directly at Leandre. So much for my icy stare. He stepped to the edge of the platform and she wondered if he was planning to give a speech. If so, she was not sure if she wanted it to be a long or short one.
Instead, he stood and looked around the room, moving his gaze as if he would stare at each inhabitant until they were forced to look away. Leandre watched as eyes shifted nervously from Sukumar to her. It seemed that no one wanted to look directly at either one of them. She started doing the same thing as Sukumar—meeting their gazes one by one to see how quickly they would falter.
Look at me! she wanted to scream. This bastard is about to feed me to his pets and you stand there and will not even meet my eyes. As each glance fell away, she felt less afraid. You are the cowards, she thought. In a few minutes I will be with my husband in paradise, and you will still be stuck here with this devil. Each stare fell until she came to a familiar set of greenish eyes.
These did not drop. They bore into Leandre’s with an intensity that took her breath away. I see you, they seemed to say. I see you and I understand.
An earsplitting roar came from the cage and Leandre reluctantly pulled her eyes away from the handsome stranger’s stare to look at Akh
ilesh, who had come to stand close to the walls of the iron enclosure. Sukumar’s laugh mingled with the echoes, and the crowd tittered nervously.
“My pets are hungry. It is past their feeding time. Shall we make them wait?” he shouted to the court.
“No!” shouted the crowd. “No, no, no!”
Cowards. They could not look me in the eye and now they shout for my execution. Leandre lifted her chin higher and tried to find the stranger’s face in the crowd again, but the others had raised their hands and were being led in a chant by Sukumar.
“Feed them! Feed them! Feed them!”
Leandre looked at the faces, ugly in their combined bloodlust. Sukumar stepped down from the platform and came to stand next to her. With an exaggerated gesture, as if letting an elder statesman pass before him, he bowed and directed her toward the enclosure, where two guards stood ready to lift the lock and open the heavy barred door. Akhilesh crouched a little way back, his ears turned back as if the noise of the chanting crowd hurt them. Hiranmayi peered from behind a plant and the cubs were nowhere in sight.
“Feed them! Feed them! Feed them!”
Keeping one eye on Akhilesh, the guard closest to the cage cautiously opened the door, prepared to slam it shut if the great cat charged. Leandre tried to move her leaden feet in its direction, but she could not feel them. It was as if her body had frozen at the waist and could not propel itself forward.
“Feed them! Feed them! Feed them!”
Before Leandre could gather her will to move on her own, a great shove caught her in the back and she stumbled into the enclosure. The door clanged behind her and the chanting of the crowd coalesced into a scream before they grew quiet.
She was in the cage with the tigers. Akhilesh was no more than ten feet from her, crouched as if about to spring. His rumbling growl grew louder and his golden eyes looked into Leandre’s.
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