Her Master's Touch (25 page)

Elizabeth again wore the garb of a
gypsy—ropes of chains around her neck, faded and worn skirt and
blouse, garments she'd found at the bazaar. She didn't expect to be
welcomed back into the kumpania, but she did want to blend in, not
be pegged a
gorgio
. She was annoyed that Damon insisted on
accompanying her though, and she wished he'd leave and let her get
on with what she had to do. Turning to him, she said in a hushed
voice, "If they see you with me, I'll never get the answers I
need."

Damon eyed her with vexation. "And if the man
who killed my gateman and took the opal from you recognizes you,
he'll never let you get away. It's not safe for you alone."

"I was alone before we met and I did
fine."

"But as my wife I have an obligation to
protect you."

Elizabeth pursed her lips. "Protect me until
I recover your opal, you mean."

"No, protect you as long as you are my wife,"
Damon said. "After our marriage is dissolved, you'll be your
father's responsibility."

Elizabeth shook off that disturbing thought.
"After I recover the opal, I will be mistress of
Shanti
Bhavan
and I will be no man's responsibility," she said, with
resolve.

Damon curved his hands around her arms, the
first time he'd touched her since the night of the masquerade ball.
Peering into her eyes, he said, "Is that what you really want,
Elizabeth, to never be any man's responsibility? To never be a
wife, or a mother?"

As Elizabeth held his gaze, a sense of
loneliness settled over her. The fact was, she didn't know what she
wanted. She knew what she
didn't
want though. She didn't
want to be wedded to a man who took his pleasure from a string of
mistresses when he tired of his wife. And she didn't want to give
birth to children, only to have a disgruntled or abusive husband
take them from her should she want out of the marriage. Her own
mother had been cast out by her father, who sent their only child
to England so there would be no chance of contact with her. But
maybe once she had title to
Shanti Bhavan
, and would be no
man's responsibility, she could think beyond the feeling of being
trapped. For now, she nodded, and replied, "Yes, that's what I
want."

"Then you'd better get on with it." Damon
dropped his hands to his sides.

Elizabeth clutched her arms where he'd held
her, maybe to hold his warmth, she wasn't sure. She also wondered
if living the life of a divorced woman of means was what she
wanted. But of course it was! She'd be no man's puppet, share no
man's bed, have no husband to appease, suffer no man wrapped around
her, no muscular chest to snuggle against, or masculine hands
touching private places, or silk-clad iron moving into the core of
her femininity to incite that private pleasure she'd come to know,
brief as it was…

"This won't take long," she snapped,
dismissing the disconcerting thoughts. "I saw the tribal chief go
into his wagon. I'll talk to him in private there."

She made her way along the fringes of the
woods to Istvan Czinka's wagon and rapped. He opened the door,
looked at her with a start, and said in a curt voice, "What you
want
posh rat
?"

"To talk to you, if I may," she replied.

He eyed her, warily. "Talk about what?"

"The
Kalki-Avatar
."

Istvan took her by the arm and dragged her
inside the wagon, closing the door behind. "What about
Kalki-Avatar
?" he said, eyes dark as night peering down at
her.

"Two years ago I recovered it from Lord
Ravencroft as I had been instructed to do," she said, "but when I
was leaving the house with it, Januz Kazinczy took it from me. He
also killed Lord Ravencroft's gateman with my knife to make it look
like I'd done it. I assume he returned the
Kalki-Avatar
to
the tribe."

Istvan shook his head. "Januz Kazinczy was
found on road close by… strangled by Kalla-bantrus. They take
Kalki-Avatar
."

Elizabeth willed herself not to gloat at the
irony of it—Januz Kazinczy, a thief and a murderer, falling prey to
gypsies known for their heinous acts of thievery and murder. It
came to her then that she would have been the one to fall prey to
those same Kalla-bantrus had Januz not relieved her of the opal
first. "Where is the
Kalki-Avatar
now?" she asked.

Istvan gave a snort of derision.
"Kalla-bantrus sell it to Rashid Ali Khan. He have fighting horse
that descend from horse of King Nasir ud Din Haidar. During
Rathayatra, he have feast where he offer
Kalki-Avatar
to any
with tiger that can defeat fighting horse."

Elizabeth didn't bother to ask how Istvan
knew all this. However, it troubled her greatly that Rashid Ali
Khan had the opal. Everyone knew about his cruel nature and brutal
animal fights. The opulent lifestyle he led in his palatial
compound above the Hugli River was also of common knowledge. But
learning that Rashid Ali Khan had the opal, and gaining access to
it—or even into his compound—were two different matters, especially
with less than a week until Rathayatra for making plans. Not
expecting an answer, but hoping to glean information, she said,
"Will the opal be on display during the feast?"

Istvan nodded. "Rashid Ali Khan will have
bearers bring
Kalki-Avatar
out on palanquin for all to see.
He say spirit of horse inside
Kalki-Avatar
so no harm come
to fighting horse." He eyed her dubiously. "Why you ask,
posh-rat
?"

Elizabeth realized she'd crossed the bounds
of casual questioning. Attempting to cover her blunder, she
shrugged and said, "No reason. I just wondered how greatly Rashid
Ali Khan prized the
Kalki-Avatar
. It seems it could
disappear easily in a crowd like that."

Istvan said nothing. And Elizabeth had her
answer. The
Kalki-Avatar
would be there for all to see. And
for the gypsies to take back, especially as the night waned and
feast-goers began to feel the effects of the opium that would be
available for all.

Somehow she'd have to find her way into the
compound and retrieve the opal
before
Istvan's contact did.
Rashid Ali Khan was certain to have entertainment leading up to the
animal fights, but once the fighting began, all eyes would be
riveted on the horse and the tiger. One chance to take the opal.
But only if she got to it before Istvan's contact did.

If Istvan's demeanor hadn't already told her
that he knew she too was after the opal, his words did. "You go,
posh-rat
. Stay away from festival. You bring bad luck."

"I have no intention of going there," she
lied. "I did my part before, so I leave it to you to recover the
Kalki-Avatar
." She left Istvan's wagon and went to rejoin
Damon.

After passing on to him what she'd learned,
Damon said, "It's over then. You won't be going there. I'll find a
way to get the opal back on my own."

Elizabeth looked at him, incensed. "We made a
bargain. I would recover the opal and you would give me title to
Shanti Bhavan
. Are you going back on your word?"

Damon looked at the beautiful, angry face of
this wife he'd strapped himself down with, a wife he now wanted to
have and to hold until… He wasn't sure when. But he knew he could
not let her take such a risk. "It's dangerous to even be in the
vicinity of Rashid Ali Khan's compound, much less get inside," he
said. "I can't let you do it."

Elizabeth squared off with him, planting her
hands on her hips. "And you can't stop me unless you lock me up
until our agreement runs out."

"With less than a week to go, that could be
arranged," Damon said, frustrated with her tenacity, determined
that this time she would
not
get her way.

Leveling furious green eyes on him, she said,
"Then you'll have to lock me in a cell without doors or windows,
because unless you do that, I
will
find a way out, just as
I'll find a way inside Rashid Ali Khan's compound and get the
opal."

Resisting the urge to take her by the
shoulders and shake her senseless, or kiss the hell out of her,
Damon said, "If you think you can bare your breasts and raise your
skirt to Rashid Ali Khan and gain entry that way, you'll find him a
much more clever and cunning man that I. And if he learns what you
are about, he'll take what he wants from you, without mercy, for as
long as it satisfies his sexual appetite, which is said to be
insatiable."

Elizabeth lifted her chin a notch. "Then I'll
take my chances."

Damon held her unwavering gaze, wondering why
this exasperating scrap of a woman had such power over him now.
Feeling as if backed into a corner, he said in a weary voice, "Is
there nothing I can say or do to stop you?"

Elizabeth cocked her head. "Yes, give me
title to
Shanti Bhavan
."

"I can't do that," Damon replied. "Without
the opal, I'll have to sell the place in order to get the money to
clear my name and bring Westwendham up to bare living
standards."

"Then I have no choice but to go after the
opal."

"Then we'd better come up with a plan."

Elizabeth looked at him, baffled. "We?"

Damon shrugged. "There's no way on God's
earth I'll let you do this alone."

***

Elizabeth spent the week roaming through the
bazaar and the streets of Calcutta while dressed in disguises—a
beggar, a street urchin, a gypsy fortune teller, a courtesan, a
young footman. Although the city was gearing up for Rathayatra,
with children everywhere preparing their small chariots for the
huge parade, Elizabeth managed to gather a plethora of information
about Prince Rashid Ali Khan. And Damon spent his time either at
The Club, or questioning gem dealers, most of whom had an intimate
knowledge of everything that went on, including the layout of
Rashid Ali Khan's compound. Damon had also paid a gem artisan a
sizeable amount to fashion a bogus
Burning of Troy
to switch
with the real one when the time came.

By the end of the week, between the two of
them, Elizabeth and Damon were able to put together a diagram of
the layout of the prince's compound, with hatch marks over areas
they must avoid, such as the animal enclosure. The prince kept his
fighting horse in an iron-fenced compound, where fodder was thrown
over the fence to the horse from a distance. It was said that the
horse was so vicious, it would kill any handler or animal it could
get to, then trample and mutilate it until it was unrecognizable.
So they would definitely stay clear of that area.

The feast would begin in early afternoon with
dancers, jugglers and other entertainers. Afterwards, bearers would
bring the opal out on a palanquin, parade it past the bleacher for
all to see, and place it on display in front of the prince until
the animal fights were over, when a winner would be announced.
Rashid Ali Khan did not present the opal as either the
Burning
of Troy
, or the
Kalki-Avatar
, so they assumed he didn't
know what he had, other than the largest, most brilliant opal ever
to come into his possession. A stone they were certain he had no
intention of losing, whether to the owner of a victorious tiger, or
inadvertently to a British lord and a half-Hindu woman. Fireworks,
feasting, passing of the opium pipes, and more entertainment would
follow the animal fights and continue into the night.

But well before then, Elizabeth and Damon
would be gone.

They'd also learned things about the prince
that made Elizabeth's flesh crawl. The man derived great pleasure
from forcing animals to fight to their deaths, witnessing, with
gusto, the bloodshed from the savage combat. As during other such
occasions, the prince and his guests would watch the cruel
spectacle from the bleacher while passing around opium pipes and
feasting on the most sumptuous of delicacies. And while they
delighted in their decadence and debauchery, below in the fighting
enclosure, handlers with iron-tipped staves would prod the animals,
while sending one of them to certain death.

It was also said that the prince had eunuchs
who used similar tactics to force women into doing unspeakable acts
for the prince's sexual gratification. Damon expressed great
concern over this, but Elizabeth would not be dissuaded from going.
Damon greatly underestimated her. If she were captured, Prince Ali
Khan would not get to her without first encountering the fight of
his life. But it wouldn't come to that. The key to succeeding was
patience, something she'd learned from the gypsies. Then she
remembered that there would be at least one other gypsy attending
the feast for the same reason as she. So ultimately, it would come
down to which of them was the cleverest, and which had the most
patience.

Two days before Rathayatra—and three days
before their agreement would run out—Damon picked up the bogus
stone. Damon gave the man a bonus because he'd done such a
masterful job. He'd ground a piece of quartz into a stone the size
of a hen's egg, then injected dyes into tiny holes drilled into
it's core. Unless the stone could be viewed closely, and in bright
light, the switch would not be detected. Luckily, Rashid Ali Khan's
feast and horse fight would take place at night, and in
torchlight.

***

Crouching in the shadows beside Damon,
Elizabeth watched the vehicles as they pulled up to the side
entrance to Rashid Ali Khan's compound. When the moment was right,
they'd slip inside. Ironically, they wore the garb of pirate king
and gypsy queen—costumes that would enable them to gain entry with
the other entertainers. Instead of the breeches, however, Damon
wore baggy black pants, which were tucked into high black boots.
Once inside, they'd shed the garments for others. They'd be
shedding them, that is, if their plan worked. Elizabeth refused to
dwell on how many things could go wrong.