Her Master's Touch (27 page)

Elizabeth said nothing. Damon's words
expressed exactly what she wanted, but hearing him say them was
like having a cloak of despondency settle over her. But she could
not dwell on that now. Time was running out. Snatching up the
tunic, she slipped it on, then replaced the scarf she'd tied around
her slicked-back hair with the bearer's
pugree
. After
spreading a thin layer of brown bistre on her face, she was
satisfied that she would pass as a young, male bearer. She was also
certain that the prince would not be familiar with his lower male
servants. But, whereas the clothes of the smaller bearer fit her
reasonably well, the tunic of the larger stretched tight across
Damon's thick chest and broad shoulders, and Elizabeth saw him
grimace as he struggled to fasten the pants over his distended male
part. "I don't need this tonight," he grumbled, tugging at his
crotch. "I'm hard as hell from binding your breasts and no relief
in sight."

"Maybe the prince could use another eunuch."
she quipped. "I'm sure it could be arranged. It would solve your
problem, and it certainly would solve mine, at least for the next
two days. Your male problem has been nothing but trouble for me
since the start of this sham of a marriage. I have been forced to
look at it, and hold it against my will, and almost lose my
virginity to it, but not for much longer."

Damon looked at her soberly, and said, "If
you'd let me bed you properly as your husband, Elizabeth, you would
not feel that way. I'd make it good for you."

Why his words affected her, Elizabeth didn't
know. But it made her want to put her arms around Damon and tell
him she'd lied, that the sight of him thrilled her and aroused her
and made her feel things she'd never felt before. But most of all,
she wanted to tell him that if he were emasculated, he'd never be
able to awaken that private pleasure in the only way she wanted him
to do it now. Instead, she said, "I think we need to get
going."

The muscles in Damon's jaws bunched.
"Right."

They lifted the poles onto their shoulders
and made their way down the long corridor toward the area beneath
the bleachers. There, they paraded before to the cheers of an
opium-inebriated crowd, then set the palanquin on a raised platform
in front of the prince and stepped aside. As Elizabeth and Damon
watched, the prince eyed the opal through the glass lid. Brows
drawn, he leaned toward the box and raised the lid with one tapered
finger and eyed the opal yet more closely. The man sitting beside
him also bent over the stone, and the two of them seemed to be
discussing it. The prince shook his head slightly, as if in doubt,
then he reached out to lift the stone from the box, but just as his
fingers closed around it, the man beside him passed him the opium
pipe, and the prince reached for it instead. After taking a long
slow puff of opium, he settled back and closed his eyes. After
another long draw, the stone seemed to have been forgotten. And
Elizabeth and Damon took their places at each end of the palanquin,
where they would remain until the animal fight, at which time
they'd discreetly make their exit.

Elizabeth glanced at Damon and caught his
eye, and with it, his slight smile, an acknowledgement of their
impending success. Other than the tense moment when the prince
reached for the stone, their plan had gone without a glitch. In
fact, everything had fallen into place like clockwork. She never
would have dreamed they would have the opal in their possession so
quickly, and so easily. And as soon as the animal fight would be
underway, they'd slip away unnoticed and make their way down to the
Hugli River, where the boatman would be waiting to take them across
the river to Calcutta.

And Damon would have his opal. And she would
gain title to
Shanti Bhavan
.

While looking over a crowd that was eager for
the horse and tiger fight to begin, Elizabeth caught sight of a red
turban and saw the hideous little man with the monkey on his
shoulder. The man's eyes were fixed on her. Not far from the monkey
man stood the snake charmer, who was also watching them, intently.
There was no question. Both men knew what she and Damon were up to.
And both were waiting… Patiently. She wasn't concerned about the
small man with the monkey. She was sure she could handle him on her
own. But the snake charmer with the cobra was another matter.

She pressed her hand to her chest, then
remembered that Damon had the vial of
serpentina
. She prayed
they would not need it. But while she mulled over how to warn Damon
that both men were watching them, the clang of iron, followed by
billows of dust and the sound of hooves, silenced the cacophony of
voices.

A formidable-looking coal-black horse,
impressive by its enormous size and intimidating demeanor, rushed
into the enclosure and came to a dust-billowing halt on stiff front
legs. Head raised, nostrils flaring, ears twitching, the horse spun
around. And froze. Catching the scent of tiger, it raced toward the
far end of the enclosure, where a heavy iron gate separated him
from a huge feline. In a display of fury and frustration, the horse
raised up on hindquarters and pawed at the cross-work of iron,
battering it with it's hooves. But while the horse focused on
getting to the out-of-reach tiger, a gate clanged open at the
opposite end of the enclosure and a tiger crept in on bent legs and
crouched on its belly.

The horse spun around, braced it hooves
against the ground and stared down the tiger. Accepting the
challenge, the tiger rushed the horse and sprang. Anticipating the
action, the horse bent its front legs, lowering its shoulders, and
instead of knocking the horse over so it could disembowel it, the
tiger landed on the horse's back. In an instant, the horse twisted
in mid air and lashed out so violently it threw the tiger off,
sending it plummeting to the ground and landing with an audible
thud on its back. Dragging itself up, the tiger rushed the horse
again. And again, the horse lowered its front end and lashed out,
hurling the tiger to the ground. Disheartened, the tiger turned and
fled.

The clang of iron echoed from the opposite
end, and the tiger that the horse had been trying to get to
earlier, crept into the enclosure and waited, motionless. The horse
stared it down, but the tiger refused to fight. When prodders came
at the tiger with iron spikes, the horse rushed the prodders,
sending them running for their lives, and the tiger rushing out of
the compound. During the melee, Elizabeth studied the prince. Not
only was he enthralled by what was going on in the enclosure, he
was clearly feeling the effects of the opium.

Realizing this was her chance, she moved to
stand beside Damon. "We're being watched," she said, in a voice
just loud enough to be heard. "The snake charmer and the man with
the monkey. I suspect Istvan Czinka's plan is for me to snatch the
opal, and them to take it from me. He knew I'd be coming after it,
not to return it to them, but to recover it for you. I'm certain
they know by now that I'm Lady Ravencroft."

Damon tipped his head close to hers, and
said, "I saw them both, but they may not have been sent by the
gypsies. At least not the man with the monkey. He's the jewel
broker I bought the opal from. The snake charmer couldn't have seen
us switch the stones though, because when we left the area where
the entertainers were waiting, he was charming a snake. So the
jewel broker must have followed us down the corridor and watched
what happened, then relayed the information to the snake charmer.
That is, if they're working together."

Elizabeth nodded. "I think you're right about
the snake charmer not seeing us switch the opals, but it's all but
certain that the man with the monkey did."

"Or maybe learned from the bearers what
happened," Damon added. "He could have found them after we left. If
so, the bearers are either dead, or still bound and gagged. That
repulsive little bastard of a man in the red turban sure as hell
wouldn't turn them loose."

"So Istvan's working with both of them,"
Elizabeth mused. "I just hope we can get out of here and away from
the place before the prince takes a closer look at his opal."

Damon glanced back at the prince. "I doubt
he'll be looking any time soon," he said, "at least not before
morning. He's too busy enjoying the effects of his opium."

Elizabeth glanced at the prince, who was
taking another puff of opium, then looked down at the enclosure.
"Maybe we should make a run for it now," she said. "They've about
gotten things under control in the enclosure and there doesn't seem
to be any more tigers to turn loose."

Damon pointed to where the first tiger had
entered the enclosure. "Behind that iron gate... they're about to
turn out some buffalo," he said. "We can leave when that gets
underway."

Elizabeth nodded and returned to her place at
the end of the palanquin. While she waited, she scanned the crowd
for the snake charmer and the man with the monkey, but both had
vanished. While she weighed the ramification of that, three buffalo
were turned into the enclosure. The horse immediately rushed one of
the buffalo, kicking it so hard it fell over on its side. The other
two animals backed away, refusing to fight. When prodders came at
them with spiked irons, the horse turned on the prodders, chasing
one down. Raising on hind legs, the horse trampled the man with its
front hooves, then pummeled him over and over until all that was
left below the deadly hooves was a mass of crushed bones and
bloodied clothes. Sickened by the grisly sight, Elizabeth turned
away… And looked directly at the prince, whose attention was
riveted on the gruesome scene below, his lips curved in malevolent
pleasure.

As bearers dragged the broken body of the
dead man out of the enclosure, Damon caught Elizabeth's eye and
gave a nod, which she acknowledged. Unobtrusively they made their
way through the crowd and headed for the corridor from which they'd
entered. Elizabeth scanned the spectators for the snake charmer and
the red turban of the man with the monkey, but they were nowhere to
be seen. Elizabeth knew the men would follow them though, so their
best hope was to get out of the compound, then hastily make their
way down the dark road to the path leading to the Hugli River. The
embankment was steep, but at the end of the narrow winding path,
the boatman would be waiting for them.

In the long darkened corridor, Damon took her
arm, urging her on. "Don't slow down now," he said, when she
started to fall back. "Any number of people could have seen us
abandon our posts at the palanquin and alerted the prince or his
guards."

Elizabeth hadn't considered such a thing
until now and wondered how something as critical as that could have
escaped their plan. Once the prince would be alerted, it wouldn't
be long before the guards at the side door where they intended to
make their exit would be notified. "I just hope we can get out of
here at all," she said in a labored voice, as she raced with Damon
toward the main room where they'd waited earlier. "The guards
manning the side door where we came in probably don't suspect
anything yet, but they could soon."

Damon gripped her arm tighter, urging her to
keep up with his long strides. "We'd better hope that they won't be
concerned about entertainers leaving, at least not unless its
discovered that the opal's a fake. But we can't worry about that
now."

Elizabeth didn't respond. Her attention was
focused on the far end of the corridor, where light from the room
beyond was funneling in. As they neared the waiting area where they
would make their exit, Damon slowed their pace to a walk. "Catch
your breath now, and we'll walk from here. Just act like we're a
couple of entertainers ready to leave."

"Except that we look like a couple of bearers
in misfit clothes instead of a pair entertainers," Elizabeth
reminded him.

"Maybe the guards won't notice," Damon said.
"In any event, as soon as we're out of here, head down the road to
the path leading to the river as fast as you can and don't look
back. If I'm not right behind you when you get there, don't wait.
I'll find my way back. The most important thing is that you get
away from here safely."

And with the opal
, Elizabeth thought,
but said instead, "I think you should take the opal now. That way,
if I'm caught, you'll have it."

"If you run for the river you won't be
caught," Damon said. "I'll make sure no one goes after you. So, the
opal is safer on you than on me."

So it was still all about the opal, Elizabeth
realized. But then, her future as mistress of
Shanti Bhavan
depended on the opal as well.

As luck would have it, all four guards were
sleeping off the effects of opium. The room was eerily empty. And
quiet. Even the corridor was quiet. No footsteps coming from
inside. So, it seemed their ploy had worked. Damon tugged on her
arm. "Come on," he said in a hushed voice, ushering her toward the
side entry and their escape.

Not wanting to arouse the guards, Elizabeth
said nothing as she followed Damon to the door, where he quietly
slipped the latch and slowly pushed it open. They stepped outside,
and he carefully pulled the door closed. It was dark now, with no
moon to light the way. Damon tugged Elizabeth by the arm into the
underbrush across the road, where they waited until their eyes had
adjusted to the darkness. Still, Elizabeth said in a hushed voice,
"I can barely see the road. I hope we can find the path to the
river."

"If we can see the road, we can find the
path, " Damon said. "It is only a short ways past the
dak
bungalow we passed on the way here." He took her hand. "Come on.
We'll find it," he said, with more confidence than Elizabeth felt.
A few minutes later they passed the
dak
bungalow. There,
Elizabeth dropped Damon's hand, and said, "Before we go any
further, I have to get rid of this band wrapped around me. I cannot
catch my breath."