Page 133 of Tiger's Dream
Seeing Ana surrounded by the flowers and greenery she loved made my heart burn warmly. The scarf wound around her body as she walked around the bed to the far side, trailing her fingers over the silken sheets. It made her a sleeping gown of gossamer, as soft and supple as satin. It was the color of a dove’s wing, and it clung to her form in a way I tried to ignore but couldn’t. A short train trailed along behind her and the tie holding her hair disappeared. Her long tresses tumbled down her back in glossy waves. When she turned, I swallowed.
“You, um, you look lovely, Ana.” She did. Anamika was as breathtaking as a fairy princess tucked away in her flowery garden. I’d never seen anything so entrancing in all my long life. Nothing could compare to the beauty of the goddess. If any other man had been there in my place, he would have fallen at her feet, basking in the warmth of her presence and waiting for the moment she graced him with a smile. My breath caught and I found I was waiting for it too, but the upturn of her mouth never came.
She looked down at herself. “Oh?” Halfheartedly, she plucked at her lacey bell sleeves. Her body shone with its own light; the truth stone around her neck gleamed at the truth in my words. The glow radiated around her, making the grove appear magical as the blushing sunset of the utopia she’d created gave way to twilight.
“Yes. You’re every inch the goddess.”
Stiffening, she said politely, “Thank you.” Moving to the head of the bed, she ran a hand over a pillow and patted it lightly. “So, you and Kelsey slept here?” she asked. “Together?”
“Yes. It was platonic,” I quickly explained. “The Grove of Dreams has a certain magic. It made both of us dream of things that would happen in the future.”
Ana drew her bottom lip between her teeth. “You mean like the omphalos stone?”
“Yeah, I guess so, now that I think about it.”
“Do you have another shard of the stone?”
I shook my head. “Not here. Back at home I do.”
Ana closed her eyes, and when she opened them, a small piece of the stone lay in her palm.
“How did you do that?” I asked.
She simply shrugged, blew on it, and the stone embedded itself in the headboard of the bed that had been fashioned from entwined branches. “Shall we?” she asked, throwing back one side of the fluffy bedding.
“Uh. Not sure that’s a great idea,” I said, rubbing my neck with the back of my hand.
“Nonsense,” she said. “You are like my brother, are you not?”
“Yes. Right. It’s just…”
Ana looked at me directly. “You need to rest as much as I do. With my tiger guardian at my side, nothing will bring me harm. Is that not correct?”
“It is, but…”
“No more words tonight, Sohan. Take your rest.”
She pulled back the bedding, and, resigned, I sunk down next to her, turning my back to the lovely girl and scooting as close to the edge as I could. “Sleep well, Ana,” I said gruffly.
“You as well, my tiger.”
Her soft words floated in the air above us and settled over me like snow. I didn’t know if I was just that tired or if she’d woven her own brand of a sleeping spell. Regardless, within the span of a few seconds, I fell deeply asleep and into an all-too-familiar dream.
Chapter 29
Birds of a Feather
I was happy. Happier than I ever remembered being. I was out hunting with a group of young men. They were strong of body and keen of mind. I was in my tiger form but they seemed comfortable with that fact. One stopped behind a tree and signaled me with his hands in a way that Kadam had taught us as warriors. His hair, raven black and wavy, was tied at the base of his neck. With his copper skin and sky-blue eyes that pierced, even in the predawn light, he seemed familiar.
He gave the sign that the prey was close. I was to circle around it while he and the others took up position. When they were ready, I’d flush out the game. I slunk through the brush until I came to a hill overlooking a meadow. The snap of twigs alerted me and I crouched down, tail twitching slightly. A small group of deer grazed lazily below.
When I heard the cry of an owl and recognized it as human-made rather than bird, I sprung from my hiding spot. The deer immediately spun away from me and darted through the trees as fast as they could go. The twang of an arrow was followed by a cry from one of the animals. It fell immediately and when I leapt over it, the animal was already dead. An impressive kill.
The hunters were so skilled I wouldn’t have heard them at all if I didn’t have enhanced hearing. They were invisible as well. Only my nose told me where they were and even then, one of them surprised me. He’d hidden his scent by staying downwind. He took down a second animal using a spear, and the third man caught his prey using a weighted net. The pinned deer struggled until the man appeared and efficiently drew his knife across the animal’s neck. He kept his hand on the deer’s back, stroking it soothingly until it finally stilled and died.
After the deer were prepared for travel, trussed up on long poles, six of the young men hefted their loads while two more scouted ahead. I walked between them and the one on my right turned to look down at me with a cocky sort of grin. “You’re getting a bit slow, aren’t you, old man?”
The other boys laughed softly as I growled and snapped at him halfheartedly. The woolen cloak we wore flapped around his boot-clad legs. I noticed how easily his broad shoulders carried the weight of the full-sized buck. He was proud of the kill and he deserved to be. The animal hadn’t suffered. His marksmanship was better than any of the soldiers I’d trained over the years.
