Page 15 of Tiger's Dream
I’d just closed the door behind me when I heard the hairbrush hit the back of the door. For some reason her reaction made me laugh. I was still laughing when the door opened a few moments later and I was greeted by an alert, vengeful woman with flashing eyes and full lips narrowed in a frown.
“Am I presentable enough for you now?” she hissed.
I rubbed my jaw as if considering her appearance. “I suppose. Though your hair is not as shiny as it could be.”
She angrily worked a muscle in her jaw. I wasn’t sure why I found such delight in disturbing her. The truth was that I’d never seen hair so shiny. The thick waves of it fell in such a way that it tempted me constantly. I wanted to run my hands through the silky strands.
When we entered the throne room, we found Kadam pacing.
“Ah, there you are, my dear.”
He took her hands and kissed each one.
Anamika smiled graciously but took a step back closer to me; in fact, she was so close I wrapped my hands around her upper arms and leaned down to whisper, “He won’t hurt you.”
She stiffened and wrenched her body away. “I am not afraid of him.” With a kind gesture, she directed him toward the throne, where she normally sat. “Would you like to sit, my friend?”
Kadam smiled and said, “No. Thank you. But perhaps you’d better take the seat.”
Puzzled, Anamika lowered her body onto the throne, and I took a place beside her as Kadam addressed us.
Kadam rubbed his hands together and paced for a moment, glancing up at us at each turn. Finally, he stopped and held out his hands. “Perhaps I should first introduce myself. My name is Anik Kadam. I am the man-at-arms who once served the house of Rajaram.”
Anamika flashed me a look of shock. “But you…you’re dead. Kishan and Kelsey spoke of you.”
“I am not dead…yet. But I will perish soon.”
“I don’t understand,” Anamika said.
“You are aware that the Rope of Fire and the Damon Amulet have the ability to allow their user to travel in time and space?” Anamika nodded. “This is how I have come to you now. I am alive in my time and am visiting with you prior to my death.”
“I see. Go on.”
Anamika was taking to this time travel business a lot faster than I had.
Kadam continued, “Though you haven’t met me in this form, you know me in another.”
Drawing her eyebrows together, Anamika frowned. “What other form?” she asked.
“I was your teacher, my dear child.”
In her native language, Kadam spoke of a memorable lesson. “You fell from a rather skittish colt once and vowed you’d never ride him again. Do you remember?”
Anamika furrowed her brow, nodded, and said, “My teacher soothed him as if by magic, convinced me to climb up on his back again, and guided him around until I was comfortable.” Sitting forward, she asked, “How do you know this? You look nothing like my teacher. What you say isn’t possible.”
“Itispossible, with this.” He took the scarf from his neck, and it twisted and turned until it became its natural form.
Anamika stood immediately. “Did you steal this from us? You must have entered my room when I was sleeping, for I left it there!”
Kadam reassured, “And if you returned there now, you would find it in the place you last saw it. This Divine Scarf I have borrowed from my time, and many times I have used it and will use it to assume the role of Phet, your teacher.”
“Will use it?” I asked.
He nodded gravely. “There is still much work to be done, and I will need the both of you to help me accomplish it.”
Anamika looked to me for guidance. “Is he the man he says he is?” she asked.
“He is. Though we may have differing opinions about the work he intends to give us.”
