Page 201 of Tiger's Dream
As she snapped her fingers, the tapestry rolled itself up and she used the wind to send it into the little cottage. A flower petal drifted down from her hair and landed in her lap. She pointed up to her head and asked, “Are there more?”
Leaning closer, I whispered, “I’m actually a bit afraid the bees might attack you while we sleep.”
The corner of Ana’s mouth lifted. “Will you help?”
“Absolutely.” I plucked out one petal and another, and then gently removed one twisted flower after another, threading my fingers through the strands of her hair to loosen them from the tight braids. It was a slow process but it was what both of us needed. When her hair was free of flowers, I massaged her neck and shoulders through the layers of gauzy fabric.
Ana used her magic to unmake the threads halfway down her back so my hands were now touching her bare skin. I inhaled deeply and tried to keep my focus on what I was doing and not on her smooth-as-satin skin or the delicate curve of her neck. When her hair got in my way, I scooted closer, brushing the mass of it over her shoulder, touched my lips to the spot just behind her ear, and worked my slow way down her neck.
She twisted around, and as her hands twined around my neck, I wrapped her in my arms and drew her onto my lap, touching my forehead to hers. “There’s no rush, Ana. I am content to be your husband.”
Pulling back slightly, Ana studied me. Her dress, half dissolved in the back, gaped at the front in such a way that was intensely distracting.
I stumbled through the words, knowing they needed to be said and willing them to be true. “We have a lifetime together, maybe even several of them. There is time for us to go slowly.”
Ana touched my face. “You do not frighten me, Sohan. I won’t deny that I might feel apprehension at times, but I know your heart. You do not wish to harm me.”
“I would protect you with my life,” I affirmed. “You are my lady fair, my treasure, mypremika.” I kissed both of her cheeks. “For the rest of my days, my greatest wish will be to please you.”
Pressing her supple body closer, she said, “Then let’s begin the first day now.”
Ana kissed me and I let her take the lead, lying back on the blanket with her stretched out on top of me. I was hesitant at first, keeping my hands still even though the threads whispered around her, unmaking her lovely wedding dress inch by provocative inch. The long train transformed into a second blanket that covered us, and with the golden energy humming between us, heightening each caress and touch, I didn’t realize until her hands roamed my bare chest that she’d unmade my clothing as well.
Stroking her back, I kissed her ear and murmured, “Tuma mere sapanom ki aurata ho.”
She raised her head, her long hair spilling around us in a curtain. Ana’s green eyes flashed as she smiled. “Would you like to see whatIdreamed about?” she asked.
I lifted my body up, supporting my weight on my elbows, and kissed her, linking my mind to hers, and the two of us were soon wrapped in her dream. That night we made a few more come true as well.
***
The next day or, actually, afternoon, we realized that a new mountain range had risen in Shangri-La. I laughed but Ana bit her lip, concerned with the potential damage to the world she’d come to love. When a villager appeared after her summons with a basket filled with food, Ana asked about the changes to the landscape but he assured us that everyone was fine.
After we ate, we swam in the pool and bathed beneath the waterfall. I combed out Ana’s long hair, and then we lay next to each other as it dried in the sun, fingers entwined as we talked of the future. We made a pact then not to try to peek into our own. With a bit more practice, we soon discovered that the physical affection we showed to one another didn’t affect the world around us when we were phased out of time.
We developed a habit of using this power every time we wanted to be alone, a fact our children teased us about frequently later on. Ana and I both wanted a large family, especially after I shared the dream I’d had of hunting with our sons. We had nine children together. Seven boys and two girls. Though, in actuality, we ended up adopting dozens more as Ana took in lost children everywhere we went. After Ana gave birth to our seventh child together, our first daughter, Arundati, Ana began to show signs that she was losing her power.
It alarmed me more than it did her. When Kadam appeared, as he had when all our children were born, I expressed my concern. He remained as tight-lipped as he always was and left us with the cryptic advice to look at each day as a blessing. We had our eighth child and our ninth, and I realized that with each baby, Ana had given a part of herself, of her power. As I held our ninth child in my arms, our little boy, Jayesh, I told her no more. We could adopt more if she wished, but I couldn’t lose her. I wouldn’t, even if it meant never touching her again.
Ana thought I would ultimately give in, but after a month of avoiding being alone with her, she reluctantly agreed with me, and I stole into the future to get from Kadam what she needed to prevent pregnancy. Our life seemed to settle into a routine then. The two of us were often gone, serving in the role of goddess and tiger. In some cases, she healed or provided answers to whispered pleas. Sometimes she came down like an avenging angel, destroying usurpers and bringing justice to those who needed her.
We spent the equivalent of many lifetimes lost in time, tending to our work and taking breaks just to be alone together, but we always returned home shortly after we left so we were never far from our family. They understood the need to heed the call of the goddess. Once our children asked why we both needed to go, and I told them I’d made a vow to always protect their mother. My sons understood and made vows of their own to serve at her side whenever and wherever possible.
Isha, Yesubai’s old nurse, finally died when our youngest was eight years of age. She’d been a nursemaid to all of our children and we’d grown to love her. The woman had recognized me immediately upon our return to our mountain home, and the three of us cried together over the loss of Yesubai. We spoke of Yesubai often, as we did of Ren and Kelsey, Nilima and Sunil, and of our parents. They were distant relatives we taught our children to honor.
The exception was Kadam. He visited on and off through the years, attending every birth and even helping me train my sons from time to time. He always appeared as himself and I wondered if Phet was gone for good. Sometimes he asked for our help. Though our list was long finished, he still had a great number of things to check off on his, and he’d recruit either me or Ana to help him.
I was with him when he gave Kelsey the henna tattoo. Kadam patted my back and smiled as the carefully wrought drawing came to life when I waved my hand over it, linking it to the power within her. I recognized the tattoo now for what it was—a physical manifestation of the love between a white tiger and the girl he eventually married, a means to reveal the bright golden light hidden beneath her skin.
Kadam also asked me to go with him to take away our healing power just before the battle with Lokesh. When I asked why, he said that Yesubai’s spirit was connected to ours, and with her father dead, it was time for her to rest at last. He added that the mermaid’s elixir and firefruit would sustain both me and Ana going forward.
I argued to wait another day until the battle was finished. That way, Ren wouldn’t have to die. But in his patient way, he explained that Ren had to perish so I would make the sacrifice. It was saving my brother that gave me the fortitude to stay behind.
Ana went with him to take the memories of being lost in time from Nilima. She also accompanied him to the time when Phet released the white tiger from service. The others didn’t see the tiger when he leapt from Ren’s body. Ana knelt next to him and stroked his head, thanking him for serving the goddess for so many years.
He turned and nuzzled Kelsey’s hand though she didn’t feel it and gave Ren a long, piercing look. Then, with long strides, he ran into the forest, his ethereal body becoming just a whisper in the grass. Once the tiger was gone, the golden magic lifted from Ren and Kelsey, her henna tattoo disappeared, and the golden light settled back into the amulet hanging around Ana’s neck.
Once, we found a note from Kadam left tacked to our door. He asked us to join him at a shrine in Japan and gave us specific instructions in how to dress and that we should disguise ourselves. To Ana’s delight, we found ourselves spectators at Ren and Kelsey’s wedding. We looked around for Kadam only to see the Shinto priest who was marrying them stop and wink at us. He placed a hand on his heart and nodded in our direction, and as Ren kissed his new bride, he clapped and cheered louder than anyone else, wiping away tears.
