Page 84 of Tiger's Dream
The men left me then, taking the light with them, and I thought about the house. How it had been full of wealth and opulence but then, beneath the floor, was a black secret. A disease that ate at the heart of the home like rot. You couldn’t see it until you peeled away enough layers, but sitting there in the dark, listening to the sounds of scurrying mice and the soft crying of children, I could feel the evil pulsing around me like a tangible presence.
I don’t know how long I sat there until a light penetrated the darkness. Heavy steps moved closer, and the weeping sounds of the children were cut off completely. The footsteps came to the door of my room, and slowly, the door opened. The turbaned man entered. This time he wore no turban at all though and I noticed his round head was nearly bald. Long, thin hairs were swept away from his forehead, which was sweating profusely.
A mercenary came in with him, set down a lamp, and then positioned himself outside, closing the door behind him.
“We meet at last,” the man said, his eyes glittering with interest.
When I said nothing in response, he leaned forward, placing corpulent hands on the table between us. I hadn’t realized just how much flesh the man had. He’d been ensconced in swaths of fabric at the slave auction. No wonder he’d been sweltering in the sun. He shifted in his chair, moving almost lazily as he removed his coat.
From an inside liner, he pulled out a pouch and unrolled it on the table in front of me. Various instruments, shining as if they’d been recently polished, were tucked into small pockets of the pouch. He removed one and began cleaning his nails with it. The corner of my mouth lifted. He might be able to scare children that way, but so far, I wasn’t impressed.
“What do you want?” I asked, unwilling to play whatever game he had in mind.
“You thought you were building a place for yourself here, didn’t you?” he asked, his expression blasé.
“What other choice did I have?” I replied.
“True. Very true,” he answered, then sighed and replaced the tool. His gaze sliced into me as he assessed me from across the table, tapping his fingers in succession. “I’ll be blunt with you,” he said.
“I appreciate that,” I responded neutrally.
“I have acquired an item that once belonged to you, and my curiosity is stirred enough by it that I will attempt to coerce your cooperation concerning it.”
“Oh?” I asked, feigning ignorance.
He barked an order and the man outside came in and deposited a familiar rucksack on the table.
When the man had left us alone again, he opened the sack and pulled out the phoenix egg. “This…gemstone belonged to you, did it not?” he asked.
“It does,” I said.
“Did,” he clarified in a piping voice. “It now belongs to me. What I want to know is…what is it?”
I shrugged. “It’s a gemstone like you said.”
He barked a laugh. “Do you think me an idiot?” he asked.
Choosing not to answer, I sat back in my chair. His eyes smoldered at my silence and his bald head turned a different shade. “I promise you,” he warned, “you will tell me…”
Cutting him off, I said, “Or what?”
If I thought he was mad before, he was seething now. His bald head was about to catch on fire like one of the outside torches. Quick as a hot sword dipped in a water bucket, he sat back, his temper cooling, steam pouring out of his ears, and he offered me a cold smile. “Or what, indeed,” he said. “Youwilltell me what I wish to know. That I promise you,” he threatened.
He called out and disappeared out the door, leaving me with the man who took off the manacles wrapped around my ankles.
“You shouldn’t have done that,” the man’s voice rumbled as he led me to an empty cage. “It just makes it harder.”
“I don’t like bullies,” I said in answer.
He led me down the row of cages, opened an empty one, and pushed me inside. “It’s your head on the block,” he said. “Remember that.”
With those final words, the man headed out and darkness fell on the cellar once again. I don’t know how long I was down there. I must have fallen asleep at one point, but I woke when the cellar door opened and another prisoner was led down. The cage across from mine was unlocked and a skinny child was thrown in. The sad creature scampered all the way to the back and wrapped hands around knobby knees.
When the men left, I scanned the shadows but couldn’t see a face. “Hello?” I called out softly, making sure the guards couldn’t hear me. There was a slight shuffling and then I caught sight of long, dark hair and a green eye peeping out from behind it just as the cellar door slammed shut.
Chapter 18
The Princess and the Tiger
