Page 32 of Tiger's Destiny
Kishan smiled gently and said softly, “I don’t mind,bilauta.”
“Did you and Ren sleep here?”
He shook his head. “Because we were tigers all the time back then, we slept in the jungle or near the steps, keeping watch at night. Sometimes we slept in Kadam’s house across the way. If there was a bad storm, Mother insisted we stay inside with them, but most of the time we tried to give our parents some privacy.” He took my hand and headed to the door.
I asked, “Were they happy here, do you think? I mean, leaving their palace and their riches and coming here to live like this in the jungle?”
Kishan stopped by the table and turned. “Yes. They were happy here.” He reached up to run his fingers delicately along my jaw. “When you have a life filled with love, you don’t really need anything else.”
I wandered the room slowly, thinking about Kishan’s parents, Mr. Kadam, and all the things Mr. Kadam had seen and experienced
in his long life. I barely knew a fraction of them. There were so many things about him I wanted to know. A tear slid down my cheek.Now I’ll never know.
Kishan stood patiently as I touched each dusty item.
“Do you love him, Kells?”
“Yes,” I replied, knowing exactly who he meant.
“Do you love me?”
“Yes.”
“You’re sure you want to choose me?”
“Yes.”
Kishan smiled. “Good. I promise I’ll do my best to make you happy.” He put his arm around me.
I sighed and leaned my head on his shoulder. “Kishan . . . in order for us to work, we’ll have to leave Ren. I can’t be with you the way I should be with him around. It’s too painful for all of us.”
He kissed my forehead. “Then we’ll leave. After we find the fourth object, we’ll go.”
“You’d leave India for me?”
“In a heartbeat.”
Slowly, I let out a weary sigh. As we were leaving, I placed my hand on Kishan’s arm. “I’d like to come back here someday. I want to plant some flowers at Mr. Kadam’s grave and trim back the jungle.”
Kishan smiled and kissed my forehead. “We’ll return as often as you wish.”
As we made our way down the back steps, I asked, “If you had some supplies do you think you could fix up the house?”
“Why do you want to do that?” He leapt over the last few broken steps and landed smoothly.
“It would be nice to stay here sometimes,” I explained, jumping safely down. “This place is important to you, to your family. It’s your
home.” I played with the leather band he wore on his wrist, the one I’d given him in Mahabalipuram. “I want you to feel like your heritage is remembered and honored.”
He wrapped his arms around me. “You are my home, Kelsey. Wherever you are is where I belong.”
We found Ren at the bottom of the front stairs, whittling a stick with an old knife. He looked up at our entwined hands and frowned. “I found Father’s old hunting knife buried in the dirt.”
“Ren, if it’s alright with you, we’d like to come back here sometime and get the place fixed up,” I said hesitantly. “Technically, you own the property since you are the heir.”
He grunted and stood abruptly. “Being the heir means nothing.” His eyes pierced Kishan’s. “So, the two of you want to build a cozy nest. The lovebirds need a place to call home, do they?”
I took a step toward him. “Ren, don’t.”
