The Tiger Prince

The Tiger Prince Read Online Free PDF Page B

Book: The Tiger Prince Read Online Free PDF
Author: Iris Johansen
and the familiar ritual calmed her. She could feel her heartbeat steadying and the panic gradually leaving her.
    “Have you been well?” Li Sung asked. “No more fever?”
    “Not for over two weeks.”
    “But you’re still taking the quinghao I gave you?”
    “I’m not a foolish child, Li Sung. I know I have to keep well. I lost almost a month of work when I was ill.”
    “And almost died. You forgot to add that unimportant detail.” He paused. “You are foolish to protect this man, you know. He is no stray puppy.”
    “You know you like him.”
    He thought about it. “He is amusing, but it is dangerous to like Kartauk.”
    “Well, I like him.”
    “Because you think him without defense, but he is not without weapons. Get in his way and he’ll pass over you like a runaway locomotive.”
    He was probably right, but she knew she still could not give Kartauk up to Abdar. “He did me a favor. You know I was desperate.”
    “He did himself a favor. He was hungry and you fed him.” He finished the braid and then took a scrap of string from his denim trousers and secured it. “If Patrick finds out about Kartauk, he will be angry.”
    She tensed. “He won’t know.”
    “Unless Abdar decides he wishes to involve him.”
    “He won’t do that. Kartauk said Abdar doesn’t want his father to know he’s looking for him.” Jane tossed back her braid. “And Patrick won’t ask questions. He’s too busy building this blasted railroad.”
    “You mean he is too busy drinking and whoring and letting you build his railroad.”
    She didn’t bother to deny the charge as she wouldhave done with anyone else. “He’ll be better once we’ve left Kasanpore.”
    “You said that about Yorkshire.” He turned her around and began to button her blouse. “And with every passing day you grow thinner and more weary and Patrick grows lazier and does not see.” He added softly, “Or does not care.”
    “He does care.” She jerked away from him. “He just doesn’t know what to—the heat affects him.”
    “It certainly gives him a great thirst.”
    She could not deny that fact either, she thought wearily. These days Patrick started drinking in the afternoon and didn’t stop until he staggered off to bed at midnight. But surely his escalating drinking was being caused by this inferno of a country. Heaven knows, the difficulties they had faced in England seemed minor compared to suffocating heat, unskilled workers, and a maharajah whose impossible demands and pettish threats had driven them to the brink of bankruptcy. “I don’t want to talk about it.” She glanced cautiously out into the aisle before rising to her feet. “I have to get back to the bungalow and get some sleep. We’re starting to lay the track on the bridge over Sikor Gorge tomorrow.”
    “And Patrick will be nowhere within a mile of the site.”
    “He will. He promised me that—” She stopped as she met Li Sung’s steady gaze and then burst out, “And if he’s not, I won’t care. It’s no hardship. I like it.”
    “You like doing the work and Patrick getting the credit?”
    “He needs me.”
    “So you give and give until there is no more to give.” Li Sung raised his hand as she started to speak. “But why should I complain? I take as much as Patrick.”
    “Nonsense. You’ve always worked harder than anyone on the line.” She stood up and moved cautiously out of the shadows toward the aisle.
    “What if Abdar is waiting for you at the bungalow?”
    “I’ll circle and go in the back way.” She paused to smile gently at him over her shoulder. “Stop worryingabout me. Just keep Kartauk safe and tell him I’m trying to find a way to slip him out of Kasanpore.”
    “He is not impatient.” He looked down at the chisel she had given him. “Sometimes I wonder if he is even conscious of the passage of time.”
    She knew what he meant. She had also seen Kartauk in that oblivious state. “He can’t stay here forever with Abdar
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