'Why do you avoid me?'

The rajini's gazebo was even more lovely in spring. Isla clipped another stem of lavender and dropped it into her basket. She did not need to turn to know Kiet's voice, nor did she feel like facing him, so she scoured the bushes for more fresh blossoms.

'Isla—'

'I'm busy. Erma needs a fresh basket before midday, or she won't be able to have new bath soaps made in time for our current stock to run dry.'

Kiet sighed. 'So I'll have some new soaps delivered. But it's been a whole turn of the week, now. We must talk.'

'About what?' Why did Rajini Chei let him into her residence, anyway? Isla thought her grandmother could not tolerate any of the Lotus Mandala.

'You've not left Chei's estate for so long, I was beginning to think you had gone with the truth-weaver and your sister.'

'Don't worry. I've still kept up with my visits to the kitchens.'

'That is all that matters to you?'

'I don't know what you expect, that I'd be gallivanting about the palace?'

'You are angry at me for sending him away, is that it? You know it had to be done!'

'That is least of my problems with you, Kiet.'

Isla looked around, but the rajini's garden was empty. He had come alone; Akai was nowhere to be seen. Her eyes roamed around the grass bed, searching for Tam Mai's cat. Her experience with Haana's bondmate had left her scarred and suspicious of the furred beasts, but she had not seen her sister's pet since she left with Jinsei. She must have taken it with her, knowing Isla's own ill relationship with cats.

Isla squeezed her eyes shut at the thought of Tam Mai.

'What are you doing here, anyway?' She could not help it. All the anger and frustration and loneliness came lashing out at Kiet. 'Shouldn't you be overseeing preparations for your bride's guest residence?'

Kiet laughed, indignant. 'Fukuse means nothing to me! This betrothal was the only thing that allowed me to leave Tsunai with both my head and Dhvani in my possession.'

'So now some poor girl has to live a loveless marriage as consequence of your actions?'

'It is very rare that royalborns ever do wed for love.'

'Oh?' Isla rose from the bushes until she stood, glaring up his face. 'Is that what your concubines are for?'

Kiet grit his teeth and whispered down at her, 'You expect me to be Rama, yet shame me for decisions a Rama would make. Why did you think my father wedded the Rani? For love was it surely not.'

'I expect you to be Rama so you can reshape his throne, not sit in its shadow.'

'What would you have me do?' It was a challenge, not a question. 'You want me to break the betrothal? Make a fool of the hanjou and my honour?'

'You forged your blade; now you must wield it.' Isla pushed him away. Her hands lingered too long on his chest and the rapid beating of his heart. She pulled back, but he held it fast. 'But I won't follow in my grandmother's footsteps.'

'Of all his wives, your grandmother was the only one the Rama truly loved.'

Stop it. This man was incurable. His hands were so warm, and he smelled so sweet, his whispers like melting honey in her ear. She wanted to drown into his robes and pull him into the bushes.

But bells pealed in the distance, breaking his enchantment.

Isla wrenched herself free. 'Don't. I won't be part of this.'

Kiet stepped back, looking perplexed. 'But—you're the one who—'

'You should be keeping the Maha Rama distracted, not yourself, with whatever ... this is.'

'Whatever this is?' He echoed. 'You play with people like a deck of cards! First you solicit me to satisfy your needs as though I were some tavern rentboy, and yet now you act as—'

'I did what?' What in all the continents is he talking about? Isla broke into nervous laughter. 'You've been hallucinating, Kiet.'

He only smirked. 'Very well, if you wish to play that game.' Kiet turned with a shrug. 'But the Rama needs no distractions. The first of his tournaments begin today—which you'd know if you cared to visit me once in a while.'

Isla hid her face to hide the shame creeping up her cheeks. And what purpose would that meet? she wanted to ask him, if she were not afraid of his response. She knew she was being unreasonable. Why should his impending marriage keep her from seeing him? Married men were allowed to keep their friends. So why did it feel so wrong in their case?

'Fine,' she said at last. 'I'll come to his stupid tournament.'

         
❖ ❖ ❖
      

If Isla knew there would be so many cats, she never would have come. But the first of the Maha Rama's many tournaments was a showcase of bondmates, and gods knew cats made half the entire population of bondmates.

Apparently the Rama wanted to open the tournament with something light-hearted and pleasant—something that everyone from infants to their grandparents could enjoy. Birds, dogs, cats ... a handful of less popular creatures had thus filled Kathedra's royal training fields, kept at bay from one another by their equally skittish humans.

The winner, too, had been a cat. A Rasundan tiger, to be precise. Rather predictable, Isla thought as she joined in the applause as a matter of form. The winner was decided by vote, with only the attending Ametjas royalborns having a voice, and Isla doubted any of those Ametjas men could resist an apex predator.

'Come on.' She signalled for Rinju at her side. 'Let's get out of here.'

The girl nodded and reached for her hand, her face full of pouts. She was dressed that day for the event; painted whiskers around her nose to match the cinnamon-brown syarong she had wrapped into an adorable knee-length romper, the thick buckle around her waist left long and trailing like a tail. Her hair—usually let down to her shoulders—had even been balled up into fox ears on the top of her head.

It suited Rinju, with her small build and round features. Isla knew the White Asraam taught their girls all sorts of artistic talents, but it was the first time she saw just how fun it actually might be.

'I wanted the rashita to win.' Rinju sniffed.

Isla sighed in commiseration. Dogs made a common bondmate, too, but the rashita had at least been clever, charming the crowd with her tricks and agility as she sped through a series of burning hoops, each one smaller than the last. 'Maybe we can find its old lady and ask if we can give it a treat?'

Rinju beamed at that and pulled her quicker across the grounds. The royal training fields spanned at least three hundred yards, and even then they needed to weave left and right through a throng of spectators and contestants alike. The highborns had it better, sitting up in the parapets twelve feet above them with a clear view of everything. Rajini Chei had offered them to sit with her and her attendants, but Isla thought it best she avoid staying too often and too close in the Rama's presence.

She craned back and searched for him. All day, his jii had been a sweltering heat of poison whiskey, so thick even brushing against it choked Isla's mind. He was unravelling, certainly, but dangerous yet, and the festivities had not provided enough distraction.

'Which one was your favourite?'

It took a second to register Rinju's question. 'Ah ... perhaps the parakeet.' The one who could mimic anything it heard and even hold short conversations with its human. Isla was only glad Haana had not kept that as a bondmate. 'Or the raggiana. I think that one was the only contestant who actually had a strong bond with its human.' Instead of merely showing parlour tricks.

But the parlour tricks were what amused the children and young families, who loitered now to take a look at their favourite bondmates. For all the Rama's shortcomings, at least he knew how to keep his people entertained.

'There she is! The rashita!' Rinju pointed and ran straight for the old lady and her dog, both sitting against the scraggly trunk of a bilimbi. It was a blistering hot day and the rashita was still panting from her fire show.

Isla pulled out her waterskin and handed it to Rinju, who was immediately begging the old lady to let her water her dog.

'Her name is Wafa.' The woman smiled as Rinju poured the water into her bondmate's lapping mouth.

Loyal friend. Isla could not help but smile in return and knelt beside the woman and her dog. 'I guess you grew up with her.'

'I grew old with her, for sure.' Her whole body shook with laughter. 'But I found her when I was already about your age. A young pup, abandoned in the streets. Now she is just as old and tired as I am. I'm only fortunate that our bonding has given her a longer life.'

'How long have you been bonded?'

'That is difficult to say. Our bonding was not an instant one, it came gradually over time, and I couldn't tell you the exact moment when it happened. If I had to guess, it would have been sometime between our third and fourth year surviving the streets together.'

Isla's smile faltered. She hoped they had since moved on from the streets, but it was too awkward a question to ask. Certainly that prize money would have helped this old woman far greater than that young street brawler and his tiger. Not that she knew anything about him. She was mostly judging by the way he strutted around the field, showing off his bondmate to all the girls who had come fawning around him. They were close enough that she could hear snippets of his conversation; even had to clear her throat a few times to keep Rinju from catching the more inappropriate bits.

'You must have experienced some rough days together, then, living on the streets. No wonder you ended up bonding.'

'We did, but surviving difficult times together with a creature doesn't always result in a bonding, just as surviving difficult times with a man doesn't always result in a wedding.'

Isla knew the woman meant nothing by it, but still she felt the slight. 'Bonding is like marriage, then, is it?'

'It might sound funny, but there can't be a greater comparison.' The old woman pet her rashita, now lying in the scant shade of the tree, Rinju brushing its coat with her fingers. 'Love comes in different ways for different people. For some it is an instant connection, for others it grows over time ... and others never find it at all. But when you know, you just know. The only difference is, unlike the fleeting bonds of mankind, the one we share with our bondmate is eternal, broken only through death.'

I suppose polygamy is out of the question, then. Again Isla's eyes trailed up at the curtain wall, where the Rama still sat with his paper-thin Rani, enjoying his last pitcher of poison whiskey in his shaded seat, servants fanning them and serving platters of fruits.

'In that case, I pray you remain bonded for a long time yet, Elder.' Isla bowed slightly before rising to her feet, motioning for Rinju to follow. 'Come, we must let Wafa and her human get on with their day.'

Rinju pouted but did as she was told, thanking the old woman before following Isla back into the now thinning crowd. 'I don't want to go back just yet,' she complained. 'Once I leave, it's back to work and studies and chores ... the rajini only gave me time off to watch the tournament.'

'The rajini doesn't have to know you've left.' Isla searched the parapets again, this time for her grandmother. Most of the highborns had already gone, but Rajin Chei still remained in her canopy seat, Erma talking her ear off by the looks of it. 'How about we sneak into the kitchens, and I'll make us some iced tea?'

Rinju giggled with delight. 'With lots of sugar?'

'So much your teeth will rot right out!'

The girl's laughter was drowned suddenly by a loud, piercing scream. Rinju jumped, gripping Isla's syarong so tight she feared it might come loose. Immediately the group before them dispersed, crying and yelling as they went, clearing the field right ahead of them.

A deer-pig had come too close to the Rasundan tiger, and the greater beast lost its wits, snapping and snarling while their two humans were locked in an argument among themselves.

Isla gagged and covered her nose. The pig was fleeing straight their way—tiger on its tail—bringing with it all the urine and mud and feces fermenting in its wet fur.

'Look out!' She pushed Rinju just as it came careening through them. The girl fell into a heap on the grass, but Isla was not so fortunate. Something sharp tore across her thigh, and she fell back with a cry. The creature's tusk had grazed against her, tearing both fabric and skin. Blood ran down her leg; warm and sticky and fresh.

The tiger stopped its pursuit of the pig and sniffed the air.

No. Isla dragged herself away, but the pain was unbearable. The tiger turned, slowly, and stalked towards her, growling low.

Isla launched off her core and straight into it.

She already knew it would be no use, but it was the only thing she could do. The creature did not think—not the way men did. Its mind was as unreadable and meaningless to her as the buzzing of bees, as elusive and fleeting as the wind. She could catch only its base instincts, and even then they felt odd and incomplete, like the scattered pieces of a hundred different puzzles. Taking control of it was altogether impossible.

Isla drew back out.

Rinju was screaming somewhere behind the great, hulking beast. Even its human was calling for it to heel, but his voice was drowned beneath all the noise and chaos. The rashita was barking, children were crying, and the tiger was coming closer and closer ...

A shadow swept over the field. The screaming around her tapered to a silent disbelief.

Before Isla could even blink, the shadow dove past the splitting crowd, talons outstretched, and descended upon the Rasundan tiger.

☆ this chapter is dedicated to GirlofChrist123 ☆

Video: Seoul Walker
Image: Original artists unknown