"That is not important to me. Since I do not swim, I have no intention of confronting him anywhere but on dry land."
"Do not interrupt. I will say what I wish to say."
Li Sung opened his lips to argue and then closed them with the words unspoken. He had learned in the past months Dilam could be very stubborn and it would do him no harm to hear her out.
She nodded with satisfaction and again began to speak. Another twenty minutes passed before she finally fell silent.
"You have given me a great deal of information I cannot use," Li Sung said. "I will have to filter the gold from the dross."
"It is all gold," Dilam said. "You merely have to fashion it to your needs." She yawned. "Now, if that is all you wish to know, I will go back to sleep."
He should go back to his own blankets, Li Sung thought. He'd learned all he needed to know. Yet, there was something else bothering him.
"Well?" she prompted.
"You never mentioned you had children before this," he said slowly.
"You were not ready to be interested in that knowledge. I have two children, both fine boys. Medor is nine and Kalmar is four. They are being cared for by the women of the High Council while I am on this mission."
"Males?" He scowled. "How unfortunate for you. No females to carry on your tradition of domination and glory."
She sighed. "You do not understand. We do not dominate, it's merely . . . If a male wishes to sit on the High Council, he may do so. He must just prove himself worthy." A grin lit her face. "But the tests are hard and the men of our tribe usually prefer to enjoy life and leave the decision-making to us."
"And does your husband also prefer to let you make the decisions?"
Her smile vanished. "My husband is dead, but no, he never wanted to govern. Senat was a hunter and took joy in it. He took joy in everything he did."
"Which of your children did Danor save?"
"Medor. He was only five then. You wish to hear about it?"
He nodded.
She hesitated and then shifted her shoulders as if bracing herself. "My husband Senat, Medor, and I often went down to the banks of the river near our village in the evening to watch the elephants. Medor loved to see them play and spray one another. One evening while we were there a tiger came to drink. There was no warning. One moment we were laughing together on the bank and the next the tiger was charging toward us. Senat pushed me aside and stepped in front of the tiger." She had to stop a moment before continuing in a whisper. "There was blood, so much blood. Senat was on the ground and I yelled at Medor to run back to the village for help. I grabbed Senat's lance and rushed toward the tiger, hoping to distract his attention from mauling my husband. Medor did not obey me. He rushed toward me, screaming. The tiger ignored me, left my husband, and raced toward Medor.
"An elephant charged out of the herd and down the hank. Danor. He picked Medor up in his trunk just as the tiger sprang. The tiger's teeth caught Danor's ear and ripped it."
Dilam had turned pale and her lips had tightened with pain. Li Sung had never dreamed when he had asked her to tell him the tale that it would be so fraught with tragedy.
"I intrude," Li Sung said gruffly. "You do not have to tell me more."
"It is almost over. Danor reared and trampled the tiger." She shivered and pulled the blanket around her shoulders. "I lived. Medor lived. Senat died. Life held no joy for me for a long time. Then I found I was with child again and the joy returned. It was as if I had been given a gift by Senat to comfort me in my grief and tell me life was still good. Was that not a wondrous thing?"
"Yes, very wondrous." She, too, appeared a little wondrous to him in this moment, simple and earthy and almost beautiful in her strength. He said quietly, "This does not change anything. In my mind your Danor is still a monster."
"I know." She grimaced. "You will not let yourself think clearly because you are fighting the makhol. Such lack of reason is common to males. It will not matter." She lay back down and closed her eyes. "Now go away and let me sleep."
"How bad is the damage?" Ruel asked, his gaze on Li Sung, who was supervising the workers clearing the chaos of rails and timbers that had once been the track.
Jane didn't look at him. "You'll be disappointed to know it's not as bad as it looks. I'll still make my deadline."
"One elephant did all this?"
"Dilam says he's a very special elephant." She smiled bitterly. "I tend to agree with her." She straightened her shoulders. "But it will make no difference. We know to watch out for him now. It won't happen again."
"No?"
"No." She strode away from him toward Li Sung. "I have no more time for you. I have work to do. Go back to your mine and dig another ton of gold or something."
"I don't think so," Ruel murmured. "I believe I'll stay the night and see what happens. It seems I have an unexpected ally."
Dear God, she was hot.
She bent over the washbasin and splashed water into her face. Cool . . . that was better. She dabbed her face with a towel and wandered over to the tent opening to let the breeze dry it more thoroughly, her gaze going to the campfire several yards away.
Ruel must be telling stories, Jane thought with an odd feeling of wistfulness.
She always went to her tent immediately after supper when he was present, but she knew he often amused Dilam, Li Sung, and the other Cinnidans with one of his outlandish tales when he came to visit. This story must be particularly fascinating, for everyone was gazing at Ruel as if mesmerized.
Ruel's own face was alive, blue eyes shimmering in the firelight and, though she couldn't hear the words, she knew how well he could build pictures with words to charm and persuade. At that moment she could almost see the aura of spellbinding power he was casting.
Mandarin.
No, that was the fever distorting her thinking again.
She turned away from the entrance and moved heavily toward her knapsack resting on the ground beside the cot. She would take a few drops of the quinghao and go to sleep and the fever would leave her.
After she took the medicine she lay down on her cot and breathed evenly, deeply, trying to relax. She must rest. Lately she had felt as if the weariness and tension of the past months had crystallized within her and would shatter at the slightest blow. That must not happen. It would not happen. Think of the railroad. Think of the life of freedom that would soon open to her. See, she was easing already. Her knotted muscles were beginning to unlock. In a few minutes the fever would lessen and she would be fine. Then sleep would take her and she would forget the mandarin. . . .
Jane knew as soon as she saw Li Sung's expression in the dim light streaming through the tent entrance behind him. She sat up on her cot. "The elephant?" she asked unsteadily.
Li Sung nodded. "Last night. Dilam just received word from one of the outlying guards."
She threw aside her blanket. "I'll be right with you."
"There's no hurry, he's gone now. The damage is up line. I'll saddle the horses and wake up Ruel."
Ruel. She had forgotten Ruel was here. Panic and anger washed over her. It wasn't fair. Why should all her hard work and hopes be destroyed by this force she couldn't control? But maybe it wasn't too bad this time. It was almost sunrise and they hadn't heard the elephant at all during the night.