The guard wore a red turban on his head and a long, slightly curved sword at his belt. He summoned Bradan with a grunt and beckoned for him to follow, with his very unmilitary soft slippers making no sound.
The palace was more luxurious than anywhere Bradan had visited before, with deep Persian and Afghan carpets on the floor and intricately carved statues of unfamiliar gods standing in prominent places. Colourful tapestries decorated the walls, while armed sentries stood at every one of the arched doors in the never-ending corridors.
'Lovely place you have here,' Bradan said.
The guard grunted and shoved Bradan up a flight of marble steps that stretched to a large teak doorway, where two stern-faced female warriors stood on guard.
On the guard's knock, the door opened silently, and Bradan walked in.
'Welcome, Bradan the Wanderer.' Dhraji sat cross-legged on what was undoubtedly the most enormous bed that Bradan had ever seen in his life. Wearing a pair of loose, transparent trousers and a loose, equally transparent jacket, she smiled at him across the width of a green-patterned carpet. A double string of pearls around her neck had joined the pearl headdress.
Bradan salaamed. 'Thank you, Dhraji, Queen of Thiruzha.'
'You are a quick learner, as I suspected, although here, the queen is known as a rani.' Dhraji patted the bed at her side. 'Come and talk to me, Bradan. Tell me about this Alba of yours, and tell me why you wander.'
Bradan salaamed again. Unwilling to give too much information to this dangerous woman, he tried to turn the conversation. 'I'd prefer to talk about you, my Lady.'
'Oh?' Dhraji stretched herself on the bed. 'Tell me why, Bradan.' She twirled the string of pearls around her throat, placed them between her lips and slowly drew them through from one side of her mouth to the other.
Bradan thought of Melcorka, with her new, vacant smile and dazed eyes. 'There are many reasons, my Lady.' He closed the door with his foot and drew the bolt to ensure nobody would disturb them.
'Should I be afraid, all alone with a foreign slave?' Dhraji spoke through the pearls in her mouth.
Bradan guessed that Dhraji had a weapon hidden somewhere on her side of the bed and, even if he did manage to overpower or kill her, he was stuck in the middle of a palace with scores of guards. More importantly, he did not know where Melcorka was. 'You should never be afraid of me, my Lady. I am a wanderer, not a warrior.'
Dhraji gave a throaty chuckle. 'I am not afraid, Bradan. Now, tell me about me.' She lay back, still playing with her pearls. 'Tell me everything you think. Afterwards, I will have another use for you.'
Chapter Five
'You are about to witness history.' When Dhraji put her hand on Bradan's arm, the sun glinted from the single pearl ring on her third finger. 'Today, Bose Raja returns from his raid into the Chola Empire. My clever husband Bhim has created a triumphal arch to welcome him back.'
'Who is Bose Raja?' Bradan asked. By now, he knew that a raja was the equivalent of a king. He was gradually picking up the native language so he could understand snatches of conversation.
They sat in another airy room with ornate pointed windows that looked over the city. Directly below the window, people and animals filled the square where the slave market had been held. Further out, a panorama of roofs and temples stretched around them, with the occasional garden and open space. Birds fluttered outside the window, their calls clear above the jabber from the streets below. In the far corner of the room, the leopard lay quietly, head resting on its paws and its yellow eyes occasionally opening to watch what was happening.
'Bose is our raja and Bhim's father.'
Bradan nodded. 'I thought you were already the rani, your highness. I had not realised your father-in-law was the raja.' He remembered the warning the Chola shipmaster had given him.
Dhraji gave her throaty laugh. 'I am only the rani apparent, Bradan the Wanderer.'
'I am honoured to be your slave, Dhraji Rani.' Bradan salaamed again. Dhraji enjoyed men bowing and scraping to her. 'I am happy that Bhim allows you such freedom.'
Although Dhraji's smile remained in place, her eyes altered from laughter to something much darker. 'Bhim could not stop me from doing anything I want.'
So you are the power here. Bradan salaamed again. 'I could not imagine why anybody would ever wish to deny you anything, Your Majesty. Your people are indeed fortunate in having such a ruler. I have never before met a woman quite like you.' Well, the last part was genuine.
'Be careful now, Bradan.' Dhraji's expression altered again. 'Although Bhim does not rule me, he is my husband. I do not need another.'
'One at a time is sufficient for anybody.' Bradan leaned forward, hoping to make Dhraji think he had genuine feelings for her.
Dhraji took Bradan's hand and placed it on her upper thigh. 'One husband and a few lustful lovers would be my best choice – the husband for heirs and the lovers for pleasure.'
'A good husband could provide both.' Bradan looked directly downward, where a group of guards drove a long file of chained slaves across the square. Although his position was precarious, his day-to-day life was more comfortable than these poor devils.
Dhraji raised her eyebrows again in that engaging manner. 'Don't presume, Bradan. One night or one week does not make a man a good husband, however skilled he may be at the two-backed beast.'
'Indeed, my Lady Dhraji,' Bradan said. 'Devotion and loyalty make a man a good husband.'
Dhraji laughed, looked away, glanced back at Bradan, shook her head and looked away again. 'You intrigue me, Bradan.' Standing up, she walked to the window with her transparent clothing hiding nothing of her shape. 'You call yourself a wanderer, you are our slave, yet here you
