He sighed again. If he could find Melcorka, he would try to escape with her and make their way to the Chola Empire, which might afford them sanctuary; or the Chola soldiers may kill them out of hand as spies of the Raja of Thiruzha.
The haze drifted through the window and hovered beside the bed. Bradan half sat up; he had last seen that indefinable black-and-white mass when Melcorka had thrown away Defender. What was it? Brushing away a whining insect, he peered into the darkness. He heard the leopard give a low growl as if in warning, and the black-and-white mass moved toward it, settling on the leopard's head. The leopard sank down, instantly asleep.
'What are you?' Bradan whispered. 'Are you friendly? Or are you not friendly?'
The mass moved toward him. Bradan reached out, but his hand penetrated the mass, vanishing into the interior. When he withdrew his hand, the mass disappeared. Bradan heard a new sound. Something was scratching. It was not the scratching of a rat or a mouse, or even the leopard; nor was it the slight sound of an insect. Bradan lay unmoving on the bed, aware that something was wrong; something had changed.
Asleep beside Bradan, Dhraji stirred, shifted, snored slightly and relaxed into slumber. She lay naked and serene, with her hair a black fan on the pillow and her eyelids flickering with dreams. Even in sleep, her mouth seemed to be smiling, as if at some secret joke, or with smug pleasure at the path her life had taken.
The sound came again, this time more like a scraping than a scratching. Bradan lay still, his eyes hooded as he examined the room. Faint moonlight ghosted through the pointed windows, casting a gloss over the luxurious furnishings. Bradan sensed movement in the far corner, where Dhraji's full-length mirror stood. He shifted slightly, hoping his movement seemed natural. The leopard remained still, unmoving. What had that black-and-white mass done to it?
There was definite movement there, a darker shadow among the shadows, a blurred shape against the window. Bradan distinctly heard the slither of feet on the ground. For a moment, he wondered if he should lie still; if the intruder was an assassin, then Dhraji thoroughly deserved death. He considered quickly; if he remained still and did nothing, and the assassin, if it was an assassin, killed the Rani, what was the possibility of survival?
Not high.
Remember what had happened to the completely innocent arch builders.
Think of Melcorka. Stay alive, whatever it takes.
'That's far enough!' Bradan rose from the bed, wishing desperately that he had a weapon. Even his old rowan-wood staff would do. As it was, he had only his hands, feet and voice.
The shadow solidified and rose, and Bradan leapt on top of it, roaring.
'Dhraji! Take care!'
Bradan did not think. He knew he was no fighting man and any half-decent warrior could dispose of him with ease. He also knew he had the advantage of surprise and that Dhraji had guards within call. So he yelled as he lashed out with his balled fists and kicked out with feet toughened by years of constant walking. His fist made surprisingly solid contact, but the intruder fought back, with one hand around Bradan's throat and the other holding a wavy-bladed knife.
'Dhraji! Get out of here!'
Dhraji was also shouting, sitting up in bed as Bradan wrestled with the intruder. The door crashed open, and three of Dhraji's guards burst in. The first held a lantern aloft and the other two carried short, curved swords. Bradan just had time to see that the man he wrestled was small, lithe and dressed in black, before the guards reached them.
'Kill him!' Dhraji screamed. 'Not the pale man! The other.'
Without hesitation, the guards hauled Bradan away and chopped the intruder to pieces, hacking and slicing at his body as it lay supine on the floor.
Kneeling naked on the bed, Dhraji watched. 'Good,' she said, nodding. 'Good. You may leave now.'
'Shall we take away the body, your Majesty?' The guard with the lantern asked.
'No, leave him there.' Dhraji said. 'Go now.'
The guards departed without another word, leaving Bradan shaking beside the window and the late intruder lying in a dozen pieces amidst a spreading pool of blood.
'Good.' Dhraji dipped her finger in the blood and licked it clean, smiling. 'I wondered how you would react.'
'You wondered?' Bradan asked.
'I hired this man.' Dhraji was evidently pleased with her own cleverness. 'I wanted to see if you would defend me.'
About to say, 'I could have been killed,' Bradan changed it to, 'You might have been killed, your Majesty.'
'Can you see a weapon?' Dhraji dipped her finger in the blood again, smiling.
'Yes.' Bradan lifted the wavy-bladed knife the intruder had carried.
'Oh.' Dhraji shook her head. 'He really was going to try and kill me. How foolishly brave of him. If I had known that, I would have fed him to my pet.' She kicked the leopard. 'He should have been my first line of defence. It was lucky for the murderer that you are brave and loyal.'
'You know I care you for you, Majesty,' Bradan said.
'I do now,' Dhraji said. She produced a curved knife from beneath the pillows. 'That fool was paid to shake me awake. If he had done so, I would have killed him. He knew that. I wanted to test your loyalty. I wanted to see if you would help him, or help me.'
'Did I pass?' Bradan asked.
'You know you did.' With the dead man's blood dribbling down her chin, Dhraji held out her hand. 'Come back to bed,
