Kulothunga stepped inside the cabin. 'I will take you willingly or by force, Melcorka, and I will send out your half-man, or he can stay and watch.' His lips twisted into a smile. 'You know I can best you at archery, wrestling or in swordplay, Melcorka, so why fight it?'
Melcorka swallowed her nuts before she spoke. 'You are a personable and handsome man, Kulothunga. You can get any woman you wish, and they would come willingly. Why do you want me when I already have a man?'
'You are different,' Kulothunga said. 'You are worth fighting for.'
'Goodbye, Kulothunga,' Melcorka said. 'Find another woman.' It was only when she pushed Kulothunga outside that she noticed Bradan had her dirk in his hand. 'You are not a fighting man, Bradan.'
'No,' Bradan agreed, 'but I am still a man.'
'There was never any doubt about that.' Melcorka perused him for a long moment. 'You are more man than any other I have ever met.' Before Bradan could reply, she changed the subject. 'I've never known Kulothunga act like that before. He was always arrogant, but never aggressive. Killing the rakshasa has altered him, somehow.'
'Maybe he's excited at the prospect of tomorrow's battle,' Bradan said.
'It could be that,' Melcorka agreed. She did not share her doubts.
The night before a battle was always tense. The ships' crews checked their weapons, or grabbed what sleep they could. Some sang, or had a last meal. Some prayed to Shiva, Ganesha or Krishna. A few secretly wept, wishing they were safely at home. Others boasted of the deeds they had done in the past and the heroics they would perform in the future. Melcorka slept most of the night, woke up to feast on fruit, fish and nuts and slept again. She woke before dawn and reached for Defender, with her movements awakening Bradan.
'Another battle today,' Bradan said.
Melcorka looked up. 'Another battle,' she agreed.
'What then, Mel? What will we do after that?'
'We will finish this war and move on,' Melcorka said. She looked away. 'Sometimes I think I have had sufficient wandering, Bradan. I want to settle somewhere.'
'I thought you did,' Bradan said. 'Can you defeat these rakshasas?'
Melcorka gave Bradan space to think. 'I don't know, Bradan. I can injure them, I can lop off their tentacles but I cannot kill them. Even Defender did not make any impression on their eyes. Kulothunga says he killed his rakshasa, so perhaps it can be done.'
'Perhaps,' Bradan said. 'You sliced bits off yours.'
'It still lived, and it told me it could grow more arms.' Testing Defender's blade, Melcorka began to sharpen it. 'The marines tried fire, and the archers must have hit it a hundred times, and it did not flinch. I don't know what else we can do. That riddle of the Siddhars means nothing to me.'
'You could ask Kulothunga,' Bradan suggested. 'He may know some new tricks.'
'Maybe so.' Melcorka added candle wax to Defender's scabbard so the sword would slide free more easily from her scabbard. 'Do you remember that woman back in the islands?'
'Hadali. She said she saw a tall man standing over you and one day you would meet a warrior whose sword is superior to yours.'
'That's right,' Melcorka said. 'What if the rakshasa is that warrior? Oh, I know these things don't have swords, but even so, I can't continue to be victorious forever.'
'You have Defender,' Bradan said.
'I know I have.' Melcorka tested her draw, added more wax and hung the sword on the bulkhead.
'Defender is a magic sword.' Bradan tried to cheer her up.
'It won't be the only blessed sword in the world,' Melcorka said. 'Someday, I will meet somebody who has a sword with equal powers and then it will depend only on my skills.' She faced Bradan, her face troubled. 'Bradan, I don't have many skills of my own.'
'Your skills are growing with every fight,' Bradan tried to reassure her. 'You are constantly learning new techniques.'
'When I did not have Defender, Kulothunga defeated me with ease.'
'Kulothunga is a superb warrior. He would defeat anybody with ease,' Bradan said. 'This attitude is not like you, Mel. What's wrong?'
Melcorka forced a smile. 'I'm probably only weary, Bradan. I don't think I have fully recovered from that curse, or my time in the dungeon while you were romping with that rakshasa-woman.'
'Romping is one word for it,' Bradan said. 'Surviving is another.'
'Tell me.' Melcorka crawled toward him with a new light in her eyes. 'What was she like?'
Bradan met her smile with one of his own. 'There are some things a gentleman does not discuss.'
'I might have to make you discuss them.' Melcorka crept closer. 'Kulothunga taught me all about pressure points.' She smiled. 'I also have other methods of persuasion.'
Bradan laughed. 'I know some of your pressure points too, Mel.' He rolled toward her. 'Here, let me demonstrate…'
* * *
Rajaraja stared at the island. 'Well, Bradan, there it is.'
Kalipuram looked no different from Bradan's previous visit, long and lethal, with the fort taking up most of the space. Smoke drifted across the battlements, while the masts of a few ships hugged the rocky coastline.
'I'm going closer,' Rajaraja decided. 'Bradan, come with me. You'd better bring your bodyguard as well.' He raised his voice. 'Signal for Jasweer. She and her sharks are the best in the business for this sort of thing.'
The instant Jasweer brought her loola alongside, Rajaraja stepped on board with his giant bodyguard at his side, followed by Melcorka and Bradan. As soon as their feet touched the deck, Jasweer had the oarsmen take them toward Kalipuram.
'They'll send out their scouts to warn us off,' Jasweer said, 'or maybe lob a few rocks at us.'
'If they knew I was on board, they would send out half their battle fleet,' Rajaraja said.
'Oh, that's no problem.' Jasweer was quite confident speaking to her raja. 'We can outsail and outmanoeuvre anything the Thiruzhas
