Tiger's Curse (The Tiger Saga #1)

‘Mr. Kadam, does it bother you that I ask so many ques---tions? Don’t feel like you have to answer all of them, especially if they’re too personal or painful for you.’

‘I don’t mind, Miss Kelsey. I enjoy talking with you.’ He smiled at me and changed lanes.

‘Okay, then. Tell me a little bit about your military career. You must have fought some really interesting battles.’

He nodded. ‘I started training when I was very young. I think I must have started at age four. We never went to school. As future military men, our entire young lives were devoted to being good soldiers, and all of our studies were in the art of warfare. There were dozens, perhaps even a hundred different kingdoms in India at the time. I was fortu-nate to live in one of the most powerful ones under a good king.’

‘What kinds of weapons did you use?’

‘I was trained in all variety of weapons, but the first skill we were taught was hand-to-hand combat. Have you ever seen martial arts movies?’

‘If you mean like Jet Li and Jackie Chan, then yes.’

He nodded. ‘Fighters who were skilled in hand-to-hand combat were highly sought after. As a young man, I rose in rank quickly because of my skill in this area. No one was able to best me in sparring matches. Well, almost no one. Ren has beaten me on occasion.’

I looked at him with surprise. ‘Mr. Kadam! Are you telling me you are a master of karate?’

‘Something like that.’ He smiled. ‘I was never as good as the cele-brated masters who came to train us, but I picked up enough. I enjoy sparring, but my great skill is with the sword.’

‘I’ve always wanted to learn karate.’

‘During that time, we didn’t call it karate. The martial art that we used during warfare was less visually exciting. It empha-sized overcoming your opponent as quickly as possible which often meant killing or striking a blow that would knock someone out long enough for you to escape. It wasn’t as structured as you see it today.’

‘Gotcha, no Karate Kid I, skip ahead to Karate Kid II. Fights to the death it is. So, you and Ren are both trained in martial arts.’

He smiled. ‘Yes, and he was very adept. As the future king, he studied the sciences, crafts, the arts, and philosophy, as well as many other branches of knowledge known as the sixty-four arts. He was also trained in all manner of warfare, including the martial arts.

‘Ren’s mother was also well versed in the martial arts. She had been taught in Asia and insisted that her children be able to protect themselves. Experts were brought in, and our kingdom quickly became renowned for fighting in that medium.’

For a minute, I allowed myself to get lost in the visual image of Ren doing martial arts. Fighting without his shirt on. Bronze skin. Taut muscles. I shook my head and berated myself. Snap out of it, girl!

I cleared my throat, ‘Umm, so what were you saying?’

‘Chariots . . .’ Mr. Kadam continued, not even noticing my brief lack of attention. ‘Most of the soldiers were in the infantry, and that’s the area in which I started. I was trained in the use of the sword, the spear, the mace, as well as many other weapons before I moved on to chariots. By the age of twenty-five, I was in charge of the king’s army. By the age of thirty-five, my job was to teach others, including Ren, and was called to be the king’s special military advisor and war strategist, par-ticularly in the use of battle elephants.’

‘It’s hard to imagine elephants in war. They seem so gentle,’ I reflected.

‘Elephants were quite formidable in battle,’ Mr. Kadam explained. ‘They were heavily armored and carried an enclosed structure on their backs to protect archers. Sometimes we secured long daggers dipped in poison to their tusks which proved very effective in a direct assault. Just imagine facing an army with twenty thousand armored elephants. I don’t believe we have that many elephants left in all of India now.’

I could almost feel the ground shaking underfoot as I visualized thousands of battle-ready elephants descending on an army.

‘How awful for you to have to be a part of all that bloodshed and destruction, and to think that was your whole life. War is a terrible thing.’

Mr. Kadam shrugged. ‘War was different then than it is today. We followed a warrior’s code, similar to Europe’s code of chivalry. We had four rules. Rule One: You must fight with someone who has similar armor. We wouldn’t fight a man who did not have the same amount of protective gear. This is similar to the concept of not using a weapon against an unarmed man.’

He raised a second finger. ‘Rule Two: If your enemy can’t fight any longer, the battle is over. If you’ve disabled your opponent and rendered him helpless, you must stop fighting. You don’t finish him off.

‘Rule Three: Soldiers do not kill women, children, the aged, or the infirm, and we do not injure those who surrender.

‘And Rule Four: We do not destroy gardens, temples, or other places of worship.’

‘Those sound like pretty good rules,’ I commented.

‘Our king followed Kshatriadharma, or the Law of Kings, which means that we could only fight in battles that were considered just, or righteous, and that had the approval of the people.’

We both fell silent for a while. Mr. Kadam seemed wrapped in thoughts about his past, and I tried to understand the time he lived in. As he smoothly switched lanes again, I was impressed with his ease at driving in heavy traffic while he was so quietly reflective. The streets were crowded, and the drivers were zipping past at frightening speeds, but that didn’t seem to leave any impression on Mr. Kadam.

Later, he turned to me and said, ‘I’ve made you sad, Miss Kelsey. I apologize. I didn’t mean to upset you.’

‘I’m just sad that you had so much warfare in your life and that you missed out on so many other things.’

Mr. Kadam looked at me and smiled. ‘Don’t be sad. Remem-ber that it was just one small part of my life. I have been able to see and experience more things than would normally have been possible for any man. I have seen the world change century after century. I have witnessed many terrible things, as well as many wonderful things. Also, remember that, even though I was a military man, we weren’t constantly at war. Our kingdom was large and reputable. Though we trained for battle, we engaged in serious warfare only perhaps a handful of times.’

‘Sometimes I forget how long you and Ren have been alive. Not that I’m saying you’re old or anything.’

Mr. Kadam chuckled. ‘Indeed not.’

I nodded and picked up a book to study more about Hanuman. It was fascinating to read the stories surrounding the monkey god. I was so immersed in my study that I was surprised when Mr. Kadam pulled over.

We grabbed a quick lunch, during which Mr. Kadam encouraged me to try some different types of curry. I discovered that I was not much of a curry fan, and he chuckled as I made faces at the spicy ones. I loved the naan bread though.

As we settled back into the car, I pulled out a copy of Durga’s prophecy and began reading. Snakes. That can’t be a good thing. I wonder what type of protection or blessing Durga would give us.

‘Mr. Kadam, is there a temple of Durga near the ruins of Hampi?’

‘Excellent question, Miss Kelsey. I had the same thought myself. Yes, there are temples to honor Durga in almost every city in India. She is a very popular goddess. I have found a temple near Hampi that we will visit. Hopefully, we’ll find our next clue to the puzzle there.’

‘Hmm.’

I went back to my study of the prophecy. Mr. Kadam had said a gada was like a mace, or a club, so that means it’s a weapon. Hanuman’s realm. That means the ruins of Hampi, or Kishkindha. And then hunt the branch that’s bound. Maybe it’s the branch that holds the fruit. Thorny dangers and dazzling dangers? The thorns could be rose bushes or thorny vines maybe.

‘Mr. Kadam, any idea what dazzling dangers might be?’