Page 144 of Tiger's Voyage

After we took him to his room and sat him in a chair, Mr. Kadam asked quietly, “What happened, Miss Kelsey?” To his credit, he gave our strange apparel and my exceptionally long hair only a cursory glance.

“The dragon blinded him. He said it was only temporary and acted as if that’s what we’d wanted him to do.”

Mr. Kadam nodded. “Very well.” He patted Kishan’s forearm. “There now, son, let me take a look.” He gently unwrapped the sash covering Kishan’s eyes and asked him to open them slowly.

Kishan blinked his eyes open a few times, and they began to tear. I gasped involuntarily when I saw that his once beautiful golden eyes were now completely black and, as we watched, small flames began to dance and build in them. He blinked again, and the flames disappeared. I covered my mouth to choke back a sob.

“What?” He turned his head toward me. “What is it, Kelsey? Don’t weep.”

I cleared my throat, dashed my thumbs over my cheeks, and knelt beside him, taking his hands in mine. “It’s nothing. Just stress. Do you want anything? Are you hungry?”

“I could use a little something.” He took my hand. “Will you stay with me though?”

“Of course.”

Nilima rose. “I will get the Fruit.”

“Does it hurt?” Mr. Kadam asked.

Kishan shook his head. “Not anymore. It’s odd not being able to see anything, but there’s no pain.”

“Good. I will have Nilima get us under way, and then I will do some research on this. Perhaps it would be wise for all of you to rest. You will stay with him, Miss Kelsey?”

“Yes.”

“Make sure he eats, rests, and drinks plenty of liquid. He feels a bit warm to me.” Mr. Kadam smiled. “Well, warmer than usual, I mean.”

I nodded. “I’ll take good care of him.”

“I’m sure you will. Notify me immediately if his situation changes.”

Mr. Kadam left, and Nilima returned with the Fruit. Kishan said he was tired and would eat later, but I managed to get him to drink a glass of apple juice while I tugged off his boots. He pulled the doublet and tunic over his head, and I drew the covers over him but he shoved the blankets off and searched for my hand.

He wanted me near him, so I sat against the headboard and put a pillow in my lap. He lay down on the pillow and I covered him with his blanket and stroked his hair. Kishan wrapped an arm around my waist as I hummed a lullaby my mother used to sing. Finally, the lids closed over his fiery eyes, and he slept at last.

Quietly studying his handsome face, I stroked his brow and listened to his rhythmic breathing. Hearing a noise, I looked up. Ren stood in the door, watching me with a sober expression. He didn’t say anything. Kishan shifted in his sleep, moved the pillow, and cushioned his head on my thigh instead. I adjusted the quilt over his shoulders, and he settled again.

When I looked up, Ren was gone. I held Kishan for another hour, spending the time thinking about what had happened. When I tried to leave, Kishan reached out in his sleep, pulled my arm across his chest, and held on to me. Eventually, I slept too, overcome by the experience of the green dragon’s island.

I woke with stiff, sore muscles some hours later and managed to maneuver myself away from the heavy sleeping form of Kishan. Still wearing my princess dress, I headed through the connecting door to my own room, showered, and changed. Shampooing through my knee-length hair took a long time, but brushing through it took even longer. I dressed, checked on Kishan, and grabbing a pair of scissors, went in search of Nilima.

I found her and Mr. Kadam in the wheelhouse. As Nilima prepared to shear my overly long locks, Mr. Kadam told me about the research he’d done on blindness and mythology.

“One of the Pleiades named Merope had a son named Glaucus who was blind. The termglaukosmeans “bluish green or gray,” and from that word, we getglaucoma. Meropia is a physical condition of partial blindness. Another Greek oracle, Tiresisas, was blinded by the gods for either seeing them or disclosing their secrets. The three sisters, sometimes called the three spinners of destiny, or the Moirae, shared an eye among them—an all-seeing eye, it was called.”

“I remember them. Hold on a second. Nilima,” I pulled a lock of my now waist-length hair over my shoulder and frowned at it. “I think I want it shorter than that.”

“I’m sorry, Miss Kelsey. I was given specific instructions to cut it no shorter than waist length.”

“Oh,really?”

“Yes. Ren threatened to fire me, and technically, he has the right.”

“He won’t fire you. He’s bluffing.”

“Still, he seemed very serious.”

“Fine. I’ll just cut it myself later.”