Page 2 of Tiger's Voyage

I stared at Ren, searching for a hint of emotion.

A full minute ticked by. The second he made his choice, I knew it.

Ren stretched out his hand to make his move.

“I win.” He smiled as he knocked Kishan’s pawn off the board and moved his HOME. He sat back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest. “Told you,” he said. “I never lose at Parcheesi.”

It had been more than a month since we rescued Ren from being tortured and held prisoner at Lokesh’s Baiga camp and three weeks since my terrible birthday party—and life was purgatory. Even though I gave him my journal and used up all the flour baking my mom’s famous double-chocolate peanut-butter cookies, Ren sadly had no memory of me. Something had happened with Lokesh to cause Ren’s amnesia. Now we were reunited, but we weren’t together.

Still, I refused to give up hope that somehow he might miraculously recover our past, and I was determined to free him. Even if Ren could never be mine again, I had made a commitment to seek the other two gifts to fulfill the goddess Durga’s prophecy and break the tiger’s curse so that both princes could once again be normal men. The least I could do for the man I loved was to not let him down.

Every day being near Ren but not beingwithhim was harder than the last. Mr. Kadam did his best to distract me, and Ren’s brother, Kishan, respected my feelings and stood by me as a supportive friend, though every look and touch made it very clear he was still interested in something more.

Neither Ren nor I knew how to act around each other. The four of us seemed to be walking on eggshells, waiting for something, anything, to happen. Only Nilima, Mr. Kadam’s great-great-great granddaughter seemed to keep us all breathing, eating, and sane.

One particularly tear-filled night, I found Mr. Kadam in the peacock room. He was reading a book by the soft light of a lamp. I sat down next to him, put my head on his knee, and cried softly. He patted my back and hummed an Indian lullaby. Eventually, I calmed down and shared my fears. I told him I was worried that Ren was lost to me and asked him if a broken heart could really heal.

“You already know the answer to that, Miss Kelsey. Was your heart full and happy when you were with Ren before?”

“Yes.”

“Your heart wasn’t too damaged to love Ren because of your parents’ death?”

“No. But those are two different kinds of love.”

“It’s different in some ways but the same in others. Your capacity for love does not ebb. You love your parents still, do you not?”

“Of course.”

“Then I would suggest that what you are feeling is not the scarring or the diminishing of your heart, but the absence of your loved one.”

I looked at the wise Indian businessman and sighed. “It’s pretty sad when I feel the absence of my loved one while he’s standing in the same room.”

“It is,” Mr. Kadam admitted. “Maybe it would be best to do nothing.”

“You mean let him go?”

He patted my arm and, after considering a moment, said, “One of my sons once caught a small bird with an injured wing. He longed to care for it and keep it for a pet. One day he brought his bird to me. It was dead. He explained that the bird had healed and flapped its wings. But my son panicked and caught the bird before it flew away. He held it so tightly it suffocated.

“The bird may have chosen to stay with my son or may have flown away. Either of those events would have led to a happier conclusion. If the bird had left, my son would have been sad, but he would have remembered it with a smile. Instead, my son was devastated by the death of his pet and had a very hard time recovering from the experience.”

“So youaresaying to let Ren go.”

“What I’m saying is … you will be happier ifheis happy.”

“Well, I definitely don’t want to smother Ren to death.” I sighed and tucked my legs under me. “I don’t want toavoidhim either. I like being around him and avoiding him would make finishing Durga’s quest together difficult.”

“May I suggest trying to be his friend?”

“He was always my friend. Maybe if I could get that part of him back, I won’t feel like I’ve lost everything.”

“I think you are right.”

Friends with Ren?I pondered as I pulled out the ribbon holding my braid and climbed the stairs to turn in.Well, something is better thannothing, and right now I have a whole lot of nothing going on.

The next day Mr. Kadam and Nilima had set out a brunch. They’d already come and gone, but I found Ren in the kitchen piling a plate high with fruit and sweet rolls. He looked more like himself every day. His tall frame was filling out, and his dark hair had regained its glossy sheen. His gorgeous blue eyes watched me with a concerned expression as I took a plate.

When I got to the strawberries, I bumped him with my hip and he froze.