lucky. Many men have searched that river for treasure,” Harshad said.
“I know.”
“Some soothsayers still insist there is a secret city with impossible wealth located there.”
Sahadeva’s heart thudded and his head swelled from the pressure. “I wouldn’t know about that,” he said.
“It is supposed to be a city of naga s,” Harshad said as he moved on to examine a bracelet. “Half men, half snakes. Have you ever seen such a thing?”
“No.” But Sahadeva knew well the old stories and legends told of such things.
“They lived on an island, it’s said. Then the monsoon season brought a wave that broke their island and drove them inland. They tried to live on the mainland, but they worshiped snakes and practiced bloodthirsty rituals. No one would suffer them to live there. So they fled upriver.”
Sahadeva listened without comment. He had to force himself to breathe. He wanted out of the room. Anxiety crawled over him at the thought of leaving Jyotsna with the burly guard. It was worse thinking about her father’s warriors lurking in the street.
“Do you think these things came from that city?” Harshad asked.
Sahadeva’s heartbeat became thunder in his ears. He was certain the jeweler could hear it. “No,” he lied.
“Why not?” Harshad asked.
“No one has ever proved that city ever existed,” Sahadeva said. No one had ever found the tributary Sahadeva and his friends had found, either. It went underground for a time, and if Pramath hadn’t gone hunting that morning they might never have found it, he thought.
“Still,” Harshad mused, “there is usually some kernel of truth in those old legends.”
Sahadeva said nothing. He pulled at his collar in an effort to get more air. Heat flushed his face. He forced air into his lungs.
“I’ve even been told that the things that have been found from the naga city are cursed,” Harshad said.
“Cursed?” Sahadeva’s mind tried to grasp the word but it slipped away.
“I’ve been told,” Harshad said in a quiet voice, “that the naga spirits follow anything that was taken from their city. They find them and bring them back after killing those who stole them. Do you believe in curses?”
Sahadeva thought about that for a moment while he finished the rest of his drink. He’d never actually seen a curse in effect, but he’d heard stories about them all of his life. “I don’t know,” he finally said.
“Well, it’s better to keep an open mind, perhaps. When you’ve lived as many years as I have, you’ll learn the wise men don’t have all the answers.” Harshad pushed the jewelry and gems to the center of the table. “Now we must discuss what these are worth to you.”
For the next few minutes, they haggled over the price. Sahadeva knew not to take the first offer. Only a fool and an amateur took the first offer. His father had taught him that, as well.
Finally, they agreed upon an amount. Sahadeva didn’t know if it was fair, but it was more than he’d been hoping to get for the pieces. He was certain Harshad thought he’d gotten the better of the bargain.
Sahadeva wanted only enough to arrange passage on one of the ships in the harbor. He knew he and Jyotsna would have to start over somewhere new. Perhaps Greece or Rome would be a good choice. He might even like to see Egypt. Those countries accepted foreigners.
Besides, he hadn’t shown Harshad the full treasure they’d escaped with.
“I must tell you one thing,” Harshad said at the end of the negotiations. “If these things are indeed cursed, I expect you to take them back. Is this understood?”
Sahadeva readily agreed. He didn’t believe in the curse. Even so, he would be long gone in just a matter of hours if he could find a ship putting out to sea in that time.
“I will return with your gold.” Harshad got up and left the room. He left the jewelry and gems sitting on the table.
Sahadeva felt his head grow heavier. When he turned to look at the window high on the wall, his senses whirled. He realized the colors seemed brighter than normal, and the sounds coming from outside were leaden and muffled.
Something was wrong.
He tried to stand but his legs were almost too weak to hold his weight. He gasped for air and choked on the thick incense smoke. He tried to sweep the jewelry and gems into the pouch again, but only succeeded in scattering them across the table and the floor.
A cloud of smoke suddenly burst inside the room. A loud hiss accompanied it.
Startled, Sahadeva stumbled back against the wall. The acrid smoke burned his nose and throat when he inhaled it. Incredulous, he watched as a figure took shape.
The head and shoulders of a beautiful woman appeared first. Jeweled combs pinned her thick black hair atop her head. Her garments barely covered her modesty, like the garments Jyotsna’s people wore. She stood high-breasted and proud. She peered at him with the slit-irised eyes of a cat. Crimson lips parted to reveal sharp teeth. Her forked tongue slithered out to test the air.
As she moved toward Sahadeva, she rocked from side to side. Her lower half was hidden from sight by the smoke for a moment. When he saw the serpentine body that began at her waist, he tried to scream but there wasn’t enough air in the room.
From her midriff down, the woman was a snake. Glittering blue-green scales twisted as she moved. Black-and-red scales created a hard-edged pattern. In the next instant, she lunged at him and her fangs pierced his throat.
S AHADEVA WOKE to a pounding pain in his head. Blood roared in his ears. He felt dizzy, as if the world were shifting beneath him. He opened his eyes and discovered the reason for the movement.
He was in a ship’s hold. The light from a candle on a mounted sconce barely penetrated the gloom. He lay in the middle of a pool of vomit that he realized was his own. It had smeared on his clothing and made the fabric stiff. Iron manacles bound his legs to a ring set in the floor.
Where is Jyotsna? The question drove him to his feet in spite of the pain and sickness coiled in his belly. He immediately threw up again.
“Easy, now,” someone said from the darkness.
The ship tossed and turned. Timbers creaked in protest. The floor tilted so much for a moment that Sahadeva feared they were going to turn over.
Sahadeva tracked the voice and saw a man in his middle years sitting hunched against the wall. Nine others sat with him.
“Who are you?” Sahadeva asked. “What is this ship?”
“I’m a slave,” the man answered. “Like you. My name is Oorjit.”
“I’m not a slave,” Sahadeva objected.
“You lie in your own filth aboard a ship that you didn’t book passage on,”
