"Find a way to punish you." Li Sung smiled coldly. "We Chinese are very good at causing pain. Do you think because I am a cripple I am less than a man?"

"I would never make that mistake again." Ruel grimaced. "I was once in a barroom brawl in Sydney and a sailor named Hollow Jack kicked me with his pegleg and nearly emasculated me. Then once he had me down he took the damn thing off and clubbed me on the head with it."

"How interesting." Li Sung's face was expressionless. "Perhaps I should trade this crushed limb for a more practical appendage. What did you do to the sailor?"

"What could I do? When I woke up he had already hopped a ship for New Zealand."

Li Sung studied him. "You are lying to me," he said flatly.

"Why should I do that?"

"You seek to win me over and think by glorifying this crippled sailor you will make me feel better about my own infirmity."

Ruel threw back his head and started to laugh. ] "You're a clever lad."

"It will do you no more good to flatter my mind than my body. Though that last statement held far more truth than the tale about the sailor."

Ruel shook his head, his face still alive with laughter. "But that story was true."

Li Sung raised his brows.

"Well, most of it," Ruel amended. "I was a trifle irritated, so I followed the sailor to New Zealand."

"And?"

"It's enough to say that he won't be using that pegleg to rob any other man of his virility."

"Yes, quite enough to say." Li Sung's lips twitched. "I believe you and Kartauk may get along very well."

"Why do you say that?"

"You will see." He increased his pace and a moment later they emerged from the jungle.

Across the clearing Ruel glimpsed the ruins of a large, weather-stained stone temple. A tide of green vegetation flowed around the building, creeping halfway up the broken steps as if the jungle were trying to devour the square, columned structure. At the apex of the steps was a statue of Buddha whose serenity was seriously compromised by a shattered head and a missing foot.

"Quite a splendid domicile," Ruel murmured.

"It keeps the weather out," Li Sung said. "Or it did before we were afflicted by the monsoons. Now these stones seem to breathe in the damp." He shrugged. "But Kartauk likes it here. He says if he cannot live in a palace, a temple is almost as fitting an abode for him."

"Indeed."

"Watch your step. This place is teeming with snakes. There is a poisonous tree snake that is almost the color of the vegetation and moss growing on the steps."

Ruel stiffened. "Snakes?"

Li Sung smiled. "You do not like them?"

"I hate them."

"Kartauk!" Li Sung called as he negotiated the high temple steps with difficulty. "We have a visitor."

"Tell him to go away . . . unless it's Abdar," a deep voice boomed from within the temple.

A ripple of shock went through Ruel. He called, "You want to see Abdar?"

"Of course, it is my dearest wish. I want to see Abdar . . . dead." Laughter boomed again. "I suppose you may come in. You've disturbed my concentration anyway. Who is he, Li Sung?"

"Ruel MacClaren. Jane says he is going to help you leave Kasanpore," Li Sung said as they entered the temple.

"Ah, what a noble soul."

In the center of the temple a wood fire burned in a huge bronze brazier. Other than the brazier, the chamber appeared barren of furniture except for two cots set against the far wall and a long trestle table by a window facing toward the north.

"You come to save my glorious gift for posterity?" John Kartauk stood at the table, his hands deftly molding clay around a form before him. He appeared to be in his late thirties, a man whose size was as big as his laugh, dressed in loose trousers, long white cotton tunic, and sandals. As Ruel drew closer, he seemed to grow even larger in dimension as he noticed the bulging biceps of Kartauk's arms and massive shoulders. His dark brown hair flowed free to his shoulders, and an equally silky brown beard accented the goldsmith's strong jawline, but his other features were undistinguished except perhaps for deepset brown eyes and slashing black brows.

"Are you a priest or a saint that you—" Kartauk looked up from his form and stiffened, his eyes widening as he looked at Ruel. "Good God, what a face. Come here in the light, where I can see you."

Ruel moved forward to stand next to the window. "Is this good enough?"

Kartauk nodded and took a step nearer. "Turn your head to the right."

Ruel obediently turned his head.

"Magnificent," Kartauk murmured. "The symmetry is nearly perfect."

"May I move now?" Ruel asked politely. "The rain is coming in the window and I'd like to get rid of this slicker and dry off."

"I suppose so." Kartauk reluctantly stepped back and watched Ruel step away from the window. "Superb . . ."

"It warms my heart to be appreciated."

"Are you a sodomite?" Kartauk asked suddenly.

Ruel blinked. "No, I'm afraid you'll have to look elsewhere for your pleasure."

"Oh, I'm not of that persuasion." Kartauk made a face. "God knows how many times I've wished I were, stuck out here in the jungle all these weeks." He cast a sly smile at Li Sung. "However, Li Sung is no doubt grateful. The poor crippled rascal couldn't have gotten away if I'd seen fit to vent my lust on him."

"I'd have managed," Li Sung said calmly as he sat down by the brazier and held his hands out to the fire.

Kartauk's gaze shifted back to Ruel. "The reason I thought you might be a sodomite is that most men don't accept their own physical beauty so readily."

"A pleasing face is only a tool to be used, like a strong back or a keen mind." Ruel shrugged. "Sometimes it works to my advantage, sometimes to my detriment."

"But you still use those tools?"

"Of course, that's what they're here for." He smiled as his gaze went to an ivory-handled chisel on the table beside the clay model. "Would you keep a useful tool like that in a cabinet just because it was fashioned to please the eye as well as the hand?"

Kartauk's laugh boomed out. "I like him, Li Sung."

"Jane said we must use care with him."

"But of course, anyone interesting can always be a threat. I knew that the moment I saw him and I will learn more as time goes on. I have the keen eye of a great artist and can rip aside the outer trappings and bare your very soul."

"It sounds a trifle chilly," Ruel said mildly.

"I want to model a head of you." He frowned. "Unfortunately, I have no proper medium. I've been using wood and clay, and you deserve better."

"Are you asking me to pose for you?"

Kartauk nodded briskly. "I'm going mad here with nothing to do."

Ruel's gaze went to the objects on the table. "You appear to be keeping yourself busy. That monkey is very fine."

"You have a good eye. I like it myself." He reached under the table and brought out another wooden bust. "You might appreciate this."

Jane, her hair loose and flowing, not tightly braided as he was accustomed to seeing it. She was smiling, vibrantly alive, and looked younger than he had ever seen her. He reached out and gently traced the curve of her cheek with his index finger. "I'm surprised she consented to pose for you."