Jane muttered an imprecation."How bad?"
"All went well. Wefinished the repairs and extended the tracks to a mile beyond the crossing. Allthat time Danor did not come."
"Howbad?"
"We thought he had givenit up. Then last night." She shrugged. "Three miles of track ruined.Li Sung was not pleased."
"Neither am I," Janesaid grimly.
"Li Sung went afterhim."
She should have known Li Sungwould react like this. Why the devil did he have such an obsession with thebeast? "Alone?"
"It will come tothat," Dilam said. "I sent him to the mine to see if any of theworkers there would go with him, but I knew they would not."
"Then why send himthere?"
"I needed time to get toyou and tell you what he planned." Dilam frowned worriedly. "I do notthink Danor will hurt him, but I do not—you will go after him,
yes?"
"Yes. How much time do Ihave?"
"Li Sung will probablystart after the elephant tonight or early tomorrow morning. He should have verylittle head start on you if you come at once."
"And just how does hethink he's going to find this elephant," Ruel asked.
Dilam looked at him insurprise. "It is not difficult to track an elephant. They hardly creepunnoticed through the jungle."
That was true enough, Janethought as she remembered the broken branches and uprooted trees that hadmarked Danor's path. "Go saddle my horse, Dilam. I'll meet you at thestable in fifteen minutes." She shut the door and moved across the room tothe armoire. "Don't worry, this won't hold us up," she told Ruel."Dilam will supervise the workers while Li Sung and I get rid of theelephant."
"If you don't have arelapse trying to track down Li Sung in that jungle," Ruel said grimly.
"I'm going afterhim."
"I'm not arguing with you.I didn't think you'd do anything else." Ruel strode toward the door."Heaven forbid you take care of your own health when Li Sung wants to killan elephant."
"May I point out thatelephant is destroying your track?"
"He could alsodestroy—" Ruel stopped in mid-sentence as he opened the door. "I'llmeet you at the stable. I have some affairs to tidy up here before I canleave."
"You're going back to themountain?"
"Hell no, I'm goingelephant hunting." The door slammed behind him.
"I'll make camp."Ruel lifted her off her horse and turned away. "Sit down somewhere beforeyou fall down."
"I can help."
"Of course you can.You're white as a sheet and you've been reeling in the saddle for the last twomiles," Ruel said sarcastically. "But you're fit as a fiddle."
She was too tired to arguewith him. He had been moody and bad-tempered since they had left the palace theday before, and her nerves were as raw as his appeared to be. She collapsed ona fallen log beside the clearing and watched as he unsaddled the horses andbegan to gather wood for a fire.
Neither of them spoke untilafter they had eaten and Ruel was scraping the remains of the food on theplates into the fire. "You didn't eat much," he said curtly."How do you expect to gain any strength if you starve yourself?"
"I had enough." Shechanged the subject. "I thought we'd have caught up with Li Sung bynow."
"I thought so too. Wetraveled at a pretty good clip, so he has to be close. We're bound to catch upwith him in the morning." He spread out their bedrolls on either side ofthe fire. "If he's not gone completely berserk and tries blunderingthrough the jungle in the dark."
