‘Is that so? Well, in that case…’ Hopping to my feet, I skipped over to him, and before he could draw away, whispered something in his ear. Under his tan and beard, the Mohammedan went pale.
‘You wouldn’t! Not even a creature such as you…’
I gave him a charming smile. ‘Worse than an ifrit, remember? So, what do you say?’
For a moment, just a moment, a titanic struggle took place on the poor man’s face - then his shoulders sagged.
‘I shall teach you.’
‘What?’ Mr Ambrose’s voice was as sharp as a razor. ‘You most certainly shall not!’
The bodyguard half-turned towards Mr Ambrose and bowed, his expression mournful. ‘Pardon me, Sahib. But in this case, I will have to follow this creature’s orders over yours.’
For one instant, one brief moment of bliss, I actually saw the expression of surprise cross Mr Ambrose’s face. ‘What did you just say?’
‘It is so, Sahib. The intrigues of this evil creature are too powerful for me to resist. I pray you excuse me now, Sahib. I have to go contemplate my future sins.’
And he marched off into the jungle with a mournful expression on his face.
Slowly, Mr Ambrose turned to me, his eyes flashing. ‘What did you say to him?’
‘I threatened to take the rest of my clothes off if he didn’t comply,’ I told him, grinning from ear to ear. ‘Spiffing idea, don’t you think?’
From the non-expression on his face, I gathered he didn’t share my opinion in that regard.
‘Well…’ Sighing, I got to my feet. ‘I suppose I’d better go after him and start my lesson. Will you let me have a loaded gun, or will I have to threaten poor Karim further to get one out of him?’
He didn’t answer.
‘All right, if that’s how you want it…’
Shrugging, I started to move away - and jerked to a sudden stop when his hand shot out, closing around my wrist like an iron vice.
‘I will teach you.’
I tried to tug free - then the words he had just spoken arrived in my brain.
‘What did you just say?’
Slowly, he raised his gaze to mine, spearing me with two sharp, dark icicles. ‘I said I will teach you.’
I blinked at him, confused.
‘But a moment ago…’
‘That was then. Now is now.’
‘But Karim-’
‘Forget about Karim!’ Coming to his feet, he tightened his grip and towed me away into the jungle. ‘Your lesson is about to start. Come along, before you strip naked and start swinging from tree to tree with the monkeys!’
*~*~**~*~*
Bam!
‘No, no, no! You have to hold your arms like this, and stand like this.’
‘I’ll look bloody ridiculous!’