Kumada was running now, wildly it seemed, toward a large _pipal _tree at the edge of the clearing. But the tiger had pulled itself atop her head and, as Hawksworth jabbed its whiskered face with the _ankus_, he heard a deep growl and saw a flash of yellow and claw as a sharp pain cut through his shoulder. He knew he was falling, dizzily, hands grasping against smooth leather as he slipped past the neck of the elephant, past its flapping ear, against a thundering foot that slammed the dust next to his face. Kumada had suddenly stopped dead still, throwing him sprawling against the base of the _pipal _tree. He looked up to see the tiger suspended above him, glaring down, clawing at the face of the elephant and bellowing with pain. Then he heard the snap of the tiger's spine, as Kumada slammed it again and again against the massive trunk of the tree, Only when the tiger was motionless did she let it drop, carefully tossing its body away from Hawksworth as it tumbled lifeless onto the grass. Hawksworth looked up through the dust to see Arangbar pulling his elephant alongside. "That was most auspicious, Inglish. It's an ominous and evil protent for the state if a tiger I have shot escapes the hunt. If that beast had succeeded in going free, we would have had to send the entire army into the countryside to find and kill it. Your Kumada saved me the trouble. The gods of the southwest have been auspicious for our reign today. I think you brought us luck." "I thank Your Majesty." Hawksworth found himself gasping for breath. "No, it is you we must thank. You were quick-witted enough to keep the tiger where Kumada could crush it." Arangbar called for his own elephant to kneel, and he walked briskly to Kumada, who was still quivering from fright. He stroked her face beneath the eye and she gentled perceptibly. It was obvious she loved Arangbar. "She's magnificent. Only once before have I ever seen an elephant do that. I hereby promote her immediately to First Rank, even though a female." He turned to Nadir Sharif. "Have it recorded." As Hawksworth tried to rise, he felt a bolt of pain through the shoulder where the tiger had slapped him. He looked to see his leather jerkin shredded. Arangbar seemed to notice it too and he turned and motioned to Nadir Sharif, who signaled to another man, who called yet another. Moments later a physician was bending over Hawksworth. He probed the skin for a painful moment and then slammed a knee against Hawksworth's side, giving the pained arm a quick twist. Hawksworth heard himself cry out from the pain and for a moment he thought he might lose consciousness. But then his mind began to clear and he realized he could move the arm again. The pain was already starting to abate. "I suggest the shoulder be treated with compresses for a few days, Majesty." Nadir Sharif had dismounted from his elephant and was there, attentive as always. "Then he must be sent back to Agra."