Part 48 (1/2)
”In one of these,” said the Sultan, ”is that jewel known as the enchanted Star and the Luck of the House of Ha.s.san, which the prince presented to his conqueror on the day of Hattin, and for the desire of which my captain Abdullah became a traitor and was brought to death. In the other is a pebble of the same weight.
Come, my niece, take you these boxes and give them to your kinsmen, to each the box you will. The jewel that is called the Star of Ha.s.san is magical, and has virtue, so they say. Let it choose, therefore, which of these knights is ripe for death, and let him perish in whose box the Star is found.”
”Now,” muttered the imaum into the ear of his master, ”now at length we shall learn which it is of these two men that the lady loves.”
”That is what I seek to know,” answered Saladin in the same low voice.
As she heard this decree Rosamund looked round wildly and pleaded:
”Oh! be not so cruel. I beseech you spare me this task. Let it be another hand that is chosen to deal death to one of those of my own blood with whom I have dwelt since childhood. Let me not be the blind sword of fate that frees his spirit, lest it should haunt my dreams and turn all my world to woe. Spare me, I beseech you.”
But Saladin looked at her very sternly and answered:
”Princess, you know why I have brought you to the East and raised you to great honour here, why also I have made you my companion in these wars. It is for my dream's sake, the dream which told me that by some n.o.ble act of yours you should save the lives of thousands. Yet I am sure that you desire to escape, and plots are made to take you from me, though of these plots you say that you and your woman”--and he looked darkly at Masouda--”know nothing.
But these men know, and it is right that you, for whose sake if not by whose command the thing was done, should mete out its reward, and that the blood of him whom you appoint, which is spilt for you, should be on your and no other head. Now do my bidding.”
For a moment Rosamund stared at the boxes, then suddenly she closed her eyes, and taking them up at hazard, stretched out her arms, leaning forward over the edge of the dais. Thereon, calmly enough the brethren took, each of them, the box that was nearest to him, that in Rosamund's left hand falling to G.o.dwin and that in her right to Wulf. Then she opened her eyes again, stood still, and watched.
”Cousin,” said G.o.dwin, ”before we break this cord that is our chain of doom, know well that, whatever chances, we blame you not at all. It is G.o.d Who acts through you, and you are as innocent of the death of either of us as of that plot whereof we stand accused.”
Then he began to unknot the silk which was bound about his box.
Wulf, knowing that it would tell all the tale, did not trouble himself as yet, but looked around the room, thinking that, whether he lived or died, never would he see a stranger sight.
Every eye in it was fixed upon the box in G.o.dwin's hand; even Saladin stared as though it held his own destiny. No; not every one, for those of the old imaum were fixed upon the face of Rosamund, which was piteous to see, for all its beauty had left it, and even her parted lips were ashy. Masouda alone still stood upright and unmoved, as though she watched some play, but he noted that her rich-hued cheek grew pale and that beneath her robe her hand was pressed upon her heart. The silence also was intense, and broken only by the little grating noise of G.o.dwin's nails as, having no knife to cut it, he patiently untied the silk.
”Trouble enough about one man's life in a land where lives are cheap!” exclaimed Wulf, thinking aloud, and at the sound of his voice all men started, as though it had thundered suddenly in a summer sky. Then with a laugh he tore the silk about his box asunder with his strong fingers, and breaking the seal, shook out its contents. Lo! there on the floor before him, gleaming green and white with emerald and diamond, lay the enchanted Star of Ha.s.san.
Masouda saw, and the colour crept back to her cheek. Rosamund saw also, and nature was too strong for her, for in one bitter cry the truth broke from her lips at last:
”Not Wulf! Not Wulf!” she wailed, and sank back senseless into Masouda's arms.
”Now, sire,” said the old imaum with a chuckle, ”you know which of those two the lady loves. Being a woman, as usual she chooses badly, for the other has the finer spirit.”
”Yes, I know now,” said Saladin, ”and I am glad to know, for the matter has vexed me much.”
But Wulf, who had paled for a moment, flushed with joy as the truth came home to him, and he understood the end of all their doubts.
”This Star is well named 'The Luck,'” he said, as bending down he took it from the floor and fastened it to his cloak above his heart, ”nor do I hold it dearly earned.” Then he turned to his brother, who stood by him white and still, saying:
”Forgive me, G.o.dwin, but such is the fortune of love and war.
Grudge it not to me, for when I am sped tonight this Luck--and all that hangs to it--will be yours.”
So that strange scene ended.
The afternoon drew towards evening, and G.o.dwin stood before Saladin in his private chamber.
”What seek you now?” said the Sultan sternly.
”A boon,” answered G.o.dwin. ”My brother is doomed to die before nightfall. I ask to die instead of him.”