Part 9 (2/2)
”What was the nature of thine offence?” I inquired, interested.
”Involuntarily I acted as eaves-dropper. One morning, lying in my hammock in a corner of the harem-garden where the rose-bushes grow thickly, I suddenly heard voices beyond. One I recognised as that of Khadidja, and the two others those of Shekerleb and Leilah, Arab slaves.
Listening, I heard them discuss in detail an ingenious plot they had arranged to poison my mother, myself and three others, for Khadidja expressed herself determined to be supreme mistress of the seraglio.
Appalled by this bold scheme of wholesale revenge, I lay silent, scarce daring to breathe, but when they had left I went straightway to the Sultan and in my mother's presence explained all to him. The woman Khadidja was brought before him, but denied the accusation, swore on the Koran that she had not walked into the garden that morning, and brought Shekerleb and Leilah to corroborate her false statement. My father was convinced of her innocence, and believed also her allegation that a plot hatched by my mother was on foot to encompa.s.s her death. He grew angry, degraded my unfortunate mother from her position of Sultana to the meanest slavery, and subsequently banished me to the loneliness of this high abode.”
”Of a verity thy lot, O beloved, hath been an unhappy one, but let us now look forward to the dawn of a joyous day, to a noonday of prosperity, and to a sunset of peace. Azala, I love thee,” and as our lips met for the first time in a hot, pa.s.sionate kiss, her bare, scented chest, with its profusion of jewels, rose and fell with an emotion she was unable to suppress.
In the dead, unbroken silence that followed, the distant roll of a drum, and the cry of the sentinels on the watch-towers at the city gates came up through the silk-curtained lattice, announcing that another hour had pa.s.sed.
”Harken,” she cried quickly, springing to her feet, clutching me by the arm, and looking earnestly into my face. ”We have but brief s.p.a.ce wherein to plan our emanc.i.p.ation. Fearest thou to investigate the mysteries of Eblis, or to serve his handmaiden?”
”Fear dwelleth not in mine heart when the Pearl of Sokoto is nigh,” I answered gallantly, bending to kiss her hand.
”Even though thy Pearl may be daughter of the Evil One, and able to accomplish things superhuman?” she asked, in a strange, harsh voice.
”He who believeth in the one Allah and in his Prophet, holdeth in his hand a two-edged sword against the Ghul (Devil) and all the evil spirits of Al-Hawiyat,” I replied, surprised at this latter speech, and at the strange, haggard look that had suddenly overspread her beautiful countenance. ”At the moment before our enemy Khazneh laid hands upon me, thou didst promise to reveal unto me some hidden marvel, the nature of which thou wouldst not disclose. For that purpose have I come hither, and now await the fulfilment of thy promise.”
Grasping my right wrist and looking into my face with eyes that seemed to emit fire, so strangely brilliant were they, she said,--
”Hast thou no fear of the future, or of the power of the Evil Eye?”
”The curse of Eblis himself shall not deter me from seeking to fathom the Mystery of the Asps. A voice that is dead hath commanded me, and I shall obey, even though I am compelled to engage Azrael in single combat. There is some strange secret in the mystic links that bind our existence--a secret I intend to discover at any hazard.”
”Bravely spoken, O Zafar,” she answered, her cheeks flus.h.i.+ng with excitement and her sequins tinkling musically as she moved. ”Thine heart is true as thy trusty Ma.s.ser blade. May it be the will of Allah, who made the earth for a carpet, that thy courage never fail thee in thine attempt to rescue me from the plots that encompa.s.s me, and to penetrate the veil that hath so long hidden the truth of the entwined serpents.” She raised her face with a fond, wistful look.
Our lips met, and with her arms about my neck she clung to me, trembling, as if in fear. Then, fortifying herself for an effort, she slowly withdrew from my embrace, and led me across to the heavily-curtained door of the inner chamber, saying,--
”Thou hast declared thyself fearless and undaunted in the coming fight to possess the secret which none may know, even though it is imperative that thou shouldst pa.s.s barriers. .h.i.therto considered by all insurmountable. Truly thou art worthy a woman's love.”
”Thou knowest how the unquenchable fire of love burneth within me, O light of mine eyes,” I answered, in fervent adoration. ”With thee as the sun of my firmament, and with a stout heart within me, I am not afraid.”
For answer she turned, and with her hand upon the curtain, said,--
”Come hither. As a preliminary to thine encounter with the Invisible, I will reveal unto thee an undreamed of marvel that will cause thine eyes to open wide in wonderment, and thine heart to cease its beating. Fear abideth not within thee. Enter therefore this portal whereat Malec, powerful yet invisible, mounteth guard, and learn the means by which the Mystery of the Asps may be unravelled.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN.
THE PRISM OF DESTINY.
With sudden movement she drew aside the silken curtain, and we stepped into a small, dark, stone chamber, almost a cell. Then with a word of warning she guided my footsteps to a narrow flight of stairs, which she descended with caution, her golden anklets jingling as she went. As I followed, there clung about her soft draperies those sweet perfumes of the harem, the fragrance of which had intoxicated me.
Again she flung back a second heavy curtain that barred a horse-shoe arch at the foot of the stairs, when instantly my eyes were blinded by a flood of brilliant light. Under my feet I felt a carpet so thick that my slipper sank deep into it, and gradually as my dazzled vision grew accustomed to the unusual glare, I realised that I was in a chamber about the size of the one we had just quitted, but decorated entirely in bright green, the hue of which, reflected into Azala's anxious countenance, gave her a complexion pallid and ghastly. The walls and ceiling were painted green, with good counsels from the Koran in long, lean letters of darker shade, the divans and cus.h.i.+ons were of green silk, the stools of malachite, the large alcoves at the end fas.h.i.+oned from dark green marble, beautifully carved, while a malachite table, shaped like a crescent, near the end of the apartment, was studded with huge green crystals that glittered in the light like emeralds. The effect was weird and startling, for the bright white light came from a thousand lamps cunningly arranged overhead, while screens of gla.s.s, the colour of the deep sea, shot from the walls slanting beams of brilliant green.
The place was luxurious, yet, as I gazed around it, I could not repress a shudder.
”Go! Take thine ease upon yonder divan,” Azala said in a strange voice, pointing to the great couch within the alcove, and as I obeyed her, she took from her arm the gold band with its talisman of leopard's skin and handed it to me. Apparently she dare not wear it there.
Standing in the centre of the curious chamber, she clapped her hands loudly, and instantly a curtain opposite was drawn aside, and there appeared the ugly, hunchbacked form of the grinning dwarf, Tiamo, followed by two female Arab slaves handsomely dressed in tissue of white and gold, and wearing long strings of talismans, and embroidered bags containing mysterious powders, cabalistic figures, and prayers in the language of Maghrib.
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