Part 14 (2/2)
Hasan shook his head, amazed. ”And Buddha permits a marid to menace the temple?”
”Buddha is tolerant,” she said simply. ”Even the jinn have the right to seek destiny in their own fas.h.i.+on.”
He found it hard to comprehend such an att.i.tude. But in a land where mountains bore snow in the heat or belched fire from their summits, strange beliefs had to be expected. Or were the jinn so powerful in their own land that even a G.o.d-an infidel G.o.d, he corrected himself mentally-had to defer to them?
Whatever the situation, he had a nasty premonition that the fire-demons, large and small, would not stay pacified until his quest was over.
Yet the old woman hardly seemed to be concerned about such things. Instead she worried about the reaction of the Queen. If the Queen of Wak were really Sana, his wife, why should there be such concern? He knew Sana did not have the heart for vengeful measures. She had seldom been able even to reprimand a household slave. Whatever her reputation might be here, he was confident that once he found her and talked with her, she would agree to come back to Baghdad with him.
Shawahi had said that the woman he described as his wife was the Queen-but somehow the personalities were entirely different. How could this terrible Queen be his wife-and if she were not, where was his wife? Surely there could not be two on earth like her.
As Hasan's journey neared its conclusion, his apprehen- sion and concern increased. Something was wrong.
The house was large and strange to Hasan, though he had learned to take strangeness as a matter of course. Its timbers were of dark hardwood, much of it carved and painted in intriguing artistry, and suspended mats of bamboo formed certain walls and the peaked ceiling. From the outside he could see that the structure was square at the base and topped by a fantastic sway-backed thatch that curved up into a decorated pinnacle at either end. The roof reminded him of the saddle of a giant-but he would not have cared to be the giant who bestrode so knifelike a support.
”O my mother!” Hasan exclaimed as Shawahi entered. ”What did she say?”
She eased herself into a seated posture, looking old. ”O wretched man, would I had never seen your face.”
Hasan stood back despondently. ”The Queen is not my wife?”
”Hasan, I would do a ritual dance for joy that would rattle my brittle bones apart if I were only certain that she was not.”
”Then she is my beloved!”
Shawahi fixed him with a dour stare. ”O ill-fated one, be silent and hear my story.”
Perplexed, Hasan sat down and listened.
Shawahi left her house (she narrated) in the morning with bitter foreboding. She had brought the foolish youth, Hasan, into the city disguised as a handmaiden-indeed the fairness of his complexion a.s.sisted the subterfuge-and hidden him in a room apart, lest any should come to know of him and inform the Queen and bring the stroke of the sword upon them both, and she hoped he appreciated this properly. She had served him herself while striving to instill in him the fear of the awful majesty of the Supreme King, the father of this woman he claimed as his wife, but he had wept before her most piteously and said, ”O my lady, I choose death for myself and loathe this worldly life, if I unite not with my wife and children: I have set my existence on this venture and will either attain my aim or die.”
What could a tired old woman do in the face of an att.i.tude like that? A lover never barkened to the speech of one who was fancy-free. If he was determined to throw his life away, she would simply have to cast about for some way to make it less suicidal. Thus she repaired to the Queen with her mind tumbling with abas.e.m.e.nts and peti- tions, hoping that the royal heart might in some way be softened.
The Queen was the eldest daughter of the Supreme King, who had put her in charge of the state while he visited with his six remaining daughters, all virgin maid- ens. The Queen had absolute power here in her city; but Shawahi had a claim upon her favor because she had reared all the King's daughters and trained them in weap- onry and tactics until they were the finest of amazon warriors. Now she needed all the good-will there might be in store, for the Queen was not going to be pleased with what the old woman had to relate.
Shawahi was admitted readily to the presence and fell down and kissed the floor before the Queen.
”Come, beldame, rise and sit beside me,” the Queen said, embracing her formally. ”I haven't seen you in a year. Did you have success in your trading expedition?”
”O my lady, it was a blessed journey, and I have brought you a gift which I will present to you very soon. But O my daughter, Queen of the age and the time-”
”Speak, woman.”
”I have a favor to ask. But it is a delicate matter, and I pray it will not upset you. I hesitate to bring it up-”
”Come, mother-tell me, and I will accomplish it for you. My troops, my kingdom and myself are at your disposition.”
But the old woman trembled and quivered like a dry reed in the wind of the monsoon. ”O protect me from the wrath of the Queen,” she murmured fearfully to herself. Then, to the Queen: ”O my lady, a man hid himself under my settle in the North District and begged my protection. He said he was searching for his wife and children, and would die if he found them not. Never have I seen a braver or more handsome man. I tried to discourage him, but-”
”And so you brought him here . . .” the Queen said softly. ”Concealing him carefully from your troops while you kept him in your tent.”
”O my lady!”
The Queen contemplated her thoughtfully. ”And the favor you crave of me is this: that I now permit this mannequin of yours to achieve his desire.”
Shawahi maintained the silence of terror. She knew too well the mannerisms of the Queen.
The storm broke. ”O ill-omened beldame! Have you come to such a state of lewdness that you now must sneak strange males to the sacred isles of Wak and flaunt them before your Queen? Have you no fear of the mischief I should wreak upon your head for such treachery? By the head of my father the King, but for your service in my youth, I would immediately put both you and this man to the foulest of deaths, and set your corpses beside the gates of the city so that travelers might take dire warning by your fate. O accursed! None dares do the like of this outrageous deed!”
A glimmer of hope lit the old woman's face. The Queen had not stated that she would execute them, only that she might. ”O mistress of the ages! Surely it behooves your power and generosity to grant this suffering traveler some token. At least give him audience before sending him on his way. He hails from Baghdad, throne city of the Caliph Harun al-Ras.h.i.+d.”
”Baghdad? I know of no such city.” But Shawahi knew by the subtle nuances of her manner that the Queen did recognize the name.
”O my Queen! It is a rich and powerful empire with armies like the sands of the sea, and Hasan is a prince of- ”
”A prince? Then why did he have to beg your aid?”
”A prince of merchants, O my lady.” Shawahi was no longer certain how much the Queen knew. Could she actually be Hasan's wife? At any rate, it obviously wasn't safe to try to pa.s.s him off as royal born, however helpful that might have been. ”All he desires in the world is the recovery of his wife and two sons. A small thing to grant, to one of your-”
”I will be the judge of what is small.” But she was interested now. ”He has two sons, but sent his wife to Wak? What kind of man is this?”
”He did not send her. She escaped without his notice and flew with her children to Wak, leaving word for him to follow if he desired. And now he is here, having braved the most-”
The Queen cut her off with a gesture. ”I don't have time to see him. But his case is curious, and I will grant him what he says he wants. Summon all the women of the city and parade them before him tomorrow; if he knows his wife among them, I will deliver her to him and send him home with honor.”
”But my lady-”
”And if he knows her not in the morning, I will crucify him over your door that very afternoon. Such is my decision.”
”And this is the calamity you have brought upon your- self!” Shawahi said to Hasan in conclusion. ”Now that the Queen knows of your presence here, there is no es- cape. Tomorrow you must view the a.s.sembled women of the city.”
”But that's no calamity. The Queen is helping me.”
Shawahi sighed, as she did so often when reasoning with him. ”O for the innocence of youth! She has sen- tenced you to death, Hasan.”
”But I can recognize my wife in a moment.”
She closed her eyes as though in meditation. ”You will view all the women of the city, no more. This city. Do you know how many cities there are in the empire of Wak?”
”Why, I thought-”
”But let's say she is in this one city, of all the hundreds in Wak. What makes you think you'll see her?”
”But you said all the women would be-”
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