Part 26 (1/2)
”Yes, htfully; ”but what is the truth? I understood it was Bes who first gave the na Noe learn from your own lips that it was you Wise would you have been, ue before you said it, since this is a matter that any woman may well misunderstand”
”Her name was surprised out ofof the beauty of a certain lady of Egypt”
”And I think, uests that he and not you had given the King her name, which you do not seem to have denied Well, doubtless both of you are to blame for foolishness, no more, since well I know that you would have died ten times over rather than buy your life at the price of the honour of the Lady of Egypt This I will say to her as soon as Ithat it may not be too late, and afterwards you shall tell , which you would have done well to do at first, if Bes, as I think, had not been over cunning after the fashi+on of black people, and counselled you otherwise See, Peroa calls you and I reater matters afoot than that of who let slip the nas”
So she went and there followed a swift council of war, the question being whether ere to strike at the Satrap's army or to allow it to retreat to Sais In ment of the issue, and answered,
”Strike and at once, since we cannot hope to storth as we have is now gathered and if it is idle and perhaps unpaid, will disperse again But if we can destroy Idernes and his ar all his ather another, and during this tiain become a nation and able to protect herself under Peroa her own Pharaoh”
In the end I, and those who thought likedown the Nile with the fleet, having two thousand men under my command Also I took with , since I knew thee of the Easterns and their ways ht be of service Our orders were to hold a certain neck of land between the river and the hills where the arth could attack hi very favourable to us, we reached that place and there took up our station and having made all as ready as we could, rested
In the early afternoon Bes awakened me from the heavy sleep into which I had fallen, and pointed to the south I looked and through the desert haze saw the chariots of Idernes advancing in ordered ranks, and after them the masses of his footi spears and swords Also the sailors on the boats had their slings and throwing javelins Lastly the ground was in our favour since it sloped upwards and the space between the river and the hills was narrow, soy too after the inundation of the Nile, which meant that the chariots ather sufficient speed to sweep over us
Idernes and his captains noted all this also, and halted Then they sent a herald forward to ask ere and to co to
I answered that ere Egyptians, ordered by Peroa to hold the road against the Satrap who had done affront to Egypt by deiven over to him to be sent to the East as a woman-slave, and that if the Satrap wished to clear a road, he could coo back towards Memphis, or stay where he was, since we did not wish to strike the first blow I added this,
”I who speak on behalf of the Prince Peroa, aht the Satrap and a certain captain of his naypt have always heard that aained his advancee and skill in war Let hiether with the lord who na a liar ether with my servant, a black dwarf, will ht them to the death Or if it pleases Idernes better, let him not come and I will seek him and kill him in the battle, or by hi taken stock of e
”Will he come, think you, Master?” asked Bes
”Mayhap,” I answered, ”since it is a shae froht cost hi Also if he should fall there are others to take his command, but none who can wipe away the stain upon his honour”
”Yes,” said Bes; ”also they will thinkyou easy Well, they shall see”
Nohen I sent this challenge I had e myself upon Idernes and his captain for the public shame they had put upon me I wished to delay the attack of their host upon our little band and give time for the army of Peroa to coreatly ood officers under me who knew all my plans
We saw the herald reach the Satrap's arain, which e had been refused, especially as with him was an officer who, I took it, was sent to spy out our strength But this was not so, for the man said,
”The Satrap Idernes has sworn by the Great King to kill the thief of the Signet and send his head to the Great King, and fears that if he waits to meet him in battle, he e, O Shabaka, and put an end to you, and indeed under the laws of the East he ht against a black slave save with a whip, so how can that noble accept the challenge of the dwarf Bes?”
”Quite well,” answered Bes, ”seeing that I aypt Moreover, in my own country of Ethiopia I am of royal blood Lastly, tell the man this, that if he does not come and afterwards falls into my hands or into those of the lord Shabaka, he who talks of whips shall be scourged with them till his life creeps out froreat eyes and looking so terrible that the herald and the officer fell back a step or two Then I told theht, first Idernes and then the noble So they returned
The end of it was thatIdernes and his captain advancing, followed by a guard of ten s to uard of ten picked men We met between the armies on a little sandy plain at the foot of the rise and there followed talk between the captains of our guards as to ar to each other, since the time for words was past Only Bes and I sat down upon the sand and spoke a little together of Amada and Karema and of how they would receive the news of our victory or deaths
”It does notthat if we die we shall never know, and if we live we shall learn for ourselves”
At length all was arranged and we stood up to face each other, the four of us being armed in the same way For as did Idernes and the hawk-eyed lord, Bes and I wore shi+rts of ht with us from the East For weapons we had short and heavy swords, sirdles