Part 12 (1/2)
”I am ready to go now,” answered the impetuous boy. ”My horses are of the purest breed in all the land of s.h.i.+nar. I will fly with her to the ends of the earth.”
”You need not go farther than Ascalon,” replied his mother with a smile.
”In mine ancient stronghold, rude and timeworn though it be, I can still count many a friend who would beard Ninus and all his line at my lightest word. And the common mult.i.tude are devoted to my service far more than in Nineveh, or even here in Babylon, which but for me would still have been a mere hamlet of huts in a marsh. My son, if ever you come to rule, trust no longer to the people's grat.i.tude than while you have benefits to confer: the loyalty of a nation is seldom proof against a rise in the price of corn. Nevertheless, in lofty Ascalon you may be safe and secret enough, until time and my constant entreaties shall have softened the resentment of my lord the king. The girl is willing, of course,” continued the queen, tenderly and in a half-sorrowful tone; ”for such faces as yours are made to be the ruin of all who look on them too freely.”
No woman, she was thinking, could resist that smile of her boy's--so fond, so winning, so like her own.
Ninyas hesitated; and once more his hand stole towards the javelin by the wall.
”There must be neither delay,” said he, ”nor hesitation. The girl would love well enough without doubt; but--but--” here the blood flew to his temples and the angry light to his eye--”another has seen her, and would fain make her his own: one who brought here tidings from the camp before the host marched in--a goodly youth and a brave warrior. Nevertheless, he must die.”
”Not so,” exclaimed the queen, turning pale. ”Believe me, this is a matter to be carried through by the fine wit of woman, rather than the strong hand of man. You must abide wholly by my counsel. I have never failed you, my son. Shall I fail you now in this your great need?”
It is possible that, had he trusted implicitly to his mother's guidance, her heart might have been softened and her purpose set aside even now; but he flung his head up impatiently, and threatened where he should have confided or cajoled.
”I will not wait a day!” he exclaimed angrily. ”I will not sit still while another is in my place. Sarchedon loves this girl very dearly, and in a few hours I may be too late.”
”Sarchedon does _not_ love her,” hissed the queen through her clenched teeth, while her face turned white. ”Foolish boy!” she added, recovering her self-command, ”with all your manhood and your valour, you are as much a child as when you cried on my knee for a lotus-flower or a pomegranate; and you must even have your toy to-day, at any sacrifice, though you tire of it to-morrow, like the wilful babe you are.”
”I am satisfied when I have what I want,” answered Ninyas. ”Is it not so with us all, from the Great King to the spearman that marches by his chariot? Even Ninus will chafe and roar and lash himself into rage like the lion of the desert, if the merest trifle runs contrary to his whim.
Am I not his _son_, mother, as well as _yours_?”
”You are more easily ruled than your father,” answered the queen. ”And it is well for you, my boy, that with your mother's form and features you inherit her temperament--joyous, placable, and easily moulded to the wishes of those you love.” She spoke in a light, bantering tone, not entirely devoid of scorn. ”Carry your toy with you, if so it must be; but do not murmur at the measures I take for your safety, nor quarrel with the restraint that can alone preserve you from the king's anger, as a young warrior chafes under the weight of that harness which fences death from his heart.”
”I only ask for the daughter of Arbaces,” was his reply. ”Give me the desire of mine eyes, and do with me what you will.”
”You shall carry her off from her father's house to-night,” said the queen. ”Follow my counsel, and you shall pounce on the girl, swift and secure as the hawk when she strikes a partridge on the mountain. Ride out of the Great Gates, taking Sethos, or some one attendant whom you can trust, with bow and spear, as though you purposed hunting the lion in the desert. Let none see you return, but steal back to the city in the darkness of night. I will take order for such a band of spearmen to be under arms as no single household could attempt to resist, and I will place one at their head who knows neither compunction nor remorse. With these you shall force the gate of the chief-captain's palace. When they have gained possession of the court, I need scarce tell you, my son, so lately returned from warfare, the rights of those who occupy the stronghold of an enemy--the women's apartments are not far to seek. A shawl may be round her head, and the girl herself on the back of your best horse or swiftest dromedary, in less time than it will take to put to the sword such few servants as Arbaces can muster in the first watch of night. Ere the alarm is sounded and the city in arms, you should be many a furlong off in the desert, galloping towards your place of refuge, like a wild stag to the hill.”
”And Arbaces?” asked Ninyas. ”He has the courage of a lion. He will resist to the death.”
”Arbaces will take his chance like another,” answered the queen coldly.
”An adversary who stands in the path, my son, must be ridden down ere we can pa.s.s on. Nevertheless, I will not have a hair of _your_ head fall in this business. A few priests of Baal shall accompany the spearmen, wrap one of their linen robes about you, and thus avoid detection as well as danger; but do not neglect to wear your armour underneath. Is that a proven harness I see yonder, thrown aside in the corner?”
”It is inlaid with gold,” answered Ninyas lightly, ”and curiously wrought; but Pharaoh's bowmen have blunted many a shaft on it, and it turns the thrust of a spear as it were a bulrush.”
While he spoke, the queen had taken a helmet from amongst the other pieces of armour, and placed it, laughing, on her brows.
”They say I am like my mother,” exclaimed her son, ”in face and bearing.
By the beauty of Ashtaroth, it must be true! When I look at you I seem to see my own image on the march stooping down to drink from a stream!”
CHAPTER XIV
STRONG AS DEATH
It is well known that secrets are not to be kept from princes, and that for royal ears ”the bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter,” however scrupulously it may be hidden from curiosity of lower rank. Sarchedon's interview with Ishtar had been witnessed by Sethos, who reported it, as in duty bound, to Ninyas; and although that wilful youth, ignoring, according to custom, everything running counter to her wishes, never mentioned it to his mother, the whole affair came to her knowledge very soon after Semiramis had quitted the apartments of her son. It may be that in a.s.syrian palaces, below the surface of forms and ceremonies, stole an under-current of interest, intrigue, and license, which, eddying upward on occasion, troubled the courtly waters to the brim, and those who lived habitually in an atmosphere of luxury and magnificence refused to deny themselves certain relaxations of the heart or senses, that relieved the peasant's toil, and sweetened his hard-earned fare.
Sethos was a comely youth with laughing eyes. Kalmim a black-browed dame, joyous of temperament, and pleasant to look on as a summer's morning. It was natural that the woman's maturer tact and greater experience should lead the king's cup-bearer into confidences it had been wiser to withhold; and whatever Kalmim learned of good or evil, within or without the city walls, she lost no time in imparting to her mistress.