4 African Mysteries: Zoraida, The Great White Queen, The Eye of Istar & The Veiled Man (Illustrated Edition). William Le Queux
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Thou hast been pleased to exalt me to be chief of thy wives, to bestow upon me jewels of great price, and to place me above those who were envious because their faces pleased thee not. Towards thee I have been faithful, and I have ever kept thy private affairs locked within my bosom.”
“And thou hast now exposed the greatest of all our secrets — the intentions of the Senousya!” he said.
“I tell thee thou liest!” she cried in anger, clenching her small white hand; “I have divulged nothing — I swear!”
“Perhaps not personally; nevertheless thou hast been instrumental in allowing the designs of our brotherhood to become known, and punishment will of a verity overtake thee. May the judgment of Allah fall upon thee! upon thy father, and upon thy tribe of murderers and harlots, and may their vitals be devoured by the fire unquenchable! Thou, bringer of evil upon our house, hast done thy best to thwart the Jihad, (Holy War) against the dogs of Infidels.”
“I cannot understand thy meaning,” she said, puzzled. “Thine accusations are as complicated as the lock of the Holy Ka’abah.”
“Vile offspring of Shirm!” he cried in a sudden paroxysm of passion, seizing her roughly by the wrist. “To feign ignorance will not avail thee. I have discovered the depths of thy perfidy. Perhaps thou wilt deny that, on thy return hither with thy slaves, thou didst discover amid the ruins of the Hall of the Great Death a man who had been wounded?”
She started, turned pale, and looked at him with an expression that betrayed fear of his terrible wrath.
“Thou, cursed handmaiden of hell, viewing this stranger from beyond the Atlas with compassion because his face found favour in thine eyes, bound up his wound, and, placing him in a jakfi upon one of thy camels, secretly bore him hither. Though thou didst not know him, thou gavest him food, and tended him while he lay fever-stricken and unconscious; and when thou arrivedst here, thy women, acting under thine orders, assisted thee to secrete him in some place the existence of which thyself only hast knowledge. Speak!” he added, twisting her white arm until a cry of pain escaped her. “Speak, woman! tell me if I utter the truth.”
“Release me, brute!” she cried, springing to her feet, with her beautiful eyes flashing angrily. “Thinkest thou that I will endure thy tortures longer? No! I hate thee! I will depart. Another may rule thine harem, and may she find her position happier than mine hath been!”
“But remember thou art my prisoner. Dost thou admit or deny what I have said?” he demanded, pale with passion.
“If thou accusest me of infidelity, I can deny it upon the Book of the Everlasting Will,” she replied, drawing herself up haughtily. “Other allegations I deign not to answer, even though thou art my captor, and I am in thy power.”
“Then know, O woman of evil, who hast been defiled by the eyes of a stranger, the man thou hast aided now holdeth the secret of the Ghuzzat, and — ”
“He — he hath learned of the plot against our Oppressors?” she gasped. “Tell me, how did it occur?”
“At the council of the Brotherhood he was discovered behind a curtain in the secret Chamber of Assembly, and no doubt can exist but that he watched and obtained knowledge of our rites and intentions. Upon me, therefore, will fall the fierce and fatal wrath of the Brotherhood, for within my walls hath their secret been betrayed!”
“But — how did he gain the Chamber of the Assembly?” she stammered.
“Thou canst best answer that question,” the old Arab replied sternly.
“I am in ignorance, truly,” she declared, a deadly pallor overspreading her fair countenance. “I have done naught of which I am ashamed.”
“But canst thou not, perfidious wench, see that our secret is out?” he continued angrily. “The stranger, though pursued, disappeared mysteriously, and though every search hath been made, he hath not been found. By this time he is most probably on his way into Algeria, where he will spread the warning, and thus the armed hordes of the Roumis will be on the alert, and our aims utterly defeated.”
“And thou hast attributed the misfortune of thy fellow-conspirators to me?” she exclaimed, in a tone of reproach.
“I tell thee thou alone art the author of the evil that hath befallen us,” he cried, with flashing eyes. “For women of Eblis who betray True Believers, the fire of hell is already prepared. There, the flame and smoke shall surround thee like a pavilion, and if thou beggest relief, thou shalt be relieved with water like molten brass that shall scald thy face. The mischief is worked, the secret is divulged, and already the Brotherhood are leaving, never to return. Thee, devilish daughter of Waila, have we to thank for introducing secretly a spy into our midst!”
“I have acted as I thought fit. Leave my presence!” she commanded, with imperious gesture. “I will no longer suffer the brutal insults of a man I hate. Ere the sun hath set I shall have freed myself of thine hateful bonds and left thine accursed roof.”
“Thou shalt never go from here alive!” he hissed in her ear, holding her slim white wrist and dragging her roughly towards him. “Already thou, the cause of our downfall, hast defiled thine hands with the blood of a stranger, and allowed him to obtain knowledge whereby our secret designs will be thwarted. For such offences there is but one penalty. It is death!”
“Thou, who art tired of me, bring these accusations in order to justify my murder!” she gasped in indignation and alarm. “My people have not forgotten, and assuredly will they seek blood revenge.”
“Enough!” he growled between his teeth, as in a second he drew a knife from his waist, and, clutching her by the throat, forced her upon her knees. “Thou art the handmaiden of Al-Dajjâl, and the mark of the Câfer is set upon thy brow. Thou shalt die!”
She shrieked as his powerful arm poised in mid air.
“Spare me! Spare me!” she implored piteously. “Be thou merciful!”
But he jeered at her appeal, and, forcing her backward in his iron clutches, gripped the gleaming, murderous weapon.
“Thy people, thou Misriyah! will never know thy fate, for ere sundown thou wilt be as offal, and vultures will strip thy bones,” he said, with a fiendish grin. “See! this my knife seeketh thy polluted heart.”
Unhesitatingly I dashed forward, springing upon him from behind and wrenching the weapon from his grasp. I was not a moment too soon, for in another instant the keen steel would have been plunged into the heaving white breast of the fair, fragile jewel of the harem.
“Who, pray, art thou, who darest obstruct me?” he demanded angrily, turning upon me in amazement.
“Thy wife hath saved my life, and it is my duty to save hers,” I answered boldly.
“See!” she panted, suddenly recognising me. “See! it is the stranger who was wounded!”
“The stranger who hath learned at his peril the secret of the Ghuzzat,” he added, with grim sarcasm. “As he is thy protector, he is most probably thy lover also!”
“That I deny,” I answered quickly. “I have known nothing of this lady until to-day.”
“Liar!” he shrieked in rage. “Thou boldest our secret. Only thy death will expiate thine eavesdropping!” and ere I could realise his intention, he had drawn a second knife from his waist and made a desperate lunge at me. With difficulty I managed to parry the blow, and for a few moments we engaged in deadly combat. His young wife, alarmed, rushed to a door which led into a beautiful courtyard, and shouted for help. Her cries were answered immediately by two black slaves of gigantic stature, who, in obedience to her commands, flung themselves upon their master, twisted the knife from his fingers, and in a trice had bound his hands behind his back with a cord they seemed to have brought for the purpose.
“Slaves! Suffer not thine hands