The Plot of the Vizier
Nefra, as has been said, when the fancy took her made a custom of
climbing one or other of the pyramids, generally at the hour of the
rising or the setting of the sun, and, standing there upon the topmost
flat coping-stones, of praying in that glorious loneliness. Or
perchance she would not pray but content herself with looking down
upon the world beneath, reflecting the while upon what fortunes it
might have to offer her, or on such other matters as come into a
maiden’s mind.
Now this habit of hers became known, not only among the members of the
Order and their dependents, but to many who dwelt or journeyed beyond
the boundaries of what was called the Holy Ground, upon which no
stranger dared to set his foot. Nor was this strange, seeing that her
slender form thus poised between earth and heaven and outlined against
the sky at dawn or sunset could be seen from far away, even from the
Nile itself when it was in flood. Most held it to be that of the
Spirit of the Pyramids herself whose appearance thus heralded trouble
in Egypt, for there were few indeed who believed it to be possible
that any woman could adventure herself in this fashion, or find the
strength and skill to climb up marble like a lizard.
Soon the story of the marvel spread far and wide and even came to the
Court of King Apepi.
One evening Nefra, having climbed the second pyramid in this fashion,
descended as usual and because the light was failing chose a somewhat
shorter route that brought her to the ground, not by the southern face
where Ru was waiting to receive her, but just round the angle on that
face which looked towards the west where the light of the dying day
still shone. Having leapt lightly to the sand, she looked about for Ru
and instead of him saw four men approaching her, of whom at first she
took little note, thinking in the fading light that these were the
Sheik of the Pyramids and his sons who came to inquire of her about
the new road she had found upon the western face of this pyramid. So
she stood still and they drew near, then hesitated a little as though
they were afraid of her, till presently a voice called out:
“Woman or spirit, seize her! Let her not escape us! Think of the great
reward and seize her!”
Thus encouraged, with a bound they came at her. Understanding her
peril Nefra turned to fly up the pyramid again and already was some
feet above the sand when the first of the men caught her by the ankle
and dragged her down.
“Ru!” she cried in a clear and piercing voice. “To my aid, Ru. I am
snared, Ru!”
Now as it chanced Ru was very near, only just round the angle of the
pile indeed, because having lost sight of Nefra in the shadow as she
descended, feeling disturbed, he was advancing to the western face
where the light was better to discover if perchance she were there. He
heard her cry for help; he rushed forward and, turning the corner, saw
Nefra on the ground, while round her were the four men, three of them
binding her with a rope while the fourth was tying a linen bandage
across her face.
With a roar he leapt upon them holding his great axe aloft. He who had
the bandage saw him first, a black, gigantic figure whom doubtless he
took for some terrible guardian spirit and strove to leap past him and
fly. The axe flashed and down he went, dead, cloven through and
through. Then the other men who at first thought that a lion had
roared, saw also, and for a moment stood amazed. Instantly Ru was on
them. Letting fall the axe he gripped the two who were nearest,
seizing each of them by the throat. He dashed their heads together,
and putting out his mighty strength, cast them far away to right and
left in such fashion that where they fell, there they lay, stone dead.
The fourth man had drawn a knife either to stab at Ru or to kill
Nefra; but when he saw the fate of his fellows all courage left him
and, screaming with fear, he let fall the knife and fled away. Ru
snatched the knife from the sand and hurled it after him. A yell of
pain told him that his aim was true, though because of the shadows he
could no longer see the man. Ru would have started in pursuit, but
Nefra, struggling from the ground, cried:
“Nay. Bide here, there may be more of them.”
“True,” he answered, “and the dog has it.”
Then, without more words, snatching up Nefra and holding her to his
breast with his left arm as though she were but a babe, he found his
axe and, without waiting to look at the dead, sped away with her along
the western base of the pyramid, till presently they were among tombs
where they could be seen no more.
“This is the end of those tricks of yours, Lady,” he said roughly, for
he was shaking, not with fear, but at the thought of what she had
escaped.
“Had it not been for you, it might have been worse,” answered Nefra.
“Still, I have learned my lesson. Set me down now, O most dear Ru, for
my breath has returned to me.”
When presently all this tale was told to Kemmah and to the Council of
the Order, fear and dismay took hold of them; even Tau the Wise was
dismayed. Only Roy the Prophet remained undisturbed.
“The maid will take no harm,” he said. “I know it from those who
cannot lie, and therefore it is that I have permitted her to follow
her fancy as to the climbing of the pyramids, for it is ill to cross
or to coop up such a one as she, as it is good that she should learn
to look upon the face of dangers and to overcome them. Still,
doubtless this is the beginning of perils and henceforward we must be
upon our guard.”
Then he sent out men to bring in the dead whom Ru had slain and to
search for the wounded man and, if he could be found, to capture him
alive. This, however, did not happen, for when the light came again of
that man there remained only certain bloodstains upon the sand which
after a while were lost, showing that he had been able to staunch his
hurt, and, by walking upon stones, to leave no tracks behind him.
The dead, however, told their own story, for they were of the Shepherd
race and two of them wore garments such as were used in the Court of
King Apepi. The third, it would seem, was a guide, though of what
people could not be known, seeing that it was on his head that the axe
of Ru had fallen, and who could tell aught of whence he came upon
whose head the axe of Ru had fallen?
So the bodies of those woman-thieves were thrown to the jackals and
the vultures, that their _Kas_ might find nothing to inhabit, and
their souls with all solemnity were accursed by Roy in a Chapter of
the Order, that from age to age they might find no rest because of
their double crime. For had they not violated the pact of generations
and entered the Holy Ground which was the home of the consecrated
Order of the Dawn, and there striven to steal away or perchance to
murder a certain lady who in the world without was not known by any
name?
There the matter ended for a space, except that at dawn or sunset
Nefra was no longer seen standing upon the crests of pyramids.
Yet some while later a sick and sorry man with a bandaged back, who
from time to time coughed up blood as though from a pierced lung,
staggered into the Court at Tanis, where his face was known, and being
admitted, told his tale to a great officer, who listened to it
wrathfully and commanded a scribe to write it down word for word. When
it was finished that officer cursed this man because he had failed in
his mission.
“Is that my fault?” asked the man. “Was it right to send those who are
born of women to capture a spirit or a witch?--since no maid in whom
warm blood flows can run up and down pyramids faced with smooth and
shining stone, as flies run up and down a wall, which we saw this one
do. Is it right to expect them to fight and overcome a black devil
from the Underworld, larger than any who walks the earth, whose voice
is the voice of a lion and whose hands can crush skulls as though they
were pomegranates? Is it right to command them to enter a haunted
place peopled by gods and wizards and the ghosts of the dead? A fool
was I to listen to you and your promises of great reward, and fools
were my companions, as doubtless they think in the Underworld to-day,
for who is there in Egypt that does not know that to violate the Holy
Ground of the Order of the Dawn is to court death and damnation? Now
give me my price that I may divide it among my children.”
“Your price!” gasped the high officer. “Were you not wounded, it
should be rods. Go, dog, go!”
“Where am I to go,” asked the man, “I who am accursed?”
“To the home of all who fail--to hell,” replied the officer, making a
sign to his servants.
So they threw him out, and to hell or elsewhere he went very shortly.
For that knife of his which Ru had cast after him with so good an aim
was poisoned. Moreover, it had struck him beneath the shoulder and
pierced his lung.
The officer went into the private chamber where sat King Apepi with
some of his counsellors and his young son, the Prince Khian, the heir
apparent to his throne. This Apepi was a big, fleshy man still in
middle age, with the hooked nose of the Shepherds and black, beady
eyes, one who was violent in his temper, revengeful and fierce-natured
like all his people, yet very anxious-minded, a fearer of evil.
Very different from him was his son, Khian, born of an Egyptian mother
with royal blood in her veins, whom Apepi had married for reasons of
policy. More--he had loved her in his fashion, and when she died in
giving birth to her only child, Khian, had taken no other queen in her
place, though of those who were not queens he had many about him. And
now this child Khian had grown up to manhood. He was gentle-natured
and soft-eyed, showing but little trace of the Shepherd blood, strong
and handsome in body and quick in mind, one, too, who thought and
studied, a soldier and a hunter, yet a lover of peace, by nature a
ruler of men who desired to heal the wounds of Egypt and make her
great.
Before these appeared the old Vizier Anath, and told his tale, reading
what had been written down from the lips of the wounded man.
Apepi listened earnestly.
“Do you know, Vizier, who this mad girl is who has a fancy for
climbing the Great Pyramid?” he asked at length.
“No, your Majesty, though perhaps I might hazard a guess,” answered
the Vizier in a doubtful voice.
“Then I will tell you, Vizier. She is no other than the only child of
Kheperra, the Pharaoh of the South, who fell in the battle years ago.
I am sure of it. It is known that such a child was born, for as you
may remember, with the help of certain bribed Theban nobles, we tried
to capture her and her mother, the Queen Rima the daughter of the King
of Babylon. It would seem that her gods fought for her, since both of
them escaped, and of those who went to take them only one was left
alive. The rest, he swore, were all killed by a black giant who
guarded them. Now there was such a giant for he fought at the side of
Kheperra and bore his body out of the battle. More, he was seen upon a
trading boat going down the Nile, and with him were two women and a
child, doubtless disguised. By craft these three slipped through the
hands of my officers at Memphis, who afterwards were degraded for
their negligence, and it was reported that they had made their way to
Babylon. Yet our spies tell us nothing of their coming to Babylon,
which is strange if Queen Rima and her daughter, who is called
Princess of Egypt, reached the Court of King Ditanah with whom now and
again we have been at war for many years. Therefore, either they are
dead or they are hiding in Egypt.”
“It would seem that this is so, Pharaoh,” said the Vizier, and the
other councillors nodded assent.
“Of late,” went on Apepi, “a wind of rumour has sprung up which blows
from the Cataracts to the sea, and whispers in the ears of men in
every city and village on the Nile. This rumour says that the Queen of
Egypt lives and ere long will appear to take her throne. It says,
moreover, that she shelters among that strange Brotherhood of learned
folk who have their home in the tombs of the old pyramids near Memphis
and who are called the Order of the Dawn. It was to find out the truth
of this matter that, somewhat against my counsel, you, Vizier Anath,
sent certain bold fellows under promise of great reward to spy upon
this Order which has no traitors, and to get sight of this wondrous
maiden who can climb the pyramids and who, rumour says, is none other
than the Princess of Egypt herself, though for aught I know she may be
but a juggler.”
“Or a spirit,” suggested the Vizier, “since it seems impossible that a
woman can perform such feats, and as to this matter there is a
legend.”
“Or even a spirit, though for my part I put little faith in spirits.
Well, the men go; they creep into the Holy Land, as this place is
called; they see the climber descending a pyramid; though I gave no
such order, they seize her, which shows that she is flesh and blood;
she calls aloud, a black giant--mark! again a black giant--rushes
roaring to her rescue. He slays three of these men as though they were
but children and hurls the man’s own knife after the fourth, wounding
him sorely, so that the maiden escapes and the Order of the Dawn is
put upon its guard. Now I say that this maiden is no other than Nefra,
Princess of Egypt, still guarded by that Ethiopian who bore her
father’s body from the battlefield.”
When the murmur of assent had died away, Apepi continued:
“I say also that this business is very dangerous. Let us look it in
the face. What are we Shepherds? We are a race that generations ago
entered Egypt and took possession of its richest lands, driving its
king back to Thebes and usurping the throne of the North. This I still
hold, and the South also in a fashion, for we have corrupted its chief
nobles and its high priests, binding them with chains of gold. Yet we
are in peril, having been much weakened by ceaseless wars with
Babylon; also, many of our people have intermarried with Egyptians, as
indeed I did myself, so that the Shepherds are becoming stained to the
colour of the dwellers on the Nile. Now these Egyptians are a stubborn
and a subtle folk, also they are loyal to their old traditions and to
the blood of the kings that ruled them for thousands of years. If one
day they should learn certainly that a queen of that blood lives, it
well may be that they will rise like the Nile in flood and sweep us
into nothingness. Therefore I say that this queen must be destroyed
and with her the Brotherhood that is called the Order of the Dawn.”
In the silence that followed the Prince Khian rose from the chair in
which he was seated below the throne, and making obeisance, spoke for
the first time, saying:
“O King my father, hear me. As is known to you I study many things
that have to do with the traditions and the mysteries of ancient
Egypt, and amongst others from certain instructed men and from old
writings I have learned much of this Order of the Dawn. It is an old
order and its members are peaceful folk who fight with the spirit and
not with the sword, a very powerful order, moreover, for although none
know them, it has adherents by the thousand throughout Egypt, perhaps
even in this Court, and, it is reported, in far lands as well,
especially in Babylonia. Further, it is headed by a mighty prophet, an
ancient man named Roy, if indeed he be a man; one who holds commune
with the gods, and like all those over whom he rules, is protected by
the gods. Lastly, by treaty made with our forefathers, the first of
the Shepherd kings, and renewed by every one of them, even by
yourself, my Father, the Holy Ground of graves where this order dwells
in the shadow of the pyramids, is sacred and inviolate. Under pain of
a dreadful curse, which curse it would seem has fallen swiftly upon
those four who, somewhat against your counsel, and certainly against
mine, broke the pact and entered this land, and there, not satisfied
with spying, tried to do violence to a certain lady or spirit. Yet
under oath and custom it may not be entered, nor may any harm be
worked to the dwellers in the tombs. Therefore, Pharaoh my father, I
pray you think no more of bringing destruction on this order and on a
maiden whom you believe to be the daughter of Kheperra, since if you
attempt it I am sure that you will bring destruction upon yourself and
upon many of those who serve you.”
Now the King grew angry.
“Almost might one think, Prince,” he said with a sneer, “that you
yourself had been sworn of this Order of the Dawn. What are oaths and
treaties when our throne itself is at stake? There is disaffection in
the land. Babylon harasses us continually, and why? Because she says
that we have worked wrong to one of her princesses who married
Kheperra, or have done her to death. You do not know it, but I have it
in a recent letter from her King. I say that all this nest of plotters
must be destroyed, whether it be your will or not.”
The Prince Khian seated himself again and was silent, but Anath the
Vizier said:
“O Pharaoh, a thought has come to me: is there not another way? Can
you not walk a gentler road and gain your ends without breaking faith
with the Order of the Dawn, which indeed is greatly to be feared,
since, like the Prince Khian, I hold that it is protected by Heaven
itself? You believe that this Lady of the Pyramids is the lawful child
of Kheperra, and it may be so. If this can be established, here is my
plan. Send an embassy to Roy the Prophet and demand that this lady
should be given to you in marriage and become your lawful queen, as
she well may do, seeing that now you have none. Thus would you tie all
Egypt together in the bonds of love and keep your hands unstained.”
At these words Khian laughed aloud and the councillors smiled. But
Apepi stared at Anath, then dropped his fierce eyes and considered
awhile. At length he lifted them again and said:
“You are wise in your fashion, Anath. A lion’s cub can be tamed as
well as killed, although it must be remembered that if tamed, still at
last it grows into a lion and longs to walk the desert and fill itself
with wild meat, as did its begetters from the first of time. Why
should I not wed this maiden--if she lives, as I believe--and thus
unite the House of the Shepherd kings and that of the old Pharaohs of
the land? It would put an end to many differences and thereafter Egypt
might be one and at peace, able also to look Babylon in the face.
Only, what says the Prince Khian? I am not so old but that children
might be born of such a union, undertaken in the hope that the eldest
of them, like to the Pharaohs of old times, should wear the double
Crown of North and South without question or dispute; for ever it was
the law of Egypt that the right to royalty came through the mother
born of the true race of Pharaohs, and thus has dynasty been linked to
dynasty from the beginning.”
Now the Vizier and all there present looked at Khian, wondering what
he would answer, because upon this answer in the end might hang his
inheritance to the crown of the North.
For a little while he made none. Then suddenly he laughed again and
said:
“It seems that the case stands thus. _If_ there lives one who is the
heiress of Kheperra, the dead Pharaoh of the South, and therefore of
the ancient royal blood of Egypt that ruled for thousands of years
before we Shepherds seized a portion of their inheritance, and _if_
she consents to wed my royal father, the King, and _if_, having wed
him, a child is born of this marriage, I, the present apparent heir,
under such a solemn treaty of union may be dispossessed of my
heritage. Well, here are many Ifs, and should all of them be fulfilled
a score of years or so hence, does it so greatly matter? Do I so much
desire to be King of the North and the inheritor of wars and troubles,
that for the sake of such a rule I should seek to prevent the healing
of Egypt’s wounds and the welding together of her severed crowns?
Man’s day is short, and Pharaoh or peasant, soon he is forgot and
perchance, in the end, it will be better for him if he has been a
bringer of peace rather than the wearer of a ravelled robe of power
that he does not seek.”
“Truly I was right when I said that you must belong to yonder Order of
the Dawn, for not so in a like case should I have answered the King my
father, Khian,” said Apepi, astonished. “Still, let that be, for each
man dreams his own dreams and feeds upon his own follies. Therefore I
take you at your word, that as the heir apparent to my throne you have
nothing to say against this plan, to my mind wild enough, yet one of
which trial may be made, even if in the end it should damage you. Now
hearken, Khian, it is my will to send you, the Prince of the North, on
an embassy to this prophet Roy and to the Council of the Order of the
Dawn. Will you, who are wise and politic, undertake such a mission?”
“Before I answer, Pharaoh, tell me what words would be put in the
mouth of your ambassador. Would these be words of peace or war?”
“Both, Khian. He would say to the People of the Dawn that the Pharaoh
of the North was grieved that against his will the pact between him
and them was broken by certain madmen in his service who every one of
them had paid the penalty of their crime, in atonement of which he
brought gifts to be laid as offerings upon the altars of whatever gods
they worship. He would inquire whether it is true that among them
shelters Nefra, the child of Kheperra and of Rima, the daughter of the
King of Babylon, and if he discovers that this is so, which may prove
impossible, for perhaps she might be hidden away and all knowledge of
her denied, he would declare in the presence of their Council, and of
the maiden herself, if may be, that Apepi, King of the North, being
still a man of middle age and one who lacks a lawful queen, offers to
take this maiden, Nefra, to wife with all due solemnities, and having
obtained your consent thereto, to swear that a child of hers, should
she bear any, shall by right of birth after my death wear the double
crown of Egypt as Pharaoh of the Upper and the Lower Lands. All of
these things he would prove by writings sealed with my seal and your
own, which would be given to him.”
“Such are the words of peace, O King, which I hear and understand. Now
let me learn what are those of war.”
“Few and simple, it would seem, Khian. If this maiden lives and the
offer is refused by her or on her behalf, then you would say that I,
the King Apepi, tear up all treaties between myself and the People of
the Dawn whom I will destroy as plotters against my throne and the
peace of Egypt.”
“And if it should be proved that there is no such maiden, what then?”
“Then uttering no threats, you would return and report to me.”
“Life at this Court is wearisome to me since my return from the Syrian
wars, Pharaoh, and here is a new business to which I have a fancy--I
know not why. Therefore, if it pleases you to send me, I will
undertake your mission,” said Khian after thinking for a while. “Yet
is it well that I should go as the Prince Khian, seeing that although
the throne is in your gift and you can bequeath it to whom you will,
hitherto I have been looked upon as your heir, and this Order of the
Dawn might be mistrustful of such a messenger, or even make strange
use of him? Thus he might remain as a hostage among them.”
“Which mayhap I should ask you to do, Khian, as a proof of my good
faith until this marriage be accomplished. For understand one thing.
If the Princess Nefra lives, it is my will to wed her, because, as I
see, she and she alone is the road to safety. He who crosses me in
this matter is my enemy to the death; whether he be the prophet Roy or
any other man, surely he shall die.”
“You are quick of decision, my father. An hour ago no such thought had
entered your mind, and now it holds no other.”
“Aye, Son, for now, thanks to Anath, I see a ship that will bear me
and Egypt over a rising flood of troubles which soon might overwhelm
us both, and after the fashion of the great, I embark before it be
swept downstream. Vizier, when you espied that ship, you did good
service, and for you there is a chain of gold and much advancement.
Nay, keep your thanks till it has borne us safe to harbour. For the
rest, if you, Khian, think this mission too dangerous--and it has
dangers--I will seek another envoy, though you are the one whom I
should choose. I doubt whether you will deceive these keen-eyed
magicians by taking another name and pretending that you are not
Khian, but an officer of the Court, or a private person. Still, do so
if you will.”
“Why not, Pharaoh?” answered Khian, laughing, “seeing that, if all
goes well, it is your purpose to make of me a very private person, for
then I who this morning was the heir apparent, or so it pleased you to
say, shall be but one of many king’s sons. If that chances I would ask
whether I who shall have lost much may retain my private estates and
revenues that have come to me through my mother or by the endowment of
your Majesty? For I who do not greatly care for crowns could wish to
remain rich with means to live at ease and follow those pursuits I
love.”
“That is sworn to you, Khian, here and now and upon my royal word. Let
it be recorded!”
“I thank the King, and now by permission I will withdraw myself to
talk with that wounded man before he dies, since perhaps he can tell
me much that may be useful upon this business.”
Then the Prince Khian prostrated himself and went.
When he had watched him go, King Apepi thought to himself:
Surely this young man has a great heart. Few would not have winced
beneath such a blow, unless indeed they planned treachery, which Khian
could never do. Almost am I grieved. Yet it must be so. If that royal
maiden lives, I will wed her and swear the throne to her children, for
thus only can I and Egypt sleep in peace. Then he said aloud:
“The Council is ended and woe to him that betrays its secrets, for he
shall be thrown to the lions.”