The Feast of the King of Kings
It was the night of the great feast. All day long artificers by
scores had toiled in the court of the temple. Adown its length tables
had been set up and by them couches and benches upon which hundreds of
the feasters would lie or sit according to their degree. Near to the
head of the court a platform had been built, of which the foundation
beams were supported by the statues of gods dragged from a score of
temples where they had stood in solemn peace for ages. Yes, there were
Ptah, Ammon, Osiris, Mut, Khonsu, Hathor, Maat, Thoth, Ra, Horus, and
the rest, bearing on their sacred brows and headdresses the
eating-table of a heathen horde. But they bore more than this, since
around and between them and the platform upon which stood this table
were laid the coffins of long-dead kings or queens, and other great
ones, torn, it was said, from the pyramids or their surrounding tombs.
Dark with the dust of ages there they lay, some of them uncovered, so
as to reveal the grim shapes that slept within.
Above these again was placed the wide platform carpeted with purple
cloth of Tyre, and on it stood the board and gilded furniture of the
feast. Here, too, was a golden throne at the back of which was a
peacock fan of jewels, while to its front was set a table fashioned of
black wood inlaid with ivory, and around it other smaller thrones and
tables. These were the seats of the King of kings and some of his
favoured women.
Nor was this all, for in an outer court but within the pylon gates,
cooks and scullions had built fires whereon they dressed meats, and
butlers set out their store of wines. Never before within the memory
of man had so strange and rich a feast been seen in Egypt as that
which was now preparing in the courts of Isis, to defile which with
the smell of flesh was a sacrilege and the eating of it there an
abomination.
When the sun had turned toward the west came Bagoas with other eunuchs
and chamberlains, and being admitted to the inner courts, summoned our
company and issued his commands as to the ceremonial that we must
keep. We hearkened meekly, saying that we were the slaves of the King
of kings, we and our goddess together, and in all things would obey
his words.
Then they went away, but as he passed me, affecting to stumble, he
whispered in my ear,
"Be not afraid, Prophetess. All is well and the end shall be good."
"I am not afraid, Eunuch," I answered, "who know that all is well and
that the end will be good."
The night fell; great flares of light set upon stands of bronze were
lit adown the hall, and with them countless lamps placed at intervals
along the tables. The feasters gathered; they came by scores and
hundreds; Persian lords in their rich robes, generals and captains in
their armour, merchants of many lands, Egyptian apostates, and I know
not who besides, men, all of them, whom it pleased the King of kings
to honour. They were marshalled in their appointed places by the
stewards and butlers, and there waited in silence, or speaking only in
low voices.
From behind the curtains of the outer sanctuary I and my company
watched it all. These were clad in their festal garments of white,
garlanded with flowers. But I, according to command, wore the glorious
robes of Isis beneath my veil, and on my head the vulture cap of Isis,
the golden Uræus, the earrings and the crescent of the moon.
Moreover, about my bosom were hung the sacred necklaces and the other
jewelled emblems of the goddess, while in my hands I held the
_sistrum_ and the Cross of Life.
Trumpets blew announcing the advent of the King of kings. Up the long
hall he marched, clad in the mummy wrappings of Osiris, somewhat
widened at the feet so that he might walk in them, wearing on his head
the tall feathered crown and holding in his hands the Crook of
Dominion and the Scourge of Rule. His chamberlains and great officers
led him by a stairway to the platform that was built above the bodies
of ancient kings, where was set a tiny altar upon which burned the
Holy Persian Fire. There for a while he stood in pride, waving the
scourge with which he flogged the world, while all that company fell
upon their faces and adored him as a god, after which they lay still
as corpses in the grave.
It was strange to see them lying on their faces like dead men, who
indeed soon were to be dead, every one of them, and adoring this human
image, this dressed-up doll, fashioned in their own likeness, to be
the plaything of the gods and about to be broken by them and cast upon
the rubbish heap of time.
I, Ayesha, watching through the veil and alive with that spirit which
in the hour of great events comes to such as I am, thought it very
strange; so strange that I could have laughed. For there in this mime,
this puppet king upon the platform, with the tame tiger, Bagoas, that
was about to tear out his throat, crouching at his feet, I saw the
very type of all grandeur that is built of clay and not of spirit,
since assuredly there is one grandeur of the earth and another of the
spirit. Whether by the poison of Bagoas or by the fire of Isis, yonder
man who stood triumphing over the mighty monarchs that lay coffined
beneath his feet, like a wind-filled toad upon a consecrated altar,
was about to die and then what of his triumph and what of his pomp?
His cup of blood was full, and when the blast of doom overturned it
into the sands of Death, what tongues would it take, I wondered, in
which to urge a million accusations against his trembling soul?
Lastly, what mocking devil had persuaded him to don the robes of
Osiris, that in them he might do insult to Isis who, whate'er she may
not be, at least under her royal name of Nature is the mighty vassal
of the Most High, forgetting that Osiris is the god of Death and that
Isis-Nature ever avenges herself upon those who violate her laws?
Little wonder then that I who laughed but seldom in those days did so
in my heart, while my eyes took their fill of the tinselled panoply of
this lost madman.
Ochus-Osiris waved his sceptre, and the seeming dead who lay around
him, as they had been drilled to do by those who planned this play,
came to life in a grim mockery of ghosts called from the grave. They
rose up and each, according to his degree, took his place at this
Table of Osiris brought to earth.
The feast went on; they ate much; they drank more, till their brains
were bemused with wine and scarce could they stand upon their feet. At
length the climax came; the coping-stone was set upon this black
pyramid of mortal sin against the spirit of Divinity.
Ochus rose, waving the Crook of Dominion.
"Osiris is risen again in Egypt!" he cried. "Let his wife, the divine
Isis, be brought forth that he may drink with her the cup of marriage
and embrace her as her husband."
Thereon that ribald company shouted,
"Yea, the god Osiris is risen again in Egypt. Bring out Queen Isis.
Bring her out, that we may see her drink with him and be kissed!"
Guards summoned us. We came forth from the curtained sanctuary,
white-robed in simple state. Singing the ancient hymn of Reunion to
the music of harps and of shaken _sistra_, our company came forth into
the great hall, I at the head of them. We walked into the hall, a
solemn troop at whom the drunken feasters forgot to mock; indeed some
of them bowed their heads as though in awe. We came to the dais that
was supported by the statues of the gods of Egypt and platformed with
her ancient royalties, and here we halted. Guards led me up a stairway
so that I stood upon the platform, facing Ochus-Osiris. He spoke,
saying, mockingly,
"Hail! Queen of Heaven. Behold Osiris re-arisen on the Nile has found
you at last. Unveil, Queen of Heaven, that he may look upon your
glory, for as goddesses do not grow old, doubtless you are glorious."
At these words of insult the company broke into coarse laughter. I
waited till it had died away, then answered,
"O King wrapped in the robes of a greater king, yea, in the robes of
Death, have you not heard that it is very dangerous to draw the veil
of Isis, that none, indeed, has drawn it and lived? You think me but a
woman, but know that here in the shrine of Isis, aye, here in her holy
House which you desecrate with revellings and with the flesh of
butchered beasts, I, her Prophetess and Oracle, am the very goddess
and clothed with her divinity. I pray you, therefore, think again ere
you bid me to draw my veil."
For a moment he seemed to grow afraid, as did that company, for they
were silent. Then rage took hold of him who was full of wine and
pride.
"What?" he shouted. "Am I, the King of the world, to be defied and
threatened by an old hag who calls herself a priestess, or a goddess,
or both? Woman, once before I listened to your prayer and left you
wrapped in that rag, but now when I come both as your king and as your
god, why I claim the privilege of the god. Off with that veil or I
will bid my women strip you stark."
Again the silence fell, and for a little while I looked about me. I
looked at the feasters illumined by the strong flares of the essence
of bitumen; I looked at the blue heaven above in which the great moon
floated royally; I turned and looked at the white statue of the
goddess showing faint and pure between the curtains in the darkness of
the distant shrine beyond. Then I lifted my head and prayed aloud,
saying,
"O Thou, that from thy moon-throne watchest all things passing on the
earth, O Thou, great Spirit of the world whom men name Isis, Thou that
canst spare; Thou that canst avenge; Thou that knowest both life and
death; Thou that rulest hearts and destinies; Thou to whose equal
sight the king is as the slave, since both kings and slaves are but
dust beneath thine immortal feet, hear me, thy priestess and thine
Oracle. Thou knowest my strait and that of these thy servants over
whom I rule beneath thee. Protect me and them, if thou wilt, or if
thou wilt not, then take us to thyself. I ask nothing of thee; I seek
not to turn the chariot wheels of Fate; judge thou of my cause who
with thy judgment am content. In thine hands hang the scales of doom
and the great worlds are thy weights. Who then am I that I should seek
to press upon thy balances? Judge now between me, O Mother Isis, and
this death-attired king who mocks thee, the Queen of Heaven, in
mocking me, thy servitor on earth."
"Have done, woman!" mocked Ochus. "Cease your whimperings to a goddess
sitting in the moon, for she is far away from you--and unveil. Bagoas,
give me the Marriage Cup, that I may drink to this new wife of mine,
who thinks herself divine."
Bagoas beckoned and a dark-faced, black-bearded man whom I knew for
the king's physician came forward with a golden goblet on which were
vile carvings of the loves of satyrs. This he tasted, or affected to
taste, with much ceremony, and as he did so, though save I none noted
it, let fall the poison into the wine. Then with humble steps, lifting
the cup thrice, lowering it again thrice, doubtless to mix the venom
with the wine, he came to the Presence and kneeling, presented the
goblet to his master, the King of kings, the King of the world.
"Now," said the drink-besotted Ochus as he grasped the goblet, "now,
Priestess, will you unveil or must I call the women?"
"It is not needful," I answered. "Yet, O most glorious monarch, yet, O
conqueror of all things, first I would add one word. Even a king so
great that he dares to clothe himself in the raiment of the Lord of
Death perchance may err from time to time. Thus, Mighty One, do you
err when you say that Isis is far from me, for Isis is here and _I am
Isis_."
Then at a word two priestesses sprang to my side and loosed me of my
veil. It fell to the ground and there I stood before them clad in all
the splendid pomp of Isis, beautiful as Isis, with the terrible eyes
of Isis, and holding in my hands the emblems of Isis and the sceptre
with which Isis ruled the world.
They saw, and from that crowded hall there went up a sigh of
wonder--or was it of fear? Ochus saw also; his eyes started, his mouth
opened.
"By the holy Fire!" he muttered, "here is one worth wedding, be she
goddess or woman."
"Then drink the cup, O Ochus-Osiris, and take her, be she goddess or
woman," I answered, pointing at him with the Cross of Life.
He drank, he drank deep, and forgetting to offer the wine to me,
loosed the goblet from his hand so that it fell upon the little altar
where burned the holy Fire, extinguishing it, and thence rolled from
the platform to the ground. I glanced at Bagoas and read in his eyes
such a look as I had never seen upon the face of man. Oh! it was
cruel, that look--cruel yet triumphant, this cold stare of the victim
who had become a conqueror. All hell was in that look.
The feasters murmured at the omen of the death of the Fire, but that
draught seemed to sober Ochus, who took no heed of it. The wildness
left his eyes; they grew cunning as those of a merchant. Merchant-like
he appraised my loveliness seen through the gauzy wrappings such as
are used to deck the painted effigy of the goddess.
"I look before I take," he said. "'Twas good to win Egypt; it will be
better to win you, O Divine in flesh if not in spirit. Now I
understand why in the past you would not suffer me to draw your veil."
Thus he spoke slowly, savouring the words upon his tongue as his
greedy eyes savoured my beauty. Then he rose to pass the small altar
and advance upon me.
In that fierce moment of time I considered all. It came into my mind
that Bagoas had tricked me; that his cup lacked poison, or at least
that the plan had failed, and that if I was to be saved it must be by
myself. Yet I paused ere I did that which would cause the death of
hundreds.
"Stay!" I said to him. "Lay no finger on me lest you shall call the
curse of Isis upon your head."
"Nay," he answered, "it is the blessing of Isis that I am about to
call upon my lips, O most Beautiful, O Loveliness incarnate!"
He came on. He was past the marble altar. His fierce, bestial face
glared into mine and he gripped me; his hot arm was about me, he
dragged me to his embrace, while all the beasts of his company shouted
in vile joy.
I let fall the _sistrum_ that I held. The moment of mercy had gone by.
That shout had sealed the doom of all those dogs and satyrs. It was
the signal!
By the arts known to us instantly the command was passed on to her who
waited below. Instantly this fierce-souled destroyer was at her work
with lamp and torch. Never did lover run so swiftly to her lover's
side as she did from pile to pile, firing the oil, firing the reeds.
Now that brute-king had me! He pressed his hot kisses upon my breast,
upon my lips. I stood still. I struggled not. I stood like the statue
of the goddess. This cold calm of mine seemed to frighten him.
"Are you woman?" he asked, hesitating.
"Nay," I hissed back, "I am Isis. Woe to them who lay hands upon
Isis!"
He unloosed. He stood staring at me, and as he stared I saw his face
change.
"What is in your eyes?" he asked. "All the devils in Egypt are looking
out of your eyes."
"Nay," I answered, "all the devils of hell look out of my eyes. Isis
commands the devils of hell and unchains them, O death-clothed king."
"What do you mean? What do you mean?" he asked.
"That you will learn presently--in hell. Therefore bid farewell to the
world, O Corpse of a king!"
He glowered at me. He swayed to and fro. Then suddenly down he went
like one pierced through the heart with an arrow. There he lay upon
his back across the altar staring up at the moon.
"Isis is in the moon!" he cried. "She threatens me from the moon.
Persians, be afraid of Isis the Moon-dweller. Bagoas! Physician!
Physician! Bagoas! protect me from Isis. She is wringing my heart with
her hands. Witch! Witch! loose my heart from your hands."
Thus he wailed in a horrible voice and these were his last words, for
having spoken them he lifted his head, glaring about him with a
twisted mouth, then let it fall heavily, rolled to the platform, and
was still.
Bagoas and the physician ran to him.
"The Curse of Isis has fallen upon the King of kings," cried Bagoas.
"He who bestrode the world is dead, smitten by Isis of the Egyptians!"
cried the physician.
From the royal women and all that company there went up a wail of:
"Ochus is dead! Artaxerxes is dead! The King of kings is dead!"
Bagoas and the physician, helped by the wailing women of Ochus, lifted
the body. They carried it from the platform, they bore it down the
hall, they vanished with it into the darkness, and presently in the
utter silence I heard the gates of the courts and the outer gates of
the pylon clang behind them and the clashing of the bolts as they were
shot by the guards of the gates.
Still for awhile the silence held, for all were like dead men with
terror. Then a voice cried,
"The witch has killed the king with her kiss! Slay her. Tear her to
pieces. Slay her and her company!"
The spell-bound mob began to stir; I heard swords rattling in their
scabbards. They rose like waves on a quiet sea, and like a wave began
to flow toward the platform on which I now stood alone. I stooped
down, lifted the _sistrum_ from the platform, and held it toward them.
"Be warned!" I cried. "Stay still lest the Curse of Isis fall on you
also."
"Witch! Witch! Witch!" they screamed, hesitating awhile, and again
swayed forward.
I waved my arm, and as though in answer to it from the grating of
stone beyond the platform suddenly arose dense smoke followed by
bursts of flame. I waved it a second time, and from the gratings at
the end of the hall arose smoke followed by bursts of flame. They
looked, they saw, they understood.
"The Curse of Isis!" they screamed. "The Curse of Isis is upon us!
Fire rises from hell."
"Nay," I answered, "fire falls from Heaven sent by the outraged gods!"
Now between me and them flared a fence of flame which the boldest
dared not face. They paused, one hurled a sword at me which passed
above my head. Then they turned, flying for the gateways of the hall,
and there were met by another fence of flame. Some of the boldest
leapt through it only to find that the gates were shut and that the
terror-stricken guards had fled. They rushed back, burning, yea, their
silken robes and their oil-anointed hair turned them, yet living, into
torches. Now they took another counsel. They dragged the tables
together, piling them each on each and striving thus to climb the
walls of the hall. This, perhaps, they might have done, some of them,
had not every man pulled down his neighbour, so that they fell in
tumbled heaps upon the stone flooring where the life was trampled out
of them.
I turned and behind the veil of smoke fled from the platform, none
seeing me, back behind the hangings that hid the outer sanctuary,
where all the company of Isis was gathered, save only that fierce old
priestess who yet with lamp and torch lit fire upon fire in the vaults
beneath and, at last, doubtless, passed to Heaven on the chariot
wheels of flame.
Here my servants stripped off my sacred trappings, wrapping me in dark
garments and a hooded cloak. While they did so I looked back. The hall
was filled with spouts of fire. The platform upon which Ochus had
feasted was burning and the royal dead beneath blazed merrily. Only
the stone gods by whom it was upborne still stared silent and dreadful
through the vesture of smoke and fire, emblems of vengeance and
eternal doom.
I could see no more but above the roaring flames I heard the mad
screams of those trapped feasters who had come to see their king make
a mock of Isis and her priestess, and these were terrible to hear.
Then the floor gave way and down they went into the furnace pit
beneath. Yes, they who worshipped fire were devoured of their own god.
Thus did I, Ayesha, Child-of-Wisdom, daughter of Yarab according to
the flesh, work the vengeance of Heaven upon the Persians and their
King of kings. By fire I wrought it, I whose path ever was and ever
shall be marked by fire; I, Ayesha, who grew undying in the breath of
fire and who, in the caverns of Kôr, clasped it to my breast and was
wedded to its secret Soul.