HOW IFTIKHAR SPED A VAIN ARROW
News from over the sea,--from Italy! News that set old Sebastian
declaiming, and wandering about all day with a mad fire in his eyes
and a verse from Isaiah the prophet on his lips. For it was bruited
abroad that a wonderful pilgrim had come from the East, Peter of
Amiens, once a noble and a warrior, but one who had forsworn the world
and gone to the Holy City to expiate his sins. Now he had returned,
and stood before Pope Urban with messages from the down-trodden
Patriarch of Jerusalem; also with a marvellous tale,--that Christ had
appeared in vision to him, and bidden him summon the soldiers of the
West to the deliverance of the City of God. And the Holy Father had
believed, and given him letters bidding all men hear him and obey. Nor
was that all. There was a great council of the Church soon to convene
at Plaisance to move all Italy to go against the infidel; and if Italy
were too sunken in her civil strifes and unknightly commerce, the Pope
had sworn he would appeal to his own people, the French--"bold
cavaliers so dear to God."
When Sebastian heard this tale, brought by a Genoese, he was all
eagerness to take the next ship for Marseilles with Richard. "It was
the acceptable day of the Lord; who was not for Him was against Him:
beware lest the laggards endure the reproach of Deborah upon Reuben,
that abode by his sheepfold, and Dan, who remained in his ships." But
Richard only swelled with desire to see De Valmont prone upon the
sands; and Musa smiled in his soft manner, saying, "Have not you
Franks broils enough among yourselves, that you must seek Jerusalem?"
Whereupon Sebastian had cried, "Ah! Child of the Devil, you seek to
pluck away Richard's soul; but every night I wrestle with God in
prayer, beseeching God He will sever this unholy friendship. And my
faith does not fail!"
Musa gave no answer; silence was the stoutest armor against the
churchman.
Presently all thoughts of Italy and France were chased from mind by
the coming of the long-awaited embassy from the Egyptian kalif to
Palermo. A great and splendid embassy it was, headed by no less a
person than Hisham, son of Afdhal, vizier to the kalif Abul Kasim.
There were long trains of stately Abyssinian eunuchs and negro
guardsmen in gay liveries; a mighty glitter of scarlet and purple
caftans, jewel-decked turbans, gold-sheathed cimeters, a present of
dazzling gems for the Count and the Countess. The echo of the
earthquake in France and Italy had been heard in Africa, and the kalif
had been anxious to forestall the joining of the redoubtable Sicilian
Count to the Crusade by early display of friendship. Then, too, it was
told that the kalif had especial love for Count Roger, because in
crushing the Sicilian emirs he had only chastised rebels, who had a
little earlier cast off their fealty to the Cairo Emperor.
And Count Roger, bound to do his guests full honor, sent out his
heralds over the length and breadth of Sicily, proclaiming a grand
tournament. Forth went the messengers "crying the tourney," till their
mules were dust-covered and their voices cracked. To the remotest
Norman castle and Saracen village in the mountains they went, and man
and maid made ready their best, and counted the days; for the Count
had ordered there should be games and combats for Christian and Moslem
alike.
The days sped slowly for Mary Kurkuas. De Valmont and Longsword were
bound by pledge to Count Roger not to wait on her till after the
tourney. Bitterly Mary reproached herself for her folly. Did not all
Palermo know how she had given her glove to De Valmont? And Richard?
Why had she held that cup to his lips that night at Cefalu? Mere
gratitude? Was not that repaying her preserver with more than
friendship? And was she not willing to pay? Such her questions--never
answered. Poor little Countess Blanche, Count Roger's daughter, soon
to be exiled as given in marriage to the king of Hungary, would have
laughed with glee to have two such gallant cavaliers joust with her
name on their lips. But Mary's heart told her that it was very wrong.
Her father's health failed fast; she was filled with foreboding. Musa
and Iftikhar were the only visitors at Monreale now. Musa was ever the
same,--gentle, sweet-voiced, courtly, never unduly familiar. Iftikhar
at times swelled with a passion that nearly betrayed him; but Mary was
too accustomed to ardent lovers to take alarm. Yet at times, to her
dismay, she saw he really held that their religion was no barrier
between them, and that he would gladly have stood on equality with
Richard and De Valmont. One day it befell that the fire in the emir
nearly flashed out. He had paid a more than commonly florid
compliment, and Mary twitted him.
"But you Moslems in truth cannot care much for women, for all your
verses and praise; we are not even granted immortal souls by your
law!"
"Oh, believe it not," cried the emir, hotly; "for in Paradise the true
believer will rejoice in the company of all the wives of his mortal
state!"
"Yes," interposed Musa, with a soft laugh. "He will if he desire them,
otherwise not; and there are many husbands and many wives!"
The princess saw the frown that swept over the brow of the emir at
this interference.
"Come, my lord," commanded she, pointing to the lute, "you shall sing
to me! Sing of love, and mirth, and laughter, for I am in a doleful
mood to-day."
But Iftikhar only frowned the more.
"O Brightness of the Heart!" he replied gloomily, "I too am not merry.
Were I to sing, it would be Kalif Rahdi's poem, of which the burden
runs, 'Man is but the child of woe!' You would not care for such
melancholy?"
"Assuredly not," laughed the lady. "Then you shall play the minstrel,
Sir Musa. First you shall tell us of those wonderful poets' gardens in
your Spain; then you shall sing one of the songs that win the sighs
and blushes in the harems of Seville or Granada." And she held out the
lute.
Musa obeyed, tightened the strings, tinkled a few notes, and said in
his musical, liquid Arabic:--
"Know, O lady, that we Spaniards are not like the Moslems of the East;
we do not hide our wives and daughters in prison houses. To us
marriage is born of true love, and he who would win love must be a
poet; therefore all Andalusians are poets. Would you hear of the
wooing of my mother? She was the daughter of the emir of Malaga, and
on the day my father came to her father's court, he saw her in the
gardens, dancing with her women; and his heart was as fire. Sleep left
him. Three days he spent in sighs and sorrow, and on the fourth he
stole under the garden wall and sang his passion: how she was lovelier
than the Ez-Zahra, 'City of the Fairest'; her voice was sweeter than
the murmur of the Guadalquiver glancing in the sun; her eyes more
beautiful than the stars when they twinkle in the lake, and a smile
from her lips surpassed all wine. Then, on the next night as he sang,
she answered him in like manner in verse; how her love was strong as
the Berber lion; his white teeth more precious than pearls; his head
more beautiful than garlands of roses; and his words cut her heart
more keenly than cimeters of Murcia. So my father rejoiced, for he
knew he had won; and went boldly to the emir and demanded his daughter
in marriage."
"And what are the songs which your poets sing by the Guadalquiver and
the Darro?" asked the princess.
"Ah, lady," answered Musa, dreamily, "no true poet can sing his
love-song twice. See; I will wish myself back at Cordova, in the
orange groves I love so well, and will sing as move the genii of
song." And the Spaniard ran his hands over the echoing strings, and
sang in low, weird melody:--
"Sweet as the wind when it kisses the rose
Is thy breath!
Blest, if thy lips had but once on me smiled,
Would be death!
Give me the throat of the bulbul to sing
Forth thy praise:
Then wouldst thou drink the clear notes as they spring
All thy days!
Nard of far Oman's too mean for thy sweetness,
Eagle wings lag at thy glancing eyes' fleetness;
By thy pure beauty, bright gems lack completeness;
Lady, ah, fairest!
Were I a genie, with rapture I'd seize thee;
I'd haste away
To magic-wrought cavern, all jewelled and golden;
There I'd stay
While the long glad years with printless feet wheeling
Leave no trace,
Save only new beauty and soft love revealing
In thy face.
The speeding of ages would breed us no sorrow;
I'd shrink from no past, and dread naught of the morrow;
The laugh in thine eyes, that alone I would borrow,
Lady, ah, rarest!"
"_Ai_, Sir Musa," cried Mary, when the strings were still, "were you
Louis de Valmont or even my Lord Iftikhar, I should say in my heart,
'How much you are my slave!' But to a Spaniard like yourself the
making of such a song--it means nothing?"
"Nothing," answered the Andalusian, his dreamy eye wandering over the
marble tracery on the wall above.
The emir broke forth hotly:--
"_Wallah_, you Spaniard, what mean then your pretty songs, your
chatter of praise and compliment, if they are words, words, and
nothing more? In the East, whence I come, we thrill, we feel, we make
no shame to flame with a mighty passion. Aye, and make our deeds match
our fine words."
Musa laid down the lute, and stared at the emir unconcernedly.
"My good lord," answered he, "do you not know that when I sing love, I
sing not the love of any one lady? And think not I despise our
princess--she is peerless among women. Rather I praise that divine
essence which reveals itself in every bright eye and velvet cheek from
east to west,--this pure beauty sent down from Paradise by the favor
of Allah, I adore; and whenever I behold it, its praise I must sing."
"You are trained in the heathen philosophy of your schools of
Cordova," retorted the emir; "I cannot follow your thought. To me it
is better to have the taste of one cup of wine than be told of the
sweetness of ten thousand. Enough; the Count requires me." And he
arose to bow himself out.
Musa had arisen also, and courteously thrust his right hand in his
breast, where he murmured the farewell, "Peace be on you."
Iftikhar's answer hung for a moment on his lips, then he gave the
customary reply among Moslem friends, "And on you be peace, and the
mercy of Allah and His blessings!"
Mary sighed when the emir was gone.
"You are not gay, dear lady," said the Spaniard; "if I can do aught to
aid, command me."
Half petulantly the princess caught a sugared cake from the tray by
the divan and threw it into the fountain, where the greedy fish in the
basin waited.
"I should be very happy, should I not?" exclaimed she, with a laugh
not very merry. "See, since I have come to Palermo, here are Richard
Longsword and De Valmont with blades drawn on my account; the emir
sighs like the west wind, and is all gloom and restlessness; and you,
Sir Musa," she went on boldly, "were you to speak out your own heart,
are wishing them all three dead, that you might have no rival. Holy
Mother," added she, with half a sob, half a laugh, "I am too much
loved! What am I, silly girl, that so many brave cavaliers should pawn
their souls for my poor sake!"
"Sweet mistress," replied the Spaniard, very slowly, flinging a second
cake into the fountain, "you are wrong. Your friend, your admirer, I
will ever be. Were we both Christian or Moslem, had I no memories of
moon-lit nights and sun-lit orchards in Spain--but enough of that!
Know that I am the sworn brother of Richard Longsword; that he loves
you purely and honorably; that after the manner of his people he will
become a great man, whom any lady, be she however high, might love to
call her lord. And that you may smile on him, is my first and only
prayer."
Mary's whole face crimsoned at this, for Musa was not now playing the
poet. There was a ring of command in her voice when she made answer:--
"Sir Musa, I cannot have another say for them what Richard and Louis
de Valmont may not say to my face. Let us await the tourney. Who knows
lest your friend will woo no more after that day? I hear--God spare
them both--that Louis is a terrible knight; he will ride against
Longsword as though all the fiends were in him."
"They are in the hands of the Most High," said the Andalusian, still
very gently; "yet, believe me, the Provençal may have ridden down many
stout knights, and yet not the peer of Longsword. But--" and he in
turn salaamed, "I have also to hasten. And perhaps even my presence is
burdensome."
"No," cried the Greek, extending her hands, "come, come often; I have
too many lovers, too few friends. My father sinks day by day; Christ
pity me! I am alone in a strange land; I have borne myself foolishly.
The beauty you sing of is half a curse. If truly you would be my
friend, and nothing more, do not desert me. I am very wretched."
There were tears in her eyes; her voice choked a little, but she stood
proud and steady, the great princess still.
Very low was the reverence paid by the Spaniard. He kissed the bright
rug at her feet; then rising, answered:--
"Star of the Greeks, not you, but Allah who has put enchantment in
your eyes, has bred this trouble, if trouble it be. But as for me, I
swear it, by Allah the Great, you shall never call on me in vain!"
"You are a noble cavalier, Sir Musa," said the lady, now all dignity;
"I thank you."
So the days went by, and it was the evening before the tourney. All
around Palermo spread the tents, bright pavilions of silk with broad
pennons above, whipping the slow south wind. The gardens of the Golden
Shell buzzed with the clatter and hum of a thousand busy squires. In
the city, every house--Christian, Moslem, or Jewish--was thrown open
to guests. There were flags at every door and window; and within
pealed the laughter of feasters, the note of viol and psaltery and
tabor at the dance. All the house walls without and within were decked
in tapestries, cloth of gold, and priceless _pail_e and _cendal_ silk,
some from the looms of Thebes or Corinth, some from the farthest Ind.
Mixed with these Orient stuffs, the storied Poitou tapestry shook to
the breeze in long folds, displaying kings and emperors and the legion
of the saints. Much wagering there was with knight and villain on the
issues of the day. Many cavaliers of the baser sort had entered,
merely in hopes to fill their purses by the ransom of defeated
combatants; most of all, men chaffered over the coming duel between
Richard and Louis. "Longsword would never stand one round," ran the
vulgar tongue; "De Valmont had no peer unless it were Iftikhar. The
saints have mercy on the younger knight in Purgatory!"
As for Mary, she had spent the afternoon in no common vexation. Her
father was worse, and could not go to the tourney. Countess Adelaide
had bidden the princess sit with her, but Mary had little joy in the
prospect.
That evening as she sat with a taper at her reading-desk, the purple
vellum leaves of George of Pisidia's learned epic brought little
forgetfulness. While she was staring at the words, Bardas, the
serving-man, startled her: "The emir Iftikhar to see the gracious
princess." And without awaiting permission the Egyptian entered. He
was in his splendid panoply,--gold on the rings of his cuirass, two
broad eagle wings on his helmet, between them burned a great ruby.
Under the mail-shirt hung the green silk trousers with their pearl
embroidery, gems again on the buckles of the high shoes, more gems on
the gilded sword hilt.
"You are come in state, my lord," said the Greek, while he made
profound obeisance. "What may I do for you?"
"O lady of excellent beauty," he began abruptly, "will you indeed give
your hand to him who conquers to-morrow?"
The wandering eye, the flushed cheek, the mad fire of his words--all
these were a warning. Mary drew herself up.
"You ask what you have no right, my lord," answered she; "I am in no
way pledged."
Unlucky admission: in a twinkling the emir had moved a step toward her
and stretched out his arms.
"Oh, happy mortal that I am! O lady with the wisdom of Sukman, nephew
of Job, the beauty of Jacob, the sweet voice of David, the purity of
Mary the Virgin! Listen! Favor me!"
"Sir!" cried the Greek, recoiling as he advanced, "what is this
speech? No more of it. I am Christian, you a Moslem. Friends we have
been, perhaps to our cost. More than that, never; we part, if you
think to make otherwise!"
Iftikhar fell on his knees. All the flame of a terrible passion was
kindling his eyes. Even as she trembled, Mary could admire his
Oriental splendor. But she did not forget herself.
"I must bid you leave me!" with a commanding gesture. "If our
friendship leads to this--it is well to make an end!"
"Not so," burst from the Egyptian, still supplicating; "none worship
you as do I! To me you are fair as the moon in its fourteenth night,
when the clouds withdraw. For your sake I will turn Christian. To win
you--" But Mary was in no gracious mood that night.
"Madman," she tossed back, all her anger rising at his importunity,
"do you think you will buy me with such a bribe? Forswear Mohammed for
your soul's sake, not for mine! I do not love you. Were I to look on
any Moslem, why not Musa? he is a noble cavalier."
Iftikhar was not kneeling now. His eyes still flashed. His voice was
husky; but he mastered it.
"Lady," he said a little thickly, "think well before you say me nay.
Listen--I am a man of great power among both Franks and Moslem. Were I
to go to Syria, even higher things await me,--commands, cities,
principalities," his voice rose higher, "kingdoms even; for you should
know that I am a chieftain of the Ismaelians, one of the highest
_dais_ of that dread brotherhood, whose daggers strike down the
mightiest, and at whose warning kalifs tremble--"
Mary cut him short; her poise grew more haughty. "I do not love you.
Were you kalif or emperor, I would not favor you. Depart."
"Hearken!" cried the Egyptian, with a last effort; "my breast bursts
for the love of you; the light of your eyes is my sun; a kiss from
you--my arms about you--"
But here the Greek, whose face had crimsoned, snatched a tiny baton
beside a bronze gong.
"Away from me!" she commanded fiercely, as he took an uneasy step
toward her. "Away! or I sound the gong and call the grooms."
"Woman!" came from his lips hotly, "what is such a threat to me? I
would have you with your love if I might. But, by the Glory of Allah,
you I will have, though your every breath were a curse. Your grooms!"
with a proud toss of his splendid head; "were they ten, what have I to
fear? I, the best sword in all Sicily, in all Syria, Egypt, and Iran,
perchance." And he came a step still nearer; and now at last Mary
began to dread, but still she did not quail.
"I doubt not your valor, my lord," she said very coldly. "But my heart
and hand are not to be won with a cimeter, as was won that castle
breach which Musa and Richard Longsword, not you, entered first."
Scarce were the words out of her mouth before terror seized her. For
in a twinkling Iftikhar had snatched the gong from her reach, and
caught her wrist in a grasp of iron. She could feel the hot breath
from his nostrils in her face, see the mad blood swelling the veins of
his forehead. In her panic she screamed once, and instantly Iftikhar
was pressing her very throat. In his mighty hands she was dumb and
helpless as a child.
"Hear me," came from his lips in a hoarse whisper. "I have not come
hither alone. I had come to bear away the pledge of your love. You
spurn me. All is provided. My slave Zeyneb is without, and with him
fifteen men, all armed, hidden in the gardens. What resistance could
your servants make, were you to cry ever so loudly? My men are
devotees of our order--would kill themselves at my bidding. A ship
lies in the harbor at my command. It is night. You are helpless. I
will carry you aboard. Before morning we are beyond sight of Sicily,
beyond pursuit. And you are mine, be it in love or hate,
forever--forever!"
Iftikhar pressed his face nearer. Mary thrilled with horror beyond
words. She had one thought,--her father, her father.
"To Egypt," Iftikhar was repeating, "to Syria. There is a palace of
mine at Aleppo, beside which this is a cottage. And it shall be yours
and you mine. _Allah akhbah!_ How beautiful you are; your lips, a
kiss--"
But even as Mary's senses reeled, she heard a step, a familiar step,
and Iftikhar had let her drop from his hands as though her form were
flame. She caught at a column, steadied herself, and looked upon the
face of Musa.
The Spaniard was standing in the dim light of the hall, dressed in
sombre black armor; but the red plumes danced on his helmet. His
shield was on his arm, naked cimeter outstretched.
"The peace of Allah be with you, fair lady, and noble lord," said
Musa, bowing in most stately fashion, first to the shivering Greek,
then to Iftikhar. The Egyptian already had his weapon drawn, but the
Andalusian did not fall on guard.
"Most excellent emir," continued he, very gently, "Count Roger bids me
say, if you will go at once to the castle, it will please him well.
And your men in the gardens shall be no care to you. I have ridden
from Palermo with forty lancers, who will give them all good company
on return."
Night was never blacker than the frown of the Egyptian, when he
replied huskily: "And, Sir Spaniard, why does Count Roger favor _you_
with bearing me his orders? And why come you here unbidden, with
cimeter and target?"
"Because," answered Musa, his brow too darkening, "I know too well why
the Commander of the Guard is here." Then, more sternly, "And that I
have come barely in time--praise be to Allah--to save him from a deed
at which the very jinns of hell would cry out!"
He took a step closer to Iftikhar, and the two blades went up
together. But Mary sprang forward, with the cry:--
"Not as you live! You shall not. Would you kill my father by fighting
here, and for me?"
Musa let his point fall, and bowed with courtly ease.
"You say well, Star of the Greeks. The emir will speak with me
elsewhere."
Iftikhar made no attempt to conceal his rage.
"Cursed be you and all your race! What enchanter has told you
this--has humiliated me thus?"
"You ask what I may not tell," and Musa smiled in his gentle way.
"Enough, I was told all that was in your heart, about an hour
since,--the ship, the men, the design. Count Roger also knows; and, my
lord, he has been none too well pleased with your faithfulness of
late. I have come with forty given me by the Count. They do not know
their errand; they are to move at my nod. Ride back with me to
Palermo, my lord, and pledge me your word, by Allah the Great, said
thrice, that you will not molest Mary Kurkuas so long as you remain in
Sicily, or--"
"And if I will not--" broke from the raging emir.
"Then, my lord, I shall carry you to the castle in fetters. My men are
also without--" Iftikhar had half started upon the Spaniard, swinging
his cimeter. "Never!" came between his teeth. Musa beckoned away Mary
with his own weapon. "To your father!" he commanded. But the Egyptian
let his point sink. "Allah make you feel the fire of Gehennah!" was
his curse. "I am trapped, I will swear."
"Then, my lord, saving Count Roger, and the lady, and myself, none
shall ever know of this," said Musa softly, and he pointed with his
cimeter to the doorway. Iftikhar repeated the great oath--the most
terrible among Moslems--thrice; bowed to the Spaniard; made a profound
salaam to Mary; the samite curtains in the passage closed behind him;
his footfalls died away; he was gone. Musa bowed in turn:--
"Allah is merciful, dear lady. Do I prove a faithful cavalier?"
"Ah, Sir Musa!" cried Mary, still faint and weak, "God requite you. I
offer you all I have, except love--and could I give that, it were mean
repayment."
Musa's plumes almost brushed the pavement as he again saluted.
"I may not tell how I learned of this plot. I was warned secretly by a
strange Arabian woman, who required of me solemn oath not to reveal
her. To her, owe the thanks! But my mistress's words are more precious
than as if each syllable were treasures of gold; the praise, flashed
from her eyes, beyond gems; her voice sweeter than all the
nightingales of Khorassan. I am well repaid."
He, too, departed. Mary stood long clinging to the pillar, now
shivering, now laughing. What had she not escaped? When might she
forget the unholy desire on the emir's face when he departed? Had he
indeed forsaken his passion for her forever?
"St. Theodore," she cried with a sad, wild laugh, "I am cursed with
too much love!"
Then she went to her father.