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Authors: David Whitaker
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my mind, all for your amusement.’
Saladin thought for a second or two and then looked at Barbara gravely.
‘What do you say to this?’
Barbara knew she was being tested as a person, and was determined not to hurry her reply. She also knew that Saladin would be disappointed if she begged for mercy, although she felt he probably expected it. Barbara was never one to take the course people anticipated.
‘It sounds to me,’ she said at last, ‘like the punishment for a fool.’ Saladin’s eyes betrayed his interest. ‘And which of us here is the most foolish?’ she added.
The words hung in the room in the silence that followed, all heads turning towards El Akir. For one, frightening moment,he really believed that the punishment he had so vividly described would fall on himself. He started back, fear written plainly all over him. Saladin turned away contemptuously and sat on the low seat, exchanging an eloquent look with his brother.
‘El Akir,’ he said, ‘I can devise my own pleasures. Go with Sir William and let me hear you have treated him as an honoured guest. Let him take all liberties,’ and he smiled in a friendly way at the Knight, ‘except of course, liberty itself.’ He waved a hand and the two men left the room silently. Saladin beckoned Barbara to come nearer.
‘Are you afraid of me?’
Barbara shook her head and Saladin turned to his brother in mock surprise.
‘If I cannot make women tremble, what hope have we to win this war?’
Barbara said, ‘I know of no person who doesn’t hold you in respect. There is a most healthy regard for your generalship, My Lord. I am not a man, so perhaps I don’t fully understand what wars are all about, but I feel men of character do not care to fight against cowards.’
‘There’s philosophy here,’ murmured Saladin.
‘And wit, brother,’ added Saphadin.
‘Indeed. Now tell me the truth,’ said the Sultan. ‘You are not of these lands, yet you appear to be a stranger to Sir William.’
‘I am… a traveller. I was with three friends. We arrived in the wood.’
‘You rode into the wood?’
‘No.’
‘You walked into it,’ hazarded Saphadin. Barbara shook her head, wondering how she could explain enough without asking too much of their credulity.
‘We arrived. In a box.’
‘Ah! You were carried into the wood.’
Barbara felt it wise to agree with Saphadin on this point. Saladin sat back, rubbing a hand on his chin.
‘A reluctant story-teller!’
‘I could tell you… that I came from another world. Ruled by insects. Or that my friends and I recently visited Nero’s Rome. Before that, that we were in an England far into the future.’
Saladin nodded slowly.
‘I understand. You and your friends are a band of players? Entertainers? You are the story-teller?’
Barbara merely inclined her head, thankful to have found a way to justify her existence, without entering into a long and involved pattern of lies.
‘Frankly, I tell you,’ said the Sultan, ‘you are an encumbrance. I do not dispense life and death lightly but you have no place in my military headquarters. A wise man would rid himself of you quickly and cleanly, and have done with it. So either you must serve a purpose here, or you have no purpose. We need diversion here and you shall provide it. If you succeed, you shall receive every kindness and comfort possible, and come to no harm. You shall grace my table tonight, with clothes more suitable to your new station.’
Barbara looked a little troubled, not quite understanding what Saladin meant.
‘You are a self-confessed story-teller,’ he said. ‘If your stories beguile me, all will be well.’
Barbara said, ‘Like Scheherazade?’
Saladin leant forward, a grim smile on his lips.
‘Over whose head, you will recall, hung the sentence of death!’
CHAPTER FOUR
The Wheel of Fortune
As El Akir waited in the courtyard of Saladin’s headquarters at Ramlah, cursing for allowing himself to be made a fool of
Saladin thought for a second or two and then looked at Barbara gravely.
‘What do you say to this?’
Barbara knew she was being tested as a person, and was determined not to hurry her reply. She also knew that Saladin would be disappointed if she begged for mercy, although she felt he probably expected it. Barbara was never one to take the course people anticipated.
‘It sounds to me,’ she said at last, ‘like the punishment for a fool.’ Saladin’s eyes betrayed his interest. ‘And which of us here is the most foolish?’ she added.
The words hung in the room in the silence that followed, all heads turning towards El Akir. For one, frightening moment,he really believed that the punishment he had so vividly described would fall on himself. He started back, fear written plainly all over him. Saladin turned away contemptuously and sat on the low seat, exchanging an eloquent look with his brother.
‘El Akir,’ he said, ‘I can devise my own pleasures. Go with Sir William and let me hear you have treated him as an honoured guest. Let him take all liberties,’ and he smiled in a friendly way at the Knight, ‘except of course, liberty itself.’ He waved a hand and the two men left the room silently. Saladin beckoned Barbara to come nearer.
‘Are you afraid of me?’
Barbara shook her head and Saladin turned to his brother in mock surprise.
‘If I cannot make women tremble, what hope have we to win this war?’
Barbara said, ‘I know of no person who doesn’t hold you in respect. There is a most healthy regard for your generalship, My Lord. I am not a man, so perhaps I don’t fully understand what wars are all about, but I feel men of character do not care to fight against cowards.’
‘There’s philosophy here,’ murmured Saladin.
‘And wit, brother,’ added Saphadin.
‘Indeed. Now tell me the truth,’ said the Sultan. ‘You are not of these lands, yet you appear to be a stranger to Sir William.’
‘I am… a traveller. I was with three friends. We arrived in the wood.’
‘You rode into the wood?’
‘No.’
‘You walked into it,’ hazarded Saphadin. Barbara shook her head, wondering how she could explain enough without asking too much of their credulity.
‘We arrived. In a box.’
‘Ah! You were carried into the wood.’
Barbara felt it wise to agree with Saphadin on this point. Saladin sat back, rubbing a hand on his chin.
‘A reluctant story-teller!’
‘I could tell you… that I came from another world. Ruled by insects. Or that my friends and I recently visited Nero’s Rome. Before that, that we were in an England far into the future.’
Saladin nodded slowly.
‘I understand. You and your friends are a band of players? Entertainers? You are the story-teller?’
Barbara merely inclined her head, thankful to have found a way to justify her existence, without entering into a long and involved pattern of lies.
‘Frankly, I tell you,’ said the Sultan, ‘you are an encumbrance. I do not dispense life and death lightly but you have no place in my military headquarters. A wise man would rid himself of you quickly and cleanly, and have done with it. So either you must serve a purpose here, or you have no purpose. We need diversion here and you shall provide it. If you succeed, you shall receive every kindness and comfort possible, and come to no harm. You shall grace my table tonight, with clothes more suitable to your new station.’
Barbara looked a little troubled, not quite understanding what Saladin meant.
‘You are a self-confessed story-teller,’ he said. ‘If your stories beguile me, all will be well.’
Barbara said, ‘Like Scheherazade?’
Saladin leant forward, a grim smile on his lips.
‘Over whose head, you will recall, hung the sentence of death!’
CHAPTER FOUR
The Wheel of Fortune
As El Akir waited in the courtyard of Saladin’s headquarters at Ramlah, cursing for allowing himself to be made a fool of
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