Desert God (29 page)

‘Stand easy!’ Zaras ordered. The spectators burst into a chorus of applause, clapping and stamping their feet. Then a single voice called her name, drawing it out into three distinct syllables:

‘Te-Hoo-Tee!’ Immediately the chant was taken up by the others: ‘Te-Hoo-Tee!’

Their adulation was contagious. I was filled with pride and love for my little protégée. I found myself caught up in the fervour of hero worship.

‘Te-Hoo-Tee.’

My own dignity was forgotten as I joined in the chanting chorus.

A
t last a camel rider arrived at Miyah Keiv from the north. He carried a message from Lord Remrem informing me that his advance company was about to march from the oasis at Zaynab where they had been recuperating for the last two weeks.

Remrem assured me that all was well. He had lost no men and only one camel, which had broken its leg in a fight with another bull. He had been forced to slaughter the beast and feed the meat as rations to his men. He urged me to come on to Zaynab at my best speed where I would find the oasis deserted and the surface water fully replenished from its subterranean spring.

I passed the order to Zaras, but it took another two days to break camp and load the pack animals. During that time I summoned Zaras to my quarters and made him strip to enable me to check the healing of his injuries. I found him to be in magnificent physical condition. His surgical scars were difficult to detect, particularly in view of the fact that his dark body hair had grown out profusely to cover them. He assured me that despite the internal laceration inflicted upon it his bowel function was as efficient as it had ever been; and I did not feel that it was necessary to require a demonstration of this claim from him. That very morning I had seen him returning at the front of a ten-league foot race, in full armour and with a large sack of sand balanced on one shoulder.

Our company marched from Miyah Keiv in the late afternoon when the sun had lost its virulent heat. We continued through the night, with a waxing moon to light our way. We went into camp again with the rise of the hot new sun and almost twenty leagues behind us. I was well pleased. I walked through the new encampment to make certain that all was in good order before I took my own rest. It always surprises me how a few kind words from me are treasured by even the lowliest members of our entourage. One often forgets how one is revered by others less talented than oneself.

However, on this occasion my equanimity was shattered by the uproar that greeted me when I returned to the royal compound. In fact I became aware of it while I was still some distance away. The weeping, the wails of despair, the cries of bitter remonstrations all carried clearly on the desert air. I broke into a run, convinced that tragedy and death had struck in our midst.

When I entered the compound I found that the royal handmaidens and servants were almost witless with terror. They were unable to respond to my urgent questions. I became so impatient with their stupidity that I seized one of the Nubian handmaidens by the shoulders and tried to shake some sense into her. This proved to be unwise. The simple uproar surrounding me became total bedlam.

Hurriedly I released the little lass and reassured her that I was not going to chastise her, and then I headed for the central tent which belonged to Tehuti. When I entered I had to push my way through the throng of loudly lamenting femininity to reach my princess, who was lying on her cot. She was on her stomach with her face buried in her arms. Her entire body was racked with sobs.

As soon as she heard my voice she jumped off the cot and threw herself into my arms.

‘What is it, my little one? Has somebody died? What terrible tragedy has overtaken you?’

‘My ring! I have lost my ring … and I am certain that somebody has stolen it.’

‘What ring?’ For the moment I was mystified.

She held up her left hand with all her fingers extended stiffly. ‘My ring is gone. The ring you gave me; the magical diamond ring that you brought me from the fortress at Tamiat.’

‘Calm yourself. We will find it for you.’ I was relieved at the mild nature of the calamity.

‘But what if you can’t find it? It’s the one thing I love most in the entire world. I will kill myself if it is lost.’

‘Firstly get all these women out of here, and then we can talk about it calmly and sensibly.’ I used my staff and my most persuasive language to drive the cackling women from the tent. Then I returned to sit beside Tehuti on the cot and take her hand.

‘Now, tell me where and when you last saw it,’ I invited her. She pondered my question and as I watched her face I realized that despite all the sobbing and lamentation and threats of suicide her lovely eyes were devoid of tears. In fact now that we were alone she appeared to be quite relaxed, even quite enjoying herself. My suspicions were immediately aroused.

‘Ah, yes! I have it!’ Her face lit up with theatrical relief. ‘I remember now. I know where I must have lost it. Just before we left Miyah Keiv yesterday afternoon Loxias, Bekatha and I went for a last swim in the water cavern. I remember that I took the ring off my finger before I entered the water, and I placed it in the same crack in the rock that I always do, so that I would not lose it. I must have left it there.’

‘Are you certain? You could not have dropped it elsewhere?’ I asked seriously, going along with her fibs and fantasies.

‘Yes, I am certain. And no, I could not have dropped it elsewhere,’ she assured me just as earnestly.

‘Well, that makes it very easy.’ I smiled at her. ‘Your worries are over, Tehuti. I shall send Colonel Hui back to Miyah Keiv to find it for you. On his fastest horse he should get there and back before tomorrow morning.’

‘But …’ She was taken aback. She wrung her hands with distress. ‘No … I don’t want you to send Hui.’

‘Why not?’ I asked innocently. ‘Hui is a good man.’

‘I think …’ She paused as she tried to find a convincing reason. I gave her time to come up with her next invention.

‘It will be difficult to describe to Hui exactly where I left it. Hui is a foreigner. His Egyptian isn’t very good.’

I watched her steadily and she could not meet my eyes. ‘He may have a foreign accent but his Egyptian is good enough to command a regiment,’ I refuted her excuse, but she rallied gamely.

‘I don’t trust Hui. You know how he humiliated our poor little Bekatha. He will probably steal the ring. I wouldn’t put anything past him.’

‘In that case perhaps you should rather go back to the cavern to find it yourself.’

‘I hadn’t thought of that!’ she exclaimed enthusiastically, having steered me to the conclusion she wished for all along. ‘But you are right, Taita. I will have to go myself.’

‘But you cannot go alone. I will have to send somebody with you. Not Hui, of course, because you do not trust foreigners.’ I pretended to think it over. ‘I would have sent Lord Remrem, but of course he is not here. At any other time I would ride with you, but my back is sore and I must rest it.’ I placed both hands in the small of my back and gave a soft grunt of pain.

‘My poor Taita! I would never allow you to take the chance of injuring yourself further.’ She watched my face anxiously.

‘I have it!’ I exclaimed. ‘I shall have to send Captain Zaras with you!’

She dropped her eyes. She realized that I had been teasing her, and she had the grace to be abashed. She looked up at me and she saw my expression was benign. She gave up her playacting and giggled endearingly. Then she threw her arms around my neck and hugged me so hard that it hurt.

‘I love you,’ she whispered. ‘I really and truly do.’

I returned her hug, and I whispered back, ‘It might be more discreet if you leave that naughty old ring with me, just in case it does truly jump from your finger.’

She reached into her sleeve. When she brought out her hand it was closed into a fist. She held it tantalizingly in front of my face.

‘I would trust you with anything else that I have, except this.’

She opened her hand and the famous diamond ring lay in her palm.

‘When I return it shall be on my finger, and I shall never remove it again. It will always be the symbol of my love for Zaras. Even if my duty forces me to relinquish him forever, this ring will remain with me to remind me of him.’

She and Zaras left within the hour. They pressed their mounts so urgently towards the south that their bodyguard had fallen back half a league behind them as they disappeared over a distant dune.

I felt only a little guilty at this flagrant dereliction of my duty. However, my guilt was overshadowed by my elation that I felt at having been able to grant this fleeting interlude of happiness to two young people so very dear to me.

I
had not expected the two of them to hurry back from Miyah Keiv to rejoin the caravan. They did not disappoint me. We waited at Zaynab Oasis for almost a week before the two of them finally reappeared.

As they dismounted outside my command tent Tehuti whispered to Zaras, ‘Wait here. I must speak to him alone.’

They were in bright sunlight so they did not see me watching them from the shadows of the tent. I was able to read Tehuti’s lips without her being aware of it.

She ran to the opening of my tent. As I came to meet her, she let out a soft cry of joy and she rushed into my open arms. While we embraced I realized that in the short time since I had last seen her she had been transmuted miraculously from childhood to full womanhood; from dross to royal gold.

‘Did you find what you went to seek?’ I asked without releasing her.

‘Oh, yes I did.’ She held up her hand in front of me. The diamond sparkled at me, but not as brightly as her eyes. ‘I love this. But I love the other treasure that I found in the cavern much more dearly.’

‘I don’t think we should discuss that,’ I interrupted her hastily, and stepped back from her embrace. ‘I don’t want to hear about it.’

‘But I am going to tell you everything; every tiny detail; because it is the most wonderful thing that has ever happened to me.’ She spoke with utter sincerity.

I looked out through the tent opening. Poor Zaras was still standing there with a hangdog aspect; very much like a small boy who had been caught in the orchard stealing apples and was expecting a beating for it. I let the subject pass without belabouring it further.

I was so close in spirit to Tehuti that a little of her ecstatic mood seemed to be transferred to me; and from me to all the others in the company.

The encampment became a happy place filled with smiles and laughter. However, I was pleasantly surprised with how discreet Tehuti and Zaras were in perpetuating their romance. I think that I was probably the only one who knew that it was happening. Even Bekatha, who lets very little pass her by, seemed to be unaware. I was content with and even proud of my decision to be the guardian of their love rather than the impediment to it. I was poignantly reminded how so long ago I had filled the same role for Tehuti’s father and mother.

Our stay at Zaynab Oasis was too short for all of us. We had to move on. Week after week we followed the tracks that Remrem and his party had left across the magnificent wilderness. Like no other place in the world the desert has a beauty and grandeur that calms the frantic heart and brings us closer to our gods. This was one of the most memorable and satisfying periods of my life.

But with each march northwards we drew closer to Lord Remrem and his column until finally we caught up with him and joined our forces with his. This was all part of my carefully laid plans, and the reunion took place when we were only forty leagues south of the Euphrates, although there was no indication that such a mighty river lay so close ahead of us. We were still surrounded by barren rock-strewn hills and dusty sun-scorched valleys.

Our one-eyed guide, Al Namjoo, had brought us to the final oasis before we reached the river. This was a place named Khrus. Here there was a cluster of some fifteen wells, all of them delivering good sweet water. This supply supported a populous village and an extensive plantation of date palms and other agriculture. There was sufficient water available to support even the large numbers of men and animals in our caravan for a short time.

No sooner had we encamped than Al Namjoo came to me with an even more lugubrious expression than the one that usually decorated his ugly visage.

‘Revered Lord Taita!’ He bowed before me. I had learned that since the execution of his treacherous son such obsequious behaviour usually heralded an outrageous request or some particularly unpleasant and pessimistic announcement. ‘From here the caravan route to the town of Ur of the Chaldees on the Euphrates River is well travelled, and clearly marked. The river is close by. It would not be possible for you to go astray,’ he told me.

‘In that case you will have no difficulty in guiding us to Ur, in accordance with our agreement, will you, Al Namjoo?’

‘Mighty Lord Taita, I beg your understanding and compassion. I dare not enter the town of Ur. It would be more than my wretched life is worth. I have blood enemies there. These Akkadians are vindictive and dangerous people. I pray you to release me and let me return south to Zuba, there to mourn my eldest son.’ He squeezed a tear from his empty eye socket. It was not a pleasing sight to watch.

‘Of course you wish me to pay you the full amount for your hire that we agreed upon?’ I asked, and he dropped to his knees and plucked tufts of curling hair from his beard.

‘You are my father and my master. The choice is yours, but I am a poor man. I have to care for my son Haroun’s widow and all her offspring. The fates have been unkind to me.’

I listened to the catalogue of his woes while I considered his request. I could not disregard the fact that he was the father of a treacherous son, and that a son is cast in the same mould as his sire. On the other hand I had forced him to kill his own son. Did that not pay off the debt? I asked myself. Perhaps he had suffered enough?

I am a kind and generous man by nature, but perhaps this is more a fault than a virtue. I shrugged and told him, ‘You have done good work for me, Al Namjoo. You may go with my blessing.’ I opened my purse and took two silver mem coins from it. These I dropped into his cupped palms. Then I allowed him to kiss my feet and depart.