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--G.o.d 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 Provencal 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 n.o.ble 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 Sh.e.l.l 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 cuira.s.s, 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 pa.s.sion 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 n.o.ble 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, princ.i.p.alities," 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, s.n.a.t.c.hed 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 s.n.a.t.c.hed 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 hoa.r.s.e 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 n.o.ble 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 h.e.l.l 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?"