Queen Sheba's Ring by H. Rider Haggard
That day we made but a short journey, since we wished to rest ourselvesand fill the camels before plunging into the wilderness, and feelingsure that we should not be pursued, had no cause to hurry. At night wecamped in a little hollow by a stream that ran at the foot of a rise. Asdawn broke we were awakened by the voice of Roderick, who was on watch,calling to us in tones of alarm to get up, as we were followed. Wesprang to our feet, seizing our rifles.
"Where are they?" I asked.
"There, there," he said, pointing toward the rise behind us.
We ran round some intervening bushes and looked, to see upon its crest asolitary figure seated on a very tired horse, for it panted and its headdrooped. This figure, which was entirely hidden in a long cloak witha hood, appeared to be watching our camp just as a spy might do. Higgslifted his rifle and fired at it, but Oliver, who was standing by him,knocked the barrel up so that the bullet went high, saying:
"Don't be a fool. If it is only one man there's no need to shoot him,and if there are more you will bring them on to us."
Then the figure urged the weary horse and advanced slowly, and I noticedthat it was very small. "A boy," I thought to myself, "who is bringingsome message."
The rider reached us, and slipping from the horse, stood still.
"Who are you?" asked Oliver, scanning the cloaked form.
"One who brings a token to you, lord," was the answer, spoken in a lowand muffled voice. "Here it is," and a hand, a very delicate hand, wasstretched out, holding between the fingers a ring.
I knew it at once; it was Sheba's ring which Maqueda had lent to me inproof of her good faith when I journeyed for help to England. This ring,it will be remembered, we returned to her with much ceremony at ourfirst public audience. Oliver grew pale at the sight of it.
"How did you come by this?" he asked hoarsely. "Is she who alone maywear it dead?"
"Yes, yes," answered the voice, a feigned voice as I thought. "The Childof Kings whom you knew is dead, and having no more need for this ancientsymbol of her power, she bequeathed it to you whom she remembered kindlyat the last."
Oliver covered his face with his hands and turned away.
"But," went on the speaker slowly, "the woman Maqueda whom once it issaid you loved----"
He dropped his hands and stared.
"----the woman Maqueda whom once it is said you--loved--still lives."
Then the hood slipped back, and in the glow of the rising sun we saw theface beneath.
It was that of Maqueda herself!
A silence followed that in its way was almost awful.
"My Lord Oliver," asked Maqueda presently, "do you accept my offering ofQueen Sheba's ring?"
NOTE BY MAQUEDA
Once called Walda Nagasta and Takla Warda, that is, Child of Kings andBud of the Rose, once also by birth Ruler of the Abati people, the Sonsof Solomon and Sheba.
I, Maqueda, write this by the command of Oliver, my lord, who desiresthat I should set out certain things in my own words.
Truly all men are fools, and the greatest of them is Oliver, my lord,though perhaps he is almost equalled by the learned man whom the Abaticalled Black Windows, and by the doctor, Son of Adam. Only he who isnamed Roderick, child of Adam, is somewhat less blind, because havingbeen brought up among the Fung and other people of the desert, he hasgathered a little wisdom. This I know because he has told me that healone saw through my plan to save all their lives, but said nothing ofit because he desired to escape from Mur, where certain death waited onhim and his companions. Perhaps, however, he lies to please me.
Now, for the truth of the matter, which not being skilled in writing Iwill tell briefly.
I was carried out of the cave city with my lord and the others,starving, starving, too weak to kill myself, which otherwise I wouldhave done rather than fall into the hands of my accursed uncle, Joshua.Yet I was stronger than the rest, because as I have learned, theytricked me about those biscuits, pretending to eat when they were noteating, for which never will I forgive them. It was Japhet, a gallantman on one side, but a coward on the other like the rest of the Abati,who betrayed us, driven thereto by emptiness within, which, after all,is an ill enemy to fight. He went out and told Joshua where we lay hid,and then, of course, they came.
Well, they took away my lord and the others, and me too they bore toanother place and fed me till my strength returned, and oh! how good wasthat honey which first I ate, for I could touch nothing else. When I wasstrong again came Prince Joshua to me and said, "Now I have you in mynet; now you are mine."
Then I answered Joshua, "Fool, your net is of air; I will fly throughit."
"How?" he asked. "By death," I answered, "of which a hundred means lieto my hand. You have robbed me of one, but what does that matter when somany remain? I will go where you and your love cannot pursue me."
"Very well, Child of Kings," he said, "but how about that tall Gentilewho has caught your eyes, and his companions? They, too, have recovered,and they shall die every one of them after a certain fashion (which, IMaqueda, will not set down, since there are some things that ought notto be written). If you die, they die; as I told you, they die as a wolfdies that is caught by the shepherds; they die as a baboon dies that iscaught by the husbandman."
Now I looked this way and that, and found that there was no escape. So Imade a bargain.
"Joshua," I said, "let these men go and I swear upon the name of ourmother, she of Sheba, that I will marry you. Keep them and kill them,and you will have none of me."
Well, in the end, because he desired me and the power that went with me,he consented.
Then I played my part. My lord and his companions were brought beforeme, and in presence of all the people I mocked them; I spat in theirfaces, and oh! fools, fools, fools, they believed me! I lifted my veil,and showed them my eyes, and they believed also what they seemed to seein my eyes, forgetting that I am a woman who can play a part at need.Yes, they forgot that there were others to deceive as well, all theAbati people, who, if they thought I tricked them, would have torn theforeigners limb from limb. That was my bitterest morsel, that I shouldhave succeeded in making even my own lord believe that of all the wickedwomen that ever trod this world, I was the most vile. Yet I did so, andhe cannot deny it, for often we have talked of this thing till he willhear of it no more.
Well, they went with all that I could give them, though I knew well thatmy lord cared nothing, for what I could give, nor the doctor, Child ofAdam, either, who cared only for his son that God had restored to him.Only Black Windows cared, not because he loves wealth, but because heworships all that is old and ugly, for of such things he fashions up hisgod.
They went, for their going was reported to me, and I, I entered intohell because I knew that my lord thought me false, and that he wouldnever learn the truth, namely, that what I did I did to save his life,until at length he came to his own country, if ever he came there, andopened the chests of treasure, if ever he opened them, which perhaps hewould not care to do. And all that while he would believe me the wifeof Joshua, and--oh! I cannot write of it. And I, I should be dead; I, Icould not tell him the truth until he joined me in that land of death,if there men and women can talk together any more.
For this and no other was the road that I had planned to walk. When heand his companions had gone so far that they could not be followed,then I would tell Joshua and the Abati all the truth in such language asshould never be forgotten for generations, and kill myself before theireyes, so that Joshua might lack a wife and the Abati a Child of Kings.
I sat through the Feast of Preparation and smiled and smiled. It passedand the next day passed, and came the night of the Feast of Marriage.The glass was broken, the ceremony was fulfilled. Joshua rose up topledge me before all the priests, lords, and headmen. He devoured mewith his hateful eyes, me, who was already his. But I, I handled theknife in my robe, wishing, such was the rage in my heart, that I couldkill him also.
Then God spoke, and the dream that I had dream
"Come," shouted Joshua, seizing me by the arm, but I drew my dagger onhim and he let go. Then he fled with the other lords, and I remained inmy high seat beneath the golden canopy alone.
The people fled past me without fighting; they fled into the cave city,they fled to the rocks; they hid themselves among the precipices, andafter them came the Fung, slaying and burning, till all Mur went up inflames. And I, I sat and watched, waiting till it was time for me to diealso.
At last, I know not how long afterwards, appeared before me Barung, ared sword in his hand, which he lifted to me in salute.
"Greeting, Child of Kings," he said. "You see Harmac is come to sleep atMur."
"Yes," I answered, "Harmac is come to sleep at Mur, and many of thosewho dwelt there sleep with him. What of it? Say, Barung, will you killme, or shall I kill myself?"
"Neither, Child of Kings," he answered in his high fashion. "Did I notmake you a promise yonder in the Pass of Mur, when I spoke with you andthe Western men, and does a Fung Sultan break his word? I have takenback the city that was ours, as I swore to do, and purified it withfire," and he pointed to the raging flames. "Now I will rebuild it, andyou shall rule under me."
"Not so," I answered; "but in place of that promise I ask of you threethings."
"Name them," said Barung.
"They are these: First, that you give me a good horse and five days'food, and let me go where I will. Secondly, that if he still lives youadvance one Japhet, a certain Mountaineer who befriended me and broughtothers to do likewise, to a place of honour under you. Thirdly, that youspare the rest of the Abati people."
"You shall go whither you desire, and I think I know where you will go,"answered Barung. "Certain spies of mine last night saw four white menriding on fine camels towards Egypt, and reported it to me as I led myarmy to the secret pass that Harmac showed me, which you Abati couldnever find. But I said, 'Let them go; it is right that brave men whohave been the mock of the Abati should be allowed their freedom.' Yes,I said this, although one of them was my daughter's husband, or near toit. But she will have no more of him who fled to his father rather thanwith her, so it was best that he should go also, since, if I brought himback it must be to his death."
"Yes," I answered boldly, "I go after the Western men; I who have donewith these Abati. I wish to see new lands."
"And find an old love who thinks ill of you just now," he said, strokinghis beard. "Well, no wonder, for here has been a marriage feast. Say,what were you about to do, O Child of Kings? Take the fat Joshua to yourbreast?"
"Nay, Barung, I was about to take _this_ husband to my breast," and Ishowed him the knife that was hidden in my marriage robe.
"No," he said, smiling, "I think the knife was for Joshua first. Still,you are a brave woman who could save the life of him you love atthe cost of your own. Yet, bethink you, Child of Kings, for many ageneration your mothers have been queens, and under me you may stillremain a queen. How will one whose blood has ruled so long endure toserve a Western man in a strange land?"
"That is what I go to find out, Barung, and if I cannot endure, then Ishall come back again, though not to rule the Abati, of whom I wash myhands for ever. Yet, Barung, my heart tells me I shall endure."
"The Child of Kings has spoken," he said, bowing to me. "My best horseawaits her, and five of my bravest guards shall ride with her to keepher safe till she sights the camp of the Western men. I say happy is heof them who was born to wear the sweet-scented Bud of the Rose upon hisbosom. For the rest, the man Japhet is in my hands. He yielded himselfto me who would not fight for his own people because of what they haddone to his friends, the white men. Lastly, already I have given ordersthat the slaying should cease, since I need the Abati to be my slaves,they who are cowards, but cunning in many arts. Only one more man shalldie," he added sternly, "and that is Joshua, who would have taken me bya trick in the mouth of the pass. So plead not for him, for by the headof Harmac it is in vain."
Now hearing this I did not plead, fearing lest I should anger Barung,and but waste my breath.
At daybreak I started on the horse, having with me the five Fungcaptains. As we crossed the marketplace I met those that remained aliveof the Abati, being driven in hordes like beasts, to hear their doom.Among them was Prince Joshua, my uncle, whom a man led by a rope abouthis neck, while another man thrust him forward from behind, since Joshuaknew that he went to his death and the road was one which he did notwish to travel. He saw me, and cast himself down upon the ground, cryingto me to save him. I told him that I could not, though it is the truth,I swear it before God, that, notwithstanding all the evil he had workedtoward me, toward Oliver my lord, and his companions, bringing to hisend that gallant man who died to protect me, I would still have savedhim if I could. But I could not, for although I tried once more, Barungwould not listen. So I answered:
"Plead, O Joshua, with him who has the power in Mur to-day, for I havenone. You have fashioned your own fate, and must travel the road youchose."
"What road do you ride, mounted on a horse of the plains, Maqueda? Oh!what need is there for me to ask? You go to see that accursed Gentilewhom I would I had killed by inches, as I would that I could kill you."
Then calling me by evil names, Joshua sprang at me as though to strikeme down, but he who held the rope about his neck jerked him backward, sothat he fell and I saw his face no more.
But oh! it was sad, that journey across the great square, for thecaptive Abati by hundreds--men, women, and children together--with tearsand lamentations cried to me to preserve them from death or slavery atthe hands of the Fung. But I answered:
"Your sins against me and the brave foreign men who fought so wellfor you I forgive, but search your hearts, O Abati, and say if you canforgive yourselves? If you had listened to me and to those whom I calledin to help us, you might have beaten back the Fung, and remained freefor ever. But you were cowards; you would not learn to bear arms likemen, you would not even watch your mountain walls, and soon or late thepeople who refuse to be ready to fight must fall and become the servantsof those who are ready."
And now, my Oliver, I have no more to write, save that I am glad to haveendured so many things, and thereby win the joy that is mine to-day.Not yet have I, Maqueda, wished to reign again in Mur, who have foundanother throne.