Ayesha, the Return of She Page 10

  CHAPTER IX

  THE COURT OF KALOON

  Horrified, sick at heart, we continued our journey. No wonder that theKhania hated such a mad despot. And this woman was in love with Leo,and this lunatic Khan, her husband, was a victim to jealousy, which heavenged after the very unpleasant fashion that we had witnessed. Trulyan agreeable prospect for all of us! Yet, I could not help reflecting,as an object lesson that horrid scene had its advantages.

  Now we reached the place where the river forked at the end of theisland, and disembarked upon a quay. Here a guard of men commanded bysome Household officer, was waiting to receive us. They led us througha gate in the high wall, for the town was fortified, up a narrow,stone-paved street which ran between houses apparently of the usualCentral Asian type, and, so far as I could judge by moonlight, with nopretensions to architectural beauty, and not large in size.

  Clearly our arrival was expected and excited interest, for people weregathered in knots about the street to watch us pass; also at the windowsof the houses and even on their flat roofs. At the top of the longstreet was a sort of market place, crossing which, accompanied by acurious crowd who made remarks about us that we could not understand, wereached a gate in an inner wall. Here we were challenged, but at aword from Simbri it opened, and we passed through to find ourselves ingardens. Following a road or drive, we came to a large, rambling houseor palace, surmounted by high towers and very solidly built of stone ina heavy, bastard Egyptian style.

  Beyond its doorway we found ourselves in a courtyard surrounded by akind of verandah from which short passages led to different rooms. Downone of these passages we were conducted by the officer to an apartment,or rather a suite, consisting of a sitting and two bed-chambers,which were panelled, richly furnished in rather barbaric fashion, andwell-lighted with primitive oil lamps.

  Here Simbri left us, saying that the officer would wait in the outerroom to conduct us to the dining-hall as soon as we were ready. Thenwe entered the bed-chambers, where we found servants, or slaves,quiet-mannered, obsequious men. These valets changed our foot-gear,and taking off our heavy travelling robes, replaced them with othersfashioned like civilized frock-coats, but made of some white materialand trimmed with a beautiful ermine fur.

  Having dressed us in these they bowed to show that our toilette wasfinished, and led us to the large outer room where the officer awaitedus. He conducted us through several other rooms, all of them spaciousand apparently unoccupied, to a great hall lit with many lamps andwarmed--for the nights were still cold--with large peat fires. The roofof this hall was flat and supported by thick, stone columns with carvedcapitals, and its walls were hung with worked tapestries, that gave itan air of considerable comfort.

  At the head of the hall on a dais stood a long, narrow table, spreadwith a cloth and set with platters and cups of silver. Here we waitedtill butlers with wands appeared through some curtains which they drew.Then came a man beating a silver gong, and after him a dozen or morecourtiers, all dressed in white robes like ourselves, followed byperhaps as many ladies, some of them young and good-looking, and forthe most part of a fair type, with well-cut features, though others wererather yellow-skinned. They bowed to us and we to them.

  Then there was a pause while we studied one another, till a trumpet blewand heralded by footmen in a kind of yellow livery, two figures wereseen advancing down the passage beyond the curtains, preceded by theShaman Simbri and followed by other officers. They were the Khan and theKhania of Kaloon.

  No one looking at this Khan as he entered his dining-hall clad in festalwhite attire would have imagined him to be the same raving humanbrute whom we had just seen urging on his devilish hounds to tear afellow-creature and a helpless horse to fragments and devour them. Nowhe seemed a heavy, loutish man, very strongly built and not ill-looking,but with shifty eyes, evidently a person of dulled intellect, whom onewould have thought incapable of keen emotions of any kind. The Khanianeed not be described. She was as she had been in the chambers of theGate, only more weary looking; indeed her eyes had a haunted air andit was easy to see that the events of the previous night had lefttheir mark upon her mind. At the sight of us she flushed a little, thenbeckoned to us to advance, and said to her husband--"My lord, these arethe strangers of whom I have told you."

  His dull eyes fell upon me first, and my appearance seemed to amuse himvaguely, at any rate he laughed rudely, saying in barbarous Greek mixedwith words from the local patois--"What a curious old animal! I havenever seen you before, have I?"

  "No, great Khan," I answered, "but I have seen you out hunting thisnight. Did you have good sport?"

  Instantly he became wide awake, and answered, rubbing hishands--"Excellent. He gave us a fine run, but my little dogs caught himat last, and then----" and he snapped his powerful jaws together.

  "Cease your brutal talk," broke in his wife fiercely, and he slunk awayfrom her and in so doing stumbled against Leo, who was waiting to bepresented to him.

  The sight of this great, golden-bearded man seemed to astonish him, forhe stared at him, then asked--"Are you the Khania's other friendwhom she went to see in the mountains of the Gate? Then I could notunderstand why she took so much trouble, but now I do. Well, be careful,or I shall have to hunt you also."

  Now Leo grew angry and was about to reply, but I laid my hand upon hisarm and said in English--"Don't answer; the man is mad."

  "Bad, you mean," grumbled Leo; "and if he tries to set his cursed dogson me, I will break his neck."

  Then the Khania motioned to Leo to take a seat beside her, placing meupon her other hand, between herself and her uncle, the Guardian, whilethe Khan shuffled to a chair a little way down the table, where hecalled two of the prettiest ladies to keep him company.

  Such was our introduction to the court of Kaloon. As for the meal thatfollowed, it was very plentiful, but coarse, consisting for the mostpart of fish, mutton, and sweetmeats, all of them presented upon hugesilver platters. Also much strong drink was served, a kind of spiritdistilled from grain, of which nearly all present drank more than wasgood for them. After a few words to me about our journey, the Khaniaturned to Leo and talked to him for the rest of the evening, while Idevoted myself to the old Shaman Simbri.

  Put briefly, the substance of what I learned from him then andafterwards was as follows--Trade was unknown to the people of Kaloon,for the reason that all communication with the south had been cut offfor ages, the bridges that once existed over the chasm having beenallowed to rot away. Their land, which was very large and denselyinhabited, was ringed round with unclimbable mountains, except to thenorth, where stood the great Fire-peak. The slopes of this Peak and anunvisited expanse of country behind that ran up to the confines ofa desert, were the home of ferocious mountain tribes, untamableHighlanders, who killed every stranger they caught. Consequently,although the precious and other metals were mined to a certain extentand manufactured into articles of use and ornament, money did not existamong the peoples either of the Plain or of the Mountain, all businessbeing transacted on the principle of barter, and even the revenuecollected in kind.

  Amongst the tens of thousands of the aborigines of Kaloon dwelt amere handful of a ruling class, who were said to be--and probablywere--descended from the conquerors that appeared in the time ofAlexander. Their blood, however, was now much mixed with that of thefirst inhabitants, who, to judge from their appearance and the yellowhue of their descendants must have belonged to some branch of the greatTartar race. The government, if so it could be called, was, on thewhole, of a mild though of a very despotic nature, and vested in anhereditary Khan or Khania, according as a man or a woman might be in themost direct descent.

  Of religions there were two, that of the people, who worshipped theSpirit of the Fire Mountain, and that of the rulers, who believed inmagic, ghosts and divinations. Even this shadow of a religion, if soit can be called, was dying out, like its followers, for generation bygeneration, the white lords grew less in number or became absorbed inthe bulk of the
people.

  Still their rule was tolerated. I asked Simbri why, seeing that theywere so few. He shrugged his shoulders and answered, because it suitedthe country of which the natives had no ambition. Moreover, the presentKhania, our hostess, was the last of the direct line of rulers, herhusband and cousin having less of the blood royal in his veins, and assuch the people were attached to her.

  Also, as is commonly the case with bold and beautiful women, she waspopular among them, especially as she was just and very liberal tothe poor. These were many, as the country was over-populated, whichaccounted for its wonderful state of cultivation. Lastly they trusted toher skill and courage to defend them from the continual attacks of theMountain tribes who raided their crops and herds. Their one grievanceagainst her was that she had no child to whom the khanship coulddescend, which meant that after her death, as had happened after that ofher father, there would be struggles for the succession.

  "Indeed," added Simbri, with meaning, and glancing at Leo, out of thecorners of his eyes, "the folk say openly that it would be a good thingif the Khan, who oppresses them and whom they hate, should die, so thatthe Khania might take another husband while she is still young. Althoughhe is mad, he knows this, and that is why he is so jealous of any lordwho looks at her, as, friend Holly, you saw to-night. For should such anone gain her favour, Rassen thinks that it would mean his death."

  "Also he may be attached to his wife," I suggested, speaking in awhisper.

  "Perhaps so," answered Simbri; "but if so, she loves not him, nor any ofthese men," and he glanced round the hall.

  Certainly they did not look lovable, for by this time most of them werehalf drunk, while even the women seemed to have taken as much as wasgood for them. The Khan himself presented a sorry spectacle, for he wasleaning back in his chair, shouting something about his hunting, in athick voice. The arm of one of his pretty companions was round his neck,while the other gave him to drink from a gold cup; some of the contentsof which had been spilt down his white robe.

  Just then Atene looked round and saw him and an expression of hatred andcontempt gathered on her beautiful face.

  "See," I heard her say to Leo, "see the companion of my days, and learnwhat it is to be Khania of Kaloon."

  "Then why do you not cleanse your court?" he asked.

  "Because, lord, if I did so there would be no court left. Swine will totheir mire and these men and women, who live in idleness upon the toilof the humble folk, will to their liquor and vile luxury. Well, the endis near, for it is killing them, and their children are but few; weaklyalso, for the ancient blood grows thin and stale. But you are weary andwould rest. To-morrow we will ride together," and calling to an officer,she bade him conduct us to our rooms.

  So we rose, and, accompanied by Simbri, bowed to her and went, shestanding and gazing after us, a royal and pathetic figure in the midstof all that dissolute revelry. The Khan rose also, and in his cunningfashion understood something of the meaning of it all.

  "You think us gay," he shouted; "and why should we not be who do notknow how long we have to live? But you yellow-haired fellow, you mustnot let Atene look at you like that. I tell you she is my wife, and ifyou do, I shall certainly have to hunt you."

  At this drunken sally the courtiers roared with laughter, but taking Leoby the arm Simbri hurried him from the hall.

  "Friend," said Leo, when we were outside, "it seems to me that this Khanof yours threatens my life."

  "Have no fear, lord," answered the Guardian; "so long as the Khania doesnot threaten it you are safe. She is the real ruler of this land, and Istand next to her."

  "Then I pray you," said Leo, "keep me out of the way of that drunkenman, for, look you, if I am attacked _I_ defend myself."

  "And who can blame you?" Simbri replied with one of his slow, mysterioussmiles.

  Then we parted, and having placed both our beds in one chamber, sleptsoundly enough, for we were very tired, till we were awakened in themorning by the baying of those horrible death-hounds, being fed, Isuppose, in a place nearby.

  Now in this city of Kaloon it was our weary destiny to dwell for threelong months, one of the most hateful times, perhaps, that we ever passedin all our lives. Indeed, compared to it our endless wanderings amid theCentral Asia snows and deserts were but pleasure pilgrimages, and ourstay at the monastery beyond the mountains a sojourn in Paradise. To setout its record in full would be both tedious and useless, so I will onlytell briefly of our principal adventures.

  On the morrow of our arrival the Khania Atene sent us two beautifulwhite horses of pure and ancient blood, and at noon we mounted them andwent out to ride with her accompanied by a guard of soldiers. First sheled us to the kennels where the death-hounds were kept, great flaggedcourts surrounded by iron bars, in which were narrow, locked gates.Never had I seen brutes so large and fierce; the mastiffs of Thibet werebut as lap-dogs compared to them. They were red and black, smooth-coatedand with a blood-hound head, and the moment they saw us they cameravening and leaping at the bars as an angry wave leaps against a rock.

  These hounds were in the charge of men of certain families, who hadtended them for generations. They obeyed their keepers and the Khanreadily enough, but no stranger might venture near them. Also thesebrutes were the executioners of the land, for to them all murderers andother criminals were thrown, and with them, as we had seen, the Khanhunted any who had incurred his displeasure. Moreover, they were usedfor a more innocent purpose, the chasing of certain great bucks whichwere preserved in woods and swamps of reeds. Thus it came about thatthey were a terror to the country, since no man knew but what in theend he might be devoured by them. "Going to the dogs" is a term fullof meaning in any land, but in Kaloon it had a significance that wasterrible.

  After we had looked at the hounds, not without a prophetic shudder,we rode round the walls of the town, which were laid out as a kind ofboulevard, where the inhabitants walked and took their pleasure in theevenings. On these, however, there was not much to see except the riverbeneath and the plain beyond, moreover, though they were thick andhigh there were places in them that must be passed carefully, for, likeeverything else with which the effete ruling class had to do, they hadbeen allowed to fall into disrepair.

  The town itself was an uninteresting place also, for the most partpeopled by hangers-on of the Court. So we were not sorry when we crossedthe river by a high-pitched bridge, where in days to come I was destinedto behold one of the strangest sights ever seen by mortal man, and rodeout into the country. Here all was different, for we found ourselvesamong the husbandmen, who were the descendants of the original owners ofthe land and lived upon its produce. Every available inch of soil seemedto be cultivated by the aid of a wonderful system of irrigation. Indeedwater was lifted to levels where it would not flow naturally, by meansof wheels turned with mules, or even in some places carried up by thewomen, who bore poles on their shoulders to which were balanced buckets.

  Leo asked the Khania what happened if there was a bad season. Shereplied grimly that famine happened, in which thousands of peopleperished, and that after the famine came pestilence. These famines wereperiodical, and were it not for them, she added, the people would longago have been driven to kill each other like hungry rats, since havingno outlet and increasing so rapidly, the land, large as it was, couldnot hold them all.

  "Will this be a good year?" I asked.

  "It is feared not," she answered, "for the river has not risen well andbut few rains have fallen. Also the light that shone last night on theFire-mountain is thought a bad omen, which means, they say, that theSpirit of the Mountain is angry and that drought will follow. Let ushope they will not say also that this is because strangers have visitedthe land, bringing with them bad luck."

  "If so," said Leo with a laugh, "we shall have to fly to the Mountain totake refuge there."

  "Do you then wish to take refuge in death?" she asked darkly. "Of thisbe sure, my guests, that never while I live shall you be allowed tocross the river which b
orders the slopes of yonder peak."

  "Why not, Khania?"

  "Because, my lord Leo--that is your name, is it not?--such is my will,and while I rule here my will is law. Come, let us turn homewards."

  That night we did not eat in the great hall, but in the room whichadjoined our bed-chambers. We were not left alone, however, for theKhania and her uncle, the Shaman, who always attended her, joined ourmeal. When we greeted them wondering, she said briefly that it wasarranged thus because she refused to expose us to more insults. Sheadded that a festival had begun which would last for a week, and thatshe did not wish us to see how vile were the ways of her people.

  That evening and many others which followed it--we never dined in thecentral hall again--passed pleasantly enough, for the Khania made Leotell her of England where he was born, and of the lands that he hadvisited, their peoples and customs. I spoke also of the history ofAlexander, whose general Rassen, her far-off forefather, conquered thecountry of Kaloon, and of the land of Egypt, whence the latter came, andso it went on till midnight, while Atene listened to us greedily, hereyes fixed always on Leo's face.

  Many such nights did we spend thus in the palace of the city of Kaloonwhere, in fact, we were close prisoners. But oh! the days hung heavyon our hands. If we went into the courtyard or reception rooms of thepalace, the lords and their followers gathered round us and pestered uswith questions, for, being very idle, they were also very curious.

  Also the women, some of whom were fair enough, began to talk to us onthis pretext or on that, and did their best to make love to Leo; for,in contrast with their slim, delicate-looking men, they found thisdeep-chested, yellow-haired stranger to their taste. Indeed theytroubled him much with gifts of flowers and messages sent by servants orsoldiers, making assignations with him, which of course he did not keep.

  If we went out into the streets, matters were as bad, for then thepeople ceased from their business, such as it was, and followed usabout, staring at us till we took refuge again in the palace gardens.

  There remained, therefore, only our rides in the country with theKhania, but after three or four of them, these came to an end owing tothe jealousy of the Khan, who vowed that if we went out together anymore he would follow with the death-hounds. So we must ride alone, if atall, in the centre of a large guard of soldiers sent to see that we didnot attempt to escape, and accompanied very often by a mob of peasants,who with threats and entreaties demanded that we should give back therain which they said we had taken from them. For now the great droughthad begun in earnest.

  Thus it came about that at length our only resource was making pretenceto fish in the river, where the water was so clear and low that we couldcatch nothing, watching the while the Fire-mountain, that loomed in thedistance mysterious and unreachable, and vainly racking our brains forplans to escape thither, or at least to communicate with its priestess,of whom we could learn no more.

  For two great burdens lay upon our souls. The burden of desire tocontinue our search and to meet with its reward which we were sure thatwe should pluck amid the snows of yonder peak, if we could but comethere; and the burden of approaching catastrophe at the hands of theKhania Atene. She had made no love to Leo since that night in theGateway, and, indeed, even if she had wished to, this would have beendifficult, since I took care that he was never left for one hour alone.No duenna could have clung to a Spanish princess more closely than I didto Leo. Yet I could see well that her passion was no whit abated;that it grew day by day, indeed, as the fire swells in the heart of avolcano, and that soon it must break loose and spread its ruin round.The omen of it was to be read in her words, her gestures, and her tragiceyes.