CHAPTER XVI
THE CHANGE
She ceased, and there was a long, long silence. Leo and I looked ateach other in dismay. We had hoped against hope that this beautifuland piteous prayer, addressed apparently to the great, dumb spirit ofNature, would be answered. That meant a miracle, but what of it? Theprolongation of the life of Ayesha was a miracle, though it is true thatsome humble reptiles are said to live as long as she had done.
The transference of her spirit from the Caves of Kor to this temple wasa miracle, that is, to our western minds, though the dwellers in theseparts of Central Asia would not hold it so. That she should re-appearwith the same hideous body was a miracle. But was it the same body? Wasit not the body of the last Hesea? One very ancient woman is much likeanother, and eighteen years of the working of the soul or identitywithin might well wear away their trivial differences and give to theborrowed form some resemblance to that which it had left.
At least the figures on that mirror of the flame were a miracle. Nay,why so? A hundred clairvoyants in a hundred cities can produce or seetheir like in water and in crystal, the difference being only oneof size. They were but reflections of scenes familiar to the mind ofAyesha, or perhaps not so much as that. Perhaps they were only phantasmscalled up in _our_ minds by her mesmeric force.
Nay, none of these things were true miracles, since all, howeverstrange, might be capable of explanation. What right then had we toexpect a marvel now?
Such thoughts as these rose in our minds as the endless minutes wereborn and died and--nothing happened.
Yes, at last one thing did happen. The light from the sheet of flamedied gradually away as the flame itself sank downwards into the abyssesof the pit. But about this in itself there was nothing wonderful, foras we had seen with our own eyes from afar this fire varied much, andindeed it was customary for it to die down at the approach of dawn,which now drew very near.
Still that onward-creeping darkness added to the terrors of the scene.By the last rays of the lurid light we saw Ayesha rise and advance somefew paces to that little tongue of rock at the edge of the pit offwhich the body of Rassen had been hurled; saw her standing on it, also,looking like some black, misshapen imp against the smoky glow whichstill rose from the depths beneath.
Leo would have gone forward to her, for he believed that she was aboutto hurl herself to doom, which indeed I thought was her design. But thepriest Oros, and the priestess Papave, obeying, I suppose, some secretcommand that reached them I know not how, sprang to him and seizing hisarms, held him back. Then it became quite dark, and through the darknesswe could hear Ayesha chanting a dirge-like hymn in some secret, holytongue which was unknown to us.
A great flake of fire floated through the gloom, rocking to and fro likesome vast bird upon its pinions. We had seen many such that night, tornby the gale from the crest of the blazing curtain as I have described.But--but--"Horace," whispered Leo through his chattering teeth, "thatflame is coming up _against the wind!_"
"Perhaps the wind has changed," I answered, though I knew well that ithad not; that it blew stronger than ever from the south.
Nearer and nearer sailed the rocking flame, two enormous wings was theshape of it, with something dark between them. It reached the littlepromontory. The wings appeared to fold themselves about the dwarfedfigure that stood thereon--illuminating it for a moment. Then the lightwent out of them and they vanished--everything vanished.
A while passed, it may have been one minute or ten, when suddenly thepriestess Papave, in obedience to some summons which we could not hear,crept by me. I knew that it was she because her woman's garments touchedme as she went. Another space of silence and of deep darkness, duringwhich I heard Papave return, breathing in short, sobbing gasps like onewho is very frightened.
Ah! I thought, Ayesha has cast herself into the pit. The tragedy isfinished!
Then it was that the wondrous music came. Of course it _may_ have beenonly the sound of priests chanting beyond us, but I do not think so,since its quality was quite different to any that I heard in the templebefore or afterwards: to any indeed that ever I heard upon the earth.
I cannot describe it, but it was awful to listen to, yet mostentrancing. From the black, smoke-veiled pit where the fire had burnedit welled and echoed--now a single heavenly voice, now a sweet chorus,and now an air-shaking thunder as of a hundred organs played to time.
That diverse and majestic harmony seemed to include, to expressevery human emotion, and I have often thought since then that in itsall-embracing scope and range, this, the song or paean of her re-birthwas symbolical of the infinite variety of Ayesha's spirit. Yet like thatspirit it had its master notes; power, passion, suffering, mystery andloveliness. Also there could be no doubt as to the general significanceof the chant by whomsoever it was sung. It was the changeful story of amighty soul; it was worship, worship, worship of a queen divine!
Like slow clouds of incense fading to the bannered roof of some highchoir, the bursts of unearthly melodies grew faint; in the far distanceof the hollow pit they wailed themselves away.
Look! from the east a single ray of upward-springing light.
"Behold the dawn," said the quiet voice of Oros.
That ray pierced the heavens above our heads, a very sword of flame. Itsank downwards, swiftly. Suddenly it fell, not upon us, for as yetthe rocky walls of our chamber warded it away, but on to the littlepromontory at its edge.
Oh! and there--a Glory covered with a single garment--stood a shapecelestial. It seemed to be asleep, since the eyes were shut. Or was itdead, for at first that face was a face of death? Look, the sunlightplayed upon her, shining through the thin veil, the dark eyes openedlike the eyes of a wondering child; the blood of life flowed up theivory bosom into the pallid cheeks; the raiment of black and curlingtresses wavered in the wind; the head of the jewelled snake that heldthem sparkled beneath her breast.
Was it an illusion, or was this Ayesha as she had been when she enteredthe rolling flame in the caverns of Kor? Our knees gave way beneath us,and down, our arms about each other's necks, Leo and I sank till welay upon the ground. Then a voice sweeter than honey, softer than thewhisper of a twilight breeze among the reeds, spoke near to us, andthese were the words it said--"_Come hither to me, Kallikrates, whowould pay thee back that redeeming kiss of faith and love thou gavest mebut now!_"
Leo struggled to his feet. Like a drunken man he staggered to whereAyesha stood, then overcome, sank before her on his knees.
"Arise," she said, "it is I who should kneel to thee," and she stretchedout her hand to raise him, whispering in his ear the while.
Still he would not, or could not rise, so very slowly she bent over himand touched him with her lips upon the brow. Next she beckoned to me. Icame and would have knelt also, but she suffered it not.
"Nay," she said, in her rich, remembered voice, "thou art no suitor; itshall not be. Of lovers and worshippers henceforth as before, I can finda plenty if I will, or even if I will it not. But where shall I findanother friend like to thee, O Holly, whom thus I greet?" and leaningtowards me, with her lips she touched me also on the brow--just touchedme, and no more.
Fragrant was Ayesha's breath as roses, the odour of roses clung to herlovely hair; her sweet body gleamed like some white sea-pearl; a faintbut palpable radiance crowned her head; no sculptor ever fashioned sucha marvel as the arm with which she held her veil about her; no stars inheaven ever shone more purely bright than did her calm, entranced eyes.
Yet it is true, even with her lips upon me, all I felt for her was alove divine into which no human passion entered. Once, I acknowledge tomy shame, it was otherwise, but I am an old man now and have done withsuch frailties. Moreover, had not Ayesha named me Guardian, Protector,Friend, and sworn to me that with her and Leo I should ever dwell whereall earthly passions fail. I repeat: what more could I desire?
Taking Leo by the hand Ayesha returned with him into the shelter of therock-hewn chamber and when she entered its shadows, shive
red a little asthough with cold. I rejoiced at this I remember, for it seemed to showme that she still was human, divine as she might appear. Here her priestand priestess prostrated themselves before her new-born splendour, butshe motioned to them to rise, laying a hand upon the head of each asthough in blessing. "I am cold," she said, "give me my mantle," andPapave threw the purple-broidered garment upon her shoulders, whence nowit hung royally, like a coronation robe.
"Nay," she went on, "it is not this long-lost shape of mine, which inhis kiss my lord gave back to me, that shivers in the icy wind, it is myspirit's self bared to the bitter breath of Destiny. O my love, mylove, offended Powers are not easily appeased, even when they appear topardon, and though I shall no more be made a mockery in thy sight, howlong is given us together upon the world I know not; but a little hourperchance. Well, ere we pass otherwhere, we will make it glorious,drinking as deeply of the cup of joy as we have drunk of those ofsorrows and of shame. This place is hateful to me, for here I havesuffered more than ever woman did on earth or phantom in the deepesthell. It is hateful, it is ill-omened. I pray that never again may Ibehold it.
"Say, what is it passes in thy mind, magician?" and of a sudden sheturned fiercely upon the Shaman Simbri who stood near, his arms crossedupon his breast.
"Only, thou Beautiful," he answered, "a dim shadow of things to come. Ihave what thou dost lack with all thy wisdom, the gift of foresight, andhere I see a dead man lying----"
"Another word," she broke in with fury born of some dark fear, "and thoushalt be that man. Fool, put me not in mind that now I have strengthagain to rid me of the ancient foes I hate, lest I should use a swordthou thrustest to my hand," and her eyes that had been so calm andhappy, blazed upon him like fire.
The old wizard felt their fearsome might and shrank from it till thewall stayed him.
"Great One! now as ever I salute thee. Yes, now as at the firstbeginning whereof we know alone," he stammered. "I had no more to say;the face of that dead man was not revealed to me. I saw only that somecrowned Khan of Kaloon to be shall lie here, as he whom the flame hastaken lay an hour ago."
"Doubtless many a Khan of Kaloon will lie here," she answered coldly."Fear not, Shaman, my wrath is past, yet be wise, mine enemy, andprophesy no more evil to the great. Come, let us hence."
So, still led by Leo, she passed from that chamber and stood presentlyupon the apex of the soaring pillar. The sun was up now, flooding theMountain flanks, the plains of Kaloon far beneath and the distant,misty peaks with a sheen of gold. Ayesha stood considering the mightyprospect, then addressing Leo, she said--"The world is very fair; I giveit all to thee."
Now Atene spoke for the first time.
"Dost thou mean Hes--if thou art still the Hesea and not a demonarisen from the Pit--that thou offerest my territories to this man as alove-gift? If so, I tell thee that first thou must conquer them."
"Ungentle are thy words and mien," answered Ayesha, "yet I forgive themboth, for I also can scorn to mock a rival in my hour of victory. Whenthou wast the fairer, thou didst proffer him these very lands, but say,who is the fairer now? Look at us, all of you, and judge," and she stoodby Atene and smiled.
The Khania was a lovely woman. Never to my knowledge have I seen onelovelier, but oh! how coarse and poor she showed beside the wild,ethereal beauty of Ayesha born again. For that beauty was not altogetherhuman, far less so indeed than it had been in the Caves of Kor; now itwas the beauty of a spirit.
The little light that always shone upon Ayesha's brow; the wide-set,maddening eyes which were filled sometimes with the fire of the starsand sometimes with the blue darkness of the heavens wherein they float;the curved lips, so wistful yet so proud; the tresses fine as glossysilk that still spread and rippled as though with a separate life; thegeneral air, not so much of majesty as of some secret power hard tobe restrained, which strove in that delicate body and proclaimed itspresence to the most careless; that flame of the soul within whereofOros had spoken, shining now through no "vile vessel," but in a vaseof alabaster and of pearl--none of these things and qualities werealtogether human. I felt it and was afraid, and Atene felt it also, forshe answered--"I am but a woman. What thou art, thou knowest best. Stilla taper cannot shine midst yonder fires or a glow-worm against a fallenstar; nor can my mortal flesh compare with the glory thou hast earnedfrom hell in payment for thy gifts and homage to the lord of ill. Yet aswoman I am thy equal, and as spirit I shall be thy mistress, when robbedof these borrowed beauties thou, Ayesha, standest naked and ashamedbefore the Judge of all whom thou hast deserted and defied; yes, as thoustoodest but now upon yonder brink above the burning pit where thou yetshalt wander wailing thy lost love. For this I know, mine enemy, that_man and spirit cannot mate_," and Atene ceased, choking in her bitterrage and jealousy.
Now watching Ayesha, I saw her wince a little beneath these evil-omenedwords, saw also a tinge of grey touch the carmine of her lips and herdeep eyes grow dark and troubled. But in a moment her fears had gone andshe was asking in a voice that rang clear as silver bells--"Why ravestthou, Atene, like some short-lived summer torrent against the barrierof a seamless cliff? Dost think, poor creature of an hour, to sweep awaythe rock of my eternal strength with foam and bursting bubbles? Havedone and listen. I do not seek thy petty rule, who, if I will it, cantake the empire of the world. Yet learn, thou holdest it of my hand.More--I purpose soon to visit thee in thy city--choose thou if it shallbe in peace or war! Therefore, Khania, purge thy court and amend thylaws, that when I come I may find contentment in the land which now itlacks, and confirm thee in thy government. My counsel to thee also isthat thou choose some worthy man to husband, let him be whom thou wilt,if only he is just and upright and one upon whom thou mayest rest,needing wise guidance as thou dost, Atene. Come, now, my guests, letus hence," and she walked past the Khania, stepping fearlessly upon thevery edge of the wind-swept, rounded peak.
In a second the attempt had been made and failed, so quickly indeed thatit was not until Leo and I compared our impressions afterwards that wecould be sure of what had happened. As Ayesha passed her, the maddenedKhania drew a hidden dagger and struck with all her force at her rival'sback. I saw the knife vanish to the hilt in her body, as I thought, butthis cannot have been so since it fell to the ground, and she who shouldhave been dead, took no hurt at all.
Feeling that she had failed, with a movement like the sudden lurch ofa ship, Atene thrust at Ayesha, proposing to hurl her to destructionin the depths beneath. Lo! her outstretched arms went past her althoughAyesha never seemed to stir. Yes it was Atene who would have fallen,Atene who already fell, had not Ayesha put out her hand and caughther by the wrist, bearing all her backward-swaying weight as easily asthough she were but an infant, and without effort drawing her to safety.
"Foolish woman!" she said in pitying tones. "Wast thou so vexed thatthou wouldst strip thyself of the pleasant shape which heaven hasgiven thee? Surely this is madness, Atene, for how knowest thou in whatlikeness thou mightest be sent to tread the earth again? As no queenperhaps, but as a peasant's child, deformed, unsightly; for such reward,it is said, is given to those that achieve self-murder. Or even, as manythink, shaped like a beast--a snake, a cat, a tigress! Why, see," andshe picked the dagger from the ground and cast it into the air, "thatpoint was poisoned. Had it but pricked thee now!" and she smiled at herand shook her head.
But Atene could bear no more of this mockery, more venomed than her ownsteel.
"Thou art not mortal," she wailed. "How can I prevail against thee? ToHeaven I leave thy punishment," and there upon the rocky peak Atene sankdown and wept.
Leo stood nearest to her, and the sight of this royal woman in hermisery proved too much for him to bear. Stepping to her side he stoopedand lifted her to her feet, muttering some kind words. For a moment sherested on his arm, then shook herself free of him and took the profferedhand of her old uncle Simbri.
"I see," said Ayesha, "that as ever, thou art courteous, my lord Leo,but it is best that her own serva
nt should take charge of her, for--shemay hide more daggers. Come, the day grows, and surely we need rest."