So it happened that Neter-Tua, Star of Amen, Queen of Egypt, and Astiher Nurse, the Mistress of Magic, became merchants in the town of Tat.
This was the manner of their trade. For one hour in the morning, and onein the afternoon, Asti, heavily veiled, and a woman of the servants whomthey had found in the house, would sit on stools amidst the goods andtraffic with all comers, selling to those who would buy, and takingpayment in gold dust or other articles of value, or buying from thosewho would sell. Then when the hour drew towards its close Tua wouldsweep her harp behind the screen that hid her and begin to sing, whereonall would cease from their chaffering and listen, for never before hadthey heard so sweet a voice. Indeed, at these times the broad streetin front of their house was packed with people, for the fame of thissinging of hers went through the city and far into the country thatlay beyond. Then the traffic came to an end, with her song, and leavingtheir goods in charge of the servants, Tua and Asti departed to the backrooms of the house, and ate their meals or wandered in the large, walledgarden that lay behind.
Thus the weeks went on and soon, although they sold few of the pearls,and those the smallest, for of the larger gems they said little ornothing, they began to grow rich, and to hoard up such a weight of goldin dust and nuggets, and so many precious things, that they scarcelyknew what they should do with them. Still Tat seemed to be a peacefulcity, or at the least none tried to rob or molest them, perhaps becausea rumour was abroad that these strangers who had come out of the Unknownwere under the protection of some god.
There was nothing to show how or why this rumour had arisen in the city,but on account of it, if for no other reason, these pearl-merchants,as they were called, suffered no wrong, and although they were onlyundefended women, whatever credit they might give, the debt was alwayspaid. Also their servants, to whom they added as they had means, wereall faithful to them. So there they remained and traded, keeping theirsecrets and awaiting the appointed hour of escape, but never venturingto leave the shelter of their own walls.
Now, as it happened, when they came thither the King of Tat was awaymaking war upon another king whose country lay upon the coast, but afterthey had dwelt for many weeks in the place, this King, who was namedJanees, returned victorious from his war and prepared to celebrate atriumph.
While he was making ready for this triumph his courtiers told him ofthese pearl-merchants, and, desiring pearls for his adornment on thatgreat day, he went in disguise to the house of those who sold them. Asit chanced he arrived late, and requested to see the gems just as Tua,according to her custom, was playing upon her harp. Then she began tosing, and this King Janees, who was a man of under forty years of age,listened intently to her beautiful voice, forgetting all about thepearls that he had come to buy. Her song finished, the veiled Asti rose,and bowing to all the company gathered in the street, bade her servantsshut up the coffers and remove the goods.
"But I would buy pearls, Merchant, if you have such to sell," saidJanees.
"Then you must return this afternoon, Purchaser," replied Asti, scanninghis pale and haughty face, "for even if you were the King of Tat I wouldnot sell to you out of my hours."
"You speak high words, Woman," exclaimed Janees angrily.
"High or low, they are what I mean," answered Asti, and went away.
The end of it was that this King Janees returned at the evening hour,led thither more by a desire to hear that lovely voice again than topurchase gems. Still he asked to see pearls, and Asti showed him somewhich he thrust aside as too small. Then she produced those that werelarger, and again he thrust them aside, and so it went on for a longwhile. At length from somewhere in her clothing Asti drew two of thebiggest that she had, perfect pearls of the size of the middle nail ofa man's finger, and at the sight of these the eyes of Janees brightened,for such gems he had never seen before. Then he asked the price. Astianswered carelessly that it was doubtless more than he would wish topay, since there were few such pearls in the whole world, and she nameda weight in gold that caused him to step back from her amazed, for itwas a quarter of the tribute that he had taken from his new-conqueredkingdom.
"Woman, you jest," he said, "surely there is some abatement."
"Man," she answered, "I jest not; there is no abatement," and shereplaced the pearls in her garments.
Now he grew very angry, and asked:
"Did you know that I am the King of Tat, and if I will, can take yourpearls without any payment at all?"
"Are you?" asked Asti, looking at him coolly. "I should never haveguessed it. Well, if you steal my goods, as you say you can, you will beKing of Thieves also."
Now those who heard this saying laughed, and the King thought it best tojoin in their merriment. Then the bargaining went on, but before it wasfinished, at her appointed hour Tua began to sing behind the screen.
"Have done," said the King to Asti, "to-morrow you shall be paid yourprice. I would listen to that music which is above price."
So Janees listened like one fascinated, for Tua was singing her best.Step by step he drew ever nearer to the screen, though this Asti didnot notice, for she was engaged in locking up her goods. At lengthhe reached it, and thrusting his fingers through the openings in thepierced woodwork, rested his weight upon it like a man who is faint, asperhaps he was with the sweetness of that music. Then of a sudden, bycraft or chance, he swung himself backward, and with him came the frailscreen. Down it clattered to the floor, and lo! beyond it, unveiled, butclad in rich attire, stood Tua sweeping her harp of ivory and gold. Likesunlight from a cloud the bright vision of her beauty struck the eyes ofthe people gathered there, and seemed to dazzle them, since for a whilethey were silent. Then one said:
"Surely this woman is a queen," and another answered:
"Nay, she is a goddess," but ere the words had left his lips Tua wasgone.
As for Janees the King, he stared at her open-mouthed, reeling a littleupon his feet, then, as she fled, turned to Asti, saying:
"Is this Lady your slave?"
"Nay, King, my daughter, whom you have done ill to spy upon."
"Then," said Janees slowly, "I who might do less, desire to make thisdaughter of yours my Queen--do you understand, Merchant of Pearls--myQueen, and as a gift you shall have as much gold again as I havepromised for your gems."
"Other kings have desired as much and offered more, but she is not foryou or any of them," answered Asti, looking him in the face.
Now Janees made a movement as though he would strike her, then seemed tochange his mind, for he replied only:
"A rough answer to a fair offer, seeing that none know who you are orwhence you come. But there are eyes upon us. I will talk with you againto-morrow; till then, rest in peace."
"It is useless," began Asti, but he was already gone.
Presently Asti found Tua in the garden, and told her everything.
"Now I wish that Kepher of the Desert were at hand," said Tua nervously,"for it seems that I am in a snare, who like this Janees no better thanI did Abi or the Prince of Kesh, and will never be his Queen."
"Then I think we had better fly to the wilderness and seek him therethis very night, for, Lady, you know what chances to men who look uponyour loveliness."
"I know what chanced to the Prince of Kesh, and what will chance to Abiat the hands of one I left behind me, I can guess; perhaps this Janeeswill fare no better. Still, let us go."
Asti nodded, then by an afterthought went into the house and asked somequestions of the servants. Presently she returned, and said:
"It is useless; soldiers are already stationed about the place, and someof our women who tried to go out have been turned back, for they saythat by the King's order none may leave our door."
"Now shall I strike upon the harp and call upon the name of Kepher, ashe bade me?" asked Tua.
"I think not yet awhile, Lady. This danger may pass by or the nightbring counsel, and then he would be angry if you summoned him fornaught. Let us go in and eat."
So they
went in, and while they sat at their food suddenly they hearda noise, and looking up, perceived by the light of the lamp that womenwere crowding into the room led by two eunuchs.
Tua drew a dagger from her robe and sprang up, but the head eunuch, anold, white-haired man, bowed low before her, and said:
"Lady, you can kill me if you will, for I am unarmed, but there are manymore of us without, and to resist is useless. Hearken; no harm shall bedone to you or to your companion, but it is the King's desire that oneso royal and beautiful should be better lodged than in this placeof traffic. Therefore he has commanded me to take you and all yourhousehold and all your goods to no less a place than his own palace,where he would speak with you."
"Sheathe the dagger and waste no words upon these slaves, Daughter,"said Asti. "Since we have no choice, let us go."
So after they had veiled and robed, they suffered themselves to be ledout and placed in a double litter with their pearls and gold, while theKing's women collected all the rest of their goods and took them awaytogether with their servants, leaving the house quite empty. Then,guarded by soldiers, they were borne through the silent streets tillthey came to great gates which closed behind them, and having passed upmany stairs, the litter was set down in a large and beautiful room litwith silver lamps of scented oil. Here, and in other rooms beyond,they found women of the royal household and their own servants alreadyarranging their possessions.
Soon it was done, and food and wine having been set for them, they wereleft alone in that room, and stood looking at each other.
"Now shall I strike and call?" said Tua, lifting the harp which she hadbrought with her. "Look, yonder is a window-place such as that of whichKepher spoke."
"Not yet, I think, Lady. Let us learn all our case ere we call forhelp," and as the words left her lips the door opened, and through it,clad in his royal robes, walked Janees the King.
Now in the centre of this great room was a marble basin filled with purewater which, perhaps, had served as the bath of the queens who dweltthere in former days, or, perhaps, was so designed for the sake ofcoolness in times of heat. Tua and Asti stood upon one side of thisbasin, and to the other came the King, so that the water lay betweenthem. Thrice he bowed to Tua, then said:
"Lady, who, as your servants tell me, are known as Neferte, a maiden ofEgypt, and for lack of the true name, doubtless this will serve, Lady,I come to ask your pardon for what must seem to you to be a grievouswrong. O Lady Neferte, this must be my excuse, that I have no choice. Byfortune, good or ill, I know not which, this day I beheld your face,and now but one desire is left to me, to behold it again, and for all mylife. Lady, the Goddess of Love, she, whom in Egypt you name Hathor, hasmade me her slave, so that I no longer think of pomp or power or wealth,or of other women, but of you and you only. Lady, I would do you noharm, for I offer you half my throne. You and you alone shall be myQueen. Speak now."
"King Janees," answered Tua, "what evil spirit has entered into you thatyou should wish to make a Queen of a singing-girl, the daughter of amerchant who has wandered to your city? Let me go, and keep that highplace for one of the great ones of the earth. Send now to Abi, who Ihave heard rules as Pharaoh in Egypt, and ask a daughter of his blood,for they say that he has several; or to some of the princes of Syria, orto the King of Byblos by Lebanon, or to the lords of Kesh, or acrossthe desert to the Emperor of Punt, and let this poor singing-girl go herways."
"This poor singing-girl," repeated Janees after her, "who, or whosemother," and he bowed to Asti with a smile, "has pearls to sell that areworth the revenue of a kingdom; this singing-girl, the ivory figure onwhose harp is crowned with the royal _uraei_ of Egypt; this singing-girlwhose chiselled loveliness is such as might be found perhaps among thedaughters of ancient kings; this singing-girl whose voice can ravishthe hearts of men and beasts! Well, Lady Neferte, I thank you for yourwarning, still I am ready to take my chance, hoping that my childrenwill not be made ashamed by the blood of such a singing-girl as this,who, as I saw when that screen fell, has stamped upon her throat theholy sign they worship on the Nile."
"I am honoured," answered Tua coldly, "yet it may not be. Among my ownhumble folk I have a lover, and him I will wed or no man."
"You have a lover! Then hide his name from me, lest presently I shouldplay Set to his Osiris and rend him into pieces. You shake your head,knowing doubtless that the man is great, yet I tell you that I willconquer him and rend him into pieces for the crime of being loved byyou. Listen now! I would make you my Queen, but Queen or not, mine youshall be who lie in my power. I will not force you, I will give youtime. But if on the morning of the third day from this night you stillrefuse to share my throne, why, then you shall sit upon its footstool."
Now, in her anger, Tua threw back her veil, and met him eye to eye.
"You think me great," she said, "and truly you are right, for whateveris my rank, with me go my gods, and in their strength my innocence isgreat. Let me be, you petty King of Tat, lest I lift up my voice toheaven, and call down upon you the anger of the gods."
"Already, Lady, you have called down upon me the anger of a goddess,that Hathor of whom I spoke, and for the rest I fear them not. Let themdo their worst. On the third night from this night, as Queen or slave,I swear that you shall be mine. This woman here, whom you call yourmother, shall be witness to my oath, and to its end."
"Aye, King," broke in Asti, "I will be witness, but as to the end ofthat oath I do not know it yet. Would you like to learn? In my owncountry I was held to have something of a gift, I mean in the way ofmagic. It came to me, I know not whence, and it is very uncertain--attimes it is my servant, and at times I can do nothing. Still, for yoursake, I would try. Is it your pleasure to see that end of which youspoke, the end of your attempt to force yonder maiden to be your queenor love?"
"Aye, Woman," answered Janees, "if you have a trick, show it--why not?"
"So be it, King; but, of course, I have your word that you willnot blame me if by any chance the trick should not prove to yourliking--your royal word. Now stand you there, and look into this waterwhile I pray our gods, the gods of my own country, to be gracious, andto show you what shall be your state at this same hour on the thirdnight from now, which you say and hope shall be the night of yourwedding. Sing, my Daughter, sing that old and sacred song which I havetaught you. It will serve to while away the tedium of our waiting untilthe gods declare themselves, if such be their will."
Then Asti knelt down by the pool, and bent her head, and stretched outher hands over the water, and Tua touched the strings of her harp andbegan to chant very solemnly in an unknown tongue. The words of thatchant were low and sweet, yet it seemed to Janees that they fell likeice upon his hot blood, and froze it within his veins. At first he kepthis eyes fixed upon her beauty, but by slow degrees something drew themdown to the water of the pool.
Look! A mist gathered on its blackness. It broke and cleared and there,as in a mirror, he saw a picture. He saw himself lying stripped anddead, a poor, naked corpse with wide eyes that stared to heaven, andgashed throat and sides whence the blood ran upon the marble floor ofhis own great hall, ruined by fire, with its scorched pillars pointinglike fingers to the moon. There he lay alone, and by him stood a hound,his own hound, that lifted up its head and seemed to howl.
The last words of Tua's chant died away, and with them that picturepassed. Janees leapt back from the edge of the pool, glaring at Asti.
"Sorceress!" he cried, "were you not my guest who names herself themother of her who shall be my Queen, I swear that to-night you shoulddie by torture in payment of this foul trick of yours."
"Yet as it is," answered Asti, "I think that I shall not die, sincethose who call upon the gods must not quarrel with their oracle.Moreover, I know now what you saw, and it may be nothing but a fantasyof your brain or of mine. Now let us sleep, I pray you, O King, for weare weary, and leave its secrets to the future. In three days we shallknow what they may be."
Then, without another word, J
anees turned and left them.
"What was it that lay in the pool, Nurse?" asked Tua. "I saw nothing."
"The shadow of a dead man, I think," answered Asti grimly. "Some jealousgod has looked upon this poor King whose crime is that he desires you,and therefore he must die. Of a truth it goes ill with your lovers, OStar of Amen, and sometimes I wonder if one who is dear to me will meetwith better fortune at those royal eyes of yours. If ill befalls him Ithink that at the last I may learn to hate you, whom from the first Icherished."
Now at the thought that she might bring death to Rames also, Tua's tearsbegan to gather, and her voice choked in her throat.
"Say not such evil-omened words," she sobbed, "since you know well thatif he is taken hence for whose sake I endure all these things, then Imust follow him over the edge of the world. Moreover, you are unjust.Did I slay the Prince of Kesh, or was it another?"
"Another, Queen, but for your sake."
"And would you have had me wed Abi the hog, the murderer of my father,and of your lord? Again, was it I who but now showed this barbarianchief a shadow in the water, or was it Asti the witch, Asti theprophetess of Amen? Lastly, will the man die, if die he must, because heloves me, which, being a woman I can forgive him, or because he laid thehands of violence upon me to force me to be his queen or mistress, whichI forgive him not? Oh! Asti, you know well I am not as other women are.Perchance it is true that some blood that is not human runs in me; atleast I fulfil a doom laid on me before my birth, and working woe orworking weal, I go as my feet are led by ghosts and gods. Why, then, doyou upbraid me?" and she ceased and wept outright.
"Nay, nay, be comforted, I upbraid you not," answered Asti, drawing herto her breast. "Who am I that I should cast reproaches at Amen's Starand daughter and my Queen? I know well that the house of your fate isbuilt, that sail you up stream or sail you down stream, you must passits gate at last. It was fear for Rames that made me speak so bitterly,Rames my only child, if, indeed, he is left to me, for I who have somuch wisdom cannot learn from man or spirit whether he lives here orwith Osiris, since some black veil hangs between our souls. I fear lestthe gods, grown jealous of that high love of yours, should wreak theirwrath upon him who has dared to win it, and bring Rames to the gravebefore his time, and the thought of it rends my heart."
Now it was Tua's turn to play the comforter.
"Surely," she said, "surely, my Foster-mother, you forget the promise ofAmen, King of the Gods, which he made ere I was born, to Ahura who boreme, that I should find a royal lover, and that from his love and mineshould spring many kings and princes, and that this being so, Rames mustlive."
"Why must he live, Lady, seeing that even if he can be called royal,there are others?"
"Nay, Asti," murmured Tua, laying her head upon her breast, "for methere are no others, nor shall any child of mine be born that does notname Rames father. Whatever else is doubtful, this is sure. ThereforeRames lives, and will live, or the King of the gods has lied."
"You reason well," said Asti, and kissed her. Then she thought for amoment, and added: "Now to our work, it is the hour. Take the harp,go to the window-place, and call as the beggar-man bade you do in yourneed."
So Tua went to the window-place and looked down on the great courtyardbeneath that was lit with the light of the moon. Then she struck on theharp, and thrice she cried aloud:
"_Kepher! Kepher! Kepher!_"
And each time the echo of her cry came back louder and still more loud,till it seemed as though earth and heaven were filled with the sound ofthe name of Kepher.