CHAPTER XLIII
THE KING TAKES HIS REVENGE
Azemilcus walked to the window and stood there leaning against theframe. Day was breaking, sullen and gray, in a wrack of flying clouds,and the uneasy moaning of the sea sounded in his ears.
There Hur and Esmun, panting from their long climb, found him standing.The prince carried a drawn sword in his hand and he glanced quicklyfrom side to side as he burst into the room. Behind him came Aristonand a guard of twenty or thirty soldiers, headed by one of the generalsof the garrison. Hur had expected to find the Greeks. He saw only hisfather, leaning wearily in the window. He stood abashed, looking atEsmun as if for advice.
The old king remained motionless until all had entered, and then heturned slowly and faced them. The lines of his countenance, deepenedby months of anxiety, told of the strain he had passed through, and hisshrunken frame seemed aged and feeble in its magnificent robe of state.His eyes met theirs steadily and frankly, yet with a look of sadness ashe gave them his greeting.
"Welcome, my son and gentlemen," he said. "You come early to seek yourking; but in these times I know that ceremony must be disregarded.What news do you bring?"
The authority in his tone and the dignity of his bearing, which most ofthe men who stood before him had been accustomed from boyhood torespect, had their effect. The soldiers, who knew nothing of the plot,stared wonderingly about them. Ariston had prudently halted near thedoor, and he now edged still farther into the background.
"Come, gentlemen!" the king said, finding that none replied to hisquestion. "What is the news that brings you hither at this hour? Donot fear to tell me, since it is the lot of kings to share the dangersand sorrows of their people. Have I not done it for nearly fiftyyears?"
He smiled somewhat sadly and waved his thin hand with a gesture thatseemed to dismiss all that he had done for the city as something forwhich he required no return of gratitude.
"Do not hesitate," he continued, "because you would spare me. It istrue that in all that now threatens us I have more to lose than you. Iam ready, as you know, to sacrifice even life itself if that would savethe city. Is it concerning the offering to Baal-Moloch that you desireto consult me?"
He addressed himself to Esmun, recognizing in the priest the man fromwhom he had most to fear. He had scarcely glanced at his son, whostood helpless, raging inwardly to find himself presenting theappearance of a culprit caught in some fault, instead of the avengerthat he had expected to be. Esmun looked at the prince and saw thatnothing was to be expected from him. He took up the situation boldly,relying upon his sacred office to protect him.
"It is true that I wished to consult you concerning the sacrifice toBaal-Moloch, whom I serve," he said, "but we had still another reasonfor coming. We have been informed that a plot against your life hasbeen conceived. It was told to us that certain Greeks had been broughtinto the city by the treachery of your enemies, and we made all hasteto summon this guard to protect you in case of need. It is said thatthe assassins are even now in the palace. If anything should happen toyour Highness, then, indeed, the city might despair. In guarding thysafety, we guard the safety of all."
The two men looked into each other's eyes. The king read the threatthat lay behind Esmun's words and he took up the challenge.
"Why should they seek to destroy a man whose days are fast nearingtheir close?" he asked. "The death of one of these soldiers wouldprofit them more, since it would leave one less dauntless heart forthem to conquer. It seems to me that the alarm is needless, although Ithank you for your care; and yet, I will not conceal from you thatthere may after all be some basis for the story you have heard. Withinthe week, the crown rubies have been stolen, and it is clear that Ihave some unfaithful servants. Perhaps they have brought in the Greeksto prevent detection and the punishment they deserve. Search thepalace, and if the assassins are found, we will make an example ofthem."
Esmun's heavy face quivered when the king spoke of the rubies, for hiswords were accompanied by a look full of significance. He knew thatthe Greeks were in the city, but the willingness of the king to havethe search made indicated that they were no longer in the palace. Heracked his brains to think what had become of them.
Ariston slipped out of the door and stole softly down the stairs. Theastute Athenian saw that the counterplot had collapsed.
"You, my son, and you, Esmun, will remain with me while the guard makesthe search," the king said coolly, "and let us eat, for there is muchto be done to-day."
He engaged the priest in talk regarding the details of the sacrifice toBaal while the soldiers dispersed through the palace and slaves broughtfood. To Hur he did not speak. The general in charge of the guard atlast returned, saying that no trace of the presence of strangers in thepalace could be discovered. He knew nothing of the secret passages,and the prince did not venture, in his father's presence, to revealthem. Esmun, with the theft of the rubies in his mind, dared notbetray his knowledge of their existence.
"It is as I thought," the king said, dismissing the guard. "I thankyou for your zeal."
The slaves had already withdrawn, since it was unlawful for any who hadnot been initiated to be present while the mysteries of the worship ofBaal were being discussed.
"You seem downcast, my son!" the king said when he was left alone withHur and the priest. He took his seat at the table, upon which the foodhad been placed, and motioned them to a seat opposite to him. "Youwill never be a king," he continued, "until you learn how to conquerfailure. I have noted a certain nervousness in you of late. Youshould overcome it. Misfortune is half disarmed when you meet her in acheerful spirit."
Hur let his eyes fall, but he made no reply. Esmun kept his gaze onthe king's face.
"Come!" Azemilcus said in the same bantering tone, "you do not eat.You should leave the welfare of the city to me. You thought you knew,when you did not. You should remember that kings do not always revealtheir purposes."
He filled his cup from the great flagon and pushed it toward them.
"Let us drink to the safety of Tyre," he said.
"To that I say amen," Esmun exclaimed, "and may the curse of Baal restupon all who seek to betray her!"
"So say I--be they high or low!" Hur echoed boldly.
The old king's eyes sparkled and he looked at them with the mockingsmile that they knew so well.
"Drink, then!" he said, spilling a few drops from his cup upon thefloor as a libation.
The others followed his example, Esmun with a muttered word ofinvocation, and both drank off what remained. The king was seized by aviolent fit of coughing that shook his withered frame and forced him toset his cup down untasted. As he did so Esmun rose to his feet.
The face of the priest was convulsed and purple and his eyes seemedstarting from his head. He raised his clenched hands and made atottering step toward the king as though he would strike him with hisfists. He struggled to speak, but no words issued from his throat. Hereeled blindly and crashed down across the table like a slain bullock,overturning it in his fall. His eyes rolled up in his head and he laymotionless.
The prince did not rise from his chair, but his fingers grippedconvulsively the carved arms of ebony and he writhed in agony.
"Father!" he gasped.
His form stiffened, his head fell back, and a slight foam appeared onhis lips.
Azemilcus drew the skirts of his robe around him and stepped carefullyacross the litter caused by the wreck of the table, with its linencloth stained in the spilled wine that flowed from the shatteredflagon. He walked quietly to the door and vanished between the crimsoncurtains, leaving the two dead men alone in the room.