Swords of Arabia: Betrayal (20 page)

The
roar
of
acclamation
that
greeted
Nasir’s
proposal
was
more
than
enough
to
drown
out
Badr’s
friends
and
Nasir
was
appointed
joint
regent
with
his
older
half-brother.
As
he
turned
to
look
at
Talal,
he
just
hoped
that
he
had
the
strength
and
guile
to
keep
the
boy
alive
for
the
next
few
years.

Chapter
Ten

Winter
1915-16

“So,
the
moment
has
arrived,”
said
Zahirah
quietly,
as
she
finished
reading
the
letter
Nasir
had
passed
to
her
and
Firyal,
as
they
sat
in
the
quiet
luxury
of
one
of
the side
rooms
of
Firyal’s
large
apartments.

“Indeed,
child,
indeed.
But
is
it
a
moment
of
opportunity
or
of
danger?”
queried
Firyal,
breathing
with
difficulty,
her
lungs
clogged,
her
voice
weak,
but
her
mind
as
sharp
and
as
clear
as
ever.
“Because
the
others
will
follow,
you
can
be
sure
of
that.
Each
will
now
be
wanting
our
support.
Should
we
choose
wrongly
we
will
pay
a
heavy
price.”

Zahirah
nodded
as
she
handed
the
letter
back
to
Nasir,
who
at
her
urging
had
learned
to
read.
“Only
your
own
eyes
can
tell
you
if
what
your
advisors
say
in
the
letter
is
true.
Trust
your
own
eyes
before
another’s
words,”
she’d
said
in
explanation.

He
re-read
the
letter
with
incredulity,
but
beyond
emitting
another
sharp
snort
of
disbelief,
said
nothing.
Again
under
Zahirah’s
tutelage,
he
was
learning
to
think
before
speaking,
a
novel
way
of
behaving
and
one
he
was
not
yet
sure
he
liked
over-much.

“We
must
meet
with
them,
of
course,
and
as
soon
as
they
arrive.
We
can’t
be
seen
to
be
reluctant;
not
until
we
have
heard
what
they
have
to
say,”
Zahirah
responded
quietly.

“We
must
meet
with
them
because
they
are
our
long-standing
allies,”
flashed
Badr.
“To
say
or
think
otherwise
is
to
ignore
our
history
and
our
obligations
to
a
long
time
friend!”

“Perhaps.
But
we
should
also
ensure
that
our
present
day
needs
and
interests
are
still
as
they
were,”
Firyal
responded
quietly.

Badr
said
nothing.
Although
he
had,
reluctantly,
accepted
Nasir
as
his
co-regent,
he
found
it
all
but
impossible
to
accept
the
open
exchange
of
views
the
others
didn’t
now
give
a
second
thought
to.
Talal,
also,
he
saw
with
silent
fury,
took
it
as
normal
for
the
women
to
have
a
say
in
affairs.
Badr
didn’t,
and
was
still,
after
several
months,
very
uneasy.
He
had,
however,
swiftly
realised
that
if
he
didn’t
attend
the
informal
gatherings,
they
would
continue
without
him,
so
he
recognised
that
he
had
little
option
but
to
participate.
Much
formal
decision-making
was
taken
in
the
family-wide
majlis
and
would
continue
to
be
so
until
Talal
came
of
age,
but
little
that
the
inner
group
didn’t
want
to
happen,
did
actually
happen.

“Events
must
be
going
much
in
their
favour
for
them
to
be
able
to
travel
so
far
south,”
Nasir
commented.

“I
understand
that
the
embassy
will
arrive
by
tomorrow.
Their
caravan
is
expected
to
reach
us
by
early
afternoon,
so
we
have
little
time
to
prepare
our
response,”
interjected
Isaac
worriedly.

“Do
we
need
time?”
snorted
Nasir,
at
last
giving
voice
to
his
impatience.
“The
way
they
ran
at
al
Hofuf
almost
three
years
ago
tells
me
the
Ottoman
are
no
longer
fighters
it’s
wise
to
side
with!”

“We
must
meet
them.
I
agree
there’s
little
time
to
prepare
our
response
but
we
need
scarcely
do
that
at
the
first
meeting
anyway.
And
to
be
fair,
Nasir,
we’ve
known
this
day
would
come,
so
our
thoughts
have
been
much
on
the
issue
before
this,”
responded
Firyal
calmly.
“Although
we
all
would
wish
that
this
hadn’t
come
so
soon
after
Talal
became
our
emir.
Allah
knows,
we
have
struggle
enough
on
our
hands
reinforcing
that,
without
this,
this,
new
burden,
but…”
she
ended,
shrugging
fatalistically.

“I
too
would
wish
it
otherwise,
but
events
have
ensured
we
will
not
have
that
respite,
I
fear,”
responded
Zahirah.
She,
knowing
even
more
how
insecure
their
grip
on
the
throne
still
was,
was
even
more
alarmed
than
Firyal.
She
knew,
however,
that
their
freedom
of
movement
scarcely
existed
in
this,
the
bigger,
conflict,
threatening
to
sweep
over
the
entire
region.
“You
are
right
–
we
can
be
very
sure
the
other
party
to
this
great
war
of
theirs
will
also
soon
come
knocking
on
our
door.
We
are
suddenly
in
great
demand,
are
we
not!”
she
laughed,
with
little
real
mirth.
“One
thing
is
certain,
we
have
great
and
dangerous
choices
soon
to
be
placed
before
us, and
we
will
have
little
time
in
which
to
make
that
choice,
little
time
at
all,”
she
added.