Swords of Arabia: Betrayal (45 page)

Mish’al,
having
seen
they
were
at
risk,
had
two
men
hurry
over
to
and
cover
them
as
they
lifted
the
near-lifeless
body
and
carried
him
the
few
yards
to
the
safety
of
the
men
now
gathered
round
Talal
and
Firyal.
Nasir
was
torn
between
his
need
to
help
his
young
kinsman
and
the
urgent
necessity
that
he
join
the
fight
–
a
fight
he
could
see
his
supporters
were
in
danger
of
losing,
when
he
heard
a
soft
voice
at
his
side.
Startled,
he
turned
and
saw
one
of
Zahirah’s
attendants
had
quietly
entered
through
the
small
doorway,
anxious
about
her
mistress.
The
attendant,
looking
anxiously
at
Fahad,
looked
vaguely
familiar
to
the
young
prince.

Seeing
her,
Zahirah
smiled
in
gratitude
and,
turning
to
Nasir,
said
“Go,
Nasir.
Ayesha
and
I
will
see
to
Fahad
–
and
any
others
who
are
brought
here,”
she
added,
gesturing
to
the
ring
of
steel
surrounding
them.
She’d
quickly
realised
that
it
was,
until
the
fighting
was
over,
and
a
victory
certain,
perhaps
the
safest
place
in
the
palace.

He
nodded
gratefully
and
turned
to
go,
stopping
only
to
ask
Mish’al
and
half
his
men
to
join
him
and,
asking
Talal
to
guard
the
womenfolk,
in
their
absence.
This
latter
earning
him
Zahirah’s
gratitude
–
both
for
the
request
and
the
face-saving
grace
with
which
it
was
delivered
to
her
son.

Nasir
looked
grimly
out
across
the
large
room,
once
the
heart
and
pride
of
the
citadel,
with
it’s
beautiful
proportions
and
vivid
furnishings.
Now,
its
entire
area
was
wreathed
in
smoke
so
thick
it
was
getting
harder
and
harder
to
breathe.
The
difficulty
was
made
worse
by
the
stifling
heat,
always
present,
but
made
almost
unbearable,
both
by
the
sweat
of
the
men
fighting
and
the
attendants
having
stopped
operating
the
large
rush
fans.
The
rich
and
once
beautiful
carpets
were
now
ruined
and
slippery
with
blood,
their
gloriously
patterned
surfaces
strewn
with
dead
and
dying
men.
Elegant
eating
ware
was
trampled
unnoticed
underfoot.
As
Nasir
moved
quickly
across
the
dais
to
where
the
fighting
raged
fiercest,
he
listened
to
his
friend’s
urgent
update.
“Daoud
is
holding
the
walls
and
the
town.
There
are
many
men
gathered,
but
little
fighting
as
yet.
There
are
armed
crowds
gathered
around
the
gates.
They
seem
to
be
waiting
for
something.”

This
briefly
puzzled
Nasir,
but
he
was
unable
to
concentrate
his
thoughts
as
they
reached
the
group
surrounding
Abdullah.
This
had
thinned
out
dangerously.
Of
the
half-dozen
kin
fighting
to
protect
the
venerable
prince
three,
Rashid,
Sultan
and
Habib,
had
already
fallen.
A
shocked
Nasir
could
see
that
the
former
two
were
already
dead
and
the
third
so
badly
wounded
he
seemed
certain
to
follow;
and
then
the
Lady
Firyal
will
have
yet
another
son
to
mourn,
he
thought
with
brief,
bleak
sadness.
Only
Sahir,
himself
elderly
and
scarcely
fit
for
fighting,
Zafar,
his
gentle
soul
angered
by
the
attack
and
fighting
as
Nasir
had
never
seen
him
do
before,
and
the
towering
figure
of
Mamduh
were
still
standing.
Over
their
shoulders
he
could
see
a
small
group
of
merchants,
including
Ali
Ben
Youseff,
stranded
over
by
the
far
side
of
the
room.
Unused
to
battle,
they
had
all
been
taken
totally
by
surprise
by
the
sudden
violence
and
huddled
together
in
a
small
group,
obviously
wishing
themselves
elsewhere.
Nasir
hurriedly
sent
three
of
his
guards
with
instructions
to
guide
the
frightened
men
into
the
temporary
sanctuary
of
the
rear
of
the
dais
and
protect
them
during
the
short
but
perilous
move
across
the
wide
room.

He
then
turned
and
slashed
down
savagely
with
his
sword
at
one
of
the
attackers
swirling
round
his
kinsmen.
Sickened,
he
saw
Abdullah
fall,
his
head
exploding
from
bullets
smashing
into
it.
The
killer
followed
within
seconds
as
Mamduh,
raising
a
gun
taken
from
an
insurgent
he’d
beaten
to
death,
shot
him
even
before
he
had
time
to
gloat.

Suddenly,
to
Nasir’s
horror,
he
saw
Talal
appear
with
a
dozen
or
so
guards
and
the
group
jumped
off
the
low-lying
dais
and
fought
their
way
through
towards
the
dwindling
band
of
loyal
princes,
now
being
pushed
back
against
the
far
wall
of
the
chamber.
Nasir’s
acute
sense
of
battle
told
him
that
his
own
forces,
even
with
the
addition
of
those
brought
by
Talal,
were
slowly
losing
the
fight.
All
that
the
extra
guards
could
do
was
delay
things,
and
that
only
for
a
short
while.
Four
of
the
guards
closely
surrounded
the
young
emir
as
he
reached
his
uncle’s
side.
Nasir,
who
wasted
no
time
in
remonstrating
with
the
boy,
pulled
him
to
his
side
as,
slashing
and
hacking,
they
were
all
pushed
back.
Feeling
the
walls
of
the
chamber
at
his
back
he
knew
they’d
run
out
of
space.
Desperately
he
manoeuvred
until
he
and
the
dwindling
handful
of
men
with
him
were
in
a
corner,
giving
them
a
little
more
space,
though
only
delaying
the
inevitable
for
scant
minutes,
perhaps
only
seconds,
longer.
Pushing
the
boy
into
the
comparative
safety
of
the
corner
itself,
he
turned
and
prepared
to
kill
as
long
as
he
could
to
protect
him.