lambenttyto

I must warn you, that this first story in this series was an experiment. The story reads as a folk tale might, a "literary" folk tale at that, complete with nineteenth-century diction. That is to say that its technically best as an oral story, or a story read aloud, but it is by no means required of you to read it in that manner. I was inspired by the One Thousand and One Arabian Nights. In fact, this entire series is inspired by the Arabian Nights, but this story specifically. If that's not your speed, you might skip this one. So far, it is the only story in this series that reads this way. I really enjoyed writing it, and I would very much appreciate your thoughts and feelings on the style I've written in here. If people enjoy it, I'll certainly write more in this manner--perhaps fairy tales as well. It's a novellette in length, so no chapters--just the whole story in one go.

 

The Story of the Stone of Zambouli

There was a certain Princess, and her name was Haumziya Al Umza. She was exceedingly rich and beautiful, and loved within her city, for she gave to the poor and to the rich alike. Not only this, but she went to the temples, to give thanks to the gods and pay alms to the good religion of the land. She lived in an opulent palace of white stone overlooking the sea with pristine high walls, beautiful and expansive. Within the green and lantern-lit gardens contained many plants of varying kinds in perfect rows between the walkways where fountains of marble and gold could be found under the shade of palm trees. The only other structure in the city that perched higher than the princess’ palace, though undoubtedly not more magnificent in its vastness and wealth, was that of the emir of that city.

Now, the princess was a collector of rare and valuable things, and in her palace there was all manner of gold and other valuable stuff; statues, ornaments, silken curtains, tapestries from faraway lands, and the finest rugs, woven with beautiful patterns of which were tasseled with fronds of silk and gold thread. Indeed, many of the richest people from all over the city and beyond came to her court to pay their respects and to enjoy her great and easy hospitality whenever she threw her regular feasts where music and merrymaking could be heard even at the bottom of the mountainside amidst the dwellings of the poorest of the city’s fishermen. It was one night like this during a lavish feast, that a fine guest of the princess of some adventuring status, informed her of a most magnificent jewel, only to be found within Zambouli, a place far to the South where powerful savages with skin as black as kohl could be found.

“Oh?” said she. “These ‘Zambouli’ sound like they would make good slaves. Please do go on and tell me about this jewel, good sir.”

Her esteemed guest told her a tale of magnificent cities hidden in the Zambouli jungles, where great shamans and terrible rituals took place in honor of their pagan gods, the stone, like none other, a thing of the finest beauty and imbued with great magical power. This story so piqued the princess’ interest, for she had a dark secret—that she was a sorceress. Indeed, many of her fine things had been gotten by her skilled men, from all over the world to hide this fact about her person by obfuscation of her activities, “For” thought she, “a sorceress works best in the shadows, unseen by those who might interfere with her designs,” and they were many. With an intense interest hidden and feigned to be little more than the passing fancy taken on by a rich woman with need of distractions, the princess Haumziya Al Umza bade her guest to tell her everything he knew of this stone, but not before she summoned her scribe to pen every word, with an excuse that she was interested in preserving the telling so that she may remember it; to learn further of this mysterious stone and of the Zambouli people, as a sort of, passing hobby. Though in truth, they were not unknown to her, the Zambouli, though until hearing of such a fabled stone, her interest had always been a very little thing that had not long lived past a fleeting curiosity, the world outside of the busy centers of the Ashahnai imperial domains of little interest to her. And so the scribe wrote down all that the princess Haumziya had him speak.

When her party was done, and all her guests had quit the palace, the princess found that she had looked over the words her scribe had written once more, reading them in the subtle and cool breeze of the blue night. For a moment she knew not why, or what the words were even concerning, and then, with a heart beating as if for a lover, she remembered and continued on for a time. Then when she had finished and Haumziya called in her slave, Ribara to help her get ready to take up in her bed. Even in sleep, the princess so beloved by many of the kingdom and beyond who was oft of an easy air, was unable to find rest, for her mind had fallen to the great stone, and once sleep had taken her, she dreamed magical dreams; sorcerous dreams that did not seem to be her own. As the princess Haumziya Al Umza slept, one of maliciousness and deep set eyes with evil intent put those dreams into the princess’ mind. Ribara looked upon the sleeping princess and wished of the stone of Zambouli, for her designs were many.

The next day, Princess Haumziya tested herself, for that was what she was want to do when she desired a thing so fiercely as this, otherwise she should be tempted to give all that she possessed to achieve the gain of such an item as her heart’s desire. And the stone of Zambouli weighed heavily upon her. To divert herself, the princess called in her servants and slaves and watched them perform plays of high verse, she entertained some guests while she ate wonderful foods preserved by means of magic that none had ever seen nor heard of for a thousand leagues, and she walked in her gardens in the summer breeze and admired the many beautiful and poisonous plants therein. The princess even spent time in her chambers playing with her pet lion on the rugs. None of these things gave her the fulfilling pleasures they so often had, not while her heart burned for such an item as the stone, the wonderful stone, so full of enigma and magical energy. “The sorceries I can achieve,” thought she. Hardly a day had gone by when the princess found herself pacing her chambers like a hungry and restless tigress, throwing her arms in frustration, her gaze sweeping the room for somewhere to go, but having nowhere to go, nothing that could distract her from her desires for the stone. At length, the princess Haumziya Al Umza had passed her test and decided that the matter must needs be dealt with immediately. “Ama,” said she, calling to her handmaiden. “Bring forth my most trusted captain of captains, Mehrar Al Kahlid, I have need of him this instant!” All of the handmaidens in the princess’ palace were beautiful creatures, caught in faraway places, bought, or found, and brought back to her, but Ama was among her prize possessions. Sweet, sweet Ama, the most beautiful of all her girls—and brought to her by none other than the man whom she wished to see. The girl obeyed at once and she summoned the slaves at the presage of a gong from whence she told them to bring the captain of adventurers called Mehrar Al Kahlid.

The man arrived in a short time, his forearms bare and his head turbaned with red cloth of rough-spun material, as he was a highly capable man; dangerous when he was required of such action, and dirty with use in his constant travels where he fought with scimitar and guile and failed not in his tasks that he fulfilled for the princess regularly and dutifully. When he had arrived, “Mehrar Al Kahlid,” said the princess with a smile upon her lips, “and so you have come to your princess, quick as a summoned slave. Are you prepared to serve me?” “I am ready to carry out your will, mistress,” said he with a nod. “What is it that you wish? Your command is my pleasure.” She told him then that his desire to serve was good, touched his shoulder, and gave him the scribed velum for his reading. He took it and after a short while he nodded and informed the princess that he would set out immediately to find this jewel of Zambouli that she so wanted, his bearing and faithfulness to her absolute, for the adventurer wanted the princess Haumziya Al Umza as much as she needed the stone, if for no longer than a single night. It had been a part of their mutual agreement, that Kahlid would serve Haumziya and do everything that she wished, and in return, she would one day give him the boon that he so desired, and he did most ardently and passionately desire her. It pleased the princess greatly, for loyalty was above all, a most desirable trait in a man. The meeting of their persons and the agreement that had been struck between the princess and her most capable warrior and leader was a story for another time.

With a smile and a profession of her desires, both for the stone and for him, she bade him set out at once, and saying, “go, my most loyal of servants, and find me the great stone of Zambouli that is so much of my heart’s desire,  that I may come to you to profess my love and adoration in every way that pleases you. And you must use all the means within your ability, along with that of my wealth that I shall give unto you, to carry out this task I give, Mehrar Al Kahlid.” With a great burning desire in his heart and ardent loyalty, the handsome warrior and captain of captains left the princess Haumziya Al Umza standing upon her rugs in the rays of the sunlight which shone through her upper windows, quit her palace, and summoned his men, that he might speak to them and in so doing, give them orders to affect the outcome desired by himself and their mistress.

Now, the warrior called Mehrar Al Kahlid, was an intelligent man, this herewith also made him both famous and infamous, for he was a thief and a troublemaker as well as a great captain of hard men; warriors who were the veterans of many battles to the last of them. His warriors were not only strong of arm and good with scimitars. Like him, they were intelligent men and learned, though never more intelligent than himself, for what good captain places men so near to him as to be undone by them in a short while?

It was then that he had looked to his men, and saying, “We are sent by our mistress to find the stone of Zambouli,” and having given them copies of the story his princess had showed him, that they might all understand their mission, he went on to tell the men to go forth; to the taverns and the brothels and the places of merriment, to the courts of rich lords and ladies alike; with orders for them to keep their ears open, and to listen for any such whispers that might turn about information leading to the thing they sought. “But Captain,” said they to him, “how are we to find such an obscure artifact simply by searching for rumors parsed through gossip Is there not a better way to find such a valuable thing?” The adventurer had only an enigmatic smile for them as he, Mehrar, told his men that his confidence in them was utmost, that each and every one of them was a capable warrior and adventurer in their own right, and to what other reason would he have them in his company if it be otherwise? And they set forth.

In the time that passed, the princess Haumziya Al Umza had paced her rugs like a hungry predator of the jungles, often thrashing and misbehaving in her impatience to have her stone, for it was many months the famous captain’s men searched, and indeed, he too searched for the stone as though he were a warrior with a singular quest. It was in this time that many of the princess’ servants and slaves lived in a mild terror, for she sometimes beat them in her anger, a thing she had thought most unnatural to her disposition. Finally during the night of a particularly egregious day where the princess had threw many tantrums, breaking expensive vases and other priceless potteries as she had chased out her servants and her handmaidens, one of the captain’s men, who went by the name of Farook, returned with news of the stone. And indeed, this had happened many times in the past, always to the detriment of the princess’ great opinion and esteem for Mehrar Al Kahlid, for her patience had been thinning since the first night of her waiting. Weathering her changing strides concerning his behalf, Mehrar had worked out the best way not to rile the princess, which he had done a few times by raising her hopes, only to dash them soon after. In secret, the captain’s man called Farook, came to him with the new information, and upon reviewing it and studying it in earnest with a heart beating of much anticipation and exhilaration, Mehrar then came to the conclusion that he knew where the stone was. At once he dismissed his man, and telling him to go and fetch the others by way of bird and courier, he sent him away with all due haste.

Then he went into the princess, who received him with a smile on her face, for Haumziya, being a sorceress, knew before Mehrar could tell her, that he came bearing word that would most please her more than anything. “You have come with tidings of my stone, dear Mehrar?” asked she, a smile and a promise on her honeyed lips. Her perfumes and her beauty intoxicated the captain, and he assured her that what he had to tell her would fill her heart with joy. “Tell me, my most estimable captain, whence is the great stone of Zambouli, of which I most desire more than anything in this world?” The captain told the princess and she was pleased. With a caress across his face and a kiss, she bid him go to the stone, to bring it forth to her at once.

Out of the princess’ own coffers, Mehrar paid out many sums of gold to hire a ship and a captain to sail him and his men across the Sea of Bones and through the Serpent’s Tidings straights to find the adventurers who then had the stone in their possession, for it was another adventuring group, much like Mehrar Al Kahlid’s, who had gone and adventured in those lands of Zambouli to acquire it. At length, the ship was outfitted and the crew prepared to make the voyage, and every day Mehrar was confirmed in his abilities by the princess and by himself all the more, as his men, faithful to their captain and strident in their duties, had found what they had been bidden to find. Now, they only needed to take it. Striding forth, Mehrar set sail for the city of cities, that is to say, that he and his men sailed to the Ancient City; that place where the Empire of Ashahnai calls its capital and where its ruler the Sultan Cyrusar Al Hamiroon resides at that time. During his departure and voyage across the sea, but not yet within that most venerable city previously mentioned, another ship sailed, its crew making good wind to their destination. Upon this ship was Azaru Hassan, an adventurer most notable and much like Mehrar Al Kahlid. It must be said that the two captains of adventure knew one another, for they were good friends, though neither of the two men knew from whence the other came and with what intentions each man brought with them. While Mehrar was the more experienced of the two, though lately not known to the estimable public by his deeds, or misdeeds thereof, since being under contract with the princess Haumziya Al Umza of which few knew of her sorceries, Azaru was the younger, and indeed, perhaps more capable in a duel of swords than the slightly older man. Nevertheless, both men of fortune were powerful forces for any to reckon with and who stirred news throughout the empire of their comings and goings, many of which were often only just missed by imperial agents and spies of the sultan and his emirs, for both men were want by various rulers of the land to be captured.

They had only days to go before making port in the capital, when a ship caught the tail of Azaru Hassan’s vessel, from whence one of his men called, “Captain Azaru! A ship! It pursues us. Whatever shall we do of its coming, for surely in its tracking and following of us, it can be none other than the Zambouli themselves, come to take back their precious treasure and to kill every man of us!” Having taken to the ship’s rigging, Azaru climbed halfway up the mast, then leaning out to catch the wind in his open hand, he had said, “Worry not men, for we have the wind, and if such as this good luck continues to hold, we will outrun them!” He laughed then, and continuing with his proclamation for the men not to fear, he said, “Every one of us is a man of the sword, and our scimitars are sharp, ready to defend this ship and to hold that which causes us to enrich ourselves so that we may live good lives, free from prisons and of gutters!”

Ever the charismatic leader, Azaru inspired such confidence in his men as to make them want to be overtaken by the Zambouli vessel, that they might show their mettle and prove to their captain that his words were not spoken in over eagerness, and also to assure the men of their own self-worth and confidence. As if the gods in their boredom wished to see those words of confidence tested, the wind that had been so fortunate as to push them across the sea toward the capital so swiftly, gave out for a time, and the Zambouli vessel, having more oarsmen, caught the adventurer Azaru’s vessel. It was then that his second in command, so named Dafa, climbed the aft castle of their vessel and spoke his confidence in their leader’s place, and saying, “Hence comes the Zambouli to take back their stone, and to test the verity of our captain’s words and of our confidence of him. Let it be not said that Azaru Hassan is a liar, or that his men fight for a liar—for a thief and a brigand he may be, but no liar in boast has he ever been or will ever be!” With cheers and exultations, the men were transported with merriment and eager for battle as the Zambouli ship overtook them. At length, the other vessel came up beside theirs and the Zambouli warriors, large in their own right, for they came from another land where their bones grew big, either from the foods they ate or by decree of their gods, were larger than most of the men from the north of Ashahnai almost to a man, boarded their vessel. The large black-skinned warriors, bedecked in all manner of tribal clothing and in war paint which struck fear into the hearts of Azaru’s men, fought with snarling visages and much zeal for their stone, at the behest, Azaru came to believe, by their leader, a tall and thin woman, her skin the color of kohl; the same as their warriors, and with a visage of a tiger. Indeed, Azaru, for a short length was unable to move in the battle, for fear of that woman’s striking beauty that cut him to the core. Though the paint on her face, and on the faces of many a warrior that come over into his ship struck fear into their hearts, this did not dissuade Azaru Hassan from leading the defense of his ship, and finally, from boarding the Zambouli vessel amidst shouts of encouragement from his men, of which their love of battle spurred them forward with great zeal. Azaru fought with his scimitar where he had felled many a Zambouli fighter that sought to destroy him for their queen, where his men rallied among him, to protect him and to fight all the more better to keep him alive, for he was loved a great deal from among them.

At length, Azaru was able to board the Zambouli ship and lead a contingent of his men where they fought to the upper decks. It was there that the Zambouli queen was cornered, and though by her actions it was clear to Azaru that she was want to escape, the adventurer’s men, knowing of his designs for the battle, had taken a skiff to secure the other side of the enemy vessel, which they held and prevented any from leaving. Some little time passed, but then the leader of the enemy vessel was completely cornered and cut off from her rallying warriors, and with his scimitar raised high, Azaru approached their leader and he, demanding of her, “Who are you?” and she said nothing, and again, demanded Azaru the same words of the Zambouli women, thinking she must be their queen, “for if you do not command these warriors and the end of this battle, you and all that serve you shall surely perish in just a little time.” And not answering him again, Azaru asked a third time, though not without some threats and a glinting of his blooded scimitar in the sun. Finally the warrior woman did answer him, and spat, “I am Omruda! and I am these warrior’s leader, sent hither to find and kill you; that we may take back our precious stone that means nothing to you men of the north, save for the prize of some gold!”

The esteemed captain and adventurer, the very man responsible for taking the stone for just such a purpose, was not without sympathy for the lady Omruda, though neither could he be dissuaded so easily from his present course at so simple a declaration of his disdainful character. Then he, Azaru Hassan that is, smiled in a very dashing manner, jesting that she could indeed speak, for she had a mouth and a tongue, and his men threw back their heads in laughter. Then he said to her, “Again, I tell you to cease this battle and to end your fighting, or else you and your warriors will die, and it will make no difference what happens to your stone. If you live, you may yet find a way to take back your stone, for if you do as I wish, I will let you all loose aboard your vessel while I sail my course.” “And,” said she in a transport of surprise, “do you truly intend to free us, to make such a sport of all this?” He told her that he did, that he had no wish to fight and to lose more of his men than need be, and that if she could secure the stone by other means later, then she would surely deserve it, as he will have been bested by her superior cunning. “You are reckless,” said she to him with a smile, and Azaru agreed with the warrior queen as his heart beat violently by way of her attractive bearing.

“The value I do hold for the stone,” he thought, “is nothing in comparison to this woman’s striking beauty.” Because his answer satisfied the Zambouli leader, who at once smiled anew at her new chance for a later victory, she then called a halt to the battle, and the fighting ceased completely. Azaru Hassan cheered triumphantly while his men exulted him for their quick fight that had cost some few lives of the adventurers who sailed with such a courageous leader as him. It was then that the queen Omruda looked at him and made question on their love for their leader, and with this he answered her, saying, “A leader who loves his men, is loved by his men, O Queen of the Zambouli,” and the queen Omruda agreed, whereupon she told Azaru that she was no queen, but rather a princess of the Zambouli.

With the battle done and because of this turn of events, Azaru Hassan could not help but feel a certain connection to the princess Omruda, or perhaps he had only become smitten with her, but he then offered up a suggestion to her, saying that they, being the two parties, should partake in drink together and wait out the night before parting in the morning, of which, and at some length, she agreed to do, and there was no hostilities between the two sides; indeed! even the gods must have scratched their heads, for there was no animosity or hard feelings between them, not even for the sake of the stone, which was very near to their grasp. Amidst their merrymaking and much consumption of meat drink, Omruda went into Azaru upon his ship from whence she said with great irony, “I had thought you of the good religion that shuns drunkenness?” Caring not, Azaru looked upon the princess Omruda and suggested she disrobe, and she smiled then with a knowing countenance. “You and your men killed a Nameless King of the Great Hunters when you took the stone,” said she to him. “Did you know?” But the adventuring captain had not known, and Omruda went on at length, whereupon she told Azaru that the king of which she spoke was none other than her own father, and that she had little love for him, though he had killed him on the day of his birth, which was an omen most evil to such a ruler.

Now, Azaru was no retch without a conscience, and upon hearing that he and his men had killed Omruda’s father, the Nameless King, he asked her to accept his sincerest apologies, but the Zambouli leader would not accept his words, “for what is the worth of mere words without the verity of actions?” she asked. At length, Azaru thought on how to rectify his grievance against her, and then after a little time, he suggested to Omruda, that after he and his men sold the stone, they would steal it back and deliver it unto her own hands. With a transport of much surprise, the princess Omruda disbelieved him at first, thinking him rambling with the foolishness of drunkenness, but Azaru persisted in his suggestion until at length she agreed to it, and they, together both agreed that their crews would sail together; with some of the Zambouli warriors serving upon Azaru’s ship, and some of his men on the Zambouli ship.

“This,” said Omruda to Azaru Hassan with a wonderful flash of white teeth, “can be agreed upon.” “And,” asked Azaru, feeling all the better for his asking now, “can it be agreed upon that we should disrobe together?” It was then that night that a prince was conceived between them, for the Zambouli warrior was indeed a princess, and in each other’s arms after they had quit of their love making, she then said to Azaru that if the men were to catch them, they would both be flayed alive by their crews. The two laughed then as the men on the decks of both ships, with smiles on their faces and much wine on their breath, for that night the men celebrated as though the rivers of wine would run dry on the morrow, knew not what they had done, though some few perhaps did and said nothing to any of their fellows.

Now, even as Mehrar Al Kahlid ordered the captain of his vessel to make port, he did not know from whence the stone would arrive within the great city, and so he gave commands for his men to find suitable accommodations in an area they might strike out of with alacrity, that they might wait as a coiled snake awaits the striking of a bird; unseen and with a great surprise. With this thought, he sent some of his men as spies to the ports around the city where they bought the ears of the officials, that they might be informed of any ship that made entry matching the descriptions of their previous reports.

Once they were situated in place, Mehrar and his men awaited word for more than a little time, and in the meantime some of them became bored with the waiting and got into trouble; where one man of his company called by the name of Hamid, in a drunken stupor at the pleasure houses, in particular a house called the Palace of Shamu, and after some evil conduct, found himself in the city prisons; for his crime was that he had beaten one of the slave girls from the previously mentioned establishment, and having marked the girl’s face by his hand, drew the ire of her owner and that of the local authorities, of whom the man had called upon him.

In a rage, Mehrar went into the owner to pay the ransom demanded of him and by the watchful eyes of the authorities no less. Eyes that  Mehrar knew, threatened his designs. Furthermore he was angry for another reason; the gold, which was of no little sum to begin with, he also had to pay extra in the amount the slave girl would otherwise have gained her master in the time he said it would take for her face to heal, or rather, that was what he had said, and Mehrar knew that he was lying concerning that time required of the girl to become beautiful again. He said to the slave owner, “This is extortion and you know that we are visitors from out of town, of which we have pressing matters here in this city. You take advantage of us, knowing we have little time to lose concerning our own plans in this place, and so you wish to make a tidy profit from this altercation, yes?” “Please,” said Hormooz to him, for that was the name of the slave owner, “you do not know the worth of the slaves in the great city, and look at her face? Look at her splendid beauty! and the price of which I would get from her suitors, but for this mark, she is ruined!” “Say not that she is ruined, sir,” rejoined Mehrar with much hidden frustration. “You know she will heal of this wound and become beautiful once again, for they are your words!” To make matters worse, just then, Mehrar’s man, called Farook, arrived to tell him that the ship from whence they were waiting had arrived within the port and was presently disembarking. Mehrar Al Kahlid then, telling Farook to keep watch on the whereabouts of the crew, was interrupted by his man who informed him that the ship had arrived with another vessel at its side, and that they seemed to be a pair. Mehrar was taken by surprise, as he had not been expecting this, not by the verity of his earlier reports from the very same man speaking to him at that moment.

“This,” said he, “can be a problem, however which we are not unsuited to handle, therefore go to the men and prepare them for an occasion of when we may have need to use our scimitars.” Of course, he had told these things to Farook when they had gone from the slave owner and the authorities, having paid them their demanded sums. At that time Mehrar Al Kahlid had been under no illusions that the slave owner called Hormooz and the authorities of which he had occasion to call upon him, had not indeed been working together. In another time, Mehrar may have contested the claims of Hormooz further, but he had not the time to do this now, and, considering his man in the prisons, who was now to be released and would surely be making his way back to him, he had decided on a matter that would most benefit his company, and that was to expel the man for his shameful and costly conduct; for even a slave woman deserves the respect of a man, no matter her profession, and because of the costly sums of gold lost to his mistress the princess Haumziya Al Umza, Mehrar was more ashamed than if his own pockets had gotten lighter by his man’s foolish conduct and by the trickery that had followed. “However,” thought he, “I have precious need of every scimitar among my men,” for to deal with those adventurers who may fight to maintain their possession of the stone—that they had another crew that had joined forces with them, they were now quite possibly outmatched. He and his company would have to use careful guile and perhaps trickery to obtain what they had sought for so long now. And so Hamid, the man Mehrar intended to expel, for a time at least, would remain in his company, and after all was settled, he would investigate to make certain Hamid had not been in league with the thieves all along, for should the man be guilty, Mehrar would then strike off his head with his own scimitar as a just reward and punishment.

In quick order, Mehrar Al Kahlid went back to his men, and where they had been hiding, he found that they had their swords, and that they wanted to attack the adventurers who had the stone right away—to surprise them and to take that which they sought, out from them in the confusion and conflict. Mehrar thought it a good plan, however, now that the adventurers were two parties instead of just the one, this plan he knew to be too dangerous, and he could not fail to obtain the stone for his mistress, for his desire of her was great, and knowing that should he return to her having not completed the quest given him, he would forever be cast out from her sight, her estimable opinion of him ruined. “No,” he told the men, “we must needs find another way, and so we wait and watch them to see what they do, and surely weaknesses will reveal themselves. Go observe them, and bring regular reports of their activities to Farook, my second, and myself.”

With those commands the men nodded and agreed to do as their leader had bid them, and many of them remained still while only a little of them left to spy on their enemies who had the stone in their possession; the best of them and the most quiet of Mehrar’s hashashins, and that was to say, that they were of the ancient order of “assassins;” quick with their blades and quiet in the night from whence they moved, like the vipers of the dunes of Marha Khand, for night had come, and that was when those men had set out to do as he had commanded of them.

Meanwhile, Azaru Hassan and his own men had situated themselves in a place of comfortable lodging in the city where travelers are oft want to go, and even now they prepared for the exchange of the stone of Zambouli for a vast sum of gold. Also with them in their company were the Zambouli warriors and their leader Omruda, who at that time continued to look upon Azaru with careful interest and perhaps even a growing affection; the reason being because of the arrangement he had made with her concerning the stone, which had given upon her a strong impression of his honor and worthiness in her own eyes. Omruda still had many concerns, and she said unto Azaru and his men, “We will come with you to make the exchange for the stone, from hence you wish to become rich men.” This however, was indeed a problem as the adventurer saw it, and to her in turn, he answered, “And what of your heritage being of the land of Zambouli? Should this not strike fear into the hearts of the men who wish to purchase the stone off us?” “Sir,” said she, “I will not leave you alone with the stone and the gold all at once, for when you no longer have it in your possession you may decide that you no longer have need of us, your allies.” With a pained expression upon his face and some hurt within his heart, Azaru, to her surprise, and among that of all the adventurers and warriors who shared a little bit of her feelings, responded, “Princess, why think you that I would not need you? for we have shared of our bodies and consecrated our destinies; for which we are now intertwined at this time. Truly, should you think that I would betray you, even against the agreement I have sworn to you among our crews and our most trusted men?”

There was not a little bit of surprise from the men on both sides after this revelation, but that their reaction would be one to make want of them to skin both she and him, as the Zambouli princess had said, was wholly a mistake on her part, for their men loved them so. Then said the princess Omruda to him, “Sir, you have gone too far to utter such a thing, and in the presence of the men! Why did you speak thus to me here at this time?” But Azaru, being a man of an easy nature and oft of a want to make merry, waved her words away. “Ha!” scoffed he in a transport of great amusement and a little arrogance, said, “None should be hidden from what they all must already know, for the looks you continue to cast me, and I have little doubt for those that come your way by that of myself, are a declaration as strong as words—nay!—stronger than words, for how else would the men know my words be lie or not? Let them decide by our actions both of us have already shown and will continue to show, for this truth between us cannot be hidden, Princess of Zambouli!”

And looking to their men’s faces, the Zambouli princess then smiled and agreed that Azaru’s thoughts were of a strong sense for reason and would not be ignored by herself, for the warriors and adventurers, in their surprise, did not react in the manner of which she had in half jest that night of their love making, suggested. “Then,” said she to Azaru and all the men from his vessel, and all the men from her vessel, “shall we not sell the stone, and then take it back; that we may all profit from this most surprising alliance of ours?” “Yes!” exclaimed Azaru and all the men at once did just that as well. “Let us sell the stone and become rich, that we may then take it back for Zambouli, from whence it came and from whence it belongs!”

After all this conversation, the two parties, but under the leadership of Azaru Hassan, at length sought to make the connection with their benefactor; the group from which they intended to sell the stone, who at the time of their contractual agreements, had been headed by some very rich men, their leader being a tall and powerful noble of much means and of a demeanor that seemed would ill fate any man who chose to cross such, his name being Rafeek Al Dashura.

And while Azaru Hassan and his men most suited for these kinds of dealings, with the princess Omruda and a few of her select warriors, and including Azaru’s most trusted right hand man, Dafa, had set out, they were followed by none other than Mehrar Al Kahlid’s spies and assassins, who, by his command, had sent regular reports back to their esteemed and beloved leader, detailing everything they had seen and heard, and informing him that the adventurers were led by none other than his own friend, Azaru Hassan, which upon hearing of this ill-fated prospect, his eyes had gotten big and his mouth had moved strangely while the thoughts inside his head were like a storm of swords. After thinking on this for some short time, Mehrar shook his head and said, “No!” “But, Captain,” said Farook, who also commanded much respect from Mehrar himself and of that of the rest of their company,  said he to him, “do we leave off, because you know this man, Azaru Hassan? What of our esteemed princess from which we all love as you love? Shall we fall away and come back to her empty handed?” But Mehrar again responded as before, and more, saying among his men, who had all been sitting quietly in the lantern light of a large room with food and comfortable furniture, “We will capture that stone Azaru Hassan plans to sell to that man called Rafeek Al Dashura, but not before they are paid in the gold that they most clearly desire for it.” “Then,” said Farook to him, “you plan that we take the stone from this man, Rafeek Al Dashura, yes?”

Mehrar informed his second and that of all the men, that what he had spoken was indeed what he had planned, for he did not want to fight his friend for the love of his princess, which he knew that he would, had he had no other choice, and that this way he could abstain from losing a friendship in the process of fulfilling the princess Haumziya’s greatest desire in the world. His men agreed that this would be the better of the two ways, for Azaru Hassan was a famed adventurer and capable with a sword besides; his crew hardened and all veterans, and at that time, they had double their normal strength with their new allies the Zambouli warriors who accompanied them, which was a most perplexing coming together of allies that had made not a few of Mehrar’s men scratch their heads in bafflement, and some in fear, for the Zambouli warriors were tall and muscled and carried their tribal armor and swords as well as any warrior of the land. It had further been decided then, mainly by decree of their esteemed captain, Mehrar Al Kahlid, for which they had great respect and admiration for, that they would infiltrate Rafeek Al Dashura’s palace in the night after he had acquired the stone from Azaru Hassan, and to take that which they sought by no means of the sword, but only by means of quiet feet and stealthy hands.

Some time had passed and the night had darkened, and it was just then that more word from the spies was returning to Mehrar and Farook and to all his men who waited silently with little to do, they, being the assassins, came to them and revealed the state of Azaru Hassan’s current actions; that he and a group of his men, and some small contingent of the Zambouli warriors and their leader, had left their place of temporary lodging and had made their way to the dwelling of Rafeek Al Dashura, which was called Agorlaran. They knew it to be a palace of many gardens and high turrets from stones pink and white and where bright lights came from the many windows at night, where richly appareled lords and ladies from across the land oft went for parties and carousing.

“But how,” asked the men to him, “do we get in there to find the stone when surely Agorlaran’s gates are guarded by watchful sentries, their lord and his prized possessions of rich stuff safe from that of men like us?” The question had concerned Mehrar very little, for he knew how to get into the palace undetected by the guards, and so he told his men to wait, that the spies were to continue with their reports. It was then that he told his second to come to him, from whence he commanded that the reliable fellow go down to the markets and to find apparel that would closely match that of the liveried servants of the house of Rafeek Al Dashura’s. Farook, having a high level of intelligence close to his own, had smiled and nodded, understanding his captain’s intent most perfectly, and he wasted no time, taking five of his men and some of the gold provided to Mehrar by their princess, and he went to the night markets that, in this city of cities, never sleeps, so it has been said and written.

Meanwhile, Azaru Hassan and his company, with the princess Omruda and his trusted man, Dafa, and some few of their warriors, went into Rafeek Al Dashura’s palace where he received them, and they saw and were seen by his many guests during their party. Together, the adventurers and the Zambouli warriors marveled at the place, for it was a palace of such finely furnished beauty, with statues of marble and fine rugs and silken curtains. Above the ground in the gardens crystal lanterns alighted the place with a soft glow for their banquet and amusements, of which there were slaves with musical instruments of many varieties and traveling performers who played tricks and did acrobatics at the surprise of the party goers, and where there was food of many rich varieties, succulent to the taste, there were also many wines that had been shipped across the seas from all over the empire and beyond.

“You are most welcome,” said Rafeek Al Dashura to them. “Come and enjoy yourselves, for we do not need to perplex our ingratiated lives by the fast and easy abandonment of our pleasures for other gains which can wait but not a little while, yes?” And they had agreed, even though Azaru inwardly thought that he wanted to be well done of this place, for he desired the great quantities of gold their host had previously offered them for the stone. With such a fine payment, the adventurers and their Zambouli allies had no need to make use of a strange man’s palace for their entertainments, even such as it was that Rafeek Al Dashura had offered to them for their use and pleasures.

  It was a little while before they reconvened with their host, and now quit of the food and the dancing girls and the incessant chatter, their host returned with his ample procession of guards and attendants and special sorcerers, whereupon he led Azaru Hassan and his company to the upper rooms, and from thence he stated that he wanted to see the stone; to have it looked upon by his men, that he might know the verity of their claims concerning such as the Zambouli artifact. Azaru Hassan did not dissemble at this want from their host, and so he had revealed the stone to a room transported with astonishment, and all the while Omruda and her warriors had attracted the strange looks and curiosities of their host who wished to buy the stone off them. “Are you not Zambouli yourselves?” asked he of them, and Rafeek Al Dashura had looked to Azaru for the answer, but Azaru Hassan said nothing,  as he waited for Omruda to answer their host’s question, for she was a capable warrior and leader in her own right, and fully capable of answering the question. And she answered Rafeek Al Dashura, incurring a little suspicion upon them all, for her answer was not easily given, as she was no liar, and even so Azaru also was no liar in many things, his easy ability in speaking with others, he then performed, and their host’s suspicion lessened, at least, outwardly, and Azaru Hassan knew that in secret Rafeek Al Dashura now planned to betray them to his guards and his soldiers, and thinking of this, he thought, “He had ever planned to betray us,” which caused him to give subtle signals to his trusted man, Dafa, who then stealthily prepared the men throughout the house that a need and skill with scimitars would soon be prevailed upon them.

The men, not having their swords at that time, but who were capable warriors—each of them a dangerous foe to any who would challenge them, espied the guards’ positions throughout the palace, and searching them out where they were alone or distracted by the slave girls, or were otherwise not as well professioned as some of the others, then, marked them for attack by which their swords could be taken; that the adventurers may be armed, doing this all the while being no more drawn of attention than must needs be.

Meanwhile, Farook and his men had returned to Mehrar Al Kahlid with the garments from the night markets and while Azaru Hassan and his party had enjoyed themselves at the palace of Agorlaran, Mehrar ordered Farook to have everyone ready, for he wanted to infiltrate the palace and to steal the stone before it had time to cool from the changing of hands; a most unlikely thing the new owner would surely never expect. And as the laying out of these designs had transpired among Mehrar Al Kahlid and his men, Azaru Hassan and the princess Omruda and their men, had become increasingly agitated, like sky sheep slowly hemmed by predators of the skies; their position in the upper rooms becoming increasingly untenable.

A sweat had beaded down Azaru’s face while he thought, “Our hopes rest with my good man Dafa and his men downstairs,” for the part of the Zambouli warriors, he did not believe that they were in awareness of their present circumstances, or if they knew of what had been transpiring, they perhaps knew not what to do to counter the danger, unlike Dafa, who at that time had become aware shortly after the danger was known to Azaru Hassan himself. His men were only one step behind his superb abilities to recognize such circumstances; they were all well accustomed to the intricacies of dangerous situations outside of the knowledge most men of the sword would surely be. None of his men were unread louts, cutthroats or brigands, but were they indeed learned and refined, and good with blades too.

And then to his aides and to his officers of his court, Rafeek Al Dashura commanded of them to bring in the gold, from whence he had agreed to pay for the stone, and not a little time had passed before four slaves girls wearing not but silken gossamer garments, and carrying a palanquin, arrived with the sacks. “It is here,” said they to the room with bright smiles upon their faces and long fluttering lashes as they made eyes at the men, for the slave girls were meant as a distraction for Azaru Hassan and all the men in the room upon his side of the bargain. The slave girls set down the palanquin and said they to their master, “Here in these sacks; fifty-thousand gold pieces, just as you have ordered, my lord.” “Good,” said he to them with a nod and a smile and a subtle direction of his eyes to his men. It was then that Azaru Hassan became aware that Dafa needed more time to prepare. For this reason, Azaru came to the conclusion that it need be that he distract their host and to engage him in much conversation to prevent him from giving his final orders to his men to execute their demise; and so the adventuring captain proceeded to engage the greatly rich and duplicitous man in conversation, at first in idle curiosities, of which Rafeek Al Dashura returned with pleasant airs and graces, but even so, among both parties it was though a play were unfolded, where once the finale came, so too would the sharp blades to their necks.

“Hurry!” thought Azaru with a transport of much trepidation and hidden trembling of his hands, “for if you are but the span of time it takes to smother the flame of a candle, Dafa—we should all then be killed in pools of blood.” Azaru Hassan liked it not that the life of himself and that of the princess of Zambouli, as well as their warriors with them in the upper chambers, were then only in the hands of his second, of whom he trusted with what he held in his palm, but that it was too dangerous a thing; and he had not thought the exchange would come to this. At that time of Azaru’s thoughts, Dafa and his men downstairs had continued to espy the swords of the guards and to make eyes at the knives used by the servants as they carved and served the most succulent of roasted meats at the party banquet, and it was only a little while before Dafa and his men exchanged glances when the guards of the palace then began to shift about with careful signals, their mannerisms of further readiness for confrontation clear to him after the messengers from the house staff went to them with those such words that Dafa knew should only be orders from their master, Rafeek Al Dashura. And then, thought he, “We must act now, or forfeit our surprise upon these snakes!”

Though much trepidation assailed him, for he knew not at that moment whether his beloved captain, Azaru Hassan and his princess, were in a position to make use of his sudden distraction and attempt to save of them their lives, or if they would be lambs to the slaughter, their death strokes delivered at the hands of Rafeek Al Dashura’s guards. In the end, he said a prayer to the gods of the good religion and left the fate of his captain and the princess of Zambouli to their estimable hands, but also to the skills of their own hands from which he knew would prevail them in this hour of need, and with these thoughts, Dafa went to his men and signaled them with orders that they then must be ready to act; for they would do as he said at the moment of his own action. And a short while he waited, he and his men taking up their final positions throughout the palace of Agorlaran.

It was then that he knew, perhaps from an intuition from the gods themselves, that he must act of that moment—and Dafa sprung to the young and inexperienced guard near the wall next to a statue, and hitting his head against the marble, knocked him unconscious amidst the screaming of a woman who had been nearby to watch every action of his against his foe. And now he wasted no more time, and he took up the scimitar and hearing disturbances throughout the lower rooms of the house, he went to a frightened guard, but just before he could release his sword, Dafa struck off his head in a spray of blood that painted the palace walls anew, and as he did this others of Dafa’s men came, some with weapons they had obtained from various places, and others of which were still unarmed, who then snatched the newly dropped scimitar before their feet, adding to their total strength of arms downstairs.

It was during this moment of screams and blood and death, that Azaru Hassan and the princess of Zambouli, upstairs above this most violent design by Dafa to get themselves out of their entrapment, acted, just as the master of the house, Rafeek Al Dashura flinched, his reaction had been as great as would be the explosion of Mount Izohn in the mountains near the Ancient City from whence they all were; a thing that had happened in the legends only. He did then show a like surprise that should be evoked only upon such a happening, and he commanded his guards, commanding as he pointed with a finger not unlike a narrow-tapered dagger, “Kill them!” and his guards and his officers then moved to obey their master’s commands, whereupon these things happened, Azaru Hassan and the princess of Zambouli too, reacted, and they moved with alacrity amidst much screaming and shouting while their adventurers and warriors within the room, who loved them more than life itself, moved to show their affection for the princess and the beloved captain, and in so doing, saved their lives at the giving of their own, while as they died, Azaru Hassan and the princess of Zambouli made their escape, though not with the stone, as Azaru had previously placed it down for Rafeek Al Dashura’s sorcerers to examine it where it then had then remained there.

It was not but a little time when Dafa and his men, with their blooded scimitars in hand, and not without the accompaniment of the Zambouli warriors who themselves fought to help Dafa, came to be with Azaru Hassan and the princess of Zambouli upon the stairs, and seeing them, the most loyal of Azaru’s men, Dafa, whose eyes became large, said unto them in hurried tones, “Come! for if we do not leave this place as soon as we are able, we will surely be surrounded and forced to fight with our backs against the walls—the guards of the palace of Agorloran are many and our men few!” “Yes,” said Azaru Hassan with great haste, “my most loyal of men, do lead us away from here so that we and the princess of Zambouli may be safe from this most treacherous of traps!”

However, the princess, knowing that she would lose the stone, and perhaps forever, should they retreat from Rafeek Al Dashura’s palace and his designs to see them all killed, had suddenly put up a fuss, even in the midst of the screaming and panicked guests, who in their fright, ran in all directions while the guards, of those who had not been yet dealt with by Dafa and his men, were still confused and disoriented, their time of safety becoming smaller by the minute. “We have no time!” said Azaru Hassan to her and her warriors. “We should not terry here with indecision, for if we do not leave now, we will surely all die!” And even as the palace guards attacked them, while Dafa and his men protected Azaru Hassan, their most beloved leader, and that of the princess of Zambouli, she responded unto him and said, “What of your promise to get the stone for me? Do you leave that with Rafeek Al Dashura as well? and prey tell me now, what else should your promises not be kept with the highest esteem, sir?”

“Does this time of blades pressing down upon us,” spoke Dafa even as he cut down a palace guard by the swinging of his sword, “not give my lord and captain a benefit of your doubts that he will come through on his promise? for should we continue to fight, he shall truly be called a liar in earnest for no recourse will he be able to give should we all be dead here, princess!” “Listen to him!” said one of the princess of Zambouli’s most powerful warriors. “Yes!” said those warriors from behind him, as even they had now gained many weapons from various places, though not all from which were the blades taken from the guards, and they spoke again; “Listen to this man, Dafa, for he knows well from whence he speaks on this matter, because even he had known the danger by a flick of the chin from Azaru Hassan, their captain, a thing from which we had no experience before and had no knowing of. We are all within their hands, most venerable princess!”

And upon reminding the princess Omruda of her chance to gain the stone back by way of Azaru Hassan’s mercy, even now he had said a similar thing, for had they stayed, as he had said, and what her own warriors had repeated, they would surely all die; which would then make that such thing impossible. After hearing these words of wisdom and of pleading, the princess of Zambouli wasted only a little time more, but then all at once she agreed, whereupon they all fled together from the palace of Agorlaran and away from the stone, the night shielding them from the eyes of their pursuers as they had also split apart and scattered like ants into the great and Ancient City of the Empire of Ashahnai; where running, they, like bandits in the night, went into the slums and through narrow alleys, up and over the walls of darkened dwellings, and they lost their pursuers at that time after much running.

While Azaru Hassan and the the others had run for want of their lives into the cloak of the night within that great city, Rafeek Al Dashura’s guests had departed and fled and ran to the city watch to tell them of what had happened, even then he in his upper chambers with that of his officers and his few guards that still remained, along with his sorcerers and most loyal servants, had exulted in his gaining of the stone; for he had not given of a single gold piece. “My lord,” said the man of his chief servants, “was this not a high price to pay, even still? Your guests and friends have departed through pools of blood upon the floors, surely their fear of ever returning will forever remain in their hearts, yes?” “Think not on that,” replied Rafeek Al Dashura, and he had said that with a laugh full of greed and lust for his new gain, and without any musings on the safety of his many wives and concubines, who, at that time unbeknownst to himself, were huddled in terror within their vast chambers of gold and silk surrounded by their women slaves, unawares that the danger had passed. “That this had come to pass,” he then continued, “had not been of my designs for this night, and even still, we will make a sufficient story as to draw the sympathy of my guests for myself and that of their ire of my new enemies, for those who come to me love of my wealth and of my power, and their greed will in them design to have them return with or without the consent of their pathetic fear.” And saying this, he then instructed his chief servant to go and put up the glowing jewel of Zambouli into his safe room and to begin the construction of a story that would sufficiently adhere to his earlier words spoken. And they obeyed, moving with haste and alacrity for their master was a cruel taskmaster when he was of the thought that his servants did not hasten quickly enough. After a little time passed then, he thought of his wives and concubines, and asked after their safety with not but a little air of concern.

All the while these things happened among Rafeek Al Dashura and the officers of his household, the spies and assassins that had earlier been sent by Mehrar Al Kahlid, had then watched, and after seeing all that they needed to see, for they saw the stone with their own eyes, and whence the highest chief of Rafeek Al Dashura’s servants had placed the stone, they then departed with word to their venerable captain, who listened silently to all they had to say concerning the events of the night; of the stone and of Azaru Hassan and the whereabouts that he got to safely, along with the princess of Zambouli and her warriors, and all the while during the telling, the eyes of his men were large while the smiles of their faces broadened, for they thought they must already have won of the jewel that they intended to bring to the princess Haumziya Al Umza. With much satisfaction of the stone’s placement, but with a little trepidation for his friend Azaru Hassan and his loss, Mehrar Al Kahlid then nodded of his head. And he said to his men, “I am pleased that my friend, Azaru Hassan and that of his allies and friends, have not been killed, but for his loss we have now come into a great gain of circumstance that we shall make use of without pity, for our mistress, Haumziya Al Umza, does desire the stone more than anything in this life, and we of her most loyal employ shall fetch the stone and soon will deliver it to her pristine hands.” The men then cheered, their happiness for the present circumstance a great thing that lessened the burden of their hearts, for Mehrar Al Kahlid was not the only one who had a love and a want of the princess Haumziya Al Umza, and it was at that time that an odd thing struck him, and he thought, “It is much like a sorcery she has cast upon myself and us all,” for the princess commanded an insatiable and almost unnatural love by some of the men, who forewent their payment for want of a mere chance at pleasing her, and these things had gone on for some time and had been known among Mehrar and many of the others, but they did know that ever was the love of a man for a woman to make want of him to do great deeds for her notice and affection.

And as Mehrar Al Kahlid had thought these things upon readying his most trusted and sneaky assassins to venture into the palace of Rafeek Al Dashura soon thereafter, the princess Haumziya Al Umza, across the sea in her own palace, paced in the night with wine red as blood in her white hand. The rays of the moon shone like silver through her silken curtains and into her bright chambers while the wind carried upon it the rising air of her heart’s desire and the deeds of her most loyal and loving servant, Mehrar Al Kahlid, and then she smiled with pleasure. The princess Haumziya then called to her slaves to ready her of a hot bath, for she wished to be washed and later pleasured, that she might sleep through the night, her desire of the stone not wanting of worry, and her desires of body slaked, that they not bother her as she dreamed of magic and of the Zambouli stone from whence it presently lay; its destiny sore and aching for her own possession and use.

While the princess bathed, Azaru Hassan was regrouping with his loyal man, Dafa and his men, and with that of the princess Omruda of Zambouli and her warriors, and while these things came to pass Mehrar Al Kahlid sent his assassins into the palace of Agorlaran from whence they might bring back the stone, and though the guards from within had, by their master, Rafeek Al Dashura, been told to remain alert and watchful, in their hearts did not believe an infiltrator from a third party to be present at that time or later, and neither did they believe that Azaru Hassan would return with the few men he had, even with his allies of the Zambouli warriors, for should they have done such a thing, they would be want of sanity, of which they had and that it was known they possessed. And even as the guards in the palace were doubled, and they watched, they did this thing only halfheartedly, for the fear struck within their hearts during the violent struggles earlier of the night, had tired them of body and of mind, and late in the evening as the moon shone at once on all of the parties involved with the stone, some of them went to sleep. It was at this most opportune time that the assassins and spies send by Mehrar slipped into the palace silently through the windows, like snakes on the sand, for the locks were of want to keep out the usual robbers, not that of such highly trained men of war and stealth and murder; such as they were of Mehrar Al Kahlid’s company.

Now, among them, the assassins and spies of the venerable captain, there was one, of the name Nesramir, who was the chiefest officer of these assassins and spies, and he was the first of the assassins to gain entry to the palace of Rafeek Al Dashura, for among his abilities, he also possessed some small means of magic, and it was this magic, that while did him little good in a duel, did him great service, in that it allowed him to discover the places of the sorcerers. While Nesramir had been able to mask his own magical auras; a thing even a powerful sorcerer could not at any time sustain indefinitely, he was able to do so for a short duration and so he was unknown to his foes while in the palace,  and it was that the sorcerers who guarded the stone were seen by him, though without his eyes, and for this reason, Nesramir had passed many of the guards while his assassins, in their newly acquired livery from the night markets that well matched the palace servants, had cut their throats quietly, their gurgling death throes silenced with oppressive hands and sharp blades, whereupon Nesramir sneaked close to Rafeek Al Dashura’s sorcerers guarding the stone from behind their persons. It was here that he dispatched them easily without the use of any magical means, and once they lay dead at his feet in pools of their own blood, he had gone into the safe room from whence the stone was found by him.

However, a thing happened then that Nesramir was not aware of as he picked up the false stone and put it in his bag, and all the while, scouts sent by Azaru Hassan to keep watch on the palace of Rafeek Al Dashura so that he would not secret the stone away from there without his knowing, had been sent, and they watched the assassins and spies take the false stone and return it to their master, though even as this was done, neither Azaru Hassan’s group nor Mehrar Al Kahlid’s group knew the stone was not the true stone, for the deception upon it by the sorcerers of Rafeek Al Dashura was strong.

When his scouts returned to him they told Azaru Hassan and the princess Omruda all that had transpired before their eyes; that they had seen the assassins of another group at the palace that night, whereupon, following them, they did return to another who was none other than his friend Mehrar Al Kahlid. With much surprise and astonishment, it had taken Azaru Hassan a moment to collect himself, but then after, he had laughed and said, “Then this is a good thing!” “Yes,” replied the princess Omruda to him, and she continued, saying, “we may go to your friend and ask of him concerning the stone, for should he not want to give it to us, he will surely sell it to us, yes?” Thinking on this for some time, Azaru finally shook his head, for his thoughts were that this was not so. He was aware of his friend Mehrar Al Kahlid’s devotion to his lady, the princess Haumziya Al Umza; and what an unnatural devotion it was. He then told the princess Omruda as much, and when she made to argue with Azaru, he cut in, and he said to her, “Wait, for luck has brought her own self to us, Princess. Please hear what I have to say before you interrupt.” And Azaru told her all of these thoughts he had at that time; that he believed taking the stone from Mehrar Al Kahlid’s mistress, the princess Haumziya Al Umza, would be far easier than battling that of the powerful lord Rafeek Al Dashura’s guards and soldiers and sorcerers. After he had said this, the princess Omruda expressed that she had doubts, and she asked after them to Azaru Hassan, saying, “Do you know what you speak to be true, O captain of adventurers?” Azaru Hassan smiled at the princess’ contempt, but he did not become offended, for he knew her to be frustrated with the prospect of losing the stone forever; it being the cultural rock of her homeland and of her people the Zambouli; lands from whence she had saw it as her duty to reclaim; as she was a princess after all, of that king who had protected the stone from before. “Fear not,” he said to her, “for we will reclaim the stone from its new owners with ease. We have but to follow my friend Mehrar Al Kahlid to his mistress, the princess Haumziya Al Umza. They will never be the wiser after we have taken the stone out from under them, for why would they be? They will believe the stone taken by none other than the lord Rafeek Al Dashura of whom had taken it from them this very night.”

With these words, it was agreed upon by all the men and by Azaru Hassan and by that of the princess Omruda of Zambouli, that they would prepare the ships for departure even of that night, and to prepare to follow Mehrar Al Kahlid a day after his own departure, for Azaru knew the location of his mistress’ palace; her being the princess Haumziya Al Umza, she was widely known throughout the lands and by many, including himself.

And so it was that Mehrar Al Kahlid and his men sailed back to the princess Haumziya Al Umza, and upon entering of her during the setting of the orange and golden sun, like the glint of so many precious metals on the horizon, she received him with transports of delight and jubilation and a beating of her heart. Then, taking the stone, the princess was filled with the most love and veneration for her captain of captains; she having her heart’s desire in her own hands to do with as she so pleased. “You have brought me the stone,” said she to him, “and because you have done this thing that I have asked, and in so doing you have provided me with what I most desired in this world, Mehrar Al Kahlid, you shall have what you most desire in this world—my admiration and my love,” and saying these things she took him by the hand and together Mehrar and the princess Haumziya went into her chambers, and she called her servants to take precious care of the stone of Zambouli from whence it was placed upon an altar near the window overlooking the sea.

Looking upon Mehrar and his travel-worn clothing and his beard, she laughed and called the servants that he might have a bath, and she said unto him, “Tonight, a feast will be thrown in my palace, and all the most esteemed of the city shall come and eat with us tonight, my love and my captain of captains.” “I do not,” said he to her, “wish for anything of the sort, Princess. I only desire of you; to be with you.” The princess Haumziya Al Umza smiled to him and replied, “And you shall, Mehrar. From hence, you shall, for you have shown yourself worthy of me.”

Some time had passed and the runners and messengers of the palace of princess Haumziya Al Umza made their duties done, and with their invitations to the richest and most powerful of the city, including the most religious, and of the poorest of the city, they came, and music was played from every quarter of the princess’ palace where food and drink was brought in and the tables set, and the guests mingled and laugh and were lively; the party banquet thrown in the honor of Mehrar Al Kahlid and his crew, and their getting of the stone of Zambouli for the princess Haumziya Al Umza, who made a toast to his venerable abilities and his most ardent loyalty. Hours passed, and it was then in the view of all of her guests that the princess looked to Mehrar Al Kahlid before taking up his hand and leading him away to her chambers for all to see the boon of his achievement. And the princess, in her chambers with Mehrar, who was now clean and shaven, and he wore the finest clothes and slippers, she did disrobe for his pleasure, and in the blue light of the night where her chamber lights were extinguished purposely by word to her servants that she had wished it such, the princess Haumziya Al Umza bedded Mehrar Al Kahlid, and in so doing, he attained his heart’s greatest desire.

When both the princess and her captain were spent, Mehrar Al Kahlid thought “In wanting this for so long, I have finally attained it, and now my heart’s greatest desire is to have even more of the princess Haumziya,” for the captain of captains had not known it then, but he did now know he wanted the princess’ hand in marriage, though he said nothing for fear that she would laugh and dissemble, and to have him thrown out, even if in a playful gesture; a drawing of a line in the sand from whence he could never cross again. She then looked at him over their pillows and said, “You have your desire, and I have my desire,” and she asked him if it was all that he wanted. This surprised Mehrar Al Kahlid, and even as he thought of her words and how to answer her, Azaru Hassan’s spies had come into the palace and were watching for the stone, which was there in the princess Haumziya’s chambers, and as the spies of Azaru Hassan found them there and watched, Mehrar Al Kahlid made to respond to his princess, but before he could, she got up from the bed, and from thence she went to the stone.

The captain of captains then knew that he shared the princess’ heart; that with the stone, an object of seeming magic and not of flesh or of blood. He had thought that he should be overjoyed, but in his heart the seed of jealousy was planted, and it grew when the princess Haumziya lifted the stone of Zambouli in an exultant manner and strode to the windows, her nakedness forgotten, and with the stone she raise her hands to the starlight and called out strange words; magical words that the captain understood not. And then something happened that none of the parties observing thought would ever have happened. The stone; it broke into two, the magic within turned to ash and the light of it went out, and the stone was nothing but a broken piece of crystal. Mehrar watched with a sudden transport of disbelief, and the princess turned to him with evil in her gaze. “Mehrar Al Kahlid!” said she to him, her body limned in the light of the night, her curves and her most excellent body the greatest promise of the silver-lit darkness, was then bellied by her temper and her countenance, for her eyes alighted unnaturally, and she said unto him, “You have betrayed me, for this stone is false as the promise you have made me, and therefore you shall be punished for taking from me what I have promised you in earnestness wherewith you have given me nothing! For this, you shall die!”

The princess Haumziya Al Umza then called upon her guards. Mehrar made to leave, to escape before he would be taken, but he was stopped, for when the guards arrived they broke the princess’ chamber doors open and they seized him, and as they took him away, the captain of captains turned to the princess and expressed his sorrow and his confusion, and he asked of his princess to give him time to understand the events of the night, that he may rectify his broken promise. “You,” said she to him, “shall have time to think upon your failure in my dungeon for a night only, for you will be executed on the morrow at the rising of the sun.” “You cannot!” said he with surprise, “only the city ruler has that privilege to sentence a man to death.” But the princess told him to be silent and sliced the air with her hand, cutting off anymore words he might have had.

And then something quite strange happened, a thing any observer would think upon, for the princess Haumziya Al Umza blinked, and shaking her head, for a moment, seemed not to know where she was, but when Mehrar Al Kahlid, out of his own concern for her, even then, he asked her of her condition. She answered him, saying to her guards, “Take him away from here and into the dungeons below my palace, but let not my guests see him, for should they come to know the evil I have intended for him, they will call the caliph upon us. Use the secret passages and take him from my sight.” A little time passed after Mehrar Al Kahlid was removed, when the princess Haumziya Al Umza had got herself dressed and rejoined her guests downstairs, her anger a thing that smoldered most unnaturally.

When the chambers of the princess were then quite quit of her and her other servants, another woman arrived after a little time, and her eyes bore the countenance of evil and malice and hatred, and all the while the spy of Azaru Hassan watched from the balcony through the curtains, for they were no more than a wisp of diaphanous silk that allowed him to see all, including what the woman with the evil eyes was doing when she went to the bed of the princess. She left something there underneath the mattress; a sort of talisman of magic and bewitchment. Now, it had been said before that Azaru Hassan was an intelligent man, a learned man who had the ability to foresee evil and danger come his way, and to the way of that of his allies and the princess Omruda, who at this time he came to love with a passion most ardent and true, and like him, it had also been said that his warriors were also possessed of a strength similar to his own. It was this strength of character and knowledge of danger and evil, that persuaded Azaru Hassan’s spy to enter upon the chamber, and to sneak up to the evil woman from whence she did not know, and taking her from behind, he hit her upon the head and she fell asleep upon the rugs near to the princess’ beloved pet lion. And taking up the talisman from under the mattress it was then that Azaru Hassan’s spy found others, and he removed them from there and put them in his satchel. After this, the spy carried the sorceress back down to where he had his horse tied up, and there he met his men, and together they stashed the evil woman atop his horse so that her arms and her legs hung upon either side like so many sacks of wheat. It was there in the night that they traveled back to the ship where his esteemed master had been waiting upon the silver waters just outside of the view of the palace where the ship lay in wait behind a peninsula. And coming into the ship where Azaru Hassan and the princess Omruda and the two crews awaited, surprised then appeared on their faces, for they did not think the he would return with a hostage. And Azaru Hassan, coming up to him, questioned him on this matter; saying, “What did you see while you were within the palace, and why did you bring this strange woman back with you?” The spy told them everything that he had seen, and among Azaru Hassan and his good man Dafa, the spy, and the princess of Zambouli, conversed upon those events, and finding that they did not come to achieve their aims of getting the stone, they argued among one another, and blame was thrown. Even so, Azaru’s concern for his friend, Mehrar Al Kahlid was great, for his circumstance was dire.

Both sides fought with one another, with words, and then that fight almost came to blows, for the princess Omruda said, “Warriors of Zambouli, you must prepare yourselves! Azaru Hassan has betrayed us of his promise to get us back the stone!” A conflagration of anger then arose between the crews, and Azaru tried to calm the matter, saying he to her, “I did bring us here in good faith, princess of Zambouli—for why would, I only to be betrayed of the stone and the gold and to lose your confidence? Should I want to fight with you and lose half of my crew?” The princess Omruda then laughed, saying, “Half? I think you should lose far more than half, you Ashah dog!” And then she tried to strike Azaru Hassan with her sword—his most loyal of men, having had a kind of knowledge of this event before it unfolded, stopped her, and she then fell to the deck in blood and surprise and swords were bared on both sides. But Azaru Hassan silenced them all with his eyes and his scimitar, cutting off the head of the man who struck her, and he commanded them all to silence—even of the Zambouli warriors, whereupon he then took the princess up in his arms and she looked up into his eyes; in her gaze perhaps she did still think him a traitor, and even so, Azaru Hassan saw her affection for him in how she looked upon him, and he cried out in anguish for the losing of his princess of Zambouli would come.

“What can we do?” cried a man of the crew on his side, “for there must be some way to save her, yes?” The hostage then spoke, and she whaled, begging for her life to be spared, but Azaru Hassan’s men hit her and demanded her silence. “Captain,” said his spy to him, and he pointed at the woman. “This strange woman who I have brought to you; she is a sorceress!” “A sorceress?” replied Azaru in a transport of sudden hope. And during their conversation both crews watched silently with open mouths, and the princess’ eyes closed, but her breathing had not yet stopped. Azaru then asked the sorceress what her name was, and she told him that it was Ribara. He then asked her if she wished to live, and she admitted that she did, and he gave her a chance, telling her to heal the princess Omruda of her fatal wounds. But Ribara the sorceress cold not, and Azaru Hassan had been about to order her neck cut after hearing the rest of what his spy had told him concerning the talismans, for he showed them to his captain. “See, look at these!” “Then,” said Azaru to the captive, “what be these? and answer true or your head will be struck off from your body.” The sorceress called Ribara then revealed her designs to get the stone, that she had bewitched the princess Haumziya Al Umza and her servants for her designs, and even though Azaru Hassan delayed her execution for a moment more, her crimes had been too great; so to his men he said, “She is useless to us! Do be done of her for her vile deeds!” but they were stopped when Ribara howled for mercy and offered information that she said could truly save the princess. “Then tell me of it, witch!” But she made him swear not to strike off her head if she told him, and he swore that he would not. It was then that she told them of the answer, and saying, “It is the princess Haumziya Al Umza. She is a sorcerers herself and can heal the sick and stay the dying from death!” With surprise and hope in his heart, Azaru Hassan then asked, “Can this be true?” The woman assured him that the verity of her discourse was indeed true, and for this information, Azaru Hassan let her live, in chains inside his ship’s prison until they could find what else to do with her.

“Can we trust her?” asked his man, Dafa, and the Zambouli warriors, the best of them, listened, for they too wanted to save their princess; their zeal and vigor in this regard was powerful enough that they had all forgotten of the stone of Zambouli, the prize they had all want of attaining for various reasons. “We must,” said Azaru, “for there is no other recourse left to us to save the princess Omruda.” And then upon Azaru’s orders she was carried to the captain’s stateroom for safekeeping and rest. All that night they planned what to do next until they had agreement upon by both crews, with designs to stop the execution of Mehrar Al Kahlid and to bring the sorceress woman to the palace. And after, they intended to capture the princess Haumziya Al Umza and to dispel the evil magic bewitching her, so that she may save the princess Omruda of her wounds and stave off her dying breath.

It was only a little time after all that when, in the early morning, when the sun had barely peeked over the mountains in streams of gold, and revealing a day of good promise, that Azaru Hassan and that of his Zambouli allies, acted. They brought the wounded princess Omruda upon a litter, and the sorceress Ribara in her chains, the two crews marched up quietly to the gates of Princess Haumziya’s Al Umza’s palace. While this was happening, Mehrar Al Kahlid had been knelt down and the scimitar of princess Haumziya’s guards was near to falling across his neck when they, Azaru Hassan, his adventurers, and that of the Zambouli warriors that is, stormed the palace, and it was in a rattling of his chains that Mehrar’s eyes became big as he saw his friend come to him in the midst of his princess’ guards who had then got cut down in sprays of hot blood, for they were evil and truly served the sorceress ensnaring their minds, a thing that Mehrar Al Kahlid, to this point, ever only suspected out of a disbelieving jest, but it was then that he came to truly understand the evils festering with the palace from whence he was about to be killed. And then with his scimitar, Azaru Hassan cut his chains and he was free.

All around them violence erupted and the servants and slaves screamed for help. When Azaru looked for the princess, and not seeing her, he then turned to Mehrar and flanked by some of his men, he said, “Where has the princess Haumziya Al Umza gone?” But because of their raised swords and the manner of their entry, Mehrar doubted Azaru Hassan’s intentions, and replied, “For what reason do you wish to know from whence the princess has gone, sir? Do you wish to have her killed by your brigands?” “You fool!” said Azaru Hassan, “You be here in chains and your concern is with the princess of whom, by her decree has sought to strike off your head at dawn, and still you dissemble?” And with these words, Mehrar Al Kahlid said nothing more, for he was resigned, not knowing wither he should save himself and aid his friend Azaru Hassan, for he clearly wished to confront the princess, but for what reason he did not know. Then he said, “There is nothing here for your want, Azaru Hassan. The jewel has proven to be false; a decoy concocted by Rafeek Al Dashura’s sorcerers to lead us astray.” And these words caused Azaru Hassan’s eyes to become large, and he said to his friend, “Verily, is this so?” “It is,” replied Mehrar to him. “There can be nothing for you here. Come, take me from this place and let us go back to the palace of Agorloran in the Ancient City where together we shall find the stone again.” “Stone or no,” said Azaru Hassan in reply, while all around a commotion within the palace continued to erupt as men called about whence they searched for the princess for which they could not find, and while the servants and guards resisted. “You do not understand,” explained Azaru Hassan. “I have with me a hostage—one of the princess Haumziya Al Umza’s servants.” “For what reason?” asked Mehrar with suspicion. “For the reason that she is a sorceress,” replied Azaru Hassan, “and that she has confessed to me under pain of death that she, verily, has been bewitching your princess!” Mehrar Al Kahlid nearly fell to the ground from his sudden shock. “What?!” said he.

“Verily, I say to you now,” said Azaru Hassan, “that this is true. Her desire for the stone of Zambouli is not her own, but of this sorcerers’ designs,” and to convince the other man of his words, he ordered that Ribara the sorceress be brought to them there in the courtyard. When the sun arose in rays of golden warmth, Azaru Hassan ordered that the sorceress confess her truths again for the ears of Mehrar Al Kahlid and his benefit for hearing them, which he listened and understanding came to him then. “Now,” said Azaru Hassan after the palace grounds had been secured by his men, “I ask you again. Where is the princess, so that we may cast off her bewitchment and make her well again? for my love, the princess Omruda of Zambouli is wounded and your princess Haumziya Al Umza does possess the sorcery that can heal her of her wounds.” It was then that Mehrar Al Kahlid saw the litter and the wounded princess Omruda who lay therein and surrounded by Azaru’s men and her Zambouli warriors. “I will tell you,” said Mehrar to them, “for I wish to save the princess Haumziya Al Umza from this vile curse, and in so doing for repayment to you, my friend, she may work her magicks, but I did not know she is a sorceress herself?” “Aye,” said Azaru Hassan to him, “it is true. Now tell me from whence she has gone, and where are your own men?”

“Do not worry, they are not hither,” answered he to him, “for they are loyal to me, and the princess sent them away before her party last night.” And concerning the princess, Mehrar Al Kahlid told Azaru Hassan and his men from whence the princess Haumziya Al Umza was hiding, for he knew of her secret lairs within the palace, and once he had spoken of their locations, Azaru Hassan’s men looked in them and only a little time passed before the princess Haumziya Al Umza was brought before them into the sun. “If you come for the stone,” she spat and struggled, “you will find it not, for it has been destroyed!” “We know of the stone,” said Azaru Hassan to her. “Then why,” asked she of him, “have you come here to molest my house and disturb my designs for this traitor Mehrar Al Kahlid? for I think your concerns here now carry little weight, yes?” But Azaru Hassan answered her not; instead, he took out his scimitar, and with the blade he put it close to the sorceress Ribara’s neck, and from thence he commanded her to cast off her bewitchments upon the princess.

Begging for her life, the sorceress did not dissemble, but first his men had to run little errands to collect all of the appropriate devices and ingredients, and from that time, she was able to make a concoction for the princess to drink, and then she spoke some strange words over the her, who at that time had been lain down upon her own dining table during this ritual. And when the ritual was quit, the princess Haumziya Al Umza arose, and her countenance had changed, for all the men saw and were amazed, but most of all, from them was Mehrar Al Kahlid. “Are you… well, my princess?” he asked of her. And she then looked at him and suddenly took in a heavy breath, and taking him in her arms, she embraced him. “My love,” said she to him, her eyes full of tears as she spoke. “I am so sorry for my evils against you, for I did not know a sorceress was from among my own slaves.” But Mehrar smiled then, and he told her that she was forgiven of all her transgressions, for he loved her and her actions had not been her own; but the sorcerous wants of a most vile slave with unnatural designs.

“And what of the princess Omruda?” asked Azaru Hassan of them. “Can you not save her?” The princess Haumziya Al Umza looked at him then, her confusion still apparent at that time, and Mehrar Al Kahlid, with quickness of tongue and a careful choosing of words as to not further complicate things, he told the princess Haumziya of all that had transpired and what had happened to the princess Omruda of Zambouli. After the telling the princess wasted no time, for she called that the princess Omruda be brought in among her, and she was, and the princess Haumziya Al Umza looked upon her for a long time, touching her and asking questions, and all the time the heart of Azaru Hassan beat like a drum, for if his princess passed then, he did not know what he would do, or if he would go on living.

After a long time, the princess Haumziya, like the sorceress Ribara, had Mehrar and Azaru Hassan and his men collect some things from within her palace apothecary, and from whence she practiced her magicks in secret places throughout the house. Once these items were brought to her, she performed a powerful ritual that, after agreeing to it, Azaru Hassan felt he had aged several years, but then the princess Omruda opened her eyes and she was well again, and Azaru was overjoyed with tears. The men then smiled and danced with their leader, and the Zambouli warriors with them were exultant and loud. The princess Omruda became annoyed with them all and they, at the behest of the princess Haumziya Al Umza, left her to rest.

When night came, they were all together upon the balconies of the palace, and a warm wind breathed upon them while they drank wine and were celebratory. The princess Omruda, though tired, said that she felt better, but she complained, for she had lost the stone of Zambouli, the prize of her homeland from whence she was bidden, by her birth, to protect after her father’s death.

“Worry not,” said the princess Haumziya. She then put a caressing hand over Mehrar’s wrist and looked at him with much love and affection in her eyes. “Why should I not worry?” asked the princess Omruda, “for you have been saved from your bewitchment, Mehrar Al Kahlid has found the love and affection of a beautiful woman, and Azaru Hassan has saved of me my life, of which I love him for, but it is I who, at the end of this all, must go with an empty pocket and empty hands, and not of coin, but of a treasure that rightfully belongs to my people.” The princess Haumziya Al Umza smiled, and the princess Omruda became annoyed, as was her fashion and want to do for her loss, but the princess Haumziya then said, “Mehrar Al Kahlid is a captain of captains, and Azaru Hassan is a captain of adventurers and much loved by his men.” But her words seemed to confuse the princess of Zambouli, and for this reason, the princess Haumziya continued. “I should think the getting of such a stone for you shall be an easy thing with our captains in alliance of one another, should it not?”

And then the princess Omruda was transported with an excess of joy, and her heart soared like that of a bird. “You would suggest such an alliance, princess, and for no easy gain for yourself?” The princess Haumziya Al Umza looked upon her beloved, which caused Omruda to do the same for her beloved, of whom she truly had much love and affection for. Then the princess Haumziya again addressed the princess Omurda and nodded, and saying, “Yes, for I am want to redeem myself of my past evils, even if by the hands of that sorceress, and Azaru Hassan has much to prove of his love to you, has he not?”

The princess Omruda of Zambouli looked upon her beloved then, the king of a not-yet-known prince within her womb, and she said that she agreed with the princess Haumziya, and Azaru Hassan agreed, and Mehrar Al Kahlid also agreed, which formed then and a powerful alliance of mutual love and much trust was formed among them all, and these things were later written of during the reign of the great sultan Cyrusar Al Hamiroon, that they may be recorded for remembrance.