hought. Both the sultan and
Baibars liked to show themselves to be men of great generosity.

_Yes, but not to a julban who has broken the law._

"He cannot kill his comrade and go unpunished," said Qutuz. "He should
be beheaded."

At the words, even though he had thought himself prepared for them,
Daoud felt something shrink with dread inside him. He felt the blade
slicing through his neck. The sultan had spoken. His life was over.

"He is too valuable to be beheaded," said Baibars. "Believe me, My
Lord."

_Valuable?_

Daoud felt as if he had fallen from a cliff and a strong hand had
reached out and was dragging him back. He was breathless with a relief
he barely dared to feel. He tried to keep his face and body still as the
two great ones debated his fate, but he could not stop his fists from
clenching.

The sultan's eyes narrowed, and a deep crease appeared between his brows
as he turned to Baibars. "Is this Frankish murderer a protege of yours,
then?"

Baibars nodded. "I have seen reason to take a personal interest in him,
if it please My Lord."

What did that mean? What had Baibars seen in him that day in the slave
market, and why had Baibars come there that day?

_I have long watched for such a one as you, who could have the outward
look of a Christian knight but the mind and heart of a Mameluke. One
like you could be a great weapon against the enemies of the faith._

"It does not please me," said Qutuz shortly. "There is too much breaking
of rules among the Bhari Mamelukes." He spoke, Daoud thought, as if he
were not originally a Mameluke himself.

"There is a law among Mamelukes more binding than any lesser rule," said
Baibars quietly. "He who feels himself greatly sinned against must
strike back. If he cannot do that, he is not enough of a man to be a
Mameluke. Even as this foolish boy said, the strong must rule."

Daoud saw grave approval in Baibars's brown face and realized that it
did not matter at all to Baibars that Kassar was a Kipchaq. His joy grew
as he realized that he had Baibars on his side.

Daoud remembered Nicetas's dying words--_I am not strong enough to be a
Mameluke_.

_But together we were strong enough to do what had to be done._

Qutuz said, "If all Mamelukes believed only in the rule of the
strongest, we would have chaos."

"Only if it were not certain who _is_ strongest," said Baibars quietly.

Baibars and Qutuz sat looking at each other in a grave and thoughtful
sil