lope
and here suddenly came upon a host of men gathered in a hollow square,
apparently in order to receive us. They stood in ranks of five or six
deep and their spear-points glimmering in the moonlight looked like
long bands of level steel. As we entered the open side of the square all
these spears were lifted. Thrice they were lifted and at each uplifting
there rose a deep-throated cry of _Hiya_, which is the Arabic for She,
and I suppose was a salutation to Ayesha.
She swept on taking no heed, till we came to the centre of the square
where a number of men were gathered who prostrated themselves in the
usual fashion. Motioning to them to rise she said,
"Captains, this very night within two hours we march against Rezu and
the sun-worshippers, since otherwise as my arts tell me, they march
against us. She-who-commands is immortal, as your fathers have known
from generation to generation, and cannot be destroyed; but you, her
servants, can be destroyed, and Rezu, who also has drunk of the Cup of
Life, out-numbers you by three to one and prepares a queen to set up in
my place over his own people and such of you as remain. As though,"
she added with a contemptuous laugh, "any woman of a day could take my
place."
She paused and the spokesman of the captains said,
"We hear, O Hiya, and we understand. What wouldst thou have us do,
O Lulala-come-to-earth? The armies of Rezu are great and from the
beginning he has hated thee and us, also his magic is as thy magic and
his length of days as thy length of days. How then can we who are few,
three thousand men at the most, match ourselves against Rezu, Son of
the Sun? Would it not be better that we should accept the terms of Rezu,
which are light, and acknowledge him as our king?"
As she heard these words I saw the tall shape of Ayesha quiver beneath
her robes, as I think, not with fear but with rage, because the meaning
of them was clear enough, namely that rather than risk a battle with
Rezu, these people were contemplating surrender and her own deposition,
if indeed she could be deposed. Still she answered in a quiet voice,
"It seems that I have dealt too gently with you and with your fathers,
Children of Lulala, whose shadow I am here upon the earth, so that
because you only see the scabbard, you have forgotten the sword within
and that it can shine forth and smite. Well, why should I be wrath
because the brutish will follow the law of brutes, though it be true
that
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