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writhing beneath dancing ghosts. A muted roar echoed from the valley. He
smiled. Karim, he called gently.
A hard-looking man whose face had been scarred by the pox joined him. Sir?
Go back down there. Visit our people. The ones who met us when we came in.
Tell them to keep the riots going. Tell them I need an extended distraction.
And tell them to pick five hundred willing warriors and send them after us. In
small groups, so they re not noticed leaving. Understand?
Yes. Karim smiled. He was missing two front teeth. Another was broken at an
angle. He was an old rogue. He had seen his battles. Even his gray-speckled
beard seemed war torn.
Nassef watched Karim descend the stony slope. The former bandit was one of
their more valuable converts. Nassef was sure Karim s value would increase as
the struggle widened and became more bitter.
He swung his mount and trotted after his sister and brother-in-law.
El Murid s party consisted of almost fifty people. Most were bodyguards, his
white-robed Invincibles, who had been guaranteed a place in Paradise if they
died in El Murid s behalf.
They made Nassef uneasy. They had eyes madder than those of their prophet.
They were fanatically devoted. El Murid had had to bend the full might of his
will to keep them from storming the Royal Compound after the trial.
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Nassef assumed his post at El Murid s right hand. It went better than we
hoped, he said. The boy s attack was a godsend.
Indeed it was. To tell the truth, Nassef, I was reluctant to do it your way.
But only the intercession of the Lord Himself could have made it so easy. Only
He could have brought about an attack so timely.
I m sorry about the ankle. Does it bother you much?
It pains me terribly. But I can endure it. Yassir gave me an herbal for the
pain, and bound it. If I stay off it, I ll be good as new before long.
During that farce of a trial . . . For a minute I thought you were going to
give in.
For a minute I did. I m as subject as anyone else to the wiles of the Evil
One. But I found my strength, and the lapse made the outcome sweeter. You see
how the Lord moves us to His will? We do His work even when we think we re
turning our backs on Him.
Nassef stared across the barren hills. Finally, he replied, It s hard to
accept a defeat hoping it will yield a greater victory someday. My friend, my
prophet, they signed their death warrants today.
I m no prophet, Nassef. Just a disciple of the Lord s Way. And I want no
deaths that can be avoided. Even King Aboud and the High Priests may someday
seek the path of righteousness.
Of course. I was speaking figuratively. Saying that by their actions they
have doomed their cause.
It is often thus with the minions of the Evil One. The more they struggle,
the more they contribute to the Lord s work. What about the raid? Are yousure
we can pull it off?
I sent Karim back to Al Rhemish. If our people do what we ask, if they keep
the riots going and send us five hundred warriors, we can. There ll be no one
to stop us. All the lords came to Al Rhemish to see our humiliation. The riots
will occupy them through Mashad. We ll have a week s lead.
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I just wish we could have christened the baby.
That was a pity. We ll return, Lord. We ll see it done, some Mashad. I
promise it.
For once Nassef s words burned with total sincerity, with absolute
conviction!
The by-ways of the desert were long, lonely and slow, especially for a man
apart from other men. There was no one for El Murid to confide in, to dream
with, except Meryem. The Invincibles were too much in awe of him, too
worshipful. Nassef and his handful of followers remained engrossed in their
scheming against tomorrow. The riders who overtook them, coming from Al
Rhemish by tens and twenties, were all strangers. The fast friends who had
been his first converts, the others who had come with him out of El Aquila,
were all dead, sainted.
Nassef s struggles on his behalf took their toll.
The Disciple rode beside the white camel, his child in his lap. She s such a
peaceful, tiny thing, he marveled. A miracle. The Lord has been good to us,
Meryem. He winced.
Your ankle?
Yes.
You d better let me take her back, then.
No. These moments are too rare already. And they re going to become rarer
still. After a minute alone with his thoughts, How long will it be before I
can set aside my staff?
What do you mean?
How long before our success is achieved? How long till I can settle down and
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lead a normal life with you and her? We ve been riding these hidden trails for
three years. It seems like thirty.
Never, my love. Never. And as a wife I loathe to admit it. But when the
angel spoke to you, you became El Murid for all time. So long as the Lord sees
fit to leave you among the living, that long must you remain the Disciple.
I know. I know. It s just the mortal within me wishing for something it
can t have.
They rode without speaking for a while. Then El Murid said, Meryem, I m
lonely. I don t have anyone but you.
You have half the desert. Who brings us food and water from the settlements?
Who carries the Truth into provinces we ve never seen?
I mean a friend. A simple, ordinary, personal friend. Somebody I can just
play with, as I did when I was a child. Somebody I can talk to. Somebody who
can share the fears and hopes of a man, not somebody smitten by the dreams of
El Murid. Surely you ve felt the same things since Fata died.
Yes. Being the woman of El Murid is lonely, too. After a time, But you
have Nassef.
Nassef is your brother. I won t speak ill of him to you. I do love him as if
he were my own brother. I forgive him like a brother. But we ll never be real
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