The Golden Blade Page #2

with you, Prince of True Believers.

If you mean Basra,

there will be no war.

It was the Princess

I had in mind.

The Princess is no longer a child

who can be curbed by confinement.

True. She has grown

into womanhood suddenly.

We did not properly

perceive it.

Perchance the answer

might be in marriage?

Marriage? For Khairuzan?

It's said that marriage

calms the tempestuous nature.

He who now watches over her as his

charge would cherish her as his wife.

Granted my son is not

gifted in speech Ol Man nelS,

but he is of noble birth and

as a warrior, second to none.

Your thought indeed has merit.

I shall speak to Khairuzan.

Perhaps it shall be arranged.

If one's son be not wise,

let him at least be tall.

What is amiss?

I incite a riot.

You interfere.

It was the foolish princess.

Enough, it is done,

and the Basra incident

avails us nothing.

What can be gained

from a strip of desert waste?

What stupidity.

It's to undermine the Caliph,

to take power in our own hands

that I provoke these troubles,

not for a parcel of sand.

But I'm wasting words.

Hearken now to this.

The Caliph will soon consent

to your marrying Khairuzan.

Me marry

that snarling infant?

Ten thousand devils, no!

And why not?

Should some unfortunate

calamity overtake her father,

who knows where you might be

with her as your wife?

She has great riches.

And should she also suffer

mortal accident...

I could even then be Caliph!

Your keen perceptions

humble me.

Caliph of Baghdad!

Perhaps Basra conquered.

The world in the palm

of my hand.

Our hands, tall son.

Our hands.

All right, say it.

A plague upon me.

I'm a thankless pest.

I did not think that,

Princess.

Almighty Allah, how could you

impose such a life upon us?

While men are permitted

to roam, to live,

we are imprisoned

in a harem.

Oh, there must be

so many lands to see.

Lands more beautiful

than poets can say,

and wonders unheard of

in Baghdad.

Oh compassionate Allah,

how I would like to see

for myself.

Why the laughter?

Pray let us all hear.

We could do with some

amusement this day.

It is not of my invention.

Come, come. Out with it.

'Twas told me by the eunuch

who heard it from the guard...

Who heard it from his captain...

Who was so informed by Hadi...

Who was told it by Jafar... Who

conferred yesterday with the Caliph.

Heaven help us.

Not who but what?

Hadi is to marry

the Princess Khairuzan.

What did I hear?

It's true, O Princess.

All know it now.

In truth, my father

has forsaken me.

To be pawned off like...

Like a sick camel!

Let me out!

Let me out, do you hear?

Let me out!

Slaughter! Riot! Guards,

guards, guards, guards!

What is amiss?

The Princess! The Princess!

Let me out!

Be quick. Call Hadi.

Princess, Princess!

Where does one seek an

appointment with the vizier?

Tie your horse with the others

and join in line.

Your Highness.

Princess.

Captain Hadi. Captain Hadi!

Captain. Captain Hadi!

She stole my cloak. She

stole my cloak! And his hat.

There she is. There!

It is the Princess.

Shehada, my horse!

Let go, leech!

Let... Help me!

All I want here is my own

horse. Nothing is yours but this.

O merciful one,

do not leave me.

I am no protector of thieves.

Oh, to me you could be

the protector of all Islam.

You've defeated the greatest

swordsman in all the land.

Keep your thieving hands

to yourself.

Oh, I swear I will

if you'll take me with you.

Protect me from

the cruelest of masters.

You're a slave, then?

Beaten unmercifully,

and often starved.

Very well.

May Allah the Beneficent

bring you great fortune,

and may he bless you

with many more children?

I have no children.

Well, blessings upon your

wife, then, kind stranger.

May she have many children.

I have no wife.

Sit still!

You're troubled, master?

Perhaps I can help.

As you have helped me miss

an audience with the vizier?

An audience with the vizier?

Why?

Because, plague of curiosity, I

have a cause to plead for my people.

What is the cause?

It's not your concern!

You do not look

ill-treated or starved.

Well, that... That is

because I recover quickly.

You not only steal,

but lie in the bargain.

You know, for one so young,

you certainly possess

some remarkable talents

and should be cured of them

with a horsewhip.

What will you do with me?

I do not know yet.

Get down, boy.

Run along now.

Attend to your many mischiefs.

But you promised

to protect me.

Why, you should exercise, boy.

You're as soft as a woman.

It's a family trait.

I'm more like my mother

than my father.

Here.

Attach yourself

to some other man,

one with less

important things to do.

We are on the threshold of

a great discovery, my friend.

You have learned

of the sword, then?

Yes, but only in part.

I believe it is the fateful Sword of

Damascus that has come into our hands.

From the allusions

in the ancient records,

I have no doubt that the

sword is the magic weapon.

What of the inscriptions?

You know them now?

Only the more recent one.

"Let him who can unsheathe

this sword

"claim any crown

as his reward. "

Claim any crown.

Barcus.

Magic beyond my dreams!

Not so fast, my friend.

Perhaps it is not you

the inscription refers to.

See? I, too, can unsheathe

the sword from its scabbard.

Yes, but for me, the sword

has already proved its magic.

It has made me invincible.

Invincible?

Yes. Today I fought a man,

and his blade clove my neck.

Look.

Not even a scratch.

It is true.

This must be the magic

Sword of Damascus.

Immune and invincible.

While I hold this sword,

no danger can ever harm me.

Wait, let me see.

I read something last night.

Where did I put it?

Here it is.

According to this record,

the tyrant, Es Segri,

was the last known

owner of the sword.

He died 300 years ago.

How?

I am not certain, but this speaks

of his death through rebellion.

Then the bones we found...

Might have been the tyrant's whom

the Sword of Damascus betrayed.

But if it failed to protect

Es Segri

yet keeps me from injury,

how can we trust it?

Until I translate the second

legend, we shall not know.

Meantime, beware.

As wielder of the sword, I

can only obey its interpreter.

Leave the sword with me.

The second tracing proved

faint. I'll have to make another.

Until later, friend.

Still here, son?

I thought you'd be gone by now,

starved one, getting your belly full.

I couldn't. This is coin of Basra.

It's not acceptable in Baghdad.

Why, so it is. So it is.

I have an idea.

You and I shall dine together.

Why, thank you, kind master.

And after that,

we shall go wenching.

Thank...

Wenching?

Yes.

We shall get

two pretty wenches,

a young one for you and a

slightly older one for myself.

Kind sir, I have

no desire for a wench.

You what?

I mean...

Well, as you can see, I'm...

I'm still a beardless youth.

Aye, a beardless youth, with

skin as soft as a woman's cheek.

But, when I was your age,

I had already tasted the nectar that

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes