.oOo.
The southern night had descended in violet sheets on the hills, in the distant yelp of the marauding jackals. The horsemen massed in front of the caravanserai, their horses pawing with impatience under the gate lantern.
The watchmen grumbled for being disturbed after the doors were closed. The horsemen had to prove they were no outlaw and renew the Promise of the Traveller, under the eye of the Goddess and the threat of crossbows.
The caravanserai was a haven, a neutral place, where clans quarrels were proscribed. The owner tribe, the Oghan-Alam, offered all the travellers shelter and protection, in exchange for a just fee and the promise to respect the sacred Truce of the Goddess.
Horses and mounts were lodged, and everyone went to sleep.
But in the early morning, as the travellers went to the spring to pay homage to the Goddess, the Assadhini came face to face with their enemies, the Gum-Zug!
.oOo.
How the altercation really started is unknown. Some claimed that the Gum-Zug had been haughty, some others that the young Assadhini had come with their weapons in the sacred enclosure. It is certain that Khayin-Agha had uttered indecent, outrageous propositions, which had offended the modesty of Damoiselle Jiralia. But it had been more unseemly ranting and outrageous taunts than armed provocations. It was murmured that the Caid of Assadhini was looking for a pretext to fight and to compensate for his disappointment with the Gondorians.
For sure, the two tribal chiefs hated each other. They competed with authority to prevent any blood shed among their people, but they did nothing to stem their own fury. On the contrary, Hadhar-Kaid and Khayin-Agha were very frank about their prerogatives, and uncompromising about giving the other the privilege of leading the morning prayer to the Goddess. In any case, the two adversaries having copiously insulted each other and having accepted the duel before their assembled groups, none of them could steal away and lose face.
Thus, at the end of an epic fight, Hadhar-Caïd vanquished his rival Khayin-Agha, who perished decapitated! The disarticulated body collapsed into a mass of small jujube trees, and soon the greedy land, in the name of the Goddess, drank the unfortunate's spreading blood. The felon's head rolled to the threshold of the sanctuary, hesitating, with a last grimace, to take the step.
This sign terrified the men of the vanquished, who fled into the scrubland, abandoning their horses and their load, stored at the caravanserai. Hadhar, full of superb and kindness, forbade their pursuit.
After which, the Oghan-Alam tribe, of which they were the hosts, finally came to disarm the belligerents. They were furious and outraged by the conduct of the two chiefs, who had deliberately broken the truce in force at the caravanserai. Hadhar submitted to their demands, proposing to refer to the Gondorian governor. But a violent death in the shrine of the Oghan-Alam clan was a real sacrilege! Such a crime did not belong to the justice of men, and mingling with the Gondorians, who understood nothing of it, was obviously another stain.
Hadhar argued that Khayin-Agha was a thief, who had already stolen from him. He demanded, therefore, that the loa left by his enemies be searched in the warehouses of the caravanserai. Finally the replacement key was found and the storage assigned to the Gum-Zug was searched.
Indeed, some bundles of silks and a few cases of spices with the Assadhini's arms were found, but the true stupefying discovery, was that the Gum-Zug also held several captives! They were gagged and hindered, and declared that their captors had concealed them in rolled carpets, to bring them in and hide them at the caravanserai!
From then on, an arrangement could be found. The Oghan-Alam feared like the plague, to be suspected of complicity in looting and kidnapping, or breaking the Promise of the Traveler in their own caravanserai! Especially since some of the captives seemed Gondorian merchants, odiously ransomed. To avoid tarnishing the reputation of his guests - but also to respect the law of the King of Gondor, whose reprisals he feared - the Caïd released the hostages, sparing them a life of servitude in some barbaric kingdom beyond the desert!
For their part, the Oghan-Alam returned their goods to the Assadhini, even adding some pack animals and substantial compensation. The Caïd, too happy to get away with so much, left with troops and loads.
The caravan walked briskly towards the village. Young and old proudly commented on the feat of the Caid. Yet he brooded dark thoughts. Since the departure of the caravanserai, his dear daughter refused to talk to him ...
.oOo.
NOTES