.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.
Scene 5: Curse!A scream tore the serene air of the house. Panting and swimming, Hadhar sat up in the ink-dark night. Next to him, his wife feverishly lit her little oil lamp:
- This nightmare again?
Indeed…
For weeks now, since this terrible morning, unbearable torments had been waking him from a restless sleep. When he woke up, poor Caïd only remembered a grinning face, an old woman with curling hair like snakes, who was watching him silently.
Hadhar drank some orange blossom water. Exhausted, yet unable to plunge back into sleep, he lay down again, reassuring his wife.
The day brought him no more rest. In the hills, when inspecting his flocks, he felt like he was followed. Wherever he went, he was spied on: at the meal, during his ritual ablutions, at school or in the village square, he felt an accusing look darting on his head. Often, he would turn abruptly, seizing only nothingness and spreading confusion around him. He failed to flush out who was pursuing him with silent reproaches. He began to be distrusted. His beloved daughter, especially, had distanced herself.
Yet the tribe's business had slightly improved. They underwent fewer thefts of cattle or goods. And the troubles in the mountains seemed to be moving away.
But poor Caïd felt some coming catastrophe, he was a prey to some uneasiness growing inside him. A gigantic eye seemed to watch him constantly - the sun during the day, and that horrible face at night!
Of course he told himself that his deed was a just punishment for all the wrongs his tribe had suffered! But he knew he had broken one of the Goddess's most sacred laws: hospitality! Respect the life and the dignity of one's host, as well as the host of one's host!
As things went from bad to worse for the poor Caid, and the whole tribe could not help speaking continuously about that - without ever daring to confess it to the Caid, of course! - one morning the family came in procession to ask the Uncle for help.
The old man, from the depths of his bed of sufferings, had already formed an opinion. Thus the Uncle summoned Adhar, and explained to him that it was only his hassling conscience. This sensation of permanent presence, odious and superior, was only the expression of some guilt inhabiting Adhar. This feeling was very noble, it honored Adhar, but now it was necessary to pass beyond that - with the help of the Goddess, blessed be her tears!
Adhar shook his head sadly. He did not possess all his Uncle's wizdom! Of course, he understood that story of guilt! But what mattered to him was to be told what to do, in order to deserve the Goddess's forgiveness! A thousand graces to her effigy!
The Uncle nodded, trying to probe his nephew's face through his sick pupils. He smiled to himself, and reformulated slightly:
- Adhar, dear son of my elder brother - may the Goddess receive him in her womb! You feel - rightly - guilty of a profanation! You bravely took on yourself alone, all the weight of this transgression, which duty had imposed on you! Therefore, it is inevitable the Goddess - Infinite is her wisdom! – will take it into account at the end! Your redemption is possible! Now you must atone for this curse!
- But how, O light of our tribe?
The Uncle sighed. His nephew was a straight but simple man. He could only help him by respecting the deep convictions of the unfortunate Caïd. The old man whispered in a low voice, raising his finger moistened with lustral water:
- By making the greatest sacrifice you are capable of!
Hadhar, relieved, straightened the bust and spoke naïvely, almost joyfully:
- I shall immediately prepare my pilgrimage to the Goddess Tell!
The Uncle thundered out of his cushions, like the prophetess out of her mountain:
- Do not say such foolishness, My Nephew! This is an act of admirable piety, but it is also your dearest wish! So where is the sacrifice? Do you think you can fool the Goddess? Great is Her mercy, but all the same! Think better than that!
Of course, the Uncle was right... A struggle was going on in the Caïd's battered soul. After a long hesitation, he found the ultimate sacrifice. At last Hadhar murmured, with a defeated air:
- ... I shall not sacrifice my children ...
With a tear in his eye, the Uncle replied, in his deep and reassuring voice:
- And you do well, since their lives belong only to the Goddess! You have climbed the first step of the endless staircase of wisdom! One does not sacrifice life, not even one's own! Now you have to go back into yourself and find what you owe and is most dear to you ...
- ... Enlighten me with your wisdom, O my Uncle! What do you suggest to me?
Long the Uncle pretended to think. Although he was almost blind, there were certain things he saw very clearly. Finally he uttered in a loud voice, with a definitive tone:
- Glory to Her clairvoyance! The Goddess commands you to undertake a pilgrimage to the King of Gondor and to obtain the grace of your son from him ! You will have to show courage, integrity and measure, you will scrupulously observe the law of the King, and if you found worthy, you will obtain the return of Khandar. Thus you will be granted forgiveness from the Goddess, because our tribe needs your son and our men held in Gondor!
The oracle was cast.
There was no need to come back on it.
Yet Hadhar did not quite understand how to mix those Gondorians with his duties to the Goddess ...
The Uncle had retorted, in a dry tone and without appeal:
- " You do not understand? Well here is the real sacrifice! You have to give up some of your convictions! "
.oOo.
NOTES