Free Swords From the Desert by Harold Lamb

Khalil-what is this?"
    "Upon thee, my lord, greeting of the dawn! I sought my way to the balcony, for sight of the ships. At this spot the slave leaped and struck with his knife-here-" I lifted my cloak. "No word passed, nor could I see him. So I slew him, and will take therefore no blame."
    The Domastikos glanced at the grating, and at my bare feet-for it is our custom to remove our slippers at the entrance of a dwelling. Holding a linen, musk-scented, to his nostrils, he bent over the dead man.
    "A good blow, Khalil. I see thou art a man of the sword."
    I had slain his guard by the whispering gallery, and it would have availed me not to plead that I had not overheard the words that passed at the other end. Nor could I read the eyes of the Greek, though I watched for him to make a sign to his spearmen.
    "Eh, Khalil, the fault lies not with thee!" And he smiled.
    Aye, he smiled, and his nostrils quivered just a little when he withdrew the cloth, and still he showed no anger.
    The eyes of a leopard glow, and its muscles twitch-even to the tailwhen it settles itself to leap. A mask was upon the face and eyes of the Greek lord, and I was assured that he had not pardoned me, and would exact my life-not for the death of the slave but because I had chanced into the listening gallery when he held speech with the Frank.
    With his men or his treasure I might have made free, and have been pardoned. But not with his secret-not at this hour. I think he had wished to order the spearmen to advance upon me, and had decided otherwise. A sword well handled is a match for two long spears, and Menas was neither impatient nor a fool.
    "My lord," I made response, when he waited, "may God requite thee for thy mercy. It is true that I have meant no harm to thy men, being ignorant of the customs of this, thy palace."
    "Thou art, as Arbogastes maintained, a bold man," he said idly, gathering his cloak about him. "I have a mind to such. Go then, and await my command."
    Who may alter what is ordained? Who may look upon the writing that is not to be altered? I had not plotted against the Domastikos, yet he sought my life as surely as a trodden snake strikes. And this was because his pal ace was a pit of traps and a breeding place of suspicion. Within it I might no longer dwell, and I walked forth before he could send an order to the guards at the outer gates concerning me.
    In all Constantinople there was no sanctuary for me, save one.
    And so it came to pass that when Arbogastes sought his post of duty that morning because he had been at his wine in the past night-he found me sitting on the bank of the canal, by the bridge that led to the house of the barbarian girl.
    He glittered and shone, indeed, like a peacock. From somewhere he had got himself a bronze breastplate with eagles upon it, and he was busily counting different coins from his right hand to his left.
    Then he counted them back again and shook his thick head.
    "By all the devils, one hand tallies not with the other! And by the beard of Ali, this ducat hath been shaved of half its gold." He blinked and glared from reddened eyes. "The dog cheated me!" He said he had been throwing dice at the tavern nearby, and regretted leaving it, being muddled in his head about his gains and losses.
    "Eh, Arbogastes," I said to him, "I had thought thee an al-comes in this new armor. Verily, thou hast the figure of a swordsman."
    He ceased his counting to simper and swell his chest. Indeed he had the figure of a fighter if naught else.
    "And the dog cheated thee?" I went on.
    "YA11ah, he did! My dice were clipped and loaded. I won two casts in three, and he robbed me of my gains, the son of a bath tender!"
    "That is evil. Nay, then, I shall keep thy post, and thou shalt return to the Greek and gain back thy winnings. Only come at dusk to take my place."
    Arbogastes felt of his lean purse and blinked. He had upon him the thirst that is bred of spirits, not wine alone, and saw no reason why I should not watch