The Travels Of Fedoso 2
From Atlantic Roleplay Wiki
Title: The Travels of Fedoso
Author: Verderis
The Travels of Fedoso
Part 4
Volume 41
Behind a pockmarked, grey
rock wall,
The mamluk's manor wrapped around
A swath of cypresses and shade
And water trickling from an urn.
My first night in that gloried town,
The wali called upon our house;
All silks and spice, with tiny hands
He stretched to fondle every thing.
Upon my master's gauze-hemmed bed.
The two of them ate figs and cream,
The while appraising me with leers
And laughing at my abject state.
I quaked with rage and fear and grief,
And when their moistened fingers jabbed
My nether belly, I succumbed,
Upset the kettle, scales and tray.
My swoon was lifted by a splash
Of lukewarm tea.
"A windlashed boy!" Kayal pronounced and broadly smirked--
"Not worthy of the Udar's lust."
They threw me out and tossed a pouch
That landed near me with a chink;
Inside, six shekels slid about--
They comforted my injured pride.
Within the lamplit corridor
Two figures lurked, then slipped away.
One was Kayal's daughter, Anis:
She froze me with her raptor's gaze.
Three days later, I was summoned--
Hiyla, servant to the girl,
A hunched old woman,
drab and veiled,
Sent me to the marketplace.
To the Beggars' Sook I hurried,
There to purchase for the crone
Several fortunes from a seer
Capable in letterwork.
When the gaunt magician saw me,
Right away, three scripts he pulled;
He tallied with his cloudy vision
Weird designs the shadows drew.
"Tell the one who sent you hither
Hoods and cloaks cannot conceal
Deformity abhorred by nature--
God's clairvoyance bares deceit.
"To her mistress: what she longs for
Now is present, near at hand;
Tonight, the star al-ghul will guide her
To the haunted crypt of kings.
"As for you, here is my warning:
At the ready you must be
Lest a secret foe
destroy you--
Here's the only remedy."
In his palm he placed a splinter,
Worn brown needle made of wood,
Ordinary, yet beguiling,
What it was I understood.
Money freed from its confinement
Clattered in his other hand;
The leather purse I had just emptied
Opened for the sacred shard.
That night, I tensely searched the compound
For the hag that sought the runes;
Finally, I tried her chambers,
Tucked away below the vaults.
My voice there echoed--no rejoinder...
Shadows bent by candlelight
Shifted up and down the ceiling--
I felt the chill of peril's vise.
Then I heard a scratchy murmur
From a niche carved high above;
I climbed a creaky ladder to it,
Tugged upon a velvet drape.
Hidden there, a sight horrific:
Head preserved in oily glaze,
Skin like that of shrivelled currants,
Eyebrows melded in one wave.
And beneath their hairy archway,
Orbs like glacial globes peered out--
Lidless, thoughtless,
lifeless, soulless,
Witnessing a ghostly play.
From the ladder's rungs I tumbled,
Stumbled out the cellar's door,
Raced across the moondrenched courtyard,
Quailed within my bunk alone.
Later, as I edged near slumber,
Birdlike shrieks tore through the air;
Bounding to my master's haven,
I beheld a dismal scene.
There he lay, all strength abandoned,
A deathly pallor on his face;
A rubied hilt extended toward me,
Where its blade had struck his breast.
The wali's dagger--I had seen it
Bouncing on its owner's hip;
Yet its presence was a puzzle--
The governor rested far away.
I ran to find a guard to aid me,
But I found Anis instead;
Heedless of my indications,
She rebuked me, and she said:
"Come, we need your mute devotion,
Someone who can wield a sword,
Someone who will not reveal us,
I own you now that he is gone."
So I followed her, that elf-girl,
Slender shred of youth, but hard;
With her elder maid we traveled,
Once again on roads I trod.