The Tower

by Valerio Massimo Manfredi

‘But don’t you see? The second part of the phrase doesn’t make sense. If Antares is at its zenith directly above Kalaat Hallaki, how can Acrab, which is very close to Antares in the Scorpio constellation, be at the centre of the firmament?’

  Desmond shook his head. ‘I’ve thought it over at length,’ he said, ‘and I’ve never managed to find a plausible explanation. It may be an error of some sort, or a mistaken interpretation. You’re right, the phrase just doesn’t make sense as it is. All we can do is reach Kalaat Hallaki and then look for an answer in the sky.’

  The luminous halo at the centre of the little valley shrank little by little until it was no more than a glimmer and the sky, glowing with millions of stars, appeared even vaster and deeper. Man’s solitude seemed limitless, making Philip feel giddy, as if he were poised to topple into a chasm.

  Sleep seemed the only refuge.

  Philip lay down near the campfire, but before he closed his eyes he heard the distant, muffled pounding of a horse’s hooves. El Kassem was passing like a ghost in the darkness, mounting guard on the borders of infinity.

  THE LONG CARAVAN descended from the hillside and wound its way over the plain like a snake, delineating the features of the terrain with sinuous grace. The warriors on horseback led the column behind Amir, who was preceded by the purple standard. Arad rode at his side, carrying a staff topped by the rearing gazelle of Meroe. Behind them was a long line of camels, laden with wineskins and big clay jars tied to their saddles with strong rope. More warriors on horseback brought up the rear of the column. Others were scattered at a distance on both sides of the column as guards.

  ‘No one has ever crossed the wall of sand with such a large caravan,’ said Arad. ‘If we lose the animals, all our efforts will have been in vain.’

  ‘I’ve been thinking about it since we left,’ replied Amir. ‘There’s a point in the wall of sand where the wind abates at night. We’ll proceed until we come within sight of the barrier, then stop and allow the men and the animals to rest for a while. From there we’ll find the crossing point, which is slightly to the east of the direction we are travelling in. We will wait for night to fall and for the wind to drop, and then we will descend into the wadi, which will provide us with shelter. Before day breaks we’ll see the stars twinkling over the bastions of Kalaat Hallaki. You will enter under the banner of the gazelle of Kush, and embrace your father and your mother once again.’ Amir’s eyes shone as he spoke. He never took his eyes off her unless it was to scan the horizon before him.

  They crossed another chain of low, wind-worn hills and then descended into the valley below. Suddenly a strip of what looked like fog came into view at about one hour’s march from where they were – a barrier that extended across the plain as far as the eye could see.

  ‘The wall of sand,’ said Amir. ‘Beyond it we’ll find grass and water, fruit on the trees and birds singing in the sky.’

  ‘Beyond it there’s the madness of my mother . . .’ said Arad. Her eyes were fixed on the swirling dust.

  ‘Not for long,’ insisted Amir. ‘Before the full moon rises again, your mother will have regained her sanity. I swear it.’

  They stopped when the sun began to sink, its light drowning in the thick dust carried by the wind. Amir gave orders for the animals to be allowed what was left of the water and for the men to descend from their horses and rest as they could. Upon his word, they would blindfold the horses and camels and tie them one to the other so that they could not stray from the caravan. Then they would begin the crossing. They waited for the sky to darken completely and for the evening star to appear, shining in the deep blue like a diamond on Damascus velvet. It was time. The wind was dropping.

  He turned towards Arad, who was waiting on her own, at some distance from the others. ‘I feel ice in my bones when I gaze into your eyes, Arad. Why won’t you look at me?’

  Arad did not answer.

  ‘Not very long ago, you promised that you would welcome me into your bed if I succeeded in leading our warriors through the Sand of Ghosts.’

  ‘I will,’ said Arad. ‘Wipe out the Blemmyae, spill their infected blood onto the earth, and I will hold true to my word.’

  Amir’s eyes were full of sadness. ‘I don’t want your word, Arad. I want your love,’ he said. He jumped onto his horse and galloped away.

  He rode up to a slightly elevated ridge, covered his face with his barrakan and raised his arm as a signal. The warriors mounted their horses and the caravan drivers goaded on the camels, who set off with their slow, swaying gait and filled the air with mournful grunts. The column plunged into the fog that swallowed up shapes and sounds, the voices of the men and the animals. They all vanished into the milky mist.

  But the long column that snaked through the desert, raising a white cloud in their wake, had not passed unnoticed. Perched on the saddle of his horse, Colonel Jobert was watching as the long line of horsemen and camels was slowly engulfed in the curtain of dust. ‘Those people know of a passage through the sandstorm,’ he said. ‘All we have to do is follow them. They’ll take us to Kalaat Hallaki.’ He turned towards Father Hogan. ‘I promised you that we’d get there in time and now this unexpected stroke of luck will certainly shorten our journey. Be prepared. We’ll attempt the crossing immediately, as soon as the last of those horsemen has disappeared into the cloud.’

  In the meantime, Amir was keeping his head down and urging his horse on with his heels, although he would stroke the animal’s neck now and then to reassure him. In his other hand he held high a flaming pitch-soaked torch so the men behind him could see. He was searching the terrain for traces of a stony path, the bottom of the wadi. He could feel the wind abating slightly, and then he realized that his horse was trying to step around the big stones that were jutting out of the ground. He’d found the path.

  After a brief stretch where it was practically level, the wadi sank between two banks tall enough to provide shelter from the wind, which was hitting them obliquely now instead of head on, and the long caravan was able to proceed without the risk of straying off in the darkness. Amir felt immense relief and new hope. He knew that he would succeed in an endeavour that no one would have thought possible. He advanced for hours in the dark without seeing the face of Arad, although she was right beside him. He held the torch high the entire time with an aching arm until he could feel the wind dropping and then dying away completely. The suddenly still air was fragrant with grass and flowers and bore from faraway the cries of the sentries standing guard on the bastions of the castle and the song of the night birds. Amir contemplated the quiet valley. Hallaki slept stretched out in the shadows like a beautiful woman in her sweetly scented bed. He looked back and saw Arad emerge from the fog cloaked in moonlight, like an apparition.

  ‘We’re home, Arad, my lady, my beloved. We’re home.’

  The caravan reached the edge of the oasis when the stars were beginning to pale and the sky to whiten behind the bulwarks of the fortress. At that moment a trumpet blared, then a second and a third, and the whole valley echoed with the sound. The great gate was opened and a squad of horsemen rushed out to welcome Amir and Princess Arad.

  The squad escorted them to the castle as dozens of torches were lit on the bastions. Others lit the walls of the inner courtyard and bathed the carvings on the great portal in their reddish glow. The bridge shook under the pounding hooves of Amir and Arad’s horses and the warriors poured in, continuing their gallop around the big courtyard and finally drawing up in single file all around the vast square.

  Rasaf el Kebir appeared bareheaded, with a long blue cape thrown over his shoulders. His scimitar hung from his side in its silver sheath. He threw his arms open wide and welcomed both of them, his daughter and the young leader of his warriors, clutching them to his chest as if both were his children.

  ‘You are home!’ he said. ‘Kalaat Hallaki wasn’t the same place without you, and I was beginning to despair.’

  ‘Our mission was a complete success,’ said
Amir. ‘We passed every test. Outside is a caravan of seventy camels laden with the jugs that hold the naphtha which flows from the well at Hit. I will lead the charge of your warriors between two walls of flames, all the way to the Tower of Solitude. Your bride, Altair, will regain the light of her mind on the day upon which knowledge shines forth from the tower. Allow me to return the key of the Horse’s Crypt, the steel star that brushed your daughter’s cheek like a caress without doing her any harm.’

  ‘I too give you the key,’ said Arad, ‘that brushed Amir’s cheek like a caress, without doing him any harm.’

  Amir watched her as she said ‘without doing him any harm’ and felt his heart filling with anguish and grief instead. He felt that she was more distant than the stars he contemplated in the desert sky every night before succumbing to sleep.

  ‘That day is coming,’ said Rasaf. ‘If we win, and my wife is healed, I think that the greatest happiness that could befall me would be to see the two of you united, and the race of the queens of Meroe perpetuated.’

  He looked his daughter straight in the eyes but she lowered hers, as if she wanted to hide from her father the thoughts that were passing through her mind at that moment.

  ‘Rest now,’ he said, ‘from the hardships of your journey. The women have prepared a scented bath for you, and a soft bed. This evening you will both dine with me in the great hall of the castle, along with all of those who are most dear to me. We will enjoy happy hours in the expectation and hope that our vows will be fulfilled.’

  AS EVENING FELL, both Amir and Arad left their separate apartments and went to the great hall, where dinner had been prepared for them.

  Rasaf met them at the door and embraced them. ‘Come,’ he said, ‘take your places next to me so we can celebrate your return. We will eat and drink and prepare our spirits for the last battle.’

  ‘My mother,’ said Arad, ‘where is she? Is she well?’

  ‘Your mother is resting,’ replied Rasaf. ‘She has drunk a potion that will help her sleep until the moment of our departure. But don’t let yourself feel troubled for her now. You’ve done everything possible: you’ve suffered trials and tribulations, you’ve crossed the desert twice. Allow your heart to feel a little joy, and share it with the man before you, the strongest and most generous of the sons of this land.’

  ‘Yes, father,’ said Arad with a faint smile. And she turned and graced Amir with the same smile. But her mind had never left the bare room where she had given herself to a stranger, a pale young man with blue eyes. In that place she had believed for a few moments that she could live like any woman who is born and dies beneath the heavens, bearing children so she can watch them grow and work in the fields and tend to the flocks. She had given in to an emotion that she had never felt before, to a force that was stronger than the wind, hotter than the rays of the sun, softer than the evening breeze.

  She had believed for a moment that she could run off with him and live for ever in a distant secret place where destiny would never find her. She had deceived herself, and now she knew that she could no longer flee. She would fight. She would face the horror of the Blemmyae, the immensity of the mystery that sometimes flashed on the horizon at night in a bloody halo. She smiled again when Amir handed her a cup of palm wine and she drank from it, hoping that one day she would forget.

  When the evening was drawing to a close, one of the guards entered and approached Rasaf. ‘My lord,’ he said, ‘the soldiers of the desert have crossed the wall of sand and their chief has come to us unarmed, requesting to meet with you. He is the same man whom we once saved from the Sand of Ghosts. He says that he comes in peace and offers you his allegiance. He puts the powerful weapons he has with him at your disposal and your command.’

  ‘Wait until everyone has left the hall and then bring him here to me. Draw up the guard at the entrance to the oasis and put sentries on every bastion. Their every movement must be under our surveillance.’

  The man responded with a nod of his head and left.

  Rasaf turned to Amir and Arad. ‘I would like you to stay. A stranger, a soldier of the desert, asks to speak with us. He is the same man you once saved from certain death, Amir. I want to listen to what he has to say.’

  Eventually, the guests took their leave, one after another, and the great hall was soon empty. When they had all left, the door opened and Colonel Jobert appeared. He was covered in dust and his eyes were bloodshot and weary.

  ‘I have been told that I am in the presence of Rasaf el Kebir, the lord of this place.’

  ‘The lady of this place is not with us because her mind has long been steeped in darkness. I am her husband.’

  ‘I know,’ said Jobert. ‘I heard her song of enchantment from the bastions, and her cry of terror. I have come to offer my allegiance against a common enemy. Against those monstrous creatures who have ravaged the mind of your bride and massacred my men under my very eyes.’

  ‘You insisted on venturing into the Sand of Ghosts without knowing what awaited you and you paid dearly for your presumption.’

  ‘I know,’ replied Jobert, ‘but we soldiers of the desert are accustomed to obeying the orders we receive from our superiors. I had been ordered to explore the territory that you call the Sand of Ghosts and I had no choice. I owe my life to you and I have returned to offer my allegiance. I want to avenge my fallen comrades and give them an honourable burial. I have powerful weapons capable of killing hundreds of men in a mere instant, and a group of loyal and valiant soldiers. We shall march forward together and annihilate the Blemmyae. I promise and I give you my word of honour that afterwards I will leave this place for ever and never again will any of the soldiers of the desert cross the wall of sand. Kalaat Hallaki will go back to being a legend.’

  Rasaf considered him in silence. The man was exhausted and could barely stand, but his eyes glittered with desperate determination and steadfast will. Rasaf understood that honour was not merely a word for this man, but he also realized that such sacrifice and risk could not be explained away simply by a desire for revenge, by his resolve to bury bones bleached by the sun. He turned to Amir and saw that he was thinking the same thing.

  ‘It is not only vengeance that you seek. You haven’t returned simply to lay your dead to rest. What else are you looking for? I will not allow you to pass unless you tell me honestly.’

  Jobert lowered his head. ‘The wise men of my people say that a message will arrive from the stars in five days, seventeen hours and seven minutes, and they have sent one of them with me to listen to this message. But the place where it will arrive is in the Sand of Ghosts, in the territory of the Blemmyae.’

  Arad started and even Rasaf could not contain his surprise. ‘The wise men of your people have told the truth,’ he said. ‘And we mean to listen to that voice as well.’

  Amir interrupted. ‘What do we need this foreigner for?’ he said. ‘We have powerful arms of our own that I have brought with me from across the desert. We have already saved him once and thus we are stronger than he is. After all, we cannot be sure of his true intentions.’

  But Arad drew closer and rested her hand on his shoulder. ‘We face a bitter battle, Amir, perhaps the last we shall ever fight. Allow these allies to do combat at our side. It will not diminish your valour and I will keep the promise I have made to you, because you will be in command. You will draw up the forces and move them on the battlefield.’ She kissed his head and left the room.

  She went down the stairs, crossed the courtyard that was still illuminated by the torches and walked out into the silent valley, wandering through the orchards and shadowy palm groves, breathing in the scent of the fields. Clouds covered the vault of the sky except for a brief gap towards the west, where a slim crescent moon hovered over the tree tops. The murmur of the spring was close now; a sound that she’d always listened for since she was a little girl, delighting in its gentle song. She approached the water’s edge and tossed a stone in, as children are wont to do, watching
the little concentric waves ripple outwards. The clouds parted then and a strip of sky was reflected in the water. Arad saw the red light of Antares sparkling like a ruby in the shiny black pool.

  THE THREE HORSEMEN were transfixed, watching the dense cloud of dust that covered the southern horizon. They were waiting for the light of the sun to disappear so they could read the destiny that awaited them in the stars. But when the last gleam of daylight had been extinguished, a new glow rose above the cloud against the dark sky. A thick, bloody halo which expanded and contracted like a beating heart.

  ‘My God, what is it?’ said Philip.

  ‘It’s Him,’ said Desmond. ‘It’s Him. He’s waking up. The star of Antares is mirrored in the spring of Hallaki. We must go, now.’

  He urged on his mount. But the horses were nervously pawing the ground, bucking, reluctant to proceed towards the grim light that stained the sky like an infected sore.

  ‘The horses are afraid,’ said El Kassem. ‘We won’t be able to cross the cloud.’

  ‘We’ll go on foot, if necessary,’ said Desmond. ‘We’ll follow the red halo. It will guide us even from inside the cloud.’ He dug in his spurs and rode on, followed by Philip and El Kassem, but they soon stopped dead in their tracks. ‘Look,’ said Desmond, ‘the cloud has dissipated.’ And indeed, directly in front of them, precisely where the vast halo throbbed with the most intense light, the cloud was disappearing like morning mist in the heat of the sun. The wind dropped and the crescent moon was soon visible in the west.

  ‘We can go now,’ he said. ‘The road is open.’ He turned towards Philip with an ironic look. ‘This would never have happened in Paris, would it?’

  Philip did not smile back, but he was the first to spur on his horse. The three men galloped along the arid banks of Wadi Addir.

  They didn’t stop until they had reached the hidden valley and the wonder of Hallaki loomed before them. The castle, a solitary giant, kept vigil in the darkness. Lights pulsed behind its windows, while others vanished only to reappear elsewhere; calls echoed from the bastions, muffled at this distance. The valley itself seemed deserted and nothing could be heard save the calls of nocturnal birds. Here and there, amid the deep green of the trees, water glittered, reflecting the silvery glow of the moon.