by Gary Gygax
Before either of the two could say anything else, however, Lady Sujata recovered sufficiently to shriek out in a voice filled with insane rage and fury, "Kali, come to your faithful priestess, I implore. A life here is yours, I swear!"
At the last utterance the whole room went dark, then light reappeared, but it was as if all were seen in negative. In the vault with them was a black-skinned figure, a woman over eight feet tall with four arms, her torso adorned by a necklace of human skulls. "I am here, daughter," boomed a voice from that dreadful figure. "Come to collect the life you have pledged."
"Yes, YES!" shrieked Sujata in frenzied joy. "Thank you, Mother of Death! There! There is the one who broke her oath to YOU. Take her!"
As the goddess reached forth with rumal and hook to strangle Rachelle, sink in the cruel iron point to drag the amazon's mortal remains physically to Kali's own sphere, Magister Setne
Inhetep interposed himself, his upraised ankh of gold the only glint of color in the weirdly illuminated strongroom. "Restrain yourself a moment, great goddess."
"What?! Who dares to challenge my right to the promised life?" the terrible voice of Kali boomed.
"Not I, great one. I only ask that you direct your efforts to she whose life is forfeit, your priestess called Lady Sujata."
The pirimah shrieked denials, cursing Inhetep and Rachelle. "She did break the oath she made in your name, Great Black Mother of Death. She agreed to give herself to you should she break it."
"Puny servant of the bird-headed Thoth, my priestess speaks right. I see the past events unfold as she claims. Out of my way, or I shall have your life as well as hers. Your lord has no power to save you here."
"La! Do not be so hasty, great goddess Kali. To make remarks about appearance demeans the speaker—and perhaps the Lord of Wisdom has allies here in the realms you are recognized in. In any event, form does not indicate content, does it?"
"What are you saying, man?" Kali thundered. Her expression was menacing, terrible, but she stayed her hand.
Inhetep pointed at the witch. "The form of the oath was in blood. The content was a demand for action which if not carried through made the one swearing yours."
"By your own words you give your leman to my goddess! Take her, Black Mother, don't listen to the /Egyptian! Why do you hesitate? Run your noose round that white throat and choke the life from she who is yours!"
Ignoring the ranting words, the towering goddess stayed her hand to ask, "Is there meaning in your words, man? If so, tell me. If not, or if you are wrong, then I shall slay you as well as the other."
"The form was blood. You did not give blood to your faithful, Kali. You forbade them to take life by shedding it, in fact. Yet that would be the effect of what you propose if Rachelle*s life is taken by you. You would be a surrogate of the witch, Sujata. She as your priestess shed blood, and that blood would then be the proximate cause, the means bringing death to another human."
"A fine point you make, mortal."
"Indeed, goddess, but in the end do not even the deities stand or fall on being able to distinguish such?"
"Don't listen to him! O My Great Black Mother, Lady of Death. Kill them. Kill them both! I promise for that I will—"
Kali pointed, Sujata was struck dumb. "I need quiet to think on this a moment. I do not come in answer to a call from one of my faithful to be made to look foolish, still ..."
"Goddess, it is the half-hearted woman you have silenced who is the cause of all this. As to her faith, only you can judge, but the oath she extracted from the woman she implores you to strangle is the true problem. Its exaction will violate your own law."
"So I am to be made foolish by returning empty-handed?"
Inhetep shook his head. "No, goddess. She who dared to call you here is the one to die in payment—a dual justice for causing the dilemma of the contract of blood and death as well."
"You would have me slay my own priestess?" Kali was angry at that, raising her four hands menacingly towards the man before her who dared to suggest such a thing.
The magister retired a pace, but spoke with no fear in his voice. "If it please you, goddess, the delivery of payment can be made by other means. The king she pretends to serve as pirimah, whom she would soon betray and replace, awaits outside. Sujata has pledged her life on a matter which will cause it to be taken forthwith, if I am free to do as I please."
"Which is?"
"Leave here, taking the woman, Rachelle, with me."
Kali leaned towards the wizard-priest. The goddess fully understood many connotations of what he had just said about Lady Sujata, deeming them true. Her so-called priestess was one who sat astride fences, would serve only to dispossess and herself be served. "What of the objects? They are sacred to this land, and 1 cannot stand idly by while you make off with them."
"Never had I contemplated such action, goddess. I wish only to send them back to the place in which they were sequestered. In essence, the crown jewels will never leave this vault."
It was not entirely satisfactory. Sujata's continued existence would be more favorable to Kali, make her stronger among the other gods. She moved the rumal she held, speculating, considering.
Seeing that it was not going as smoothly as he had hoped, the magister dared one thing further. "Goddess?"
"What now, man?"
He cleared his throat. "Thoth may not be potent in this place, just as you have pointed out. Still, he knows what is occurring and will be aware of my fate. He will communicate your compromise to those of your own pantheon, Kali."
"Is that a fact? Dare you threaten ME?!"
Again the tall /Egyptian took a hasty backward step to stand pressed against the cases. "Threaten? Never, goddess. It is simply a fact I state," and as he spoke, Inhetep brought forth the little coffer and opened it. A bright radiance came forth as if he had unhooded a lantern. There the green, ibis-head of Thoth showed its hue atop the golden man's body below. The atef crown with its plumes and horns adorning that head was bright, so too the striped headcover-ing, colorful collar, and linen kilt. Such rainbow hues as were displayed from the foot-high figurine indicated one thing. The spirit of that deity was present and signified its awareness of what transpired by casting the light which defied the negative darkness of the Black Goddess.
"I see ..." Kali said more softly.
Something enabled the witch to break free from her enforced silence. She jumped up and ran to the goddess. "No! No! You cannot allow this to happen. I am your priestess, and I forbid it!"
"You were my servant, Sujata. But not even my most faithful priestess ever, ever forbids me anything!"
The next instant, the witch was no longer in the vault. Kali touched her, and the woman disappeared. Then the goddess glared at Inhetep. "It shall be as you suggest, man of ^figypt. It will go hard on you if we ever meet again." Then the black form likewise vanished.
Outside there was an uproar when Lady Sujata suddenly appeared before the maharajah.
She was limp, unable to move properly or to speak. Around her neck was a strangling cloth. "What is going on?" roared the frightened monarch. He got no response. He stared at the pirimah, then a sound distracted his attention. The door to the vault had come open with a popping noise. The place appeared to be empty, and he ordered the chamberlain inside to see if the Egyptian and his woman were concealed in a near corner so as to make it appear that they had somehow escaped. Gorvan trembled but obeyed.
In a minute, he came flying from the treasure room with horror-filled face. "They are not there, Radiance, and neither are the crown jewels restored!"
After watching his personal guard cut the head from Gorvan's shoulders with a single backhand stroke, Maharajah Sivadji took personal pleasure in strangling the pirimah with his own hands, slowly tightening the noose, watching her eyes that tried vainly to convey something to him. Who cared what she meant by those looks. . . .
HOME IS REWARD ENOUGH
"That is as close as I ever hope to come to prem
ature death," the magister said with an explosive sound as he threw himself down into his favorite chair in the study. "What a team we are though, girl!" he had to say as he sprawled there. He was absolutely delighted, surprisingly animated in expression and words, despite his physical exhaustion. "We may have managed it only by the proverbial hair's breadth, but we did it!"
Rachelle was not so effusive. "I agree that it was much too near a thing, Setne. What I don't see is what you are so pleased about!"
"Why, my dear, we have done our part to see that a most miserable tyrant has but numbered days on his throne. Had we assisted in the recovery of those jewels as the Maharajah Sivadji hoped we would, then we would have been guilty of a true injustice—perpetuating his rule and worse."
"Worse?"
Inhetep got up and rummaged around until
he found some tobacco to stuff into his hookah, which rested on its usual brass stand next to the big armchair. He again sat, puffing contentedly, soothed by the soft burbling sounds that it made. Rachelle was reclining on a couch, resigned to her wait, for she knew that now he couldn't resist talking about what they had just done; especially those parts where his deduction alone enabled them to follow through properly.
"Much worse," the magister said as if there hadn't been a delay of several minutes between her query and his response. "Lady Sujata would have been made the chief priestess of Delhi, the worship of Kali the only one supported by the crown, and then the Afghanis would have come—unless the witch managed to do in that toad before then."
"Now you truly have gone over my head, Setne, as well you know!"
Having elicited the response which he sought, the magister chuckled. "Just wanted your full attention, Rachelle. Where shall I pick up the threads so you will see the pattern?"
"How about the place where I missed something?" she said sarcastically.
"Then let's go to the beginning!"
She jerked upright. "Now just a moment, Setne. There's no need to belittle me."
"Not in the least, my dear. It is merely a matter of me being older and less taken by . . . appearances, let us say. You see, I was put off when the maharajah's parcel was opened."
"Do tell? What was there in that package to make you uncomfortable?"
Inhetep puffed, blew a big smoke ring skyward. "Bribery. Pleas and fawning promises which obviously weren't meant to be kept. The one obviously aimed at winning you to the maharajah's cause, the other added inducements meant for both of us."
"Me? That toad was aware of me when he sent his messenger here?"
"Don't be modest. To solicit my aid is to ask Inhetep and his companion, Rachelle, to attend to the matter. That much is known by anyone aware of my services. Certainly I am not to go about sporting a ruby necklace, so the gift was sent not to me but to you, despite the omission of your name."
Rachelle nodded. It made sense. "And I went for it in a big way, didn't I? Hungry for the lure of the promised wealth to follow should you succeed in solving the mystery of who stole the jewels."
"Nobody could blame you for liking such an exquisite piece of jewelry, my dear, or for thinking that a casketful of more like it would be nice."
"Face it, Setne, I was greedy."
"Not greedy, just a little too anxious to have such baubles. There was the lure of a distant land too, you know. No matter, for I decided to accept, and I did so on my own without any influence from you.
"Yet I had severe reservations. That's why we made the journey in such an odd fashion. I needed to find things out, and I didn't want to prejudice you in the process. Your opinions and thoughts are far too valuable to me to do that!"
"Stop flattering me."
The magister waved his hand to disperse the layer of smoke which he had created, for it was clouding his view of Rachelle. "No flattery," he said in clipped tones as he fanned. "I should have a slave or two to take care of this sort of thing as the toad had."
Rachelle giggled at that. "He is such a toad," she agreed, "and those ridiculously active fan bearers with their fluttering plumes beating around his fat head!" She laughed, then grew serious. "Better Kali than him," she muttered, thinking of the maharajah's plans for her.
"Better neither. You'll have to settle for me, and that's that. Now where was I? Oh, yes. On the way to Delhi. Some of that was really necessary, of course, once I opted not to bull straight on from here to the palace of the maharajah. The rest was aimed at giving you and me a chance to get to know a bit about the Hindis in general, the folk of Delhi in particular. With such information, naturally, we could judge the ruler and the way he governed."
She smiled. "It was pretty clear that something was lacking, wasn't it? By the time we came to the capital, 1 had the distinct impression I wasn't going to like the king. Little did I know. . . . The fear the people showed, the comments regarding how the government worked, made me certain that the Peacock Throne displayed little merit in the eyes of those ruled from its perch."
"You verge on puns. I am happy to see you are recovering, but I refuse to pick up that gauntlet—at least not until I have finished enlightening you." Inhetep ignored her facial expression and the razzing sound which accompanied it. "The thugs were the final weight which tipped the balance to the side favoring the rebels. Your discovery of the pirimah s dedication to Kali explained it, for someone in a high place had to be allowing such a band to operate."
"That is certain. They knew who we were— or at least that we were there on business of the maharajah. That was evident when they got a look at us changed from our disguises as Hindis and ran off rather than attacked."
"Very good, Rachelle! I see I shall have to work harder at this." He laughed. Puffing away for a moment as he considered, the magister then asked, "Were you impressed at how I got you out of the oath? Clever bit that, the blood and all, recalling Kali's having to strangle the 'Demon of Blood and Seed'."
She propped her head up with one hand. "I hate to say it, Setne, but I caught on as soon as you spoke of form and content. There is something, though, that I do wish you'd tell me about."
"But of course, I'd be happy to, my dear. What?"
"The day you went out alone to see about contacting the rebels in Delhi." When Inhetep shifted uncomfortable in his chair she knew she was onto it. "Yes, Setne. What was it you said you had done? I recall the words voluptuous and whore."
"Pish! Nothing of the sort. I said I had helped to recover a lost girl from a life of prostitution to something more noble, and in return she aided me in contacting the insurgents hidden in the city." He drew himself up and gave her his best expression of aristocratic altruism. Rachelle wasn't buying it, so he deflated his chest a little. "Very well. If you need eveiy sordid detail, here is what occurred." When Inhetep concluded, she laughed. He looked sour.
"So Braji is now probably a courtesan in great demand in Delhi!"
"No—at least, not if she stuck with her later decision."
"What was that?"
"When I left the rebels, she stayed, vowing to join them and fight for the cause of the claimant. It is one of Sivadji's half-brothers. It seems the old yogi, Purshiva Rishi, somehow managed to save one of the royal brood from his brother's tender mercies. He and Prince Da-hasti both are alive, lending their talents to the claimant in his mountain retreat. Because I had to, ah . . . rather strongly insist they not butcher me as a spy for the maharajah, most of the insurgents fled the city to join the growing army of rebels gathered to the soon-to-be ruler of Delhi. Braji went tripping off with those young warriors, happily receiving court from a half-dozen of them."
Rachelle laughed again, merrily. "That is a tale. If she gets to meet the royal rebel claimant, 111 wager that she charms him!"
"Not interested in that bet, my dear."
"How did you manage to convince the young hotheads not to run you through, Setne?"
The magister frowned. "It was necessary for me to employ heka. Most annoying, under the circumstances. I displaced myself to be free of thre
at, changed to show my actual appearance, and then had to go through a number of castings as if I were a mountebank or charlatan impressing yokels before I convinced them they were actually at my mercy and all that. Demeaning to everybody concerned, you know.
Made them look like weaklings, me a blundering bully who had gotten himself captured and then had to flex his magickal muscles to get free."
"You have wonderful muscles of that sort— and the physical sort too, dear Magister," she cooed. That made him more annoyed than ever, and Rachelle laughed. "Don't be so stuffy, Setne. You know I'm only teasing you because 1 have to have you tell me so much about what went on."
Feeling much better at hearing that, the magister smiled back, then himself laughed. "Funny, isn't it? When it comes down to it, all of us are just fragile little folk. Glad you're not too fragile, though, or you'd not have gotten that orb away from the pirimah. I'd have been in for it then! Which reminds me How did you manage to shake off whatever it was the witch had done to you?"
"The sleeping draught you gave me made me unconscious for the whole kidnapping, Setne. I heard that awful bitch mention a secret passage, so I knew how they entered the bedroom and took me without you knowing about it. Not trusting to common old drugs, she laid one of her witchcraeft castings on me. She knew I have studied the art, and that made her think 1 would be more vulnerable. Little did she know I am more skilled at apotropaistic things than at witchery. I managed a counter to her evil, so that the duration of its effect was foreshortened greatly. In fact, I had to pretend to be helpless from the time they brought me to the vault entrance. Your feigning no interest in whether I lived or died was superb play acting, Setne. You almost had me convinced."
She probably thought his slight raising of a brow had to do with the last words she spoke, but the magister was piqued at what the ama-zon had related about her kidnapping. "Fortunately, my dear," he said earnestly, "those malign fools didn't know much about me. If they had, the game would have ended then and there, for those familiar with Magister Setne Inhetep know that his companion is more dear to him than his own life."