Page:Marion Crawford - Khaled.djvu/132

 'Khaled will kill your enemies. He loves you. He will kill all whom you hate.'

'You make progress. You speak our language better,' said Zehowah, laughing a little. 'You will soon be able to tell the Sultan that you love him, as well as I could myself.'

'But you do not love him,' Almasta answered boldly.

Zehowah bent her brows so that they met between her eyes as the grip of a bow. Then Khaled's heart leaped in his breast, for he saw that she was angry with the woman, and he supposed it was because she secretly loved him. But he held his breath lest even his breathing should betray him.

'The portion of fools is fire,' said Zehowah, not deigning to give any other answer. For she was a king's daughter and Almasta a bought slave, though Khaled had taken her in war.

'Be merciful!' exclaimed Almasta, in humble tones. 'I am your handmaid, and I speak Arabic badly.'

'You speak with exceeding clearness when it pleases you.'

'Indeed I cannot talk in your language, for it is not long since I came into Arabia.'

'We will have you taught, for we will give you a husband who will teach you with sticks. There is a certain hunchback, having one eye and marked with the smallpox, whose fists are as the feet of an old camel.