The Wolf and the Snake (English version)

Chapter 26

Qalawun walks along the Nile, thinking of the unfortunate slave who died two days ago. Then, he sees something a little further on. It's a vague, uncertain shape. Sometimes, the Great River rejects horrible drowned, with the tongue stuck between the teeth, the eyelids swollen. Approaching, he notices that it's probably a woman.

His heart sinks when he recognizes a long golden hair, a beautiful gazelle body.

He stares at human remains with a sad eye. The dead woman is on her belly, almost naked, and her face against the ground. She doesn't look too damaged by the waters. Qalawun silently admires her slender hips, her pretty buttocks too.

Bizarrely, her skin hasn't turned blue. On the contrary, she's still white, with pearly and iridescent reflections.

***

Reyn doesn't sleep. He's sure that Mohammedans lied to him and are holding Ada somewhere. Aurel and some volunteers explored the Nile for almost half a mile.

They found a body that was identified.

Azalia, the little Beguine, is dead. She was probably drowned because she had no apparent wounds. But, since she couldn't be buried, the king's physician, also a clergyman, said a few words before the poor girl returned to the river.

Reyn eventually fell asleep, his mind feverish, despair in his heart.

***

Qalawun decided to turn the corpse over. He expects the beautiful face to be nothing more than a frightening mask, but it's almost intact. He remembers admiring this Frankish beauty he met at the tyrant's palace and thinking she was worth the price of a hundred horses, maybe more. Slowly, he walks his fingers over the almost naked body. He longs to touch her and feels a demonic desire rise in his stomach. Then he caresses with a light finger the girl's cheek and remains frozen.

The corpse seems to have moved.

She spits out some liquid, and Qalawun carefully puts her on the side.

Suddenly, she expels all the water entered her lungs. So, the emir massages her slowly to warm her up.

Curiously, she has no trace of blows or wounds.

He takes off his tunic to dress the slave delicately and takes her between his arms, regretting that this beauty already has a master.

Still unconscious, the young woman is comfortably settled under her master's tent, in the hollow of a straw mattress posed on bamboo tripods and covered with thick blankets. Overjoyed, Altan vigorously stokes the fire of a large brazier without leaving Ada out of his sight for a single moment.

The comments are flowing among the Turkish soldiers.

The more religious think Allah himself chased far away from the little the two frightening death angels, Nakir and Munkar. Although she was a disbeliever, the Highest wished to reward her courage against the terrible tyrant. But the most suspicious think the devil himself has breathed life into the chest of the beautiful slave.

And this doesn't bode well for her master.

Absorbed in the contemplation of the young resurrected, Altan cautiously keeps away from the kingdom's affairs. The predators often kill the small fry, then slaughter each other until the best one wins. Following the tyrant's death, Chajar, the deceased's stepmother, was officially brought to the throne by the Mamelukes. On the condition, of course, that an army leader is appointed from among the insurgents.

Two candidates show great interest. They're Qutuz and a certain Aybak, both of them threatening to recover their due with the sword. Baibars and his little brother aren't in either camp, but they're quite close to a man named Aktai. It was with him that Baibars killed Touran Shah, which made a strong connection between them.

To the latest news, Chajar has a preference for the ambitious Aybak. And Qutuz doesn't let on that he's disappointed.

Moreover, Altan received requests to buy back his precious slave. Qalawun offered an exorbitant price as well as Qutuz himself, intrigued by this incredible creature.

Of course, Altan refused.

But as a Mameluke of higher rank and a descendant of the last Khwarezmian ruler, Qutuz felt offended.

Wishing to protect his brother and worried about the captive's astonishing abilities, Baibars has doubled the guard in front of Altan's tent. He has no intention of telling the Franks that Ada is alive. Soon, the boats in which the miscreants are held will sail to Damietta. Baibars is looking forward to being rid of Reyn of Chasseney and his damn cousin.

Like Altan, the giant is waiting patiently for the lovely Ada's first words.

***

I felt like a pretty fish as I swam back into the deep waters to the Nile shore. I could only take two or three steps, then I fell heavily to the ground, exhausted.

It was freezing.

And I lost consciousness.

Later, I saw Altan leaning towards me, looking attentive, worried.

"My beloved! How do you feel?" he whispered.

Except for an intense headache, my body was no longer in pain. It was as if Touran Shah's sword had never met my chest, as if death didn't want me.

But I didn't know for what obscure reasons.

***