Swords of Arabia: Betrayal (51 page)

“If
they
have
no
big
guns
then
we
can
make
a
fight
of
it,”
said
Mish’al
quietly.
“If
they
have...”
he
shrugged
and
his
voice
trailed
off.
He’d
spent
his
life
fighting
but,
although
still
young,
he’d
already
seen
how
recent
advances
in
the
weaponry
reaching
Arabia
were
starting
to
change
the
way
wars
had
been
fought
across
its
lands
for
millennia.
He
had
seen
the
impact
that
big
field
guns
had
on
walls
of
towns
which
had
stood
for
centuries,
and
had
no
illusions
as
to
how
long
theirs
could
survive
such
a
bombardment.

“Yes,”
nodded
Nasir
sombrely.
“Let
us
hope
they
chose
speed
to
reach
us
and
they
ha...”
The
words
died
in
his
throat
as
he
saw
a
break
in
the
ranks
and
then
two
large
field
guns
being
wheeled
into
position.

All
on
the
ramparts
watched
in
utter
silence
as
the
two
big
guns
were
manoeuvred
to
face
the
town.
Nasir
observed
that
many
of
the
guards
lining
the
walls
exchanged
hurried
glances
with
each
other.
He
scarcely
blamed
them.
Even
those
who’d
never
seen
one
of
the
fearsome
guns
in
action
had
heard
the
horror
stories
from
those
who
had.
He
knew
their
morale
would
take
some
rebuilding
in
the
light
of
what
he,
and
they,
knew
would
soon
happen.

Then
suddenly
the
ranks
of
the
attackers
rippled,
their
sudden
alarm
clearly
visible
from
the
walls.

Chapter
Twenty Two

The
watchers
in
the
town
were
puzzled.
What
had,
moments
before,
seemed
a
fierce,
unbreakable
wall
of
mounted
men
intent
on
attacking
the
town,
suddenly
seemed
ill-at-ease,
moving
from
the
hunter
to
the
hunted.

Then
an
armed
guard
rushed
up
to
the
royal
group
on
the
walls,
holding
a
small
piece
of
paper
in
his
hand.
Nasir,
recognising
it
for
what
it
was
–
one
of
the
tiny
message
slips
inserted
into
the
small
metal
container
on
the
leg
of
the
emirate’s
official
carrier
pigeons
-
hurriedly
took
it
from
the
guardsman’s
hands.
Like
all
who
were
involved
with
the
birds,
the
man
was
illiterate;
the
less
they
knew
of
the
content
of
the
messages
enclosed
the
safer
Narash
–
and
the
men
themselves
–
were.
The
young
regent’s
hands
shook
slightly
as
he
read
the
brief
message.
The
shock
on
his
face
was
enough
to
alert
the
rest
of
the
small
group
to
its seriousness.

“It’s
ibn
Saud!”
he
gasped,
passing
the
message
to
Zahirah.
“He
is
heading
here
at
the
head
of
hundreds
of
men
–
and
will
be
here
in
minutes!”

“
Ya Allah
!
He
must
have
fought
free
of
the
entanglements
we
laid
for
him,”
spat
Zahirah,
“and
realised
that
if
he
doesn’t
strike
now,
before
we’ve
formally
confirmed
our
acceptance
to
one
or
other
of
the
great
powers,
he
may
never
have
another
chance!
But
how
has
he
got
so
close,
unnoticed?”
she
asked,
some
of
the
shock
she
was
feeling
leaching
into
her
voice.

Nasir
shook
his
head,
“I
don’t
know,”
he
replied,
his
own
voice
and
features
both
now
back
to
their
usual
calm.
“But
he
arrives
just
in
time
to
thwart
the
Rashid
–
his
hated
enemy.
This
should
give
us
great
joy
to
watch,”
he
added,
relishing
the
thought
of
the
two
life-long
foes
engaging
in
a
bitter
battle
in
full
view
of
the
town’s
walls.

“Let
us
hope
that
they
are
not
in
alliance
–
and,
if
not,
that
their
meeting
here
like
this
today,
doesn’t
cause
that
idea
to
occur
to
them,”
said
Zahirah
warningly.
Seeing
the
shock
on
her
young
kinsman’s
face
as
he
digested
her
words,
she
continued,
“Why
not?
Both
desire
Narash;
both
would
fight
the
other
to
a
standstill
and
maybe
still
not
win
the
prize.
But
together...”

Nasir
knew
she
was
right.
As
ever,
her
acute
sense
of
being
able
to
see
all
the
possible
ramifications
of
any
given
action,
or
set
of
circumstances,
had
quickly
allowed
her
to
realise
what
would
be,
for
Narash,
the
worst
of
all
possible
worlds.

“I
doubt
that
will
happen,
though,”
he
replied,
after
a
moment’s
thought,
“their
mutual
distrust
is
too
great.”

“Let
us
hope
so,”
she
responded
quietly
as
they
both
continued
to
watch
the
drama
playing
out
in
front
of
them.
Both
were
content
to
watch
as
spectators,
determinedly
putting
what
could
happen
if
they
were
forced
to
become
participants
from
their
minds.

They
quickly
realised,
however,
that
destiny
appeared
to
have
other
ideas.
Far
from
delaying
any
attack
on
the
town,
the
news
of
ibn
Saud’s
imminent
arrival
spurred
the
attackers
on.
The
majority
of
the
riders
turned
and
faced
towards
the
south-west
to
be
face-on
when
ibn
Saud
arrived.
The
remainder
quickly
positioned
the
two
guns
and
unleashed
a
barrage
towards
the
town.
Their
first
hurried
shots
fell
short,
blowing
a
huge
hole
in
the
roadway
and
spewing
up
tons
of
sand
and
rocky
debris,
which
showered
down
on
the
walls,
some
narrowly
missing
Nasir
and
the
others
as
they
stepped
back
from
view.

“They
realise
they
have
limited
time.
Were
I
they,
I
would
send
in
men
as
soon
as
the
guns
have
the
range,
rather
than
wait
until
they’ve
smashed
down
the
walls,”
murmured
Mish’al,
in
response
to
a
hurried
question
from
Nasir.
The
next
few
minutes
proved
him
right.
As
two
shells
smashed
into
the
walls,
one
of
them
punching
straight
through
its
massive
thickness
into
the
courtyard
behind,
mounted
men
started
racing
towards
the
gap.
Yet
others
maintained
their
cordon
round
the
town,
while
sending
sorties
at
different
points
against
its
walls.
It
was
a
tactic
that
Nasir
grimly
knew
was
aimed
at
stretching
and
quickly
weakening
their
defences.