into immediate silence as, lead by Abdul, the small group of now ex-prisoners, walked into the room. The gathering was even more astounded when Nasir, with obvious difficulty, rose from his place and, embracing each man in turn, waited until each had taken his traditional place in the circle and returned slowly to his own place next to his nephew.
“You were saying, Uncle?” he said quietly, turning towards where Sahir was sitting, still open mouthed but by now entirely silent; as indeed, apart from the greetings to the quartet, were most in the room. Abdullah spoke again before the silence broke.
“I see you are bereft of words with the joy of seeing our kin restored to us,” he said smoothly.
“It’s a trick!” blustered Husain.
“Brother, I’m not sure what you mean?” queried Abdullah politely, delighted at the effect the sudden appearance of the four had had. Looking around the gathering, he could see surprise giving place to uncertainty.
“I don’t know, yet, but it must be! It’s as the salubbah and their magical tricks. You see something done that is impossible to do but you don’t know how! Here, it’s that we don’t know why ,” he spluttered, slowly winding down as he sensed he’d lost his audience. Hiding his fury he looked across at Badr who throughout had kept his features impassive, betraying nothing of any anger that he may have been feeling at the sudden side-swiping of his plans. Indeed, Badr wasn’t looking at him. His gaze was very still and very intently focused on the new arrivals. That subtle and fast-thinking prince had already realised that they held the key to his succession. Their sudden appearance had given them a stature they’d probably not have had previously and being sworn, though silent, enemies of Fouad, would back anyone opposed to his line to succeed. Badr’s supporters relaxed slightly as they more slowly reached the same conclusion.
“Perhaps our kin, newly restored to us, should express their views,” Sultan interposed smoothly. Unlike Husain, he rarely let his temper show. His family sometimes wished he would. For so ferocious was his grip on it that when he did erupt it was if the entire skies had fallen in on the unfortunate who had roused his wrath. “They must surely have the clearest idea of the best way forward, having had so much opportunity for reflection!” he added with deliberate savagery, again causing unrest in the room. Although many did agree with both him and Sahir as regarded the imprisonment of family members, they also admired Fouad’s strength in doing it and were aware, from family history, just how destructive dynastic in-fighting could be.
Zahirah and Firyal, watching carefully, saw that a crucial stage of their strategy had worked. Sultan’s entirely unexpected, and uncharacteristic, attack on both Badr and Talal, so strongly backed by Sahir, had, as planned, stopped dead in its tracks Badr’s swiftly growing momentum towards the throne. Their attacks, allied to the carefully timed and totally unexpected appearance of the ex-prisoners, along with Nasir’s warm welcome, had given the Talal faction a sorely needed breathing space. More importantly, it had unsettled many in the room. The two arch-plotters were particularly pleased to see that it had especially rattled the now combined supporters of Badr and Faisal. So far their massive gamble was paying off. Whether the rest of their careful planning would now succeed, or uncoil hideously and destroy everything, was now out of their hands and they could only sit silently and watch the drama unfolding the other side of the screens.
“Welcome back amongst us, brother,” said Faisal, smiling and bowing his head slightly towards Abdul, as he attempted to recover the ground lost first to Sultan’s and Sahir’s outbursts and then to the stunningly unexpected appearance of the quartet. “I was just saying before you arrived, I support Badr, our brother, as the only candidate strong
“You were saying, Uncle?” he said quietly, turning towards where Sahir was sitting, still open mouthed but by now entirely silent; as indeed, apart from the greetings to the quartet, were most in the room. Abdullah spoke again before the silence broke.
“I see you are bereft of words with the joy of seeing our kin restored to us,” he said smoothly.
“It’s a trick!” blustered Husain.
“Brother, I’m not sure what you mean?” queried Abdullah politely, delighted at the effect the sudden appearance of the four had had. Looking around the gathering, he could see surprise giving place to uncertainty.
“I don’t know, yet, but it must be! It’s as the salubbah and their magical tricks. You see something done that is impossible to do but you don’t know how! Here, it’s that we don’t know why ,” he spluttered, slowly winding down as he sensed he’d lost his audience. Hiding his fury he looked across at Badr who throughout had kept his features impassive, betraying nothing of any anger that he may have been feeling at the sudden side-swiping of his plans. Indeed, Badr wasn’t looking at him. His gaze was very still and very intently focused on the new arrivals. That subtle and fast-thinking prince had already realised that they held the key to his succession. Their sudden appearance had given them a stature they’d probably not have had previously and being sworn, though silent, enemies of Fouad, would back anyone opposed to his line to succeed. Badr’s supporters relaxed slightly as they more slowly reached the same conclusion.
“Perhaps our kin, newly restored to us, should express their views,” Sultan interposed smoothly. Unlike Husain, he rarely let his temper show. His family sometimes wished he would. For so ferocious was his grip on it that when he did erupt it was if the entire skies had fallen in on the unfortunate who had roused his wrath. “They must surely have the clearest idea of the best way forward, having had so much opportunity for reflection!” he added with deliberate savagery, again causing unrest in the room. Although many did agree with both him and Sahir as regarded the imprisonment of family members, they also admired Fouad’s strength in doing it and were aware, from family history, just how destructive dynastic in-fighting could be.
Zahirah and Firyal, watching carefully, saw that a crucial stage of their strategy had worked. Sultan’s entirely unexpected, and uncharacteristic, attack on both Badr and Talal, so strongly backed by Sahir, had, as planned, stopped dead in its tracks Badr’s swiftly growing momentum towards the throne. Their attacks, allied to the carefully timed and totally unexpected appearance of the ex-prisoners, along with Nasir’s warm welcome, had given the Talal faction a sorely needed breathing space. More importantly, it had unsettled many in the room. The two arch-plotters were particularly pleased to see that it had especially rattled the now combined supporters of Badr and Faisal. So far their massive gamble was paying off. Whether the rest of their careful planning would now succeed, or uncoil hideously and destroy everything, was now out of their hands and they could only sit silently and watch the drama unfolding the other side of the screens.
“Welcome back amongst us, brother,” said Faisal, smiling and bowing his head slightly towards Abdul, as he attempted to recover the ground lost first to Sultan’s and Sahir’s outbursts and then to the stunningly unexpected appearance of the quartet. “I was just saying before you arrived, I support Badr, our brother, as the only candidate strong
Similar Books
