by Brian Smith
A slave being beaten by the side of a field
When they returned to the palace everyone was extremely busy and Isabella was kept on her feet all day for many more hours during the night obeying the orders of the Caliph and his family. Her feet were sore and even bleeding from the long march to the port and back, but of course no one cared, she was only a slave.
Two days later Isabella was put in charge of a girl whose job it was to help Isabella perform her duties faster. Isabella was surprised that the girl was quite cheerful about everything she was asked to do and soon realized that the girl was allowed to go almost anywhere in the palace, including the area where her mother Elvira worked. The girl’s name was Geetu.
Isabella and Geetu quickly made friends and Isabella helped to take messages to Elvira. Geetu soon realized that Isabella was responsible for taking food and drinks to the Caliph and his family, and this gave her an idea.
As soon as she could find some time to be alone with Anthony and Edward she discussed it with them. The boys thought it sounded workable so they confided in Prince Horn when they brought fresh food to his room.
The Prince and his friends listened attentively. When Geetu had finished Prince Horn considered her proposal, nodded his head slightly and said “Maybe, just maybe it’ll work. You can certainly count on the men of Suddene. If they’re given just half a chance, they’ll take it. And yet,” he looked at her seriously, “are you sure you know what you’re doing?”
Geetu stared into his eyes for a moment before she said “I am the Princess Geetu and my father is the Raja of Carackpore. Of course I know what I’m doing. I have seen the substance myself many times in India and thanks to our royal hakim, that is our doctor, I have a pukka knowledge about how to use it.”
The mysterious substance Geetu was talking about was nothing less than opium. While wandering around the palace she had found a room which was used for storing herbs and drugs. She had recognized the opium immediately. Opium is a powerful drug that can be used against pain, but it can also put people to sleep or give them a kind of waking dream known as hallucination.
Prince Horn looked at Geetu in a different light. He was beginning to understand that there was much more to the three children than he had thought at first. He put his arms around our three heroes, smiled and said “I don’t know whether you are strangers sent to us by fate or angels that God has sent to deliver us in this, our darkest hour, but I thank you with all my heart. I will pray to God for your success.”
“Then let’s get cracking,” Edward said. “It’ll be evening soon.”
The boys went to the secret store room to get the opium they needed while Geetu went to talk to Isabella.
Everything went according to plan, it was almost too easy to be true. Isabella and some of the other slaves were only too happy to add opium to the food of the Caliph, his family and the various guards and overseers in the palace. By midnight the palace was under their control and Prince Horn was busy organizing the freed slaves into a little army.
“So far so good,” Prince Horn said. “The Saracens are asleep and locked up in their own prison, but there’s still their army in the city. If we want to escape we’ll have to find another way out of here before they realize what has happened. Our only chance is to reach the port quickly, overpower the crew of one of their ships and sail away.”
“What about all the other slaves?” Anthony protested.
“That’s right,” Edward said. “We can’t leave them behind. Everyone must go!”
“Or no one goes,” Geetu added.
Prince Horn sighed. “I understand how you feel, but you must be reasonable. It’s a miracle we’ve got this far, taking over the whole city and overpowering the Saracen army is impossible. We’d just be throwing away what we have now.”
“We can do it,” Edward said bravely.
“Hear, hear,” Elvira and Orraca called. “Let’s free everyone!”
“And just how do you propose we do this?” Athulf asked. “Even if we take them by surprise we’d never win in a fight with their army.”
“Let’s just put them to sleep like we did here,” Anthony suggested.
“That’s right,” Edward said with a smile. “We’ll send them food and drink laced with opium.
“And you think anyone can simply go to the soldiers and give them food and they’ll all eat it? Why should they trust you?” Fikenhild asked.
There was a moment’s silence, then Geetu said “We’ve got the Caliph’s seal. All we have to do is write a message saying that the food is a gift from the Caliph. When they see the seal they’ll be happy to take the food and drink.”
Everyone looked at Prince Horn.
“You know,” he said after a while, “that’s not such a bad idea. There’s only one problem, who can write the message in Arabic?”
The children looked at each other in consternation. Prince Horn was right. The message had to be in Arabic. There was silence in the room. Was their plan doomed to failure?
“I can do it,” a quiet voice said.
“Who said that?” Prince Horn asked. “Step forth if you can really write in Arabic.”
There was a shuffling of feet, the crowd parted and a woman shyly walked to Prince Horn. She was of medium height, her hair was short, black and curly and her skin was as dark as the most beautiful ebony wood. She wore a simple white cloth around her body and there was a thick iron ring around her neck.
“Who are you,” Prince Horn asked, “and can you really write in Arabic?”
“My name is Amina. Many, many summers ago, when I was a young woman I lived with my husband and our little son in a village far away across the great desert. One day those you call the Saracens came to our village. They killed the men and took the women and children as slaves. I haven’t seen my own son since we arrived in this cursed, evil place, but I have been looking after the Caliph’s many children for all these years. I have seen them learning and I have learnt myself. I have even helped them to do their writing work. I can write in Arabic as if I were the Caliph.”
“Well, Amina,” Prince Horn said, “then you are a most learned woman. Will you help us?”
“With all my heart,” Amina said. “I have only two wishes left in my life, one is to have my vengeance on the Caliph and his people and the other is to find my son again.”
“If your son is still in this town then we’ll find him,” Edward said.
“We’ll try our best,” Prince Horn said not wanting to make a promise he might not be able to keep. “But if we succeed we’ll help you get back to your village, your home.”
Amina looked at him and tears welled up in her eyes.
“My home is no more,” she said. “It was burnt down and all our people were either killed or enslaved. I have nowhere to go.”
It was something they had not thought of before. Freeing the slaves was one thing even if they succeeded against all odds to take over the city and free everyone. But what of those poor people who had nowhere to go?
Prince Horn stepped up to Amina and took her hands into his.
“Then Suddene shall be your new home,” he said, “ and the same goes for all the others we free. I give you my word as the King of Suddene to do all in my power to return you to your homes, but if you have nowhere to go then come with me! Let Suddene be your home! I know that my once happy hometown now lies in ruins, but together we can rebuild it more beautiful and more glorious than ever before. Let ours be the happiest town on Earth and the envy of the world!”
Everyone cheered and Amina grasped his hands tightly.
“God bless you, King Horn,” she said. “If you do all this you truly deserve the name of King.”
The rest of our story is not long. When slaves came bringing food and drink to the Saracen soldiers with a message that bore the Caliph’s seal the soldiers were delighted. They had a feast and soon fell asleep. Then it was easy for the former slaves to tie them up and take their weapons away. By sunrise the whole city was in co
ntrol of the rebels. In the palace and the houses of the city the rebels found an enormous amount of treasure that had been robbed from many different places. All the rebels got an equal share of the gold and silver, the jewels and other precious things. The Saracen soldiers were tied up and locked up while the townsfolk hid in their houses in fear.
The former slaves assembled in the main square of the city.
“Let’s kill them all!” some of them cried.
“Hear me!” Edward shouted.
Athulf lifted Edward up on his shoulders so everyone could see him.
“I know how angry you all are,” Edward said, “but killing the people here is not right. We’d be no better than they are if we killed them. A wise man once said that everything becomes evil when we try to cure evil with evil. Let us show the Saracens that we are better than that. Let us show them that we can live in happiness and kindness towards others. Let us show them that there is no need to steal and enslave others to lead a good and happy life. Let us help the Saracens become better people!”
King Horn nodded.
“I agree,” he said. “Let’s not begin our newly found freedom by doing evil, and, I assure you, killing defenceless people is evil. Let’s begin our freedom by being kind, good and forgiving. Let us do as we would be done by and maybe, just maybe, one day the world will be a better place.”
Most of the freed slaves cheered. Some of them felt too bitter to cheer but they said nothing and so the people who had oppressed and maltreated them for so long were given their lives in the hope that they, too, would become better humans.
More than half the freed slaves were from Africa, south of the Sahara desert. They took what weapons they could find and set off towards their lost home country.
The slaves from Europe and a few Africans such as Amina, who had nowhere to go to, followed King Horn and marched to the port. With the Caliph's seal and messages written by Amina they managed to overpower the crews of the ships that lay at anchor.
Overjoyed they left the shores of Africa and sailed towards Europe. It was late afternoon and the sun was already low on the horizon. Its warm, red light shone on the happy multitude who had been granted a new life. As they left their existence as slaves behind them they knelt down on the ships and thanked almighty God in a prayer that everyone joined in. After the prayer Edward, Anthony and Geetu went to King Horn.
“King Horn,” Edward said, “it’s time to say farewell, for we must leave soon.”
“Will you not come with me to Suddene?” King Horn asked in surprise.
“We came to free slaves,” Anthony said. “Now that our task is fulfilled we must leave.”
“I see,” King Horn said. “Then I was right. You were sent here by God to deliver us.” He shook their hands and said “I thank you and God with all my heart. I will never forget you and I will include you in my prayers.”
Isabella, Elvira, Orraca and Amina hugged the three children.
“Thank you so much for giving me my daughter back,” Elvira said.
“May God bless you,” Amina said.
Suddenly Geetu burst into tears and hugged Edward and Anthony.
“And we, too, must say farewell,” she cried. “Our dare is fulfilled and I must return to my home while you go to yours. Please remember me!”
“We will!” the boys promised and hugged Geetu tightly.
Then stars whirled all around them and before the astonished eyes of King Horn and the others the three children vanished into thin air. Geetu returned to her home in India where she was destined to become the queen of her country, a queen who was always respected for her kindness and justice, and the two brothers returned to their home where their parents were waiting anxiously for them.
Here’s a sneak preview of Edward and Anthony’s next exciting adventure!
The End of the World
…there was a new sound. It was something the children had never heard before, yet their parents knew from bad days in the past. The sound was so loud they couldn’t hear the traffic anymore, they could barely hear people shouting, it was a scary wailing sound that sounded like a slow siren of a police car, only a thousand times louder.
“What is it, Daddy?” Anthony cried. “Mummy, Mummy!”
“It’s an air raid siren,” their parents shouted.
Near the entrance to the underground station two police officers listened to a message on their radio. Then they blew their whistles and waved to people.
“Get down!” they shouted. “Get down, now!”
Everyone began to run at once. People crowded into the entrance of the underground.
A terrifying evil
The end of everything they love
An impossible DARE
Follow this quest to the end in
The End of the World
ISBN-10: 1507836058
Read about the author and all your Dare Quest adventures at
www.briansmith.de
