“I will go to his palace and speak with him.”
“Seize him?”
“I have no power to seize him, Effendina.”
“I will give it. My Nubians shall go also.”
“Effendina, I will go alone. It is the only way. There is great danger to the throne. Who can tell what a night will bring forth?”
“If Harrik should escape—”
“If I were an Egyptian and permitted Harrik to escape, my life would pay for my failure. If I failed, thou wouldst not succeed. If I am to serve Egypt, there must be trust in me from thee, or it were better to pause now. If I go, as I shall go, alone, I put my life in danger—is it not so?”
Suddenly Kaid sat down again among his cushions. “Inshallah! In the name of God, be it so. Thou art not as other men. There is something in thee above my thinking. But I will not sleep till I see thee again.”
“I shall see thee at midnight, Effendina. Give me the ring from thy finger.”
Kaid passed it over, and David put it in his pocket. Then he turned to go.