“Lord!” he said in a shaking voice. “I did not know how terrible was your weapon! I did not know that you were so much more powerful than the most powerful of djinns. Indeed, lord, I apologize for regretting that I offered my allegiance. I did not speak too soon, lord! I did not speak soon enough! And by the beard of the Prophet, I swear that you are my king and my ruler for always!”
Tony swallowed. That flare in the midday sky had been unnerving.
“All right, Abdul,” he said. “We’ll let it go at that. You’ve been worried about protection. As far as I can, I’ll give it to you—”
“Protection, lord?” said Abdul, beaming. “It is I who will be begged for protection now! My friends who have seen Es-Souk destroyed will come to me begging me to intercede that you do not destroy them also! You will let me boast before them, lord? After all, I was the chimaera on which you rode when you destroyed Es-Souk in such a manner that no others of the djinn were harmed! I did help you, to the best of my poor ability!”
“Naturally—” began Tony. Then Nasim’s voice came to him.
“You carried him, Abdul,” said Nasim proudly, “which is what a djinn should do for his king. But I played the part of a proper djinnee, too! I held his coat!”
Tony turned to her. He accepted the belted-in-the-back camel’s-hair coat. Then he said politely:
“That was very nice of you, Nasim. I appreciate it a lot. But won’t you please put on some clothes?”
Chapter 16
The palace of the djinn king wasn’t what it had been. Not only the djinn officially off-duty, as it were, had attended Tony’s duel with Es-Souk; guardsmen also had quietly transformed themselves from twelve-foot military figures into gazelles, whirlwinds, lions, and other swiftly moving creatures to attend the sporting event. The court, generally, had poured out to see the ruckus. And in addition, various djinn serving as towers, pinnacles, rooms, articles of furniture and virtu, rugs, hangings, plumbing fixtures and structural elements had taken time off from supporting the state and majesty of the king.