Daoud was amazed to see that he actually seemed to be laughing at what Qutuz had said.
He still feels the excitement of the battle, Daoud thought. And by walking and talking as he does, he keeps at bay his grief at the loss of his army. His words are as much for himself as for the sultan and the emirs.
"Defeat?" said Baibars, speaking Ket Bogha's words. "Oh, Sultan, do not play the fool by claiming this skirmish as a victory. You rashly chose to overrun this handful of men, but the harm you have done to Hulagu Khan is that which a gnat does to an elephant. You have not hurt him. You have angered him. The men and horses he has lost here, the wives of his soldiers and the mares in his paddocks will make up in a single night."
"You talk like some old storyteller in the marketplace who tries to frighten children," said Qutuz in a shrill voice.
The amazement all of us feel, that we are not only alive but victorious, must be even stronger in Qutuz. Most of my Mameluke comrades may think that their sultan planned for victory all along. But he himself knows better.
Ket Bogha stopped pacing and pointed a stubby finger at Qutuz. "Soon Hulagu Khan will return from beyond the Oxus and the hooves of his horses will trample your land all the way to the Nile and beyond. He will do to your Cairo what he did to Baghdad."
Qutuz laughed harshly. "Your faith in your master is touching, but I will have your head carried before me on a spear when I ride back to Egypt. He cannot save you from that."
"I would rather die for my khan than be like you, one who rose to power by murdering his rightful lord!" Ket Bogha cried.
Baibars smiled wryly as he repeated the Tartar's words in Arabic.
Qutuz went white with fury. "Take him away and cut his head off," he ordered. "And you, Baibars, how dare you repeat such a slander to me? I never murdered anyone."