They seated themselves, and the princess related to Camaralzaman the resolution she had formed in the plain, where they had encamped together for the last time, when she discovered that she waited for him in vain; in what manner she had executed it until her arrival at the Isle of Ebony, where she had been obliged to marry the princess Haiatalnefous, and to accept the crown, which king Armanos had offered her in consequence of the marriage; that the princess, whose merits she spoke of in the most exaggerated terms, had received the declaration she had made of her sex in a favourable manner; and at last acquainted him with the adventure of the talisman, found in one of the jars of olives and gold dust, which she had purchased, and which had induced her to send for him to the city of idolaters.
When the princess Badoura had concluded, she begged the prince to inform her by what accident the talisman had occasioned his departure; he satisfied her curiosity, and when he had finished, he complained to her, in an affectionate manner, of her cruelty in making him languish so long a time. She gave him the reasons we have already heard, after which, as the night was far advanced, they went to bed.
They arose the next morning, as soon as it was day; the princess no longer wore the royal robe, but resumed her own dress, and when she was ready, she dispatched the chief of the eunuchs, to request king Armanos, her father-in-law, to take the trouble of coming to her apartment.
When king Armanos arrived, he was very much surprised to see a lady, who was totally unknown to him; and the grand treasurer, who was not allowed to enter the inner palace, any more than the other nobles belonging to the court. When he had taken his seat, he inquired for the king.
“Sire,” replied the princess, “yesterday I was king; to-day I am nothing more than the princess of China, the wife of the true prince Camaralzaman, who is the true son of king Schahzaman. If your majesty will have the patience to listen to our separate histories, I flatter myself you will not condemn me for having conceived and continued a deceit of so innocent a nature.” King Armanos granted her an audience, and listened to her with the utmost astonishment, from beginning to end.
When she had concluded the history of their adventures, “Sire,” added she, “although the liberty, granted by our religion to men to have several wives, is not very agreeable to our sex, yet if your majesty will consent to give the princess Haiatalnefous, your daughter, in marriage to prince Camaralzaman, I will cheerfully resign the rank and quality of queen, which properly belongs to her, and will myself be content with the second rank. Even if this preference were not her due, I should have insisted on her accepting it, after the obligation I am under to her, for having so generously kept the secret with which I entrusted her. If your majesty’s determination depends upon her consent, I have already obtained that, and am certain she will be happy.”
King Armanos listened with every mark of admiration to this discourse of the princess Badoura; and when she had finished speaking, he turned to prince Camaralzaman, “My son,” said he to him, “since the princess Badoura, your wife, whom I had hitherto considered as my son-in-law, in consequence of a deception which I know not how to complain of, has offered to share your bed with my daughter, I have nothing to do but to inquire if you also are willing to marry her, and will accept the crown, which the princess Badoura would well deserve to wear for the rest of her life, if she did not prefer resigning it through her love for you.”—“Sire,” replied Camaralzaman, “however strong my desire of seeing the king, my father, may be, the obligations I owe to your majesty and to the princess Haiatalnefous are so great and powerful, that I cannot refuse you any thing.”
Camaralzaman was proclaimed king, and married the same day with the greatest magnificence; and he was thoroughly satisfied with the beauty, wit, and affection of the princess Haiatalnefous.
The two queens continued to live together in the same friendship and union which they had hitherto done, and were each well contented with the equality which king Camaralzaman observed in his conduct towards them, in sharing his bed with them alternately.
They each presented him with a son in the same year, and nearly at the same period, and the birth of the two princes was celebrated by public rejoicings. Camaralzaman gave the name of Amgiad, or “the most glorious,” to the first, whom the queen Badoura had borne, and that of Assad, or “the most happy,” to him whom the queen Haiatalnefous had brought into the world.