The House of the Falcon
"Excellency, I am thy kul. Did I not slay the pig of a Jain Ali Beg, who betrayed thee? And for the white woman I would give the blood from my severed veins—aye. She sent me to seek thee. I passed through the village, looking on all sides. An Usbek told me that the council had disbanded, and so I hastened back, thinking that thou wouldst be again at the stone house, and hungry.
"Two I saw in the garden, but not the faces. One was a woman."
"Are you sure it was your mistress?"
Aravang grunted a disconsolate affirmative.
"Aye. Should I not know the murmur of her voice, even from afar? The other I thought to be thee, for it was a white man. Dog that I am, I waited, listening, and fearful to speak to the higher ones. Then she said thy name, Dono-van Khan, very loudly. The white man made response, then took her in his arms. I was glad. I have known the longing that is in your veins for the white woman. Aye, I have seen the light of desire in her eyes"
"Aravang!" Donovan felt ashamed, as if he had been caught spying on the woman he loved. Then a hot exultation gripped him, to pass as swiftly as it came and leave him cold.
"Spit upon thy unworthy slave, master! Call me even a dog. Oh, I am unworthy. While I watched, this man took her in his arms and bore her to the small gate, the one that leads to the forest. The gate opened before him and then closed; this thing I heard.
"It was unwonted. Master, I knew thy custom to go always alone. If the gate closed, thus, when the white man held my mistress in his arms, another hand must have closed it. So, when I felt of the gate from
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