For myself I ask nothing. I did not come
here to receive high office, I came to hear war proclaimed."
The Grand Vizier bowed down before him.
"Thy word is decisive. The Padishah has decided that what thou and thy
comrades demand shall be accomplished. The Grand Seignior himself
awaits thee in the Porcelain Chamber. There war shall be proclaimed,
and the kaftans of remembrance distributed to thee and thy fellows."
And with that the Ulemas and Halil's comrades were led away to the kiosk
of Erivan.
"And ye who are the finest fellows of us all," said Kabakulak, turning
to Halil and Musli--"ye, Halil and Musli, come first of all to kiss the
Sultan's hand."
Halil with a cold smile pressed Musli's hand. Even now poor Musli had no
idea what was about to befall them. Only when at "the gate of the cold
spring" the Spahis on guard divested them of their weapons, for none may
approach the Sultan with a sword by him--only, then, I say, did he have
a dim sensation that all was not well.
In the Sofa Chamber, where the Divan is erected, is a niche separated
from the rest of the chamber by a high golden trellis-work screen,
behind whose curtains it is the traditional custom of the Sultan to
listen privately to the deliberations of his counsellors. From behind
these curtains a woman's face was now peeping. It was Adsalis, the
favourite Sultana, and behind her stood Elhaj Beshir, the Kizlar-Aga.
Both of them knew there would be a peculiar spectacle, something well
worth seeing in that chamber to-day.
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