Swords of Justice
Chapter 19: (The Fearsome One-Eyed)
One night in a tavern in Dar Homsan, Minister Taher entered disguised in commoner's clothes. He glanced left and right as if searching for someone, but could not find him. He sat down at a table opposite the tavern owner, who was wiping a glass. When asked what he wanted, Taher ordered a glass of juice; the owner prepared it and set it in front of him. Taher grabbed his hand and asked:
"I am looking for someone. They say he always comes to this tavern at night."
Tavern owner: "I cannot help you with that."
Taher placed a bag full of money on the table.
Tavern owner: "Who are you looking for?"
Taher: "The One-Eyed."
The tavern owner fell silent, then nodded toward the seat beside him. He took the bag and slipped away.
Taher turned left and was surprised to find the One-Eyed sitting next to him. He said: "One-Eyed! It's been a long time — I thought you were dead."
The One-Eyed turned. He was, indeed, one-eyed and bald, and looked like a man in his fifties. He asked, "Who is speaking?"
Taher: "It's me — Minister Taher, Commander."
The One-Eyed laughed and said, "You're funny. I'm no longer a commander."
Taher: "You are very strong — on the level of Commander Salah al-Din, leader of the foreign forces. From what I know of you, you were never interested in protecting the kingdom. How about joining me? I'm planning a coup that will fix the kingdom."
The One-Eyed: "Don't compare me to that rogue. I'm not interested in your silly royal coups."
Taher: "Then what are you interested in?"
The One-Eyed: "That's none of your business."
Taher sighed and said, "Let me guess... hmm... I know —" He smiled slyly. "The legendary warrior Ali, who took your eye — isn't it?"
The One-Eyed was holding a drink; he gripped the glass tightly and smashed it. He stared at Taher in anger and said, "Do you want to die?"
Taher rose from his seat and said, "I know you feel humiliated for not being able to defeat that man, and he's gone now — you'll never be able to beat him. But I have good news... he has a son, a warrior, very strong. If you join me, he might be on par with his father — and you could face him."
Taher left the tavern, leaving the One-Eyed, who smiled.
The next morning, Minister Taher gathered King Hussein, Crown Prince Mustafa of the state of Fawza, and his court in the royal hall and asked for their attention.
"All right, all right. I have gathered you here to tell you something important. Princess Hasnaa is not ill, nor is she with a physician. She fled the palace accompanied by Commander Jalal's soldiers."
Prince Mustafa: "Do you mean she ran away because she doesn't want to marry me?"
King Hussein rose angrily and said, "Minister Taher, what are you saying? Let me explain to you, Crown Prince Mustafa, what happened..."
Taher interrupted: "This matter needs no explanation. The princess fled the palace under the pretext of discovering what is happening in her kingdom. She may have formed a rebel army that could attack the palace at any moment. We must be on alert."
King Hussein: "What nonsense are you babbling, Taher? A rebel army led by my daughter Hasnaa? Really?"
Minister Taher: "She doesn't want to stage a coup against you — she wants to overturn my decisions. She may have discovered that I oppress our people behind your back and now wants to get rid of me."
King Hussein, enraged: "You say this to me without shame?"
Prince Mustafa stood and said, "This is none of our business. We will leave."
As they tried to depart, armed soldiers came through every door and blocked their exit.
Minister Taher: "You will not leave this place, Crown Prince of Fawza."
King Hussein: "What are you doing? Let him leave..." But they ignored him. He shouted, "I am your king — why won't you obey my orders?"
Minister Taher laughed: "I have had all your ministers and loyal soldiers assassinated and kept only my followers. This is what you call a splendid political coup."
King Hussein, furious: "You treacherous ingrate!"
Prince Mustafa: "I don't know exactly what's happening here, but I will not stand idly by. Soldiers — attack!"
Prince Mustafa's men drew their weapons, but there were eight soldiers against a hundred; they were all killed, except for their leader — the commander of Fawza — who was skilled in combat.
Prince Mustafa smiled and said, "Ramzi is a strong fighter in our kingdom. A few thugs won't defeat him."
Commander Ramzi fought bravely and killed many attackers, protecting his prince.
Minister Taher felt he would lose if Ramzi kept killing his men, but something unexpected happened: the One-Eyed entered the royal hall wearing a warrior's armor.
King Hussein rejoiced: "One-Eyed, you've returned! Minister Taher has turned against me — slay him!"
The One-Eyed drew his sword, ready to fight Ramzi: "Shut up, weakling. I don't recall you ever being my king, Ali."
Ramzi: "So you want to fight me? An aged man like you won't defeat me."
Ramzi charged at the One-Eyed waving his sword, but with a single stroke the One-Eyed cut off Ramzi's head.
Prince Mustafa's face turned pale with shock. He reacted, drawing his sword and shouting, "I will kill you, murderer!"
He lunged forward, but the One-Eyed struck his blade, sending it flying. The prince fell to the ground and wept: "You have killed my best friend, you monster."
The One-Eyed: "It's not my fault if he was weak."
The One-Eyed was about to behead the prince when Taher screamed, "Do not kill him — I still need him."
The One-Eyed paused but slapped Taher hard and said, "I do not forgive the weak who insult me."
King Hussein, distraught: "Why, Kalil — why would you do this to your king?"
The One-Eyed: "My name is no longer Kalil. I am the One-Eyed, and you are no longer my king. The new king is Taher. Let everyone shout his Highness's name."
Those present cried aloud: "Long live King Taher! Long live King Taher!"
Taher sat boldly on the throne and said, "I have two kingdoms in my hand. I will use them both to rule Dar Homsan and the kingdom of Fawza, become the greatest king, and seize control of the other realms."
Maid Maryam heard everything from behind the royal door. She rushed to Princess Hasnaa's chamber, wrote a message, tied it to a white dove's leg, and said, "Fly to Salman." The dove took off.
Meanwhile, Hamza in the village was about to execute the plan they had discussed the night before when a white dove arrived for Salman. Salman said to the group, "Look, it's my dove — Maryam sent it to tell me of an urgent matter at the palace."
They all gathered as Salman read the message aloud:
"Minister Taher has staged a coup at the palace. He captured the king and the prince of Fawza. He has a large army and awaits your return to destroy you."
Everyone was stunned, especially Princess Hasnaa, who screamed her father's name in fear.
Jalal, enraged, said, "If this is true, Taher the villain seeks to rule the kingdom."
Salman: "We must return now."
Hamza: "We cannot — he has a huge army and we have only a few soldiers here."
The Lady intervened: "If you need strong men to help, there is the village of the Swordsmiths. They have fierce, powerful, and skilled fighters. I will send you to them and tell them you are friends of the Lady; they will aid you."
Princess Hasnaa finally felt that the Lady had become their friend. She rushed forward and hugged her joyfully.
Hamza: "All right, we will stick to the plan I told you. I will go with the strongest fighters here, while Princess Hasnaa, the Lady, Jalal, and a few men will stay."
Before they set out, Commander Jalal asked his deputy Salman to attach a message to a dove to send to someone, and Salman agreed. Jalal wrote a note, tied it to a dove, and it flew away.
Hamza and his men bade farewell to the village and left, heading toward the Swordsmiths' village.
At the same time, the assassin who had killed his twin watched them from the top of a tree in the forest surrounding the village. He saw a large group of men leave while Princess Hasnaa remained behind. He muttered to himself:
"My elder brother is late — he hasn't arrived yet... The village is almost empty and I think its strongest men have gone while the princess remains with only a few men. This is my perfect chance to kill her; I won't wait for my elder brother."
He drew his sword and rushed toward the village.
To be continued...