Meroe
After two days of travel, they arrived in Meroe. Only during the Hajj had Salahudin seen so many people in one place or such a magnificent city. Salahudin had heard of the great River Nile, but he had never expected to see it. Wherever he looked along the river, sails were coming and going, and amid all this activity, there was Meroe. The smaller cities that served the riverbank docks held more people than anywhere he had ever lived.
Salahudin started asking about Anwar and any slave caravans with unusually exotic slaves to offer as they entered the market near the port. His questions about Anwar weren’t very helpful, but his inquiries about slavers and strange slaves aroused suspicion. Before nightfall, a few armored men in similar clothing began watching them from a distance. Noticing them, Salahudin said, “I don’t think anyone will try to rob us with these men around.”
“What could they take? You are not a wealthy man,” said Abida.
“They could take you, or has my hospitality been so magnificent that you had forgotten the last men whose hospitality you enjoyed?”
Abida grew quiet and remained so while Salahudin found a stable for his horse
and made the necessary arrangements. When he paid the stable owner, he asked about lodging for the night. Before the stable master could answer, another voice from behind him spoke. “We have lodging for you through the night. Please, come with us?” This did not sound like a request to either of them.
When he turned around, Salahudin saw a well-dressed man standing just inside the stable doors, accompanied by two others in plain but uniform armor and clothing he had seen so much of that afternoon. None of the men had their weapons out, but their size made them unnecessary to take on one old man and a young woman. As he considered their situation, Abida took a sharp breath when a fourth man, standing very close, said, “I will carry your pack and your weapons for you.” Bending to the inevitable, Salahudin handed the man his pistol and sword. Outside on the street, a few more men waited, all dressed similarly. These were clearly somebody’s guards.
Salahudin walked out with the well-dressed man, who did not introduce himself. Abida carefully adjusted her hijab and veil as she fell in behind Salahudin. Two guards walked about a block ahead, while the rest fell in behind, all with practiced ease. The trip through town was brief, uneventful, and quiet. The pier they reached began with a large iron ring embedded in a stone and ended with a similar ring set into the last timber. At the end of the pier, a boat with four oarsmen and a small cabin near the stern waited. Their host gestured, “Please step aboard. There is a cabin aft for the woman. We will remain on deck. It is small, but the trip is short.”
Once Salahudin and Abida were on board, their host and two of the guards followed, and the oarsmen began their task. Abida went aft into the small, private cabin. Salahudin tried to make conversation, “I am Salahudin Ibin Ali Barwarwie. Forgive me, but I did not catch the name of my host.”
“I did not say.”
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“Ah. May I know the name of my host?”
“Meroe.”
May I know your name?
“No, you may not, but the length and comfort of your stay will depend on how well I come to know you. You are the second man in as many days to ask about the Jinni and the men who brought it. That is not a thing to fill a host with comfort.”
There was a small splash. Salahudin looked toward the noise, afraid of what he might see. He was relieved to see that the oarsmen had stopped rowing. “What is it I can tell you? The woman with me is the daughter of a man known to me as Anwar. He has come looking for her and should have arrived before me. I found her far from her home and in need of help.” He noticed the golden glow of the setting sun on the city and the water that separated him from it. “If this is the last sunset I see, Allah has blessed me with a magnificent sight.”
The well-dressed man briefly took in the city and its surroundings. “Yes, he has, and he has blessed me with a problem to solve. Someone bound a jinni to this world. It is my duty to ensure that no man can harm Meroe or the surrounding lands. What do you know of the jinni?”
“She is my child, changed by my sorrow and ignorance. I tried to do something forbidden. Allah has punished me for it.” The well-dressed man had not suspected the old man before him of any direct involvement with the jinni, but there it was. There was nothing left to do now but hear him out. Salahudin recounted the raid that nearly destroyed his village and his efforts to raise his wife. He spoke of how his child became caught in the magic he was trying to cast and of how the villagers drove her out. When he finished speaking, it was completely dark, and the once golden city was now silver in the moonlight. “Now I chase her that I may try to undo what I did.”
“How will you undo this thing?”
“I have no idea.”
The well-dressed man looked at the oarsmen, who began pulling on a rope. “You will not enter the city tonight, nor do I think you will ever enter this city.” The boat ride back to the pier went without another word. Once on land, Salahudin and Abida were taken to a mosque and told to wait in a small courtyard. After a while, a different man appeared with a Qur'an and asked Salahudin to kiss it. He then did a few other things Salahudin did not recognize, but the man seemed satisfied. “Please follow me. I will take you to a place where you can spend the night. I think I should keep you and the woman together. You will be questioned further tomorrow.” Neither Salahudin nor Abida liked the sound of that, but there was nothing they could do about it now.
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In a luxurious office within the palace, “Father, another man has come asking about the jinni, and I am having him held outside the city.”
“Is there a problem with our facilities?”
“No, but this man claims that the jinni is his child and that he made her that way. I thought it best that he not enter the city.”
“Reasonable, will you have him killed?”
“I do not think so. The recent events have not harmed the city, and this man is either the best liar I have ever heard or the worst. You once told me that pointless executions build fear, wh
ile justice builds confidence. I will have him interrogated in the morning.” The younger man started to leave but stopped at the door. “He brings a woman he claims is the child of the man we have as our guest. That should be simple enough to test.”
“Send our guest to his child in the morning. If she is his child, he may bless her marriage to the young man traveling with him. Invite them to the grand mosque for the blessing and to be our guests for dinner. They will return home with stories of our hospitality. If it is not true, kill them, and they will tell no one. Thank you for your visit, my son.
“Good night, father.”