Swords of Arabia: Betrayal (39 page)

On
Badr’s
return
to
Narash
two
years
later,
the
two
had
kept
in
friendly
communication.
It
was
a
friendship
that
Talal,
his
father,
had
encouraged,
though
not
without
warning
his
son
that
Husain
stood
out
–
even
amongst
the
Hashemite
clan,
a
family
known
for
its
ruthless
internal
and
bloody
in-fighting
–
for
his
deviousness
and
self-centred
unreliability.

When,
in
1908,
Husain
won
out
in
the
battle
to
be
chosen,
by
the
sultan,
as
emir
of
The
Hejaz
and
Sharif
of
the
holy
city
of
Mecca,
Badr,
now
with
Faoud’s
blessing,
went
to
the
west
coast
of
Arabia
and
spent
a
further
year
with
the
ruler,
helping
him
consolidate
his
rule.
At
the
same
time
he
learned
even
more
of
the
dark
arts
of
ruling.
He
returned
with
a
firm
pledge
that
the
Sharif
would
aid
him
should
he
ever
have
need
of
that
support.
Over-confident,
Badr
hadn’t
asked
for
any
help
during
the
struggle
after
Fouad’s
death.
He
had
no
intention
of
making
the
same
mistake
twice,
and
had
asked
for
–
and
been
promised
–
help
in
the
coming
struggle.
He
knew
it
was
a
formidable
commitment.
Besides
friendship,
he
was
very
aware
that
his
friend,
being
himself
beholden
to
the
Ottoman,
had
a
second
powerful
reason
for
wanting
Narash
to
renew
its
alliance
with
the
Turks.
Knowing
it
was
his
best
–
perhaps
last
–
chance
to
wrest
the
throne
from
his
nephew,
Badr
had
also
taken
other
precautions.
He
thus
opened
the
assembly
with
all
the
relaxed
air
of
one
who
knows
he
holds
all
the
aces.

Nasir
was
made
aware
by
Zahirah
and
Firyal’s
ever
active
intelligence
services,
of
many,
but,
as
it
turned
out
tragically,
not
all
of
his
older
brother’s
machinations.
Because
of
what
he
did
know,
however,
he
was
grimly
aware
of
the
uphill
struggle
he
faced
in
the
assembly.
One
extra
piece
of
information
he
did
have,
though,
which,
if
used
wisely,
might
–
just
might
–
be
powerful
enough
to
deflect
Badr’s
victory.

That
piece
of
information,
more
than
anything
else,
was
the
reason
that
they
had
manoeuvred
to
get
the
particular
date
in
summer
that
everyone
was
finally
agreed
upon.

Chapter
Seventeen

Despite
the
crucial
importance
of
the
majlis
,
it
was
a
supreme
irony
that,
due
entirely
to
what
happened
immediately
afterwards,
few
attending
could
afterwards
recall
the
detail
of
what actually
went
on
in
the
assembly
itself.

Many
could
recall
their
surprise
at
the
very
beginning
of
the
meeting.
They
had
expected,
and
some
were
prepared
for,
Badr
to
use
both
his
position
as
senior
regent
and
the
platform
that
opening
the
majlis
gave
him,
to
storm
through
the
case
for
an
Ottoman
alliance.
They
had
seen
it
as
inevitable
that
he
would
try
and
force
the
assembly,
by
the
sheer
force
of
his
dominant
personality
and
the
passion
of
his
rhetoric,
to
swiftly
back
his
decision
to
ally
with
the
Turk.

They
were
wrong.

For
whatever
reason,
the
wily
prince
instead
took
a
relaxed,
discursive
approach.
He
started
off
by
going
back
to
the
very
beginning
of
the
alliance.
As
he
was
a
born
teller
of
stories
the
audience
listened
intently.
His
rich
voice
and
eloquent
words
span
magic
as
he
recalled
the
many
battles
that
the
Narashi
and
Ottoman
had
fought
side
by
side;
the
numerous
times
their
powerful
protector
had
sent
gold,
and
sometimes
guns,
to
aid
their
small
ally’s
constant
fight
against
those
who
would
have
what
was
theirs.
He
recalled
the
visits
many
present
had
made
to
the
Ottoman
court,
of
how
they’d
been
overwhelmed
by
its
power,
majesty
and
opulence;
of
how
well
their
hosts
had
treated
them,
always
as
nothing
less
than
honoured
guests
and
valued
friends.
Then,
ominously,
he
pointed
to
the
growing
victories
of
the
Turks
over
the
British
on
both
their
own
soil
and
in
Arabia
itself.

“Cleverly
done,”
murmured
Firyal
to
Zahirah,
who
nodded
her
agreement.
Both
women
well
knew
that
the
majority
of
the
majlis
had
little
or
no
knowledge,
and
considerably
less
interest
in,
Europe
or
North
Africa
where
the
Turks
were
faring
badly;
of
how,
in
effect,
their
empire
was
crumbling
from
internal
forces
which,
in
their
own
way,
were
every
bit
as
powerful
as
the
great
war
now
being
fought.
They
were,
however,
all
keenly
aware
of
the
still
dangerously
potent
Ottoman
power
in
Arabia.

Other
than
Badr’s
powerful
opening
salvo,
however,
most
present
that
day
could
only
recall
this
prince,
or
that
powerful
merchant,
speaking
for
or
against
the
British
or
Ottoman
alliance.
All
agreed
later
that
few,
if
any,
surprises
arose
for
some
hours.
Salim,
a
long-time
supporter
of
Talal,
spoke
at
length
and
powerfully
in
favour
of
Britain.
Tamir,
an
equally
long
-
time
supporter
of
Badr,
spoke
equally
at
length,
but
far
more
boringly,
in
favour
of
the
Ottoman.
Yet
others
sat
and
said
nothing
at
all.
Their
reasons
varied,
but
all
were
equally
concerned
to
ensure
that
they
backed
the
winning
side
–
whichever
that
turned
out
to
be.
Thus,
they
would
only
join
in
the
debate
when
it
became
obvious
which
side
would
win,
and
for
many
hours
that
was
not
at
all
clear.

Then,
Mus’id
rose
to
speak
–
and
the
mood
in
the
chamber
sharpened.
Powerful,
wealthy
and
a
senior
prince,
he
had
always
kept
neutral
in
the
family
feuds
and
disagreements.
He
had
personal
reasons
for
a
particularly
deep
hatred
of
the
al
Saud,
and
for
many
years
he
had
seen
every
issue
that
arose
solely
in
terms
of
at
least
keeping
his
hated
enemy
out
of
Narash
–
or
better
still,
being
driven
out
of
Arabia
itself.
He
was
also
known,
despite
his
studied
neutrality,
to
rarely,
if
ever,
fail
to
back
the
ultimate
winner
in
any
dispute.

“Uncles,
brothers,
cousins,
honoured
fellow
members
of
this
majlis
,
I
have
listened
well
to
what
has
been
said
this
day.
I
would
add
only
this.
We
know
of
the
Ottoman’s
flight
from
al
Hofuf
–
without
any
concern
for
us
their
long
-
time allies
,”
he
added
with
ironic
emphasis,
using
one
of
Badir’s
earlier
phrases
against
him.
“I
say
only
this,
the
Rashid
attacked
Kuwait
only
some
dozen
years
ago,
What
happened?
They
were
driven
off
by
a
British
gunboat
shelling
them.
What
happened
with
us,
when
we
had
to
fight
to
retake
the
town
from
Mishari?
Who
helped?
No
one.
Not
even
our
true friends
,
the
Ottoman,”
he
added,
again
mocking
what
Badr
had
said
only
minutes
before.
“I
look
beyond
this
war
now,
and
look
afterwards
–
because
there
will be
an
afterwards,
there
always
is.
And
I
ask
myself
which
great
power
has,
down
its
history,
shown
itself
both
willing
and
able
to
back
its
allies
in
their
time
of
need?
For
make
no
mistake,
we
shall
need
them
to
fight
the
al
Saud
–
for
they
are
our
true
enemy,
and
it
is
them
we
must
prepare
against.”
He
paused,
and
then
added
simply,
“I
think
the
answer
is
clear
and
I
favour
an
alliance
with
the
British.”