Some days later, the ruler invited the nobles to a banquet. He slaughtered several head of livestock and provided meat and other foods for his guests but did not disclose the secret reason for these propitiatory sacrifices.
The elders gathered inside his home. As usual, the fool got the ball rolling at the assembly: “Today we have the right to saddle the mount.”
As usual, smiles were evident in their eyes, but the elders waited for the ruler – not his shadow – to speak. After a strained silence, the ruler was forced to take charge: “The time has come for us to defend ourselves.”
The nobles stealthily exchanged glances but waited patiently.
The ruler added, “If we wait any longer, the oasis will be destroyed and we will have endangered the lives of our citizens.”
Strained silence reigned once more. Then Ewar continued with all the authority of a ruler, “You entrusted me with sovereignty over the oasis one day. I will have betrayed your trust if I refrain from action any longer. What do you think?”
No one spoke. Ewar gestured to the diviner. Yazzal swayed as if in pain. Before speaking he sketched a design in the dirt. “The question is not what we think but what you want us to do.”
“What do herdsmen do to a mangy camel when it enters a herd?”
Edahi shouted loudly, “It’s chased away in the most vigorous fashion.”
Smiles were visible in most eyes. Elelli intervened: “We know what herdsmen do when a mangy camel comes to a herd but don’t know what desert elders do when a descent group’s tents are invaded by a plague’s carrier.”
He gave Ewar a telling look, which the ruler ignored. Instead he remarked, “I don’t understand what you’re saying.”
“I meant to say that the wise men of the desert do not banish a plague-ridden individual under such circumstances. They abandon the camp site to him and flee with the tribe to another land.”
The two men exchanged a glance, a covert glance, a coded glance that not even the cunning could decipher. Ewar averted his eyes and then said with artificial coldness, “That’s what the base man is betting on.”
Edahi, however, again shouted, “Do you want us to give up without a fight?”
The diviner shot back, “Acceptance of a decree of the spirit world is not surrender.”
Amghar spoke for the first time: “What harm would it do us to shake off lethargy’s dust and to try living as nomads again?”
The fool burst out laughing. Inclining his skinny body toward the chief merchant he whispered loud enough for everyone to hear: “I’m afraid you’ll be the first to suffer, because you’ll have to be extremely clever to find customers for your wares in the wasteland.”
The chief merchant replied confidently: “The astute merchant will never lack for customers to purchase his merchandise. According to the customary law of merchants, doing business in an oasis or in the open countryside is equivalent, because our calculations are not based on the lay of the land but on the man who moves across the land.”
The warrior decided to speak as well: “I am ready to serve our master. If you resolve to resort to force, my sword is yours to command.”
Elelli smiled disdainfully. After staring at Ewar for a long time he asked, “Does our master recall our discussion of the Law?”
When Ewar nodded his turbaned head in the affirmative, Elelli added, “If you reach some decision, I hope you will not decide on something contrary to the Law.”
The chief asked in a chiefly voice, “Should the commandments of the Law pose a stumbling block for someone who decides to defend himself?”
“The Law will not be a stumbling block when clear evidence is presented for the case.”
“Are we revisiting the issue of clear evidence?”
“It is the Law that demands clear evidence, not us.”
“But isn’t the leader of the people justified in violating the law when he thinks this necessary to save his people?”
A buzz of comments traveled through the group. Turbans bumped against one another and bodies drew closer together. Some tongues murmured confidentially. Other tongues publicly expressed their disapproval. Even the fool huddled in a corner with his head down. Meanwhile, to express his indignation, the warrior brandished in the air his fist, which resembled a camel’s hoof. The turmoil was followed by a charged silence.
The diviner asked mournfully, “Does our master understand the implications of willful disobedience of the Law?”
Ewar did not respond, and so Elelli spoke on behalf of the diviner. “This is what – in nomenclature passed down by previous generations – is known as injustice.”