cane
feels like?"

"You would use the cane on _me_?" Daoud exclaimed, outraged. "When
Kassar is cheating?"

There were a thousand tiny wrinkles around Mahmoud's blue Circassian
eyes, from a lifetime of squinting into the sun.

"Daoud, I will tell you what my duty is. My duty is to take miserable
julbans and make Mamelukes of you. When you are a full-fledged Mameluke,
there will be no naqeeb over you to right your wrongs. Among Mamelukes,
he who is strongest rules. If Kassar is the strongest among you, you
must be ruled by him."

Daoud growled with disgust and ran back to the fight.

Nicetas had somehow gotten back on his feet, though his face was a mass
of blood and dirt and his breath was coming in gasps. His eyes were
glazed, but he managed to stagger forward and hit Kassar in the nose
with his fist. Blood began to flow from the young Tartar's wide nostrils
into his mustache.

Kassar put his fingers to his upper lip, took them away and stared at
the blood. His eyes widened in fury. His head swung right and left; then
he sidestepped to a boy in front of the circle. From the boy's sash he
pulled a dabbus, a fluted iron cylinder mounted on a wooden staff.

Swinging the dabbus so it whistled through the air, Kassar charged at
Nicetas. The boys fell back, opening the circle wider.

For the first time, Daoud saw fear in Nicetas's eyes. He ducked as
Kassar swung the mace at his head, but his movements were slow and
awkward. He had been hit too many times. He fell, stood up, and
staggered backward.

The naqeeb would not interfere. This could end only one way.

And Daoud knew that he did not want to see Nicetas die before his eyes.

He would not allow it.

Only moments ago rage had raised a great storm within him, but now his
mind was like the desert after the storm has passed, still and empty.
Like the desert, he felt himself full of a terrible power.

Without any more thought he stepped out into the ring behind Kassar and
shouted, "Kassar! Enough!"

The Tartar whirled, holding the dabbus at shoulder height.

"Stay out of this, pigshit Frank."

"Let him be, Kassar." Almost all Daoud's attention was on Kassar, but a
part of his mind was free to wonder why he felt no fear at all. Somehow,
he was not sure how, the hours with Saadi had something to do with it.

"Put that down," Daoud said, pointing at the dabbus.

"In your head!" Kassar shouted, and charged at him.

Daoud kept his eyes on Kassar's, but in