The Amulet of Power - Mike Resnick [40]
“They have prepared a goat in your honor,” said Omar as she emerged from the hut. “We told them how you saved our lives.”
“It will taste better than the finest filet at the Savoy,” she replied earnestly.
The meal was served outside, now that the sun was down, and the entire village sat around a huge fire where the goat roasted on a spit. Before long the children had their fill and went off to play, and the women retired to their houses, leaving Lara as the only female present.
“It is time that we spoke of important things,” said the headman of the village, in a tone markedly different from the pleasant heartiness of his previous speech welcoming Lara and thanking her for saving the lives of Omar, Hassam, and Gaafar.
“I am happy to speak to you, Abdul, my cousin,” said Omar. His tone suggested that he was not happy at all. “Of what shall we speak?”
“The Amulet of Mareish, of course,” said Abdul. “Do not deny that you have enlisted Lara Croft to help you find it.”
“Why should I deny it?” asked Omar. “Lara Croft’s reputation is known to all. She is famous throughout the world for finding objects lost to history. Why should we not take advantage of her expertise if she offers to help us?”
“I tell you now,” said Abdul, glowering. “The Amulet must never be found—not by Lara Croft, not by anyone!”
Lara was having trouble not speaking up on her own behalf, but Omar shot her a glance that was half-warning, half-plea, and she bit her tongue with difficulty.
“I do not understand, Abdul,” said Omar. “If Lara Croft should find the Amulet and turn it over to me to destroy, why would that displease you?”
“She will not turn it over to you! The Amulet has a life of its own, and it does not want to die! She will think she is using it, but it will use her and you! The Mahdi was an ignorant peasant, and a year after he found the Amulet he could read and write and influence millions of men. Do you think he suddenly went to the British university? It was not the Mahdi speaking and reading and writing—it was the Amulet! Lara Croft must not be allowed to find it. No one must find it. You are my cousin, Omar, but if I thought there was a chance that you could find the Amulet, I would kill you right this moment.”
“Now I must speak,” said Lara. She stood, ignoring the outraged looks and murmurs from the men of the village. “I have heard that among the people of the Sudan, there is no more sacred obligation than that of the host toward his guests. Yet I hear my host threaten the lives of his guests . . . among them, his own cousin, whom I know to be a brave and honorable man.”
A flush spread across Abdul’s cheeks as he listened. “You have heard correctly, Lara Croft,” he acknowledged at last. “The obligation of hospitality is indeed most sacred, but you do not understand the power of the Amulet. You do not know, as we do, the temptation it can wield, how it can seduce even the purest heart to evil. For this reason, we have pledged to sacrifice our lives, if necessary, to make sure the Amulet stays lost.”
“Nothing stays lost forever,” said Lara. “Believe me, I know: It’s my business. Rather than hope that no one will find the Amulet, why not find it yourselves and destroy it?”
“No one finds the Amulet unless it wishes to be found,” said Abdul. “That is why the Mahdists have not found it, though they have searched for over a hundred years. But not one of them has been judged worthy to follow in the footsteps of the Mahdi. If one of us found the Amulet, it would mean that the Amulet had chosen that person as the new Mahdi, and that person, whatever his intentions, would be unable to destroy the Amulet. From the moment he touched it, it would be too late. That is why it is dangerous even to look for the Amulet.”
“You are forgetting the spell,” said Omar. “It gives us the power to destroy