Part 4: War

Chapter 34: A Request

Some years later, the Emir was surprised to receive the news that the Foreign Minister of Tirfil wished to pay a formal visit to Ghada Baroud, the Emir’s advisor on Diplomatic Matters, in Kobekistan.

“Why are you asking me? It’s you he wants to see,” asked the Emir.

“Master, it is forbidden for any Tirfilese to enter Kobekistan.”

“Well tell this man he can come if you want to see him, or not if you don’t. Do you know what it is about?”

“No, Master,” said Ghada Baroud, “But I am interested to hear what he has to say.”

Three days later, Ghada Baroud indicated to the Emir that he would be grateful for a private audience. This was, of course, granted. “So what did the Tirfilese want?” asked the Emir.

“Master, you know everything I suppose?” replied Ghada Baroud.

“No, but I couldn’t think of anything else which would justify a private audience, so it was a fair guess.”

“Master, he proposed a State Visit by Prince Habib. Officially it is to improve relations between our two countries, but unofficially the Prince wants to watch your audience sessions and justice sessions for a week or two, to learn more of such things in order to be ready when he becomes Khan.”

“Sounds like a spying trip to me,” said the Emir, “Or an assassination attempt.”

“That was General Mustapha’s opinion also, Master,” said the advisor.

To the attendant eunuch he said, “Have the Crown Prince Mustapha come here at once.”

The two men chatted idly of other matters until the Crown Prince arrived, a little flustered by the peremptory summons.

“What have you been up to with Habib?” asked the Emir.

“Nothing, father. Habib Shalabi sells me the odd slave on behalf of his father, but that’s all,” replied the young Prince, obviously puzzled.

“Not that Habib, Prince Habib of Tirfil,” said the Emir.

“I don’t think I have ever met him, have I?” replied the Prince.

“Once, years ago when you were about nine or ten, but I mean recently. Have you spoken to him in any way?”

“No, Father,” said the Prince, so obviously puzzled that his father accepted the truth of it.

“You may go,” he said.

Crown Prince Mustapha left, puzzled as to what his father wanted, but dismissed it as some odd quirk.

“So, the chief rebel in Kobekistan knows nothing of this proposed visit,” said the Emir.

“Master?” Ghada Baroud was confused.

“Oh, I thought everyone knew. Crown Prince Mustapha and some of his friends are plotting to depose me and to put him on the throne as Emir,” the Emir laughed and continued, “Good luck to them, but I don’t think they could depose a junior eunuch.”

Ghada Baroud said nothing, but privately agreed with his Master that the boy wasn’t up to it ... yet.

“So, tell Tirfil the boy can come here, but only if he behaves better than last time. Find a house for him and he must bring his own harem,” the Emir decreed, “Oh, and tell General Mustapha that he is to be allowed to see anything he wants of our military secrets.”

“Master?”

“We are so much more powerful than Tirfil that if he is planning anything he will undoubtedly be discouraged by what he sees.”

The young Prince arrived in state with a household of thirty, including an armed bodyguard, eight concubines and a number of eunuchs, his own kitchen staff and even his own food taster.

The young visitor assiduously attended every public audience the Emir held and was pleased to accept conducted tours of the military bases, the port and the oil installations. It seemed that there was never a moment when he was not in the company of some senior official of the Emirate. He even made no objection to weapon searches and the disarming of his bodyguards whenever he entered the presence of the Emir.

Prince Habib had been in Kobekistan for ten days when the news came of the sudden death of his father. It fell to the Emir to break the news to the young man and his howling display of grief and sorrow far exceeded anything believable. His return to Tradagha, the Tirfilese capital, was so swift that his household was abandoned and his harem was left behind.

After the Prince had left, the Emir said to his advisors, “Now I understand the reason for his visit.”

Ghada Baroud nodded sagely, “You think he had his father murdered and wanted an unimpeachable alibi?”

“Obviously. It will be interesting to see if the ploy succeeds.”

Chapter 35: Trouble

Soon after the Prince became Khan of Tirfil, the raids into Kobekistani territory increased dramatically. Diplomatic notes were exchanged to no effect. Finally the Emir wrote personally to Khan Habib demanding that the incursions stop forthwith and threatening punitive action if they did not.

This elicited an insolent reply from Khan Habib which made the Emir certain that his neighbour not only knew about the raids, but was actively encouraging them. “We will wait for a couple of weeks and see if the raids stop. He may see sense and this may just be a face-saving reply,” said the Emir.

When the raids did not stop, the Emir’s anger knew no bounds. He promoted General Mustapha to be his Military Advisor and with him he joined the other advisors in a conference about the problem.

His Magnificence, may he live for ever, opened the discussion by stating, “I have decided to act. I will lead a punitive expedition to Tirfil and it will bring and end to Habib’s reign and that will cure the incursions. Nobody will then trouble Kobekistan for some time.” Then he ordered, “Plan this in detail and then bring the plans to me for approval.”

In reply, Ghada Baroud was bold enough to say “Master, I have never said this before, and I never thought I would, but ... No, Master! You must not do that.”

Kamal Qumsiyeh, the Head of Protocol nodded his reluctant agreement with Ghada Baroud, the Advisor on Foreign Affairs. The two men feared for their jobs, and possibly for their lives. Open defiance of an absolute ruler such as the Emir is not generally a career enhancing move; on the contrary, it is a life threatening option usually. They looked over to General Mustapha, the Military Advisor for support, but he was much more diplomatic.

“Your triumphant entry into Tradhagha, the capital of Tirfil, at the head of your troops will be splendid, Master, but it is the job of men like me to lead the troops into the battle to make that triumphal entry possible,” said the old man.

“I appreciate receiving honest advice from my ministers, but I am not bound to act as they wish. Border skirmishes are one thing, but if I declare war, then I must put my own self at the same risk as the men I order to fight,” said the Emir, then hardening his tone of voice a little he added, “And that is an end of it!”

The advisors decided that they would have to let him go, but each of them secretly made his own plans for a regency. Of course His Magnificence Mahmoud Abdullah, may he live for ever, was kept well away from the actual fighting, though the General confided to Kamal Qumsiyeh that “It took more planning and effort to keep him safe but thinking he was close to the fighting, than actually winning the war.”

It took the army seven days to reduce Tirfil to a chaotic ruin. The Emir had indicated his willingness for the people of Tirfil to be taught a lesson they would never forget. His soldiers ran riot through the city of Tradhagha and to a lesser extent the rest of the country.

Khan Habib was made Eunuch in charge of public toilets in Kobekistan and replaced as Khan by his vizier.

Chapter 36: Loose Ends

The Emir was asked by his military advisor, General Mustapha, what was to be done with non-citizens of Tirfil, foreign nationals working there and their families.