Daggers in the Dark (Book 3 of Hanthalah)

Chapter 7

The Umayyads were among the wealthiest of clans among the Quraysh – the hegemonic tribe of Makkah – prior to the advent of Islam and their fortunes continued to soar with the rising hegemony of the Caliphate. They were no strangers to political machinations and intrigue.

In short, they were snakes, charlatans and conniving bastards. Even Ramla was extraordinarily shrewd.

But then there was Marwan ibn al-Hakam. He bested them all.

You wouldn't know it just by looking at him. He was all smiles and bristles; his fine silk garments were powdered, his hair exuding a pleasant aroma, a scent born of perfume of the rarest delicacy. Yet, behind his joviality and mild manners, he was conjuring a thousand different ways to part your head from the shoulders upon which it rested.

He favored me with one such smile at Ramla's wedding; a lavish occasion held at Mu'awiyah's impressive palace in Damascus. Men of note from all over the Islamic state attended to pay their respects to the governor of greater Syria.

His eyes flickered in the reflected light of a thousand tiny lights. They were quick, dancing and intelligent, seeking to discern the man before him. There was a hostility to them, a mocking vibe that contradicted the warmth of his smile and the generosity of his praise.

I grunted in response, folding my arms. I was in a foul mood as it was.

It was Ramla's wedding, after all. I was not in the state of mind for tricks.

"Yes," he continued. "Men of strength are always sullen, brooding. It is a characteristic I find most dear to my heart. You are the kingmakers, the true hegemons of this world. Paradise does lie at the tip of the spear, after all."

He swept a hand in an encompassing gesture at all those present. The chamber was vast, reinforced with wooden beams and columns of thick pillars lined either side. Between them was a horde of polished tables, filled to bursting with a feast so great, it must have starved the entirety of Damascus and the area it curtailed.

Of course, that was an exaggeration. Mu'awiyah was not so careless as to beggar his own hub of power.

"Who else do you think controls our fates? These men? Men of gluttony and deceit, operating in the shadows to serve only themselves. Without the warriors such as you, we would not be in this very hall, blessed with the finest of meats and the most tender of delicacies. This land was won not with words. But with swords."

"What is it that you want from me?"

"These men lie through their teeth," Marwan ibn al-Hakam continued as if I had not spoken. "For their own interests. They promise the world to those who saw them to their perch. Women, glory, plunder. Yet they are the ones garnering the most profit from the acts of men such as yourself. While the fierce warrior, the thousands of Hanthalahs, are left scraping the barrel, with only meagre reward for their services."

"You intend to lecture me on battle spoils? Cease your roundabout tales and speak brazenly."

"Yes, my dear Hanthalah, brazen speech. All these men before you lack this crucial quality. Transparency. Yet, it is men such as you, the warriors plunging into the lethal embrace of the foe, that speak most bluntly. Those who are not afraid to express themselves in the most honest of manners. It is men such as you that ought to call this palace their own. Men such as you. Men such as myself."

"You?"

Marwan chuckled. "You do not flatter, dear Hanthalah. Reinforcing my point, indeed. Yes, men such as me. Surely you have heard of my own courage and prowess in battle, as I have heard of yours."