The Man Called Brown Condor by Thomas E. Simmons

Author:Thomas E. Simmons
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing
Published: 2013-09-27T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

Audience with the Emperor

THE SUN BROKE THROUGH THE THINNING CLOUDS TO CHEERFULLY brighten the morning. John took it as a good omen on the day he was to meet Haile Selassie. The rain had turned the streets to mud but nobody seemed to notice. Robinson picked his way carefully trying to keep his shoes and pants clean until he reached the paved street that ran past the Arat Kilo Ghibi Palace, built by King Menelik in the late nineteenth century. The emperor lived in the Guenete Leul Palace but worked in the Imperial Ghibi Palace. The gate leading onto the palace grounds was guarded by two armed soldiers wearing greenish-khaki uniforms like those of the Belgian army. The smartly uniformed palace guards were special members of the seven thousand strong Imperial Body Guard, the most well equipped military unit in Ethiopia. The members of the palace guard itself were handpicked from a northern tribe noted for their height. Most of them were nearly seven feet tall. John presented the formal invitation he had received the day before. Written in Amharic characters and English beneath the royal seal, it requested his presence at the palace. The ranking guard examined the card, looked Robinson over carefully, motioned for him to wait just inside the gate on the palace grounds, and proceeded to the palace.

Moments later the guard returned with an equally tall man carrying a sword and dressed in white jodhpurs and puttees but no shoes. He motioned Robinson to follow him past two lions chained beside the walk leading up to the palace steps. One lion was asleep. The other watched with deep staring eyes as they passed.

At the top of the steps, John was turned over to the emperor’s chamberlain who led him into the palace and down a hall to a pair of massive, beautifully carved doors. With no apparent order given, the doors were swung open by two uniformed guards. Robinson hoped the excitement he felt would not show.

The doorway opened into a large, high-ceilinged room. To the left side was a magnificent carved desk, to the right side stood a cavernous marble fireplace. The focal point sitting on a plush Oriental carpet was a gilt chair upholstered in red brocade and bearing in gold thread a likeness of the imperial crown. The chair, quite large and sitting on a raised platform, was occupied by small man, bearded and dark complexioned with an aquiline nose and the most penetrating black eyes John had ever seen. John bowed slightly before the emperor as he had been instructed by the chamberlain.

The man before him, dressed in an immaculate military uniform, appeared weary, but his eyes reflected both energy and warmth. Robinson was not the first to sense a calm dignity, almost an aura of regal bearing, when in the presence of His Imperial Majesty, Haile Selassie I, Emperor of Ethiopia, King of Kings, Elect of God, and Conquering Lion of Judah.

The emperor smiled. With a motion of his hand, he summoned the royal interpreter.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.