"Not in the strict sense of the word," Remo answered for Chiun.
"But obviously you have some knowledge of medicine?" the Emir asked Chiun.
Chiun nodded.
The Emir moved around in bed, seeking a more comfortable position. Remo felt he was also trying to come to some sort of decision. When he lay still, he seemed to have made his decision.
again, he said "Please."
At that moment, Princess Sarra entered the room, clad in a flowing silken robe, with a thick string of diamonds around her neck.
The Emir's face lit up as he saw her. "Sarra," he called.
"Yes, my brother."
"Be a good girl. Take Mister Remo for a walk while his companion and I have a private discussion."
It sounded to Remo like a polite request, but he was learning that a royal request, no matter how politely phrased, was a command to be obeyed.
Sarra bowed slightly. "As you wish, my brother. Please join me, Remo."
"Lead on, Princess. I'll see you downstairs, Chiun." But the old Korean seemed not to have heard him. He already had his hands on the Emir's chest, pressing gently.
Walking side by side, Remo noticed that Sarra had removed her high-heeled boots because she was now noticeably shorter than he was.
"What is that about?" she asked him.
"Will you examine me?" he asked Chiun. 1 "What?"
Chiun looked at Remo who shrugged. f "Your companion and my brother."
"I do not know if I would be able to tell you any- I "To be perfectly honest, Princess, I don't exactly
thing different from what your own physicians have I know," Remo confessed.
already told you," Chiun warned the Emir.
"And none of my physicians has been able to do for me what you just did with a touch. Please. I would be forever in your debt if you would examine me. No matter what the result." The sick man's eyes
Sarra led him downstairs, through the house and out onto a massive, front patio of stone, surrounded by an equally massive, overgrown garden. In the center of the garden was a large fountain. They sat on a stone bench looking at the water.
52 I 53
"Do you live out here all the time?" Remo asked. I "Your wish is my command, sugar," he said as he "No, I have an apartment in New York City. Ac- I got up and walked to Chiun.
tually, I am here very little of the time. I get bored very easily."
"Pakir seems as if he'd be able to get along with your not being here. He seems to resent you."
"Pakir is in love with me," she said, "but he has a great deal of pride. A woman should be a woman and not put her nose in men's affairs. Actually, I am not the least bit interested in his affairs." She turned to look at Remo and said, "I have my own affairs to think of."
She touched Remo's hand and then smiled.
"What's funny?" he said.
"I would have expected sparks to leap from my hands to yours," she said.
"So would I," said Remo. He moved closer to her
"What's the story, Chiun? Will he make it?"
Chiun shook his head. "He will die, and much sooner than everyone thinks."
"You told him that?"
"Do you think I am insensitive? I told him that I could find nothing different from the findings of his own physicians. He accepted that." Chiun stared stolidly out at the sea.
"You've been acting strange since we got here," Remo said, "and even funnier since we met the Emir. Did you finally decide to hold him responsible for that debt?"
Chiun glared at him angrily. "Since you seem so concerned, I will tell you what is bothering me." He pointed toward the ceiling with a bony, long-nailed
and touched a spot on her back with his fingertips, I finger. "That man is a great man, a great monarch.
rotating them slightly. She arched her back like a | A Master of Sinanju knows a true monarch when he
meets one. That man was born to rule and what has been happening to him these past few months is beneath contempt. It is better that he die than live in
stroked kitten.
"I'd like you to come visit me," she said, closing her eyes to the slight pressure of Remo's fingertips. "At my apartment. Some time soon."
"Very soon," Remo promised.
When she opened her eyes again to look at him, she looked abruptly past him, then straightened up stiffly. Remo followed her eyes and saw Chiun watching them impassively from the terrace.
"You and he," she observed. "You belong together, somehow."
"Yes," Remo said. "We are joined by thousands of years of tradition."
"But leave him behind when you visit me in New York," she said.
exile."
"That's what happens to people who trust the United States. The quickest way to the boneyard is to figure on us to help you out." Remo paused. "Chiun . . . you didn't . . ."
"I took no action to put him out of this misery caused by your government," Chiun said coldly. "I have told you, he will die soon enough."