April fog shrouded the Strait of Gibraltar as the ferry boat chugged along on its route from the south of Spain to the northern shore of the African continent. Visibility was considerably curtailed, and the constant blaring of the foghorns wore upon her nerves. She sat alone, and apart, from the other passengers. In another Moslem setting, a woman traveling alone, and berobed in flowing, colorful raiment would be a scandal (if not a crime), and not merely a curiosity. But this Moroccan princess had been educated abroad, and was accustomed to traveling around the world on her own. In this particular situation, however, her normal self-assurance was being imperceptively betrayed by the raucous wrenching of the foghorns. The cause of her consternation was the bauble with which she constantly and nervously toyed. It was attached to a chain of fine gold, which hung conspicuously from her neck.
In the year 1492, Christopher Columbus sailed from the port of Palos, Spain. Not long before the commencement of that momentous journey, and after almost 800 years of occupation, the last of the Moors were driven from Spanish soil. With this departure, however, the Moors left indelible traces of their existence in the blood, culture and art of the Iberian Peninsula. In the city of Granada, hidden within a building block of the greatest Moorish monument in Spain—the beautiful Alhambra Palace—lay the secret key to the re-conquest of Spain. That key was in the form of a small emerald. The emerald was the precise size of an indentation in a similar stone that was the lock to the sepulcher of the last Moorish king to rule over Spain. The Moors had made a pact with a force from the nether regions which declared that, after 500 years of service to the nefarious entity, that monarch would be restored to life and would lead the Moorish people back to their Iberian empire. This could be accomplished, however, only by having a member of the royal family retrieve the emerald and deliver it to the sarcophagus that held the remains of the last king of Moorish Spain. As a result of this, the Society of the Emerald was created, in order to guard the secret and assure the execution of the terms of the decree. The society was secret, and was composed of very select individuals. As a member faded from the scene, another very carefully would be chosen to replace him.
The princess was returning to Morocco after a visit to the city of Granada. Society members there had arranged for her visit and, subsequently, had transferred the emerald to her person. This was done in the form of a subterfuge. An exact replica of the real emerald had been secreted within the bauble that was to be worn around the neck of the princess. The real emerald, however, was to be swallowed by the princess. It was expected that the replacement emerald would be discovered, and that the princess, in deference to her royal standing, would be released. She would then proceed on to Rabat, the capital city of Morocco. There, the final terms of the decree would be accomplished.
Unbeknownst to the Society of the Emerald, a rival society had been created amongst the Moors. This opposition faction had been encouraged by liberally funded Spanish sources, in order to prevent the intentions of the decree ever being brought to term. They had monitored all of the Society’s activities over the centuries. The rivals were aware of everything—except the hiding place of the emerald and how it was to be transported. They were unaware of the princess’ role until after her departure from Granada.
As the princess sat alone, staring into the fog, there were other eyes staring just as intently upon her. She was not aware of this on a conscious level, but deep within she had a feeling of foreboding. The princess was one of the last to disembark. When she reached the customs area, she was surrounded immediately and taken away. After spending some time in a holding cell, the princess was brought before an imposing judge. Unknown to the princess was the fact that this judge was the leader of the rival faction to the Society of the Emerald.
As suspected, the secreted emerald quickly had been discovered. It was well known to both factions that the emerald could not be transferred to another, except through the free will of the possessor. The judge, therefore, was required to exercise discretion in his handling of the princess. He explained to her that the attempted smuggling of a precious stone was a serious infraction of the law. He further explained that she probably was not aware that she had been duped, used as a mule, so to speak. The judge went on to explain that, under those circumstances, he had the judicial option to release her. Then, he added that the process required that she sign over the embargoed goods to the court, for its disposal. The princess calmly absorbed all of this. She knew that her response had to be convincing, in order for the subterfuge to succeed and to allow time for the society to act. She replied, with great astuteness, gravely thanking the court for its indulgence, that she would consider it a legal faux pas to do as he asked. She explained that all of his terms were very generous, but that it would be quite naïve on her part to document having been in possession of an embargoed item. She said she felt that such an action would leave her open to possible retroactive charges of culpability at some time in the future. The judge thanked her for her thoughtfulness and perspicacity, but insisted that the court could not act until she formally had transferred the goods to its possession. With the judge gradually getting hotter under the collar (but staying superficially calm), he repeated his entreaties over and over. The princess, with as much considered obstinacy as the judge’s chagrin, politely repeated her rebuff. Finally, the judge—at the end of his patience (but still not showing it)—stated that he would require the princess to be detained overnight, that perhaps by the next day her attitude might be different. This time period also would permit the rivals to plan their next move of enticement.
As the princess was being taken to her cell, the guard accompanying her made himself known as a member of the Society of the Emerald. He told her that, after things had calmed down, he would come to her in the night to discuss a plan to extract her and the emerald from that dilemma.
Later that night, as the princess lay drowsily in that world between sleep and wakefulness, a bit of the fog began to drift in through the bars at the top of her cell. This bit of fog broke itself off and began to descend upon the princess. After it had enveloped her completely, thought sensations began to be transmitted to the princess. She was told that the essence of the cloud around her knew that she was carrying the real emerald. The essence announced itself as a collector of human souls. It insisted that it needed possession of the emerald in order to effect a collection that had been forbidden to it for more than 500 years. The essence averred that an acquisition in such arrears was damaging to its universal reputation. It told the princess that if she were to freely hand over the emerald to it, she would be able to sign over the substituted gem to the court, and be on her way. The entity added, however, that if the princess refused, it would collect her own soul before the light of day, and—to make matters worse—in addition it would take away all evidence of her bodily existence on earth. The essence required an immediate response. The princess’ reply was a definitive, “No!” With that, the cloud lifted and disappeared through the bars.
Shortly thereafter, the Society of the Emerald member posing as a guard came to the princess’ cell. She seemed to have awakened from a trance, and quickly went over to the cell door. The guard told her that they were making arrangements to get her out of there. She replied that, under the circumstances, that would be futile. The princess then recounted the visitation she had received from the entity. She explained that there was no way to forestall the inevitable, that by morning she would transfer physical possession of the emerald to the guard. Not completely comprehending, the guard said that he agreed, and would return by dawn. The princess lay down again, to rest.
When the guard returned to the cell at dawn, the princess was nowhere to be found. On the cot where she had lain, he spied a glinting object. On closer examination, he discovered it to be the emerald that she had left for him. He swallowed the emerald. Later, once outside the prison, he vanished softly into the fog.
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