"In India?"
"Yes."
"Nalini told me she was from Sri Lanka."
"Which was once known as Ceylon. The Spider Divas came from the island of Ceylon."
"Why are they called Spider Divas?" asked Remo.
"Because it is said that they could speak the language of the spiders and make them do their wicked bidding."
"Spiders don't speak."
"And ants do not hop. Yet we have seen ants do just that."
They were in Remo's room. The Master of Sinanju was examining the crushed bodies of the dead antlike things. Remo had flushed most of them down the toilet. One or two mashed dry corpses remained.
"They look like ants to me," Remo said.
Chiun frowned. "I can make nothing of them, but it is possible it is true."
"What's true?"
"Although the Spider Divas were seen, their assassins were not. That was the mystery Master Sambari failed to fathom."
"I detect a legend coming on."
Chiun pointed to a spot on the rug. "Sit."
Obediently, Remo sat, first checking the rug for vermin.
The Master of Sinanju sat too. They faced one another, their legs tucked in the classic lotus position.
"Master Sambari," Chiun said, "is a Master of whom I never before spoke."
"Another black sheep?"
Chiun's tiny nose wrinkled slightly. "No. I tell you these stories of my ancestors so that you may learn. The lesson of Sambari was never necessary for you to learn because Sambari vanquished the last of the Spider Divas in the days of the Mogul emperors."
"So how come we have them in this country? Sambari was before Columbus, right?"
"Who is to know?" Chiun said dismissively. "When we return home, I will have to revise the scrolls that extoll Sambari's achievement. The man was a bungler. He let one get away."
"Nalini looked a little young to be this Eldress," Remo pointed out. "Or a long-lost Spider Diva."
"She is obviously a descendant of that unclean clan. There can be no doubt that it was she who dispatched Theodore Soars-With-Eagles, possibly by sending one of her spiders to his toupee."
"Tepee," said Remo absently. "Still, the Harvesters did say that a strange Indian girl had been hanging around Magarac's tent."
Chiun's face gathered up in annoyance. "Indian! You told me a squaw."
"I know I did," Remo said heatedly. "I was told Indian. I thought that meant squaw, not East Indian."
"If you had repeated to me the word Indian, I would have guessed the truth instantly!"
"You'd only have jumped to a conclusion."
"A correct conclusion. One that would have spared you the terror of this night."
Remo folded his arms stubbornly. "So what's the story?"
The Master of Sinanju's bony fingers found their opposite wrists and his kimono sleeves came together, hiding them from sight.
"The Spider Divas were assassins," he said. "Exceedingly cunning temptresses who seduced their victims and left them to sleep the sleep of eternity with their unclean creatures. This is known."
"You're losing me."
"You almost lost yourself through ignorance and lust. I will begin at the beginning."
Chiun looked down at his ivory white sleeping kimono and began speaking. His squeaky voice grew stern in timbre.
"The days of which I speak were the days of the Mogul Emperor Aurangzeb. These were glorious days, although not as glorious as the days of the Egyptians or the Romans or especially the Persians. Still, the Mogul emperors of India had much to offer Sinanju, for they presided over a fractious empire, in which Hindus and Sikhs and unimportant others were persecuted. For the Mogul emperors of India followed the Prophet Mohammed."
"Lotsa enemies to be killed, huh?"
Chiun shrugged. "Enemies exist to be crushed. Aurangzeb knew this and so offered good gold to insure that the House of Sinanju stood by his throne. In time, his enemies waned. But a foe is often more dangerous when his power wanes, for when he recognizes his fate approaching, he often lashes out with no regard for his own life. It was so here, Remo.
"Now one of the more tenacious foes were the Rajputs, who were Hindus. They revolted often. They were in truth revolting inasmuch as they ate with their right hands only. They did this because-"
"Can it, and move on."
"As you wish," Chiun said thinly. "Now the Rajputs sent to the island of Ceylon for one to succor them. They knew they could not harm the Mogul emperor, for he was shielded by the awesome hand of Sinanju, through Sambari the Careless, formerly known as Sambari the Protector."
"How fast they fall from grace once the truth leaks out," Remo said wryly.
The Master of Sinanju frowned primly and spoke on.
"Now in Ceylon lived a people called the Tamils. Although they were not Indians, they were Hindus. And among them lived a clutch of females known as the Spider Divas, who lived without men, taking mates but once in their lives, and then only to reproduce, as is proper. After that, they ate them."
"They ate their husbands?" Remo exclaimed.
"The lucky ones, yes."
"What about the unlucky ones?"
"Slaves. For the Spider Divas were said to possess charms beyond those of mortal woman. No one knew what these were. They were temptresses and were said to converse with spiders, thus impelling them to do their deadly bidding. For the Spider Divas, having ill luck with their menfolk, made their way through the world by hiring themselves out as assassins. This is a terrible thing, Remo."
"Competition always is, to the one being competed against."
"I meant that women would take on honorable work rightly belonging to men. In Korea, women stand on pedestals of honor."
"So they don't catch on how unimportant they are. Let's get back to the Spider Divas."
"These base females stole the very food from the mouths of the babes of Sinanju, whom my ancestors fed."
"Let's just skip the part about the starving babies," Remo said impatiently. "What happened next?"
"Now in these days, the Spider Divas were in decline. They had suffered greatly whenever they challenged the hand of Sinanju. Their numbers were few. And they were having difficulty finding willing men."
"No kidding," Remo said dryly.
"People had begun to talk."
"Imagine."
Chiun leaned forward to whisper, "It is rumored, Remo, they had had been reduced to harlotry."
"No!"
Chiun nodded wisely. "At this time, it was known that only three Spider Divas still lived in seclusion. But when they made their appearance in the city of Ahmadnagar, where the Mogul Emperor held forth, persecuting his subjects prudently and with wisdom, all knew of their purpose. For they were known for their great dark eyes, and the bright harlot colors of their saris.
"Hearing this, Master Sambari sought out the Spider Divas. The first, he killed in her sleep. The second he surprised when the harlot was dallying with one of the dandy soldiers of the Mogul Emperor, for knowing their lord was protected by the House of Sinanju, they had grown soft in their ways. Sambari dispatched both with a single blow and jellied their loins as they copulated, unwitting."
"At least they died happy," said Remo.
Chiun made a face, then went on.
"But the third Spider Diva, whose name comes down to us as Padmini, proved elusive. Master Sambari hunted her high and low, finally learning that she had slipped out of the city, in rightful fear of her life."
The Master of Sinanju closed his eyes and began rocking to and fro, as if reliving the events of centuries gone by.
"Sambari followed her, and in a forest whose name is unimportant, otherwise he would have mentioned it in his scrolls, Sambari came upon Padmini, the last Spider Diva.
"She slept by the firelight, her perfect face peaceful as that of a child. The wind toyed with her apricot sari. And for a moment Sambari took delight in her aspects. "