Ma'in, the Imperial city-state along the coast of the Arabian Sea
Lo'gan tugged at his high collar for the tenth time that afternoon and clicked to Nayif for him to slow down. They were approaching the palace and almost at the stone gates, needed to wait behind the other guests to enter. Looking at Harabi, Lo'gan motioned to his hands. The Dawasir understood what he meant and shortened the hold on his stallion's reins to arch his back rigidly. It was not very comfortable for the stallions, but the resulting trot was necessary for their desired look.
Altogether they looked very wealthy in their black robes, but they still stood out from the other guests because of their black headdresses and the fact that they were on horseback. Everyone else on the waiting line had carriages and some even had elephants as transports, but having spent all morning brushing and adorning the stallions with tasseled reins and even head feathers, Lo'gan and Harabi looked presentable enough. The headdresses were another matter. It would have been easier to fit in with the nobility wearing high turbans, but Lo'gan and Harabi could not leave their Ghutras behind. The black cloths draped over their heads and secured with igaal cords were a symbol of their desert ancestry and it would have been impossible to speak for their people and not wear them.
Bringing their horses to a slow, high step trot when the convoy ahead of them was allowed in, Lo'gan and Harabi rode to the gatekeeper as nonchalantly as possible. The blue clad guards eyed them carefully and noticing this, Harabi immediately jumped into his planned speech. Lo'gan just listened, knowing the Dawasir was better at lying to people than he ever could be.
"This wait is unacceptable! We are guests of the Sultan and should be treated accordingly."
Any doubts the guards about Harabi and Lo'gan's authenticity vanished immediately and one stepped forward.
"Greetings, noble sirs. Our deepest apologies for the delay. We ask to see your decree."
Harabi took out the marker he had stolen from the city scribe and handed it down to the guard with an air of distaste. The guard took the marker with the tiger paw inscription without even looking at it and handed it to his partner. Harabi looked at them reproachfully and spit out.
"Now step aside, it is already late!"
The guards stumbled to open the iron gates and Harabi and Lo'gan brought their horses in slowly. Looking back to see the guards breathe a sigh of relief that they were not reprimanded further and hustle on to the next gueasts, Lo'gan chuckled. Harabi saw this and smirked too.
"Admit it."
"No."
"Com'on, I was good."
Lo'gan shook his head and fixed his sights on the path they were ascending.
"Fine, you're the best thieving, lying scoundrel I have ever met. Satisfied?"
To Lo'gan's surprise, Harabi grinned even wider.
"Yes, thank you so much."
With a flourish of his wide sleeves, Harabi bowed on his saddle and Lo'gan wondered if he was going to be trouble at the celebration.
"Just remember to keep your hands to yourself. We are not here to steal from these people."
Harabi snorted.
"Maybe you're not, but the way I figure it, these people are begging for it."
He pointed to the extravagant congregation in the gardens they were passing and Lo'gan frowned. He was not a thief, but Harabi was right. The nobility that was perusing through the prolific, lush gardens were all living off the backs of others. He had heard rumors of the palace's troubles, but what he saw now angered him. Everyone was bejeweled and drank from golden goblets as musicians played for their enjoyment. The palace might have needed money, but only to waste it on lavish parties. Meanwhile, the people needed better roads, bigger markets and more room to expand into. Lo'gan had seen enough during his stay in Ma'in to know that there were just too many street beggars and prostitutes in the crowded city. This only made it worse.
Tearing his sight from the laughing, chatting guests, Lo'gan focused again on where the path was leading them. It winded through gardens and fountains upwards on the cliff to the wide marble stairs that entered the palace. It truly was an impressive sight, but unfortunately tainted by being in the wrong hands. Almost there, Lo'gan snapped out of his thoughts when the stablemen ran up to them. It took him a second to react, but he halted Nayif, dismounted and patted the horse down a little before reluctantly handing the reins to a servant. In the desert, his stallion would go everywhere with him, but in the city, it was impossible and it was hard to leave him behind all the time.
"Thank you. Please take care of him well."
The servant snapped his head up in puzzlement and Lo'gan instantly knew he had said something wrong. Thankfully, Harabi walked over and shushed the man away.
"That will be all. Leave."
Bowing deeply, the stableman hurried off. Lo'gan glared at Harabi, who was already walking to the palace entrance.
"That was unnecessary."
"Maybe. But we need to act like these pompous people until we get what we want."
Lo'gan snorted and clasping his hands behind his back, trotted up the grand steps to the massive gold-overlaid doors. He could make out a myriad of people inside and immediately felt a pang of doubt. This was the best way to see the Sultan, but he did not like it. He always felt the direct approach was best and this was definitely not it. Turning to see Harabi talking haughtily with the doorman, he hoped it would at least work. The doorman accepted the gift that Harabi gave him and held it high for all to see. Another servant stepped forward and announced their names in a loud voice.
"Sir Lo'gan al Jabir and Sir Harabi al Dawasir from the north, with a gift of crystal fire for his majesty's approval."
Almost everyone stopped and looked at the new arrivals. Guests from all over had been announced the entire evening, but none were from the north. That ubiquitous introduction meant the desert lands and seeing how well the two handsome strangers were dressed and the size of the ruby they brought as a gift, prompted a flurry of whispers among the crowd. Ignoring all of it, Lo'gan and Harabi stepped into the mammoth room indifferently. With an uninterested expression, Lo'gan grabbed a challis from a servant and handed it to his partner. Taking one more for himself, he turned to Harabi as the crowd slowly went back to their animated chatting.
"I'm surprised you used our real names."
Harabi smiled and ran his sights across the glittering jewels on display in the room.
"I may be a thief, but I have pride and honor."
Lo'gan snorted and began to scan the room also.
"Pride and honor, yet you just handed over a fake ruby."
Harabi hid his grin with a drink from his cup and outlined a plan to work the room. The ultimate plan was to seek out the Sultan before his arrival that evening. It was common knowledge that he liked to make grand entrances and they had obviously arrived early enough to catch him beforehand. The grand room was heavily guarded, with sabered men throughout, but the hundreds of people, servants and roving artists ensured enough distractions to get through. Looking past a chorus of ahhs directed at a performer swallowing swords and another licking flames off a poker, Lo'gan took a sip of the red wine he had in his hands and muttered under his breath to Harabi.
"We better split up to find a way to his chambers quickly. Keep in view and when you spot one, give me the signal……and no stealing."
"Of course, my brother, of course."
Harabi was almost gone, when Lo'gan caught his arm. He never thought he would tell it to a Dawasir, but they were on a mission together and annoying or not, Harabi had worked well so far in assuring them a place in the palace. Harabi had earned his respect and he couldn't let him go on a mission without telling him.
"Go with strength and honor."
Harabi grinned at Lo'gan, who just raised an eyebrow. He understood what it meant for the Jabir, a virtual enemy, to offer his clan's blessing. His own clan had a similar code of honor among the horsemen warriors and if Lo'gan offered his, Harabi figured he could too. Pounding his chest with a closed fist he declared.
"Loyalty to family above all."
Having revealed a bit of themselves to the other, the Bedouin warriors took an awkward moment to reflect on the uniqueness of the situation they found themselves working together in and nodding in firm agreement, went their separate ways. Taking a sip of his wine, Harabi turned and meandered to the nearest group of belly dancers on the far side of the room. Praying they wouldn't get recognized or detained, Lo'gan headed in the opposite direction.
Walking slowly to catch all the faces he passed, Lo'gan yanked at his high collar again and searched the crowds for opportunity and something else. Little did he know, that the scribe they had stolen the marker from at the city gates had already spotted them from where he was standing by the palace entrance. He was in charge of counting guests, but having been away from his post at the particular time Lo'gan and Harabi crossed it, he had only recognized them when they were announced to the room.
Running to inform the palace regent, he pointed out the two Bedouins to the authorities. The regent in exchange notified the captain of the guards, who set out to quietly reposition his men to watch the intruders carefully. They did not want to make a scene at the celebration before the guests, so they were waiting, offering Lo'gan and Harabi the chance to make the first move, so that they could be arrested and eliminated without anyone noticing.
Mari pressed her face against the golden bars of her cage dolefully and watched as the grand room gradually filled with guests. For close to four hours, she had hung in a corner as an oddity to be gawked at. The other three corners of the grand room had similar cages. Across the way, there was a small tiger pacing in boredom in a bigger cage, to her right there was an incredibly colorful bird, and to her left, a furry brown animal with a long tale that did nothing but howl and shake his cage. Under normal circumstances, Mari would be fascinated with the exotic animals, but she was in no mood to do so now.
Ignoring the clatter the long tailed one was created, Mari scanned the crowd once more, but that only brought more discomfort as she had to witness the curious staring of strangers. Giving up on trying to find a friendly face, Mari sighed and decided to pick at her chains. Her wrists were raw from the rubbing, but she tried anyway, even using an earring to try and work the lock. She had tried that off and on for hours and accidentally letting her hand slip so that the earring scratched her across her left palm, Mari let out a frustrated groan and sucked at the scratch that was bleeding faintly. It was then that Mari noticed how quiet the great room was. Looking up to see what would cause over three hundred people to simultaneously gasp and whisper, Mari looked to the entrance.
To her dismay, it was only another pair of wealthy guests, but looking closer, Mari realized they were different. They were still a ways off, but she could definitely see something about them that made everyone else pause and stare. One was tall and lanky, maybe a little shifty, but certainly possessing the requisite arrogance everyone else carried. The other was slightly shorter, but very dangerous looking with a quiet demeanor and a wide, muscled build. It occurred to Mari that they were not really nobility. She could tell by their musculature. That was something that was brought on by work, and every other man in the room was round and heavy with easy living.
Intrigued, Mari watched intensely as they walked into the crowd and shared a few words. Then she saw it. The muscular one took a glass of wine from a servant's tray and when his headpiece shifted in front of his shoulders with the movement, he flipped it back. Eyes wide, Mari shimmied to the front of her cage to get a better look, making it swing slightly where it was suspended. Of all the men in the palace, they were the only ones that had on the flat headcloths worn by desert dwellers. Plus, their robes were long and dark and they were tanned from exposure to the sun. Even dressed as well as the other guests, Mari knew with certainty that they were more like Battam and his people. She had spent enough weeks watching that clan to know. The muscular one even stood like them, with hands clasped behind his back and feet apart, a position that was perfect to brace against the desert winds when they kicked up.
Excited over her discovery, Mari followed their movements carefully; oblivious to the fact that she was not the only one looking at them from afar. The kindest people she had met in Arabia were the desert dwellers. Battam's people even refused to keep her in chains and if anyone might help her, maybe these two strangers would. Hoping they would move closer to her side of the room, Mari practically jumped when they separated. She slipped off one of the gold bands around her ankles and held it tightly in her white knuckled hand and waited.
For a minute the tall one seemed to be approaching her, but spotting the dancing girls on the other side of the room, quickly made a detour in that direction. Mari's heart sank, because she certainly could not be heard over the crowd's racket if she called to him. Her only hope now rested with the big one and unsure if he was someone that she could trust, Mari watched with a pounding heart as he walked his way over to her. Unlike everyone else and even his partner, he stood alone and apart from the crowd. He was now within her reach and still debating whether or not to draw his attention, Mari squeezed her arm as far as it would go through the cage bars and looking to see that no guards were looking at her, hoped for the best.
Holding the gold band like a plate, she flicked her wrist and let it go, watching without breathing as it sailed and spun in the brightly lit hall down to the marble floor. It did not hit its target like she wanted it too, but fell instead just a few feet to his right with a clang she could not hear. A few guests in the area looked up, but quickly went back to their talking. The quiet man in black had no one to talk to and staring at it for a second, bent down, picked up the gold band, and turned slowly to see where it had come from.
Mari felt faint with fear as she watched him slowly turn. She wasn't sure what to expect from the brooding man in black, but his eyes immediately locked onto hers and did not let go. They widened a little and his mouth opened as if in shock. Mari immediately felt her heart sink. It was the same reaction that everyone else had of her and eyes watering slightly, she tightened her grip on the bars and looked down in shame. But the man continued to stare. She felt his gaze penetrate her and unable to resist, Mari looked up again, amazed at the heated intensity in his eyes.
Her hands gradually released the cage bars and she crossed them slowly over her nearly naked form in embarrassment. He was frightening and Mari wondered if she had miscalculated who an ally might be. But she had to try. Glancing past him to see if the guards had seen her trick, Mari decided to put it all on the line and beg. She mouthed the words `please help me' at him and not able to hold back her desperate tears, wiped at her face. She saw something in the strange man change at that and before she could surmise what it was, he tossed the goblet that was in his hand, spun around and vanished under the walkway surrounding the perimeter of the great room.
Mari tried to see where he had disappeared to, even purposefully jostling her cage a little, but he was gone, leaving her confused and hopeless once more. Sighing mournfully, Mari wiped her face and wondered what was next. All the noise in the room had stopped once again and the music announced something big. A squadron of guards had appeared out of nowhere and the members of the royal court was emerging one at a time. What she had dreaded all day was finally happening. The Sultan had arrived.
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