The Parched Sea (8 page)

Al’Aif led the party to a gulch filled with the drooping, twiggy branches of ghaf trees and lined with tasseled sedges of qassis bushes. The tinkle of a tiny stream rang from the bottom of the draw, and the camels, thirsty from yesterday’s hard ride, bellowed angrily at not being allowed to stop and drink.

As the trio rode into camp, the old women and the children gathered outside their tents. When Ruha passed, many of them hissed and trilled disapprovingly. One little boy even yelled at her to go away.

Kadumi’s outrage showed on his scowling face. “This is a disgrace;” he uttered, addressing Al’Aif. “Do the Mtair Dhafir treat all their guests so wretchedly?”

“They do not mean to offend you;” Ruha said. “Their disdain is for me alone. There is something you should-” Al’Aif lifted a hand to silence her. “They believe Ruha has shamed the tribe by violating her purdah;’ said the gaunt Mtair. “To them, it looks as if she is returning to her father.”

The older warrior’s words satisfied Kadumi. “Of course,” the boy said, smiling and nodding to the angry women. “I should have realized how her return would look to such an honorable tribe:’

Behind the boy’s back, Ruha raised an eyebrow to Al’Aif. The last thing she had expected him to do was he on her behalf. The Mtair responded with a quick shrug, then nodded toward her father’s tent and continued forward. Ruha could not guess the meaning of the gaunt warrior’s gesture.

Outside the sheikh’s khreima, they left their camels with a herdboy. Al’Aif entered the tent without announcement, as was the right of any warrior in the Mtair Dhafir. He motioned for Ruha and Kadumi to follow.

Inside, Ruha’s father sat upon a gaily colored ground carpet at the far end of the tent. He was a bony old man with cloudy eyes and a wispy gray beard. Across from him sat a man wearing a black burnoose. Though his face was swaddled in a turban, the cloth had been pulled down to reveal a silky mustache and sharp features. In front of each man sat a small silver cup filled with hot salted coffee.

Behind the stranger stood a second man, this one with skin and hair as pale as white sand. A hooded robe of deep purple hung off his shoulders, and a pair of silver bracers encircled his wrists. He held himself in the humble posture of a servant, but when his flashing blue eyes inspected Ruha and her companions, the widow immediately suspected that this man was more than he wished to seem.

The sheikh and the seated stranger continued speaking in low, muted tones, neither appearing to notice the trio’s presence.

Al’Aif stepped forward. “Sheikh Sabkhat,” he called. Ruha’s father scowled. Addressing the seated man, he said, “Excuse me, El Zarud:’ As the sheikh looked in the trio’s direction, his eyes seemed glazed and vacant. Al’Aif pointed at Kadumi and Ruha. “I bring visitors from the Qahtan;’ he said. “They have come to warn you about the strangers:’

“Warn me?” the sheikh frowned. “Of what? The Zhentarim are our friends:’ He waved a hand to dismiss the trio, then looked back to Zarud with a smile.

Kadumi’s jaw dropped, and he seemed too surprised at the sheikh’s rudeness to speak.

The gaunt Mtair turned to Ruha. “I have never seen him

like this:’ Al’Aif put his mouth close to the widow’s ear so that Kadumi would not hear his question, then whispered, “Is it magic?”

Ruha now understood why the gaunt warrior had lied to Kadumi. He believed the strangers were using magic to influence the sheikh and wanted her to confirm his suspicions. The widow placed her veiled lips next to the scarred man’s ear, then whispered, “I had never thought to see the day when the mighty Al’Aif asked a witch for help:’

The Mtair shrugged sheepishly. “The enemy of my enemy is my friend;’ he said, repeating an old Bedine saying. “Now, tell me what you can about what is happening here:”

Kadumi frowned at their secretive exchange, but the boy still seemed too confused by the sheikh’s behavior to question his companions.

Ruha looked toward the other end of the tent and noticed the pale stranger watching her with his stony eyes. When she met his gaze, the man did not look away.

“Well?” Al’Aif prodded.

The widow studied her glassy-eyed father for a few moments. The sheikh was listening intently to the muted words of the seated stranger and was repeatedly nodding his head in agreement. Her father had always been a careful listener, but there was something in the steady rhythm of his bobbing head that made her think he was not so much listening as being mesmerized. She had no way of telling for sure, but it seemed to her that something had separated her father from his wits.

Ruha looked to the Mtair and nodded.

“As I thought!” Before the widow realized what was happening, Al’Aif drew his jambiya and started toward other side of the tent. “Out, dogs and sons of dogs!” he yelled. “Release the sheikh, or your brothers will lap your blood from the carpet!”

“Al’Aif!” roared Ruha’s father. “You dare defile the hospitality of my khreima?”

The sheikh’s protest did not slow the warrior. In four steps, he was at the back of the seated stranger, the blade of his weapon pressed against the man’s throat. “Forgive me, Sheikh;’ he said, “but they have used magic. You’re under their power.”

“Don’t be foolish,” snapped the sheikh.

The pale stranger frowned in concentration, then began to fumble about in the pockets of his robe. Guessing that he was preparing to cast a spell, Ruha reached for her own dagger and started across the room. Before the widow had gone two steps, Kadumi dashed past her and pressed the tip of his jambsiya against the belly of the purplerobed man.

“If your hand is not empty when it comes out,” the youth said, “my knife will search for your heart:’

The sheikh rose and started toward Al’Aif. “I will not allow this! “

Ruha intercepted the old man. “Listen to AI’Aif, Father.”

The sheikh’s eyes seemed to clear. “Ruha?” “Yes:’

Her father closed his eyes for a long moment. When he opened them, they seemed vacant once again. “What are you doing here, Daughter?” His voice was a bit too calm. “Why aren’t you with your husband?”

“I am a widow;’ she replied, glaring at the purplerobed man Kadumi still held at bay.

The sheikh sighed deeply. “I am sorry to hear that, Daughter,” he said. “But your place is still with the Qahtan. They are your tribe now:’

“I am with the Qahtan,” Ruha replied, motioning to Kadumi. “This is my husband’s brother. He and I are all that remain:’

Zarud scowled, but when he tried to speak Al’Aif pressed the knife more tightly against his throat.

“How can this be?” asked Ruha’s father, his brow knotted in confusion.

“The Zhentarim massacred them,” Al’Aif said. “Isn’t that so, Zarud?”

The dark-robed man did not respond, but the question drew the sheikh’s attention back to his guests. “How many times must I command you to release my guests, MAW ” He acted as if he had not even heard the accusation made against the Zhentarim agents.

“A hundred times will not be enough, my sheikh,” the warrior responded. “Not while they are using magic:’ He drew Zarud’s head back, then scraped the blade along the captive’s throat as if shaving him. “Tell Sheikh Sabkhat you’ve been using magic;’ he said. “Tell him or die:’

It was the pale stranger who Kadumi guarded that answered. “Your man speaks the truth, Sheikh. We meant no harm. I cast a spell so we could speak your language. That was all:’ The stranger glanced at Ruha and frowned, then turned his attention back to her father. “Please accept my apologies if we offended you:’

The old sheikh looked from his daughter to Al’Aif to the pale stranger, then dropped his gaze to the ground and shook his head in confusion. He remained that way for several moments, and they all waited for his response in silence.

Finally he turned toward Zarud. “No tribe has abided magic in all the generations since the Scattering,” he said. “The Scattering?” asked the pale man.

“My father told me that once there were three great tribes of Bedine,” the sheikh said, beginning the explanation with the words traditionally used to denote a myth. “The sheikhs of these Three Ancient Tribes dreamed of ruling all the people, and so they had their sorcerers summon N’asr’s denizens to make war upon each other. The war destroyed the land and gave birth to Anauroch. It took the gods themselves to set the world right again, and some of them died before the carnage could be stopped:’ Al’Aif interrupted and bruskly finished the account. “The surviving gods scattered the Three Tribes to the corners of the world and forbade them to ever use magic again,” he said, glaring at the purplerobed stranger. “That is why you must leave, Zhentarim:’

The pale man ignored Al’Aif and looked to Ruha’s father. “We are outsiders and did not know your customs, Sheikh Sabkhat. Surely we can be forgiven for this small mistake:’

The sheikh nodded at the stranger’s words, then began, “What you say is true. Perhaps we can overlook-” “Father!” Ruha interrupted, locking gazes with him: “How can you make an exception for them?”

As the widow had hoped, her father found it difficult to reconcile making an exception for his guests when he had not made one for his daughter. He looked away, halfheartedly mumbling, “They don’t know our customs:’

“Were they unaware that it is not customary to attack a tribe with no cause?” Ruha pressed. “Will you ignore the oaths you swore with the Qahtan and make peace with those who slaughtered them?”

The sheikh looked to his daughter in horrified disbelief, then turned to Zarud. “Is this true?”

Zarud looked to the pale man.

“If you he, my knife will open your stomach,” Kadumi threatened, moving the blade toward the stranger’s solar plexus.

Still speaking in an amiable, melodious voice, the pale Zhentarim said, “Lord Zarud made the same offer to the Qahtan that he presented to you. They refused:’

“And you massacred them;’ Ruha finished spitefully. The man shrugged, and an artificial smile crept across his lips, “You and the boy are alive. That is what’s important, is it not?” He turned to Ruha’s father and inclined his

head respectfully. “Lord Zarud has extended the hand of the Zhentarim in friendship. You may ask the Qahtani about the consequences of refusing it:” Even as he uttered the warning, his words remained as sweet as nectar.

The threat seemed to kindle a light in the old sheikh’s eyes, but they grew confused and vacant again almost immediately. He turned toward Zarud, then said, “This is not a decision I can make alone. I will consult with the elders tomorrow, and then we will give you our decision. Until then, you may stay as a guest in my camp:”

Zarud nodded. “I am confident you will make a wise decision:’

Without looking away from Zarud, Ruha’s father pointed at the pale man. “Your servant-if that is what he truly ismust go. He has used magic in my tent, and that I cannot abide:’

Zarud looked panicked. “How will we talk?”

The pale man raised a hand to comfort his fellow. “Whatever the answer may be, I am sure Sheikh Sabkhat will make it known to you:’ He gave Ruha a long, thoughtful glance, then continued, “If my presence makes out host uneasy, then it would be better if I left. Perhaps you will walk me to my camel and tell me what I should relay to our masters-provided, of course, that the sheikh can secure our release:’

Ruha’s father scowled at Al’Aif. “The time has come to release our guests, unless you intend to kill them against my wishes:’

The gaunt warrior reluctantly nodded to Kadumi, then they both stepped away from their captives. Neither one of them sheathed their weapons until the two Zhentarim had left the khreima.

Ruha’s father returned to his seat, then held his head in his hands for several minutes. When the sheikh finally looked up, his face was ashen and his brow drooping with fatigue. The light had returned to his eyes, though, and the widow could tell that her father had regained control of his own will. .

“Are you well, Sheikh?” asked Al’Aif.

“Who can say? I thought I was well before, but my judgment was apparently clouded:’ the old man answered. He turned to his daughter with genuine hurt in his eyes, then said, “Ruha, I cannot tell you how sad it makes me to see you here:’

Ruha understood exactly what her father meant. As a man, he loved his daughter. At the same time, he was the tribe’s sheikh and her presence would open a wide schism in the gathered families. Her return could only force him to make a decision as painful for him as it would be for her.

“Don’t be sad for me, Father;” the widow said. “I only returned to warn you of the danger that destroyed the Qahtan. I have no wish to burden the Mtair Dhafir.”

Kadumi betrayed his bewilderment at this comment by furrowing his brow, but he politely waited for the sheikh to address him and did not say anything.

The sheikh pondered Ruha’s answer for a moment, then wearily nodded his head. “You have always performed your duty well:’ He turned to Kadumi and raised an eyebrow.

“This is Kadumi;” Ruha said, reacting to her father’s signal of interest. “He is a son of the same mother as Ajaman.

The sheikh nodded grimly. “The Mtair Dhafir always have need of another blade. Al’Aif will make you welcome in his tent, I am sure:’

Kadumi’s eyes lit, and he could not restrain a proud smile, for the sheikh was treating him as a full warrior. Nevertheless, the youth glanced toward Ruha. “You are kind, but in my brother’s absence, I must watch over his wife:’

The young widow and Al’Aif grimaced simultaneously.

Reaching for her brotherin-law’s arm, the widow said, “Ka_ dumi, perhaps there is something I should say to you—” The sheikh waved a weary hand to cut her off. “Say it later,” he ordered. Turning to the boy, he said, “Ruha will be welcome in the khreimas of her father for as long as she cares to stay. Now, you will excuse us. I must hear exactly what happened to the Qahtan:’

Five

Ruha spent the next two hours describing to her father what had happened to the Qahtan. Listening with growing concern, the old sheikh repeatedly interrupted her with questions, especially when she described the white bolt that had killed Ajaman and the lizardlike humanoids that had led the attack. When the widow at last finished the story, her father made her repeat the entire thing to be sure she hadn’t missed anything.