"Arabian Nights"
Part 2
by Beryll
Karl slowly trailed his fingers through the cool water, stirring
the soft pedals that had been added to fill the room with their scent. His
eyes roamed the city spread below the palace but his mind was with the stranger
sleeping on the soft divan that occupied the middle of the room. He was not
sure, why this man had caught his attention so thoroughly. He had found many
an interesting thing in the desert in his service to the Caliph but none had
fascinated him as this man did.
When he had found him in the desert he had been more dead than alive. One
of Karl men had noticed him lying there, half covered with sand. He had first
feared, that it was a member of the caravan the Caliph had send him to look
for. But when his men had turned the stranger over it had become clear that
this man was not native to the desert. No one born to the harsh sun would
venture out in clothing as foolish as his.
Karl had then checked him over himself to see if there was still life in him.
That was, when his fascination had started. For a brief moment the man had
opened his fever-clouded eyes and looked at him. Karl had no idea what the
stranger had seen, but a smile had ghosted over his cracked lips and he had
whispered something Karl did not understand. Then he had drifted back into
his heat-filled dreams and Karl had felt cold fear grip his heart, that this
man would not survive. He had sent some of his men to go on looking for the
caravan and he had taken the stranger back to Aqaba.
His position as the head of the Caliph's guard had given him instant access
to a physician, who had tended to the dehydration and the dangerous sunburns
of the stranger. And now the man slept in Karl's very own quarters and Karl
waited. Either his Lord would summon him or he would show up himself to find
out what his favored warrior had brought back this time.
Karl actually had a reputation for finding things in the desert and some of
them had proved quite interesting for his Lord. One of the Caliph's favored
wives had also been lost in the desert, when Karl had picked her up. But this
time Karl found himself hoping, that his Lord would not take an interest in
this stranger. He wanted to keep the man for himself. Although he was not
really sure what for.
As if the Caliph had heard his words and only waited for this realization,
the door opened and admitted Caliph Hugo, Lord over Aqaba and all adjoining
lands, by divine will protector of his people and guardian of the faith. His
dark hair neatly tugged beneath his turban, his royal features stern and forbidding
as always, richly embroidered robes sweeping the floor as he moved over to
the captain of his guard, who immediately left his place on the window-sill
and knelt to him. In his hurry to lower his head completely missing the amused
twinkle in his Lord's eyes.
"You have returned rather early." His Lord came straight to the
point. "And without the lost caravan I sent you to look for." Karl
wanted to defend his actions, but the Caliph continued. "As you are not
prone to leave a duty unfinished I believe you had good reason." Karl
nodded and raised his head, relieved that his Lord was not angry. The Caliph
went over to the divan and looked down at the sleeping from.
"So this is the man who has stolen your attention from your duties?"
he asked. In the way he phrased it, it somehow got a strange additional meaning,
but Karl chose to ignore that. "Yes, my Lord. We found him close to death
and I wanted to make sure he survives." "And why is that?"
The Caliph asked softly. Karl got to his feet and moved over to his Lord.
He realized he had no real explanation. Lord Hugo seemed to sense this and
gracefully sat down on the divan to get a better look at the stranger.
After a moment he took the right hand of the sleeping man and examined a ring.
One of his elegant eyebrows arched. "It would seem, that you have proven
a talent for sound decisions again." He said, smiling at Karl. "Do
you know this ring?" Karl shook his head. Obviously it meant something
to the Caliph. So he probably wouldn't get to keep the stranger after all.
"He is of royal blood." Lord Hugo explained. "The son of a
european monarch. I wonder what he was doing - all alone in the desert."
He looked at the stranger for a while, then at Karl. "I want you to guard
this man well." He said. "We do not know what kinds of danger may
follow him. Send word when he wakes up. I wish to speak to him, before anybody
else does." The Caliph carefully brushed a strand of unruly dark hair
out of the sleeping man's face in a strangely tender gesture. "I wish
to know what kind of ill has befallen him, that he travels my land alone and
unguarded."
Then he got up abruptly and only paused when he had reached the door. "You
are excused from your other duties, while you watch out for him." He
said, smiling at Karl. "That should please you." Karl bowed deeply,
wondering what his Lord had seen in the stranger and if he had looked into
Karl's heart as well to find this wish. "I will guard him with my life."
He said. "Let us hope, it will not come to that." The Caliph remarked
with a small smirk and left.
Karl looked down at the sleeping figure again. He had been right. He would
not be allowed to keep the man. But maybe he would be allowed to stay close
to him for a while.
If you enjoyed this story, please send feedback to: Beryll
go to PART 3