by Jones, Sarah
Louise felt some discomfort at that. She understood Alisha's situation, and even though she did not like the girl at first, she knew what it was to want to go back to where she belonged.
The door opened suddenly, and the guard appeared with an unfriendly expression. Louise soon got to her feet, one last glance at Alisha. She saw hope in the face of the young woman, who, curled up in that corner, unaware of her fate, seemed to her own.
When she left the room, the lady was even more convinced that she needed to do something. She knew she would not be at peace seeing Alisha being punished mercilessly.
***
The Sheik untied the lace that held his pants and finally let the piece fall to the floor, giving him the freedom of nudity, something he appreciated. With a weary sigh, he lay down on his bed, covering himself with the thin embroidered linen sheet, which made an interesting sensation on his body. He tried to relax his stiff muscles and delighted in the quietness of the room. The moonlight bathed the bed and had the same effect as always, relaxing. It was all he needed, especially when he wanted to get rid of thoughts about his obligations at daybreak. At moments like this, Said felt the weight of his job. He remembered, in some detail, a few times when his father had to make decisions like the one in which the late Sheik seemed upset but still complied with the laws. It was one of the obligations of power, his father said.
As for Said, he had had to punish other men at other times, but none at death. And he would do it now, without mercy, as it was necessary.
He was distracted by a commotion on the other side of the door and soon recognized Louise's voice, which seemed a little altered. He barely had time to wrap himself in the sheet and get out of bed when the door opened, and the Englishwoman came in furious, stamping her feet, with an expression of who did not want to be contradicted.
"I tried to stop her from entering, but the woman is difficult to restrain, sir," the guard explained, embarrassed.
Said signaled him to leave and waited until the door was closed, to finally turn his attention to Louise.
“It's really interesting the way you look for me, gazelle. I'm beginning to believe that you can not stay away from me anymore" he said, aware that he was teasing her.
Louise rolled her eyes and, trying not to get lost in Said's anatomy, revealed by the sheet stuck in her forms, as he walked around the room.
"I came to beg for Alisha," she said simply, without any doubt to Sheik.
Said was not surprised to hear her say it and even smiled. It was just one more of the great discoveries he was making about this woman, who was more surprising every day, showing him feelings previously unknown to him. How noble must one person be to beg for the life of another? Lady Louise looked like this, it seemed.
"You will not say anything?" Will you let me stay here, without even hearing my voice? She asked, catching his attention.
Said grabbed the sheet around her waist and walked over to her, feeling at once the strange feeling of being so close to her.
- Why do you insist, gazelle? Do not you realize that your requests are vague before the laws of my kingdom?
Louise's strength and courage almost faded, but she sought within herself something that would still make her believe. It was to be expected that he was so irreducible.
She stopped her gaze on his, bluish and intense, as if it always seemed like a storm in front of her.
"I can not let her die," she said, her voice growing weak.
Said put her fingertips over her cheek and touched the tear that came down from her eyes, so clear and true.
"Why do you care so much, Louise?" He asked, his gaze fixed on hers, pulling her again to that blue immensity, almost uncontrollably.
"Because I know what it's like to want to go back to where you belong," she said, looking away.
But Said did not allow it, he held her face so that she continued to stare at him and wiped his tears with his thumb, gently.
"Is that what you think about being here?" He asked, using his other hand to pull her closer to his body. "Nothing's changed, Louise?"
Everything has changed.
"You know you're no longer a prisoner in my kingdom, gazelle," Said whispered against the skin of his neck, pleased to see her shiver. "Can you see that, Louise?" I opened the doors of my palace to you and no one else.
The wretch used seduction to divert her from the subject! Louise was aware of this. But she admitted, albeit reluctantly, that it was impossible not to be undressed by those large, skillful hands, which withdrew her robe with a maddening sluggishness, while Said's mouth found her shoulder and snaked to her breasts. She would not deny that the kisses, as hot as ember on her skin, were like the true paradise, nor would she be ungrateful denying that she wanted him more than she could be described.
Said, putting Louise completely naked on his bed, finally managed to forget, for a moment, all his obligations. The carnal pleasure, allied with that strange feeling, was enough to distract him.
"I'm thirsty for your body, Louise," he said between kisses, which resorted to her breasts, and light bites on her nipples, testing her reaction. "And no matter who hears your moans, you can not prevent me from having you, because you are completely mine."
Louise instinctively parted her legs, biting her lip as she felt the Sheik's lips, approaching her thighs. His words only served to increase her need, her excitement, which seemed to be about to explode.
She wanted him.
And as if he had done it another dozen times, she led him as far as he wished, between her legs, letting out a hoarse groan as she felt his tongue thrust against her flesh.
He led her easily to the top of the pleasure, tearing out moans and sighs, making her squirm against the sheets until she spiraled into an ever-increasing spiral and fell back to Earth.
"Said, please ..." she begged again, and now it was for herself. – I need you.
The Sheikh smiled and started to kiss her again, because no dose was enough to quench that desire to kiss those lips all night.
"I like the shape of your breasts." He licked her tousled nipple. "And how they react to my touch. She sniffed lightly, smiling at the sight of her gasp.
- Your hips are perfect for my hands and fit perfectly to my body. See? He trailed winding paths down her thighs as he slowly entered her body, holding his breath as he was completely inside her.
Louise found herself clinging to Said, her legs crossed around his hip, her fingers digging into his skin as the movements of the two bodies became fast and desperate.
"It will never be enough," whispered the Sheikh, pressing his forehead against the lady's, which allowed her to appreciate his mouth as he penetrated her in frenzy.
"I need more from you, Said.
"You have me, gazelle," and with that request, Said made her find the exact spot where her body seemed to be a beehive, all its limbs becoming heavy, while her mind took flight. The pleasure was sublime.
He came soon after, struggling not to shout his relief, clinging to Louise's sweaty body, and stiffened inside her, until the sensations calmed down.
"I did not plan such a thing," Louise said shortly afterwards, with Said still on top of her, inside her body.
He lifted his face and looked at her lazily.
"I'll be honest to say that was the first thing I thought of when you entered this room" he confessed.
She controlled the urge to laugh, biting her lip.
"I wonder if the mighty Sheik spends all her time thinking of carnal pleasures," Louise snapped.
Said stepped out of her and lay down next to her, throwing the sheet over them.
"Not all the time, but most of it" he admitted. "I would be surprised if you knew what I was planning to do with you, Louise.
"Oh, I really do not wish to know, for now, my prince. I appreciate a surprise. She laughed, turning to Sheik.
He came over and kissed her on the lips, taking her in his arms then. Louise took advantage of the contact, aware that she was there, naked,
in the Sheik's arms and feeling happy.
"There's something I want to ask you," she whispered suddenly, remembering something and thinking she could take advantage of the moment.
- Say it.
"Why all those women and a different one every night?"
Said did not expect that question, but at that point it did not seem difficult to answer. In fact, it seemed even convenient.
"Because then, having one each night, there would be no charge the next morning."
The answer did not seem to convince her, so he continued:
"To explain it better, I'll need to tell you about the past." She sighed, encircling Louise's hip. "I was married for a few years, gazelle. May was beautiful, daughter of a sultan from the north. It was a planned marriage since we were little, and when I took over the kingdom, I knew it was time to have her by my side. A Sheik needs a woman by his side to support him, and I believed that. May looked happy for the first few months in the palace, but as time went by, she began to get bored.
Louise was concentrating on what he was saying, and her expression of shock revealed much of what was surely in her head.
"I tried to be better for her, being closer. The months passed and my desire to have a child was not fulfilled. May said nothing, only cried and became more and more distant. One day I had to take a trip for a few days and ended up coming back before the combined date. Said looked over Louise's shoulder in embarrassment. "May was not at the palace.
The lady felt a thud in the chest, startled by the revelation.
- What happened? She murmured.
- I searched for her, by Allah, I searched every corner of this palace, and then I went through the desert. His gaze grew hard. "After a while, I found a small camp for several days. It was destroyed, the animals were dead. There were several bodies in the sand, and in one of the tents I found May. She had fled with a merchant from the camp of my own kingdom. The caravan in which they had been attacked by desert robbers.
Louise swallowed the lump that formed in her throat and kept hearing what he was saying.
"I felt angry that she left, for going with him. But I was desperate to see her dead. I loved her, "Said confessed. "I took herbody back to the Sultan and returned to the palace.
- I feel...
"After that I was not able to look at any woman for a long time, even the slaves disgusted me," he interrupted. "But I'm a man, I had needs, and they needed to be taken care.
"Because of that… every night a woman" - Louise said, sick of the story.
"It was so easy. I had them during the night, and in the morning I'd send them away, usually, marrying her with some good man or rewarding her. It seemed right to me.
"How can you say that?" She asked him.
"They all came to me willingly, Louise. I never forced them. In time, many appeared in the palace, some of the other camps. I got what I wanted, and in exchange they were benefited" he said at last.
For Louise, all that was still wrong.
"Why did not the women tell me that you were married?"
"This is a forbidden subject in the palace," he replied.
She nodded, thinking it would hurt him.
"You look scared."
Louise took a deep breath.
"I heard you did not lie down with virgins."
"You were the first, Louise," Said confided. "May told me before the wedding that she had been raped and begged me not to abandon her. I did not care and I accepted it anyway, contrary to the traditions.
Sitting on the bed, clinging to the sheet, Louise combed her hair as she tried to process all that information. It was as if he had just met a new Said, completely foreign to what she had known before. And strangely all these revelations, knowing of a deceased wife or other women, did not in any way fade her feelings for that man. Maybe that moment served only to increase what she felt for him, because it means confidence, trust.
"Why do you seem to want to ask me something?" Said joked, folding his arms behind her head.
Well, she wanted to ask more things. But for that night, just one question was enough.
"Why didn’t you send me away the next morning like you did with all the others?"
Silence.
Louise waited for the answer, eager to finally find the truth but it did not seem that important to him, since he did not respond.
She turned to Said and snorted, frustrated to find him asleep.
Annoyed and tired, Louise lay down on the bed and tried to sleep too, knowing that it would be a difficult task.
That morning when she woke up, Louise found the bed empty, Said was not on her side, which did not surprise her. She had expected not to see him, especially when she knew he had something very important to solve.
The Aban execution.
The lady shivered at the thought of the scene and tried to repudiate the sense of anguish that had overwhelmed her. She knew that although she did not accept the laws of the kingdom, which included, in the most serious cases, death in the desert, she could not simply stand against Said. In fact, she would do the opposite. This was the time when she would support him, and do so, because she understood how much the Sheikh was also reluctant to do so.
For a moment she remembered Said's words the night before. They served only to prove what she had been thinking about in the last days about him. There was something different about Sheik. She no longer recognized him at certain moments. His smiles, once so rare, were now more frequent, and his untimely humor was less pronounced in some situations, that had previously irritated him terribly. Louise, however, feared that it was all something that originated in her, in her mind, that nothing she was willing to believe was true. Maybe his emotions were influencing her way of thinking. Now, she, a woman convicted of her thoughts and actions, was lost to simple feelings! Oh, she could imagine her father's astonishment at seeing her in such a situation!
"Miss, forgive me, but my lord has sent me asking to see him," was Karida's voice, on the other side of the door, ringing with small beats.
Quickly, Louise wore her tunic, thrown to the floor at night by the rush of desire, and ran to the door, finding the servant with a tray full of food in her hands. She allowed her to come in, and Karida told her enthusiastically about the announcement of the pregnancy of a young bride in the camp.
"I do not look very well this morning, ma'am," said the servant, at Louise's distracted gaze.
Sighing, the lady drank some more of the bitter coffee and looked at Karida, pondering whether or not she should tell her afflictions to the woman.
"I'm worried about Alisha. I'm afraid Sheikh can kill her" she said, returning a piece of bread to the tray.
Karida did not answer at once, and the lady did not understand whether her silence was the confirmation of her fears or only the fear of words.
"My lord is a good and just man. All he does is for our people, my lady, and as for us, we return by accepting his decisions. Rising, the servant walked toward the exit."Show your confidence in him, miss."
Louise was left alone again, only with Karida's words pounding in her mind, making her even more confused.
***
The sand was warmer that day. At least, it sounded like to Said, as he walked through the desert, guiding his dromedary in the gusts of wind, which allowed him to walk without stumbling. He tried to protect his face with his handkerchief, but the storm was strong enough to blind him.
His mouth felt terribly dry, but he knew he could not afford to stop to quench his thirst, or it would be even harder to get to the palace before the sun went down. He had the experience that any minute he lost would make him stay at night in the desert, and he was not at all prepared for it. He had gone out at sunrise, along with four guards who had helped him to take Aban far enough out of the palace for his execution to take place.
The Sheikh was not pleased with the task he assigned to himself this morning, but the fact was that he could not escape his duties. And, in fact, it had been more ter
rible than he had supposed.
The scene of the man, on his knees in front of him, and the look in his eyes as life slowly ebbed through the hands of the Sheik, tormented him, and in his heart. Said would do anything to forget. It was not the first time he had killed a man, but he, unlike the others, was not an opponent in combat. He had killed to defend himself, to protect his people, to save Louise. And now he'd kill to punish.
At that moment, trapped in a sandstorm, still far from his palace and alone in the desert, it was strange that the only thing that could make him feel a little better was to imagine that when he returned he would have Louise again.
Exhausted, Said stumbled, falling to his knees in the hot sand. Now he saw that it was a mistake to order his guards to return to the palace before him, even trying to prevent them from seeing him fulfill his obligation. Aware that if he yielded to exhaustion completely, that would be his end, Said tied the dromedary's leather ribbon to his wrist and made sure it was firm enough. The animal instinctively would return to the palace and survive the storm, even if it lasted several days. With the wind dragging the sand and moving the dunes, a trip of a few hours could easily widen for one night. Besides, it would come as no surprise that someone less experienced would lose himself in the desert, at the mercy of death, which fortunately was not his case.
Never let the desert fool you, Said. If he fails, he will have no mercy.
His father's wise words, telling him about his travels to the north, came in his memories, seeming to be so morbid given the moment.
Said forced his knees and stood, sure he would not die there. He kept walking, dragging his feet on the sand, using the palm of his hand to block the wind and try to see something in front of him, which was increasingly difficult. Mentally begged Allah to guide him and strengthen him to continue.
***
Louise was distressed. She had spent the day waiting for Said, eager to meet him. By midday the guards had returned, saying that the Sheik had sent them back and that he would return alone soon. But when the storm came on the horizon, approaching the kingdom, the lady found herself desperate, knowing that Said was out there alone. I feared for him.
