The Dragon's Breath

by James Boschert

  They parted with embraces and words of affection; Allam by now had decided he liked both men, and it seemed Talon and Reza felt the same way about him. It was very late by the time Allam went to bed, to find his favorite concubine waiting for him to arrive.

  “My Lord is up later than usual. I hope all is well?” she asked sleepily.

  “I had a momentous day today, and it was not just about winning the race,” Allam said as he drifted off to sleep.

  *****

  The villa Allam offered them consisted of a spacious group of buildings set just outside of Muscat town itself but still within the protective walls. The main building, a large, flat-roofed structure with thick, mud brick walls, faced the sea, which was a short walk away across some dunes. Behind the walled garden, situated at the back of the villa, were stables. Tall palm trees and some dense shrubs offered shade from the fierce sun, and doves cooed in the pigeon house at the corner of the garden.

  It took two full days to move their entourage from the ship to this villa, where Talon and his friends would stay until they found somewhere of their own to live. Fariba remarked, somewhat resignedly, that although the villa could not match Isfahan, it was sufficient for their needs, and they had all the privacy they could desire.

  Talon was not concerned about being able to pay for what they needed, but wondered how long he wanted to stay in this curious land of the Omani Arabs. He knew that behind this kingdom was the wasteland of the Empty Quarter, of which he’d had a taste while on his way south from Palestine. He had also heard, however, that it was very green in the south on the escarpment above a place called Raysat, especially when the monsoons arrived to dump a lot of rain on the area.

  In keeping with local custom, the women were given separate quarters. Rav’an chaffed at the enforced confinement, but Fariba told her to remember the prison in Isfahan and not to fret. At least, she pointed out, they did not have to wear the suffocating veils, which were commonplace on the streets of the city, here within the premises.

  Rav’an loved the sound of the sea and the wind rustling the palms. This place was pleasant; and yet, they were once again fleeing their enemies, and now her own brother. She was reminded of the many mornings she had spent in Isfahan, when the three of them, herself, Talon and Reza, hunted and frightened, used to meet before the day began. Now, at least, they were less alone. Her son, Rostam, was reunited with her; and Doctor Haddad and Fariba, who cared for her son, were there; as well as Jannat, who had been in the Sultan’s prison with Rav’an. Their presence filled her with joy, but also terror, for she feared for them more than for herself.

  Rav’an observed that Jannat was fitting into the group quite well, although there was tension between her and Reza, which Rav’an guessed was because of attraction. Jannat had asked Rav’an many questions about Reza while they were on the ship. Reza had kept his distance, which was proper, but Rav’an suspected that interest was mutual. Jannat was a very beautiful young woman, with long, flowing black hair, pale olive skin, and large, expressive, light brown eyes.

  Then there was Rostam, who was becoming restless. He didn’t fully understand why they were there in Oman, why he had had to leave his wonderful, familiar home in Persia. The journey on the ship had been of great interest to him and very exciting, but the times with his father had been tense.

  The boy did not know quite what to think of this imposing man whom he was expected to call Father, and often he turned to the more familiar Reza when he spoke, rather than to Talon. During the voyage, Talon had said nothing of this to Rav’an, but she could see that he was struggling.

  Fariba had said to her, “You should not expect Talon to become a father to the boy just like that, my dear. Look at him. He has been away for six long years, and God alone knows what he has lived through. He now has to become a father to a small boy whom he does not even know. From what little he has told us, he has lived a very hard life indeed.”

  “I realize that, Auntie, but I worry all the same. Rostam is a little wild, and like all boys he will need some discipline in a short while. I don’t want his father to have to start their relationship with that.”

  “I think you should talk to Reza about it and ask for his help, Rav’an. The boy dotes on him.”

  It had been good advice, and subsequently, whenever the boy became too restless and about to break out, Reza had stepped in and restored some calm. Talon, however, found that his advances to the boy were met with a reserve that concerned him. He finally mentioned this to Rav’an, and she counseled patience. “Let it happen, my Talon. He will come round to you in time.”

  *****

  It became customary for the guests to gather in the mornings, before the sun had burned the thin dew off the leaves of the shrubs. Secure in the knowledge that none of the servants could understand them, they could relax and enjoy each other’s company. A servant, usually Salem or Dar’an, would provide tea and some small sweet cakes and then leave them to themselves. The sense of being fugitives from both the sultan of Shiraz and, even worse, Rav’an’s brother, the Master of the ’Assassins, gradually receded, to be replaced with optimism as to what the future might hold.

  Talon and Reza called everyone together to put forward ideas that they had talked about with Allam. Since that first meeting, they had held several conversations with their host, and the two of them had come back from the last one brimming with excitement.

  Now they all listened with keen interest as Talon and then Reza told them about the meeting with Allam. Rav’an felt a trickle of apprehension when she realized that these two were on the edge of planning to travel over the sea again. Were she and Jannat to be left behind? That she could not bear.

  “His family is one of the most respected in Oman for their navigation skills and their trading,” Reza told the group, barely able to contain his enthusiasm. “We plan to meet the brothers and find out more.”

  “What are you saying, Reza? That you wish to sail to distant places and trade? What do any of us know about trade?” the doctor asked. He popped a sweet cake into his mouth and chewed with evident enjoyment. Fariba pushed the tray a little further out of reach, whereupon Rostam tried for one.

  “Rostam!” Rav’an exclaimed. “Where are your manners?”

  “May I please have one, Mama?” he asked, looking wistfully at the cakes.

  “Very well,” she relented. “But make sure you offer them to your uncle and your father first.”

  Rostam pouted, but one glance at his mother’s stern face and he complied. Reza took one with elaborate thanks and a grin, and so did Talon, leaving only one, which Rostam would have taken, had he not heard a deep sigh and turned to see Jannat looking longingly at the cake.

  He hesitated, then, with an effort, offered the cake to her; but she laughed and said, “No my Rostam, you shall have it. I do not need it. I was making you suffer!”

  He giggled with her and took the cake happily.

  *****

  One morning, Fariba raised an important issue that had been under discussion between her and Dr. Haddad.

  “You must all understand that this is not our home, so rumors will fly, especially among servants, and then out onto the streets,” she said. The others settled down to listen carefully, as Fariba did not demand center stage very often.

  “You two,” she said directly to Talon and Rav’an, “must get married. We shall conduct the marriage right here in this garden.”

  Dr. Haddad beamed at their surprised looks. “She is right, you know, my boy,” he said to Talon. “It is an important thing you should do properly, and we will witness it. God be thanked, no one has thought to ask us about you two. We don’t want to start off here with lies.”

  Talon glanced at Rav’an out of the corner of his eye. “Don’t we need a mullah or someone like that, Doctor?” he asked carefully. He couldn’t fault the garden as a place to get married; it was well tended, and there were many birds coming and going, which attested to the skill of the gardener who had
planted shrubs and rows of flowers. It even had a small fountain spluttering in a corner. It was no match for the garden of Fariba’s house in Isfahan, but it would certainly do.

  “You shall have a Persian marriage. I shall officiate, and we can declare to the world that you are man and wife,” Haddad stated with conviction. “I shall even write it down on a paper.”

  The two girls looked happy, especially Rav’an, who hugged Fariba and asked, “When shall we do this, Auntie?” She had been wishing for this ever since they’d arrived in Oman.

  “As soon as possible, I’d say,” Dr. Haddad stated.

  “Within a couple of days, at this time in the morning, before the heat,” Fariba said. “We will need a mirror of some kind, even if it is only a sheet of burnished copper.”

  Reza grinned. “It’s about time, my brother,” he said, looking over at Talon.

  “Hum, your turn next, Brother,” Talon threatened. Reza gave him an alarmed look and stole a sideways look at Jannat, who was gazing fixedly at the palm trees above them. Fariba smiled to herself.

  *****

  Two days later, they all assembled in the garden. Salem and Dar’an were there to witness the occasion. No other servants were invited, and Youssef was charged with making sure none came to spy on them.

  Talon and Rav’an sat on cushions, dressed in the best clothes they could find, facing the mirror, but also half-turned towards one another. Dr. Haddad read a passage from the Koran, then gave a mercifully short speech that charged them both to love and honor one another.

  While he was doing this, Fariba and Jannat held a prettily decorated silk cloth over the couple’s heads. Salem and Reza rubbed two small pastries with sugar over the cloth to represent a rain of much joy and happiness for them.

  The Doctor then asked Talon if he wanted to marry Rav’an, to which he replied quickly in the affirmative. However when Haddad asked Rav’an if she wanted to marry Talon, she said nothing, pretending she had not heard. She was looking straight into his eyes, and she smiled, noticing with amusement a flicker of concern in his eyes. Fariba and Jannat laughed and said in unison, “She has gone to pick flowers!”

  Haddad smiled and repeated the question; again, Rav’an smiled and said nothing. She could hardly contain her laughter at the expression on Talon’s face. The corners of his mouth turned down, giving him a lugubrious expression. “She has gone to find rose water!” Fariba and Jannat said loudly.

  Haddad asked a third time, and this time Rav’an smiled right into Talon’s eyes and said, “Yes, yes, yes, I do!”

  He reached over and embraced her hard, while everyone else laughed and pushed forward to embrace them both. Rostam, who had not fully understood the ceremony until the end, squealed with excitement and rushed into his mother’s arms. She hugged him close, smiling across at Talon with tears in her eyes. “Now I am the happiest I have ever been!” she murmured. “I am with my family, all of us together at last.”

  *****

  Reza and Talon were expert bowmen and trained constantly at one end of the garden. Rostam often came to watch; sometimes Rav’an joined in, and even brought Jannat into the play. Jannat had never been allowed to participate in a sport that was essentially for men only. She was awkward and self conscious, and found it painful to her fingers, but with encouragement from the other three she soon shed her embarrassment at her clumsiness.

  Talon found some good wood and fashioned a small bow for Rostam, who was delighted and spent as much time as he could practicing. Reed arrows began to fly in all directions as he began to find birds interesting targets.

  “He is just like his father, a perfectionist!” Reza laughed, as they watched the boy become more skilled.

  “Just so he does not hit anyone in the eye,” his mother remarked with a wary look over at the boy, who was stalking some sparrows.

  Jannat sighed and said in a tone of woe, “I shall never be any good at this. Even Rostam can hit the target, but not I.”

  “I can show you how,” Reza said impulsively, but then glanced at the others as though he had said something wrong.

  “You could not have a better teacher, Jannat,” Talon told her solemnly. “Let him show you, and you will become one of the best.”

  “Talon, I wish to talk to you. Let us leave them to their archery and go somewhere quiet,” Rav’an said. Then, with a sharp look at Reza, “Reza, you should help Jannat to become proficient. Remember the time we were with the caravan and the bandits attacked?”

  He nodded, wide-eyed, and she and Talon drifted away, barely able to contain their laughter.

  “I swear that he looks like a deer confronted with a lion!” Talon laughed, as he put an arm around Rav’an’s shoulders.

  “It is high time those two did more than just moon over one another,” Rav’an said, as she leaned against him, smiling. “I can’t wait to tell Fariba!”

  “Don’t be unkind, my Love. We should not tease him.”

  “We have done nothing of the sort, but we shall, unless he does more than he has to let her know how he feels.” She was holding onto the back of Talon’s shirt and pulled it in fun.

  He turned to her and looked down, seeing again the face of the woman he loved. She smiled up at him, showing her white teeth and a tiny crinkle on the sides of those gray eyes that had haunted him for all those years. He read in them the love he felt and took a deep breath.

  “What are you thinking, my Love?” she asked innocently, looking up at him, her eyes luminous.

  “You know perfectly well what I am thinking, and if someone wasn’t running towards us I would kiss you very hard,” he growled.

  “Then kiss me anyway!” she commanded.

  He glanced towards Rostam, who was scampering towards them through the bushes, but she poked him sharply with her forefinger in the ribs and said, “Are you not my Husband and his Father? Kiss me!”

  He needed no further invitation. He leaned down and kissed her upturned lips, reveling in the taste of her, inhaling her scent. She reached around his neck and pulled him to her hard. His reaction was almost immediate and she laughed wickedly into his cheek as she felt him grow against her belly. “Hmmm, it would seem that you are....” She chuckled deep in her throat.

  They parted just as Rostam arrived. He had obviously seen them and looked a little confused. “Mama, Jannat told me to join you, even though I was doing well and having a good time,” he said with a tinge of resentment in his voice. “What were you doing with Father just now?” he asked them with wide eyes.

  “Your father and I were... er, discussing something, my Little One.”

  “But I saw—”

  “Isn’t it time for your lesson with Auntie Fariba, my darling? Off you go. We will be right behind you.” Rav’an said firmly, and chased him off with both hands. “Go along now, and we will see you later.”

  Rav’an took Talon’s hand and led him upstairs to the bedroom she had taken for herself. In the adjoining bathroom, they bathed in the tiled bath in hot water prepared by their servants, before moving toward the bed.

  As they made love, Talon recalled with acute pleasure the feel of her body entwined with his, then the small sounds that seemed to come from the back of her throat as they moved. These became more intense and urgent, until she arched her back and drew him hard against her as she smothered her cry in the hollow of his shoulder, followed by a nipping bite that made him wince but then grin as he looked down on her. He moved a strand of her hair aside that had plastered itself to her glowing face. It was warm in the room.

  “Ah, but you were away so long, my Talon. Where have you been?” she asked wistfully. She knew something of what he had done since they had parted on that fateful day, but still there was much to hear from him. She sighed contentedly as he gathered her up and held her with her head on his chest.

  He was sure he would tell her all in due course, but that would take time.

  He was not satiated and neither was she, so when he leaned over her and kissed the
tight nipple of her breast, she gave a low groan and shifted herself so that she was spread beneath him. He stroked her stomach and let his fingers drift slowly down her belly. Her sigh was all the encouragement he needed, and they moved to her soft junction where they lingered, kneading her gently while he kissed her breast. “I like you with no hair down there,” he murmured.

  “I can tell, my lover, it has a wondrous effect upon you!” she whispered into his ear with a low laugh.

  They made love several times that morning, until neither of them could find the energy to do more. Then she slept with her head on his shoulder, her rich dark hair spread all around them like a veil, while he stared up at the ceiling and marveled at this woman who had recaptured his heart and body so effortlessly. Then he, too, drifted off.

  Later, when the sun had dipped behind the mountains to the north and she was still in a deep sleep, he climbed carefully out of the bed and went to stand by the window that overlooked the stables and fields owned by Allam.

  He barely heard her get up and come silently up behind him. She wrapped her arms around him; her scent and that of their love making was on them both.

  “What are you thinking, my Talon?” she murmured as she kissed his shoulder. Her head barely came to his shoulder now, so he could kiss the top of her head easily.

  “I am wondering how long we will stay here, and what we will do while we are here,” he responded.

  “Is this where you want to make a new life?” she asked him.

  “Of that I am not sure. We do know that the Omani are great traders, and that does intrigue me; but as to staying for very long, I am not sure, my Love. I cannot forget the oath I made to the King in Palestine, which I told you about on the ship. I cannot easily forget that responsibility.”

  “I remember how excited you and Reza were at what Allam told you,” she said with a smile and a touch of concern in her voice.