to get away from it all."
"My ancestor--" What did she speak of? Then he remembered she had arrived at this room in the company of Faridah, who worked in the kitchen. "Noelle, do not tell me that you believe fairy stories of princes locked in towers."
She stuck her bottom lip out and crossed her arms under her breasts. "Of course not. I just wanted to come up here for the view."
He let her lie go. "I come up here because no one else will. I enjoy the peace for my meditation. I have no distractions here. At least, I did not until you arrived."
As it turned out, Miss Noelle Oldrich was proving to be very distracting.
Four
T REASURE . M AP . T HE pirate princess pouted, three days later.
Escape. Faridah will be here soon. She promised to come to my room with what we need. This is going to work, I promise , Noelle responded.
She couldn't stop herself from pacing, fast-walking from one side of her guest suite to the other. Ugh. So cliché. Excited energy filled her, making her want to run, dance, do anything but wait here quietly. She'd be back in the States soon, out of captivity. Then the piratey, princessy voice inside her head could take a hike and everything could go back to normal.
Ironically, it had been Bonnie's idea of hitting a guard over the head that had made her think of this plan. Bonnie had been right about needing a disguise to get out of the palace. She'd just been wrong about the fake mustache.
This culture provided her the perfect disguise. Full head-to-toe anonymity. Unquestioned privacy.
The burqa. The mother-loving burqa.
A knock on the door. Faridah. It had to be. Noelle hustled over to let the younger woman in.
Treasure map, insisted Bonnie.
*****
"So what do you wish to buy for His Majesty?" asked Faridah, the light in her eyes so brilliant that Noelle's stomach churned.
Betraying Faridah was the one flaw in this plan.
She'd told the young woman that she needed a burqa because Sheikh Walid would frown on her being seen in public. That was not a lie. She did leave out the reason he would frown on it--that her being seen meant she'd escaped from the palace.
But Faridah had brought the garment and they had walked through the palace gates. Just walked right through security, Faridah, today in head-to-toe mint, with reusable shopping bags slung over her shoulder, Noelle with every part of her draped in thin, light blue fabric. She had never felt so free.
Now all she had to do was ditch Faridah and get to the U.S. embassy. Which was conveniently located just outside Deira's souk , the outdoor market that had grown up around a watering hole for camel trains trading goods for spices along the Silk Road. Now it was a kind of mall. The twisting corridors were covered by wooden panels carved with geometric holes that let in enough light to see by, but kept most of the heat out. On either side, business owners had set up stalls four or five feet wide, maybe ten feet deep. The stalls didn't have doors, she noticed, but metal garage-style doors that rolled up at the beginning of the day and could be rolled down and locked at night. As far as she could tell, anything you wanted to buy, someone was selling it here. Electronic gadgets, spices, clothes, purses, carpets... Whatever.
"Oh, I don't know." She tried for a breezy tone of voice. Covered by the burqa, she didn't even have to fake a smile. This was so easy. "Some kind of thank you gift for his hospitality. What do you get the man who has everything? Even his own country. Ha ha."
Faridah wrapped her arm around Noelle's waist and lowered her voice. "I know just the thing. I guarantee you that he does not have anything like this." The younger woman's salacious wink sent a warm blush rushing up Noelle's throat.
Um, what had she just gotten herself into?
As they entered the darkened corridors of the souk , she tried to shrug off her trepidation. Whatever Faridah had planned did not matter--Noelle could fake some leisurely shopping for a bit, but
"My ancestor--" What did she speak of? Then he remembered she had arrived at this room in the company of Faridah, who worked in the kitchen. "Noelle, do not tell me that you believe fairy stories of princes locked in towers."
She stuck her bottom lip out and crossed her arms under her breasts. "Of course not. I just wanted to come up here for the view."
He let her lie go. "I come up here because no one else will. I enjoy the peace for my meditation. I have no distractions here. At least, I did not until you arrived."
As it turned out, Miss Noelle Oldrich was proving to be very distracting.
Four
T REASURE . M AP . T HE pirate princess pouted, three days later.
Escape. Faridah will be here soon. She promised to come to my room with what we need. This is going to work, I promise , Noelle responded.
She couldn't stop herself from pacing, fast-walking from one side of her guest suite to the other. Ugh. So cliché. Excited energy filled her, making her want to run, dance, do anything but wait here quietly. She'd be back in the States soon, out of captivity. Then the piratey, princessy voice inside her head could take a hike and everything could go back to normal.
Ironically, it had been Bonnie's idea of hitting a guard over the head that had made her think of this plan. Bonnie had been right about needing a disguise to get out of the palace. She'd just been wrong about the fake mustache.
This culture provided her the perfect disguise. Full head-to-toe anonymity. Unquestioned privacy.
The burqa. The mother-loving burqa.
A knock on the door. Faridah. It had to be. Noelle hustled over to let the younger woman in.
Treasure map, insisted Bonnie.
*****
"So what do you wish to buy for His Majesty?" asked Faridah, the light in her eyes so brilliant that Noelle's stomach churned.
Betraying Faridah was the one flaw in this plan.
She'd told the young woman that she needed a burqa because Sheikh Walid would frown on her being seen in public. That was not a lie. She did leave out the reason he would frown on it--that her being seen meant she'd escaped from the palace.
But Faridah had brought the garment and they had walked through the palace gates. Just walked right through security, Faridah, today in head-to-toe mint, with reusable shopping bags slung over her shoulder, Noelle with every part of her draped in thin, light blue fabric. She had never felt so free.
Now all she had to do was ditch Faridah and get to the U.S. embassy. Which was conveniently located just outside Deira's souk , the outdoor market that had grown up around a watering hole for camel trains trading goods for spices along the Silk Road. Now it was a kind of mall. The twisting corridors were covered by wooden panels carved with geometric holes that let in enough light to see by, but kept most of the heat out. On either side, business owners had set up stalls four or five feet wide, maybe ten feet deep. The stalls didn't have doors, she noticed, but metal garage-style doors that rolled up at the beginning of the day and could be rolled down and locked at night. As far as she could tell, anything you wanted to buy, someone was selling it here. Electronic gadgets, spices, clothes, purses, carpets... Whatever.
"Oh, I don't know." She tried for a breezy tone of voice. Covered by the burqa, she didn't even have to fake a smile. This was so easy. "Some kind of thank you gift for his hospitality. What do you get the man who has everything? Even his own country. Ha ha."
Faridah wrapped her arm around Noelle's waist and lowered her voice. "I know just the thing. I guarantee you that he does not have anything like this." The younger woman's salacious wink sent a warm blush rushing up Noelle's throat.
Um, what had she just gotten herself into?
As they entered the darkened corridors of the souk , she tried to shrug off her trepidation. Whatever Faridah had planned did not matter--Noelle could fake some leisurely shopping for a bit, but
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