Chapter Six
Najya watched him leave before tossing the robe from her and getting up
from the bed. She looked down irritably
at her dancer's costume and wished fervently he had not seen her in such
attire. "What's done is
done," she murmured. Thankfully
her belongings, meager though they were, were brought to the tent from the
camel she had stolen.
She picked up the large cloth pouch in which she had stowed a few pieces
of clothing and personal items. She
wondered briefly if her things had been gone through, but opening the pouch
revealed everything remained much as it was. Strange, she thought. They
believe me to be their enemy and yet they do not invade my privacy. She decided the man called Ardeth Bay
had probably had something to do with that.
While she undressed and changed into a soft cotton sleeping gown, the
image of him invaded her thoughts. Ah,
Mother...you were wrong. He is beyond
handsome. She shook her head as if
trying to dislodge an unwanted thought. It did little good as in her mind she was faced with the picture of him
stroking his chin and moving his long tapered fingers over his lips. Najya licked her bottom lip thinking of just
that simple movement and wondered why her knees were suddenly weak.
Before she could give it another thought, the tent flap opened and a
relatively tall, elderly woman entered. She seemed taken aback at seeing Najya in the tent. She looked around, as if seeking someone. When she found no one else in the tent, she
moved to leave.
"Istanna," Najya requested.
The woman stopped at the opening and turned. "My apologies. This
is the tent of our Chief, who is also my son. I had wished to speak with him."
"The Chief? The Chief of
your people is...Ardeth Bay?"
The woman smiled, showing white teeth against her darkly tanned
skin. "Yes, my son is Chief. I am Khazana."
Before Najya could speak, the woman disappeared, leaving
her to her thoughts. She turned her
attention back to the bag containing her belongings and reached inside, groping
around until her fingers closed around a small leather pouch. Removing it, she sat the larger bag aside
and returned to the bed. She found the
pendant she sought within the bag and placed it around her neck, clutching it
to her breast. Dousing the candle at
the bedside, she closed her eyes; one hand protecting the pendant at her
breast, the other firmly clutching the small pouch that contained her most
precious treasures.
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To be continued...