Warning: No slash! :-)
Dedication: This has to be for Chris. I had a great time, and I can't wait to see you again.
Author's Note: Hehehehehehe. Yay! This is getting a bit more popular. And as for how I pick names... (didn't even notice when I used Severin...) I have one of those sites book marked that has all the different nationalities and whatnots, names, and what they mean. I'm trying to keep the first letters of the names the same, to help keep a running theme. Anyway, thanks to the damn snow I have no work today, so I'm catching up on my stories!
The Longest Journey
Arabia
//And where have I found myself now?// Severus thought as he felt the sudden jolt that signaled his trip was over. He was sitting, and again he was male. That was a relief. And more fully clothed then he been beforehand. He was swathed in some sort of covering, but it was quite comfortable. It felt almost like robes, but loose. He was in some sort of tavern, it looked like. There were a few other men as well, all dressed like something out of the Arabian Nights.
//Arabia, perhaps?// That's what it looked like. Dark skinned men in white robes and turbans, and walls of a clay substance. //Whose slave am I today?//
"Sihr, you look as though you are puzzled." There was a light hand on his arm, and Sihr/Severus glanced to his right. There was another dark skinned man sitting next to him, cold of eye and lean of features.
"No Lameh, I am not puzzled. Troubled yes."
"Rawda?"
"Yes." Sihr nodded, sounding quite remorse. "Bashir refuses to relinquish her."
"Bashir has as much brains as camel dung." Lameh scoffed. "You can overpower him easily."
"Mmm. But Rawda would not appreciate it. That's all that's stopping me."
"If you truly love her..."
"Lameh!" Sihr slammed his hand down on the table. "Enough! I am done talking about her. Bashir has made it quite clear. He had me at swords point. He will not hesitate to kill me, should I pursue her. That is the end of it. No woman is worth my life."
//I simply cannot be happy, can I?// It seemed every life, Severus just could not find happiness with his soulmate. Someone always stood in the way. //Though it does seem to be getting considerably worse. I'm not even with her here.//
"Pah! I shall take care of Bashir for you. He is nothing. He is the son of a camel herder. We are the sons of Sheiks!" Lameh pounded the table as well. //Angry men.//
"Leave it." Sihr waved his hand. "It's not worth the trouble."
//This certainly tells me something about myself.// Was he really as cold and...and selfish as these people were? They all seemed concerned with doing whatever was easiest, whatever the path of least resistance was.
"I don't know...Rawda looks worth the trouble to me." Lameh said, crooking his finger at the dark man behind the bar. "She is much desired..."
"I am aware." Sihr shrugged. "But I have not the wish to exert the effort."
"And how does she feel?"
"Rawda?" Sihr sighed. "We have little occasion to talk. Bashir trails her like flies to honey. Which is why I have ignored my interest."
"She loves you." Lameh said. "She loves you, and you love her, and I will kill Bashir and you will be together."
"It isn't that simple." Sihr sighed. "I wish that it were."
//Of course not. Nothing is ever simple. Nothing has changed, not in hundreds of thousands of years. And nothing ever will.// Perhaps this had been a bad idea. It certainly wasn't giving him much hope for his future. Would any of his lives turn out happy?
"And as we speak of the devil..." Lameh inclined his head to the door. A woman had walked in, young, dark of skin and hair. She was curvaceous, with large eyes and pouting lips. //Rawda? At least I've done well...//
"Allah hates me." Sihr said. He rose, walking over to the young woman.
"Sihr!" She cried out, flinging her arms around him. "They told me I would find you here."
"You shouldn't be here." Sihr said, holding her at arms length. "If Bashir..."
"Bashir is busy." Rawda shook her head, ebony hair falling over her shoulders like a waterfall. "He was paying no attention to me."
"Something I find hard to believe." Sihr placed his hands on Rawda's shoulders, looking down at her. "But if he finds out you were with me..."
"He will not find out." Rawda laughed, seemingly unconcerned with the entire situation.
"There are many witness' here." Sihr closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. Severus knew that this could have no happy ending. //It seems there is always someone in our way. How tragic. In a maudlin sort of way.//
"Sihr..." Rawda's eyes were very soft, and large. //She looks like a deer.//
"No." He shook his head. "I am leaving in the morning. Lameh and I are escorting a caravan to the sea port..."
"How long will you be gone?" There was a hint of panic in Rawda's voice. She looked up into his eyes, blinking back tears. "I don't want to be too long without you..."
"I am not coming back." There was a note of finality in his voice.
"What?" Rawda took a step back. She shook her head. "You can't!"
"I can and I will." Sihr let go of her, and placed his hands on his hips. "It is for the best, Rawda."
"No." Rawda's lower lip trembled. "Or...let me go with you!"
"No." Sihr's voice was distant and cold. "There is nothing between us, Rawda. There can be nothing. Bashir has claimed you as his own. And I am not going to risk my life for a woman. There is no worth in it."
//Good god...// Severus didn't want to watch anymore. He had a horrid feeling. Nothing he had seen so far had given him much hope for his own life. Things had gone from bad to worse.
"Don't do this..."
"Sihr..." It seemed even Lameh was stepping in. "Take her with you."
"No!" Sihr shook them all off, standing alone. "I have made my mind up, and that is all. No blame lies on me, it lies on Bashir. That son of a camel has done this. If you must cast your anger at someone, cast it at him!" With that, he turned, and stormed out into the desert...
~~~~~~~