CHAPTER SIX

"Enjoying yourself, my friend?"

Ardeth gritted his teeth at the muffled laughter coming from a few of the men within earshot and glared at Khalid. "Mind your own business!"

"But you make it my business when you taste a woman in full view of your men. If it were dark then the matter would be different, as we would not be able to see such sinful behaviour..." Khalid trailed off and grinned when Ardeth looked as if he was about to bite something in his anger.

"It was not sinful!" Ardeth growled.

"No?" Khalid said, raising one eyebrow. "A pity." He looked up and noticed that his friend was looking a touch guilty. "Does it bother you to kiss a western woman?"

"Of course it bothers me," Ardeth said reluctantly and sat down next to Khalid. "It should not have happened, I should not have allowed it to happen."

"Was she unwilling? Did you force her?"

"No, she was not unwilling," he replied, giving a small smile.

"Then where is the problem?" Khalid asked reasonably.

"She is related to the O'Connells and she is..." he hesitated, giving Khalid a sharp glance, "...pure. There are many problems."

Khalid nodded and nudged Ardeth in the ribs, grinning. "If she is pure then surely she is a prize to be won? Regardless of where she comes from or who she is related to."

Ardeth stared at him dumbly for a while. "Stop right there," he warned, narrowing his eyes at his friend.

Khalid plastered an innocent expression on his face. "Stop what?"

"Stop trying to marry me off. You have failed with the women of the village, so now you try to match me with any female who comes into my line of sight?" He stared at Khalid suspiciously.

"Well, you are getting older Ardeth, 34 this year is it not? The elders would be very angry if I let this opportunity pass you by," his friend said, trying to look serious and failing miserably. "Before long you will be too old to father the sons that will take over your leadership, then what will happen? The cloak of responsibility will be passed on to me. And rest assured, my friend, I shall father many, many fine sons to continue my line!"

"You are a fine one to talk, Khalid, when you have no wife and you are equally as ancient as I am!" Ardeth scoffed, feeling his worrying feelings drop from him and his humour take over. "Besides, not one person in our village would want you as a leader, what with your total disregard for our religious beliefs!"

"Disregard? I am as devout as you are, my friend. Ah! I know what you are referring to, but I only had one glass of champagne from the O'Connell woman..." he argued.

"It was an alcoholic drink. You know full well we are forbidden..." Ardeth began.

"It was just the one time and I was curious...do not change the subject! I was punished for that sin, was I not? And I believe you were the one who suggested the form of punishment to the elders? It is far past time I got my own back on you!" Khalid said, frowning in mock anger.

"Did you not enjoy shovelling dung?" Ardeth asked sympathetically.

"I would not have minded if it was just for the one day, but a month? I stunk like a dead camel for weeks! Is it any wonder I am not yet married?" Khalid's slow smile told Ardeth that he held no real grudge against him. He turned and looked over towards Charlotte. "What of the girl, Ardeth?"

"We will return her to Cairo and then continue with our duties," he replied, following Khalid's stare and looking at the small, hunched figure sitting alone.

"And that is all?" Khalid prompted.

Ardeth stood up again and grabbed a water skin. "That is all," he replied, walking slowly back towards Charlotte.

Charlotte heard him approaching and kept her head down, staring at the food he had given her before and wondering why she had no desire to eat it. She sighed. Perhaps she would feel hungry later, so she wrapped the food in a piece of cloth and decided to keep hold of it. A water skin came into her field of vision and she glanced up as Ardeth held it out to her, his expression still fierce.

"You have not yet had enough fluid. Drink this, but drink it slowly," he told her, his tone brooking no refusal, speaking to her as he would one of his men when giving a direct order.

She obediently took the water and sipped it slowly, receiving his nodded approval. "Good. We will be riding out again shortly, be ready." He walked away and she watched as he and the men quickly gathered their things and readied the animals for the next leg of the journey.

She continued sipping the water until she had consumed half of it, but drinking any more defeated her. Her stomach felt full with the stuff, so she quickly recapped the odd looking bag and slung the strap over her shoulder, standing up as Ardeth rode his horse over to her.

When he stopped in front of her he kicked one foot free of the stirrups and held out his hand. "Put your foot on mine and I will lift you up," he said, grabbing the hand she placed in his. She looked down at his booted foot and tried to be careful when she stepped on it, not wanting to damage it with her weight. But he didn't seem to notice, merely raising his leg and pulling with his hand at the same time, boosting her up onto the saddle in front of him. She landed a bit awkwardly and immediately tried to steady herself by shooting one hand out for balance.

Ardeth grunted and let out a whoosh of air when her hand landed heavily on his groin, luckily not as low as it could have so no great pain was caused, merely discomfort. He grabbed her wrist and wrenched it away from him as she struggled to right her position. "Be careful, woman!" he snapped, lifting her impatiently and arranging her in front of him to stop her wriggling about. Allah, if she moved like that on this journey! He was already having enough trouble controlling his urges and he had only had her with him for less than a day. He was also angry that he had kissed her...and that he wanted to do it again. He took his bad temper out on her. "Stop moving around like a child and sit still or I will make you walk for the remainder of the journey!"

Charlotte stared up at him wide eyed, her mouth hanging open behind her veil. Where had the concerned protector gone? He was now treating her like she was the enemy and she wasn't sure what to do or say, feeling not a small amount of fear as she looked at his dark scowl, his lips thinned in his anger. "I...I'm sorry," she mumbled and turned her head away from him, staring at the sand and sitting as still as she could.

She felt him sigh behind her and then he took the reins and shouted a command for his men to follow. She was relieved when one of his men rode up next to them and started talking to him in his own language, taking his attention away from her.

"Ardeth, what has she done to deserve being spoken to in such a way?" Khalid said, looking at his leader disapprovingly.

"It is best this way," Ardeth said, not bothering to go into explanations.

Khalid nodded. "Then perhaps it would be best if she were to ride with someone else, as it seems to bother you so much?"

"Are you offering your services?" Ardeth enquired, his eyes hard.

"I would not be so stupid as to get between a man and the woman he desires. I was thinking of one of the other men," Khalid explained, staring boldly back at him.

"I do not desire her!" Ardeth snapped, his eyes averted from his friend's penetrating stare.

"Of course you do not. It is completely obvious how much you do not desire her. Therefore it will be no problem for...say...Rachid to take her for the rest of the journey?" Khalid was only stating the obvious, but it infuriated Ardeth nonetheless.

"She will remain with me. She will feel safer with me," he explained, his head still averted.

"Hmm. We shall see," Khalid replied, bowing his head slightly before dropping back to ride with Rachid.

As the journey wore on Charlotte began to feel more and more uncomfortable. She was hungry, thirsty and she desperately needed to relieve herself, but she was too scared to ask Ardeth to stop. Besides, she thought, where on earth could she find enough cover to pee in private? Well, she could at least do something about the hunger and thirst, she thought. She pulled the wrapped package of food out of her robes and carefully opened it, selecting a piece of dried meat and slipping it under her veil and into her mouth.

Ardeth glanced down at her furtive movements and watched as she started eating the small bounty of dried foods. Damn! He hadn't even noticed that she hadn't eaten anything on their previous break and that got him to thinking about other things. He hadn't enquired about any of her basic needs since they had started the ride in the early morning and he knew she hadn't been out of his sight even once. She must need a few moments alone by now, he thought. Now how to ask her if that was what she needed without sounding rude.

She continued eating until nothing was left but crumbs and then she reached up to her shoulder to pull the water skin off and open it. She wanted nothing more than to drain the remaining water, but she knew that drinking fast in this heat was a bad idea and forced herself to sip the tepid water. She became aware that she was being stared at by Ardeth and hesitantly lifted her eyes to his, holding out the water to him. "Are you thirsty?"

He looked surprised briefly at her innate politeness, but his frown soon reappeared. "Why did you not tell me you were hungry? We could have stopped again, if we really had to," he asked, his voice sharper than he had intended.

This time his rudeness didn't scare her as it had before and she welcomed the surge of anger that flooded through her. "There's no need to be rude! It's quite obvious that you have no desire to stop, so you'll be relieved to know we don't have to. I'm fine, thank you for asking!" Her voice was equally as sharp as his and she put the water skin back on her shoulder and turned her face away from him, resolutely staring out at the vista in front of them. She managed to keep the shudder of anxiety from actually happening, appalled at the way she had just spoken to him. Still, she was justified, in a way, she thought. Even if he had rescued her, he still didn't have to talk to her like that.

Ardeth stared down at the angry woman sitting stiffly across the saddle in front of him with his mouth hanging open. Never - never! - had a woman ever dared to speak to him in such a way and he was dumbfounded. Had she been one of his countrywomen he would have had no compunction about putting her over his knee and dealing her some heavy blows, but a westerner? How did one deal with a wild female from England? He had to swallow the sudden anger that erupted in him lest he actually treated her like one of his own, and he decided to let it go for now. But he was now aware, as he hadn't been before, that she was not quite as docile as she had first appeared. In his arrogance, it never occurred to him once that he was at fault, that he had actually goaded her by his own lack of manners.

"Do you need to stop?" He asked the question through stiff lips, not really wanting to talk at all, but trying to ensure her comfort.

"No," she snapped back at him, not adding a thank you or even turning toward him.

"Are you quite certain? We shall be riding for at least another hour, perhaps more, and this will be the last time I offer to stop for you," he insisted, his voice harsh. He was being bloody minded by continuing to question her, he realised, but he hated her rudeness. It was such a contrast to the way she had been.

"I've already said no! Leave me alone!" Her voice was even sharper this time and he breathed in through his nose as he tried to calm his temper. It didn't help. Nor did the muttering he could barely make out. No doubt some insults directed at him.

"Enough!" His hand came up and grabbed her chin, forcing her face around to his. "You will not dare to speak like this again or I will be forced to punish you!"

Her eyes flashed in a mixture of anger and fear as she grabbed hold of his wrist and tried to detach it from her face. "Punish me? For what? You have absolutely no right to punish me! None at all! Now let me go!"

"You wish me to let you go? Fine!" He pulled his horse to an abrupt stop and pushed her unceremoniously off it's back, watching dispassionately as she slid down onto the sand and crumpled into a heap. To his surprise she didn't cry or plead for forgiveness as most of the women he knew would have. Instead she stood up and threw a handful of sand at him, aiming for his face, before shouting at him.

"So what now? Are you going to leave me out here in the middle of nowhere? Well....well...fine! See if I care you...you...Arab!" She turned and stomped off ahead of him, not looking back as he brushed the sand out of his beard and turned to find Khalid almost collapsed in his saddle with laughter.

"Having trouble, my chief?" Khalid asked him, trying to recover from the mirth that was actually hurting his ribs.

Ardeth ignored the sarcastic comment, debating whether or not to send Rachid out after her or one of the other men. He soon decided that he would have to be the one to get her, as she had dishonoured him in front of his men. Now he must be seen to do the right thing, regardless of what race she was. And he was just angry enough not to care who she was related to.

"Travel out to the al-Kasrain oasis. I will join you there," he told his second in command, his face stiff with the anger that was running unchecked through him.

"It was not our plan to stay there tonight," Khalid reminded him.

"It is our plan now. Go," he ordered him, his angry dark eyes never once straying from the figure of Charlotte.

"Ardeth, be very careful what you do, she is not one of ours. You must realise..."

"I gave you an order and I expect it to be obeyed. Now go!" Ardeth snapped, kicking his horse into movement.

Khalid watched just long enough to see Ardeth advancing towards her like a wolf stalking its prey, before he gave the order to the men and they moved rapidly off in another direction. The men knew enough not to look back, knowing they would risk the wrath of their leader if they did.