Maeve sat in rapt attention as Nassima painted a vivid portrait of her husband and his relation to Sinbad. Nassima's eyes danced and glistened when she told of Asif's heroics. How he was the bravest of his wealthy father's sons and how he had sailed alone to Sicily and stayed at Syracuse at the age of only nine. When Asif visited such far-off places, he fell in love with some of the native architecture and nurtured a desire to fill his Persia with some of their beauty. In his late twenties, Asif took over his father's building business. Sinbad and Asif met often at the sea port where his ship sold its goods and where Asif bought raw materials for his buiding work. That's how they became friends. But Asif was much older than Sinbad. More than fifteen years or so! Meanwhile,Doubar worked on land at different jobs. He saved the profits of their labor to buy land in Baghdad. Sinbad never asked for money to spend unless he was alone and in need of lodging. Asif introduced Sinbad to many of his wealthy friends. Sinbad began to like the wealthy lifestyle and this troubled his elder brother so much that once or twice he even warned Asif not to tempt young Sinbad to covet the riches of others. One night Asif took Sinbad to a gambling house where he taught him how to place bets. It was all harmless .. not much money involved. It continued for a few months and Sinbad seemed to enjoy the sport. He was a young lad after all, with a desire to prove his worth in the world. Easy money, seemed to attract him so strongly- "

"I can never imagine Sinbad doing all that", said Maeve with an astonished smile.

"I am not saying Sinbad was doing any harm to himself. Now listen, Doubar did not approve at all of this new habit. He wanted Asif to stop ruining his brother. A fist-fight almost broke out between the two which was stopped just in time by Sinbad. Then Asif stopped taking Sinbad to the gambling house. Even Doubar softened after that. He and Asif became ..er.. something like friends. Then, one day something happened that cut off the firm friendship between Sinbad and Asif!"

"What was that?", asked Maeve,sitting up in surprise.

"Well, Sinbad was from a wealthy family and his mother, Mala was in possession of a large estate left to her by her ancestors. Now, on this estate, she built a beautiful white house that was three stories high, overlooking a cliff to the sea. Sinbad had never seen this estate. Yet from Doubar's stories, he always called it "the mansion-of-his-dreams". Sinbad often boasted that one day when he captained his own ship, he would visit that land and feast his eyes upon his mother's old house. But happily, that day came sooner than expected. Sinbad became Captain on his fifteenth birthday! Doubar was very proud of his brother!". Nassima paused for a moment and Maeve urged her to go on.

"En-route to a great city, Sinbad made a day's journey using Doubar's directions to visit Mala's home. Asif, piqued with curiosity, had gone along as well. It was a truly magnificent house! There was a white pathway that led from the topmost terrace, down to the gardens below by way of the sea shore. Inside the house, the halls were decorated with pillars and statues. The curtains were of cream and gold. Thick white carpets covered the floor. The main hall facing the sea had a wall made of glass on one side. Through this, they could see the view of the sky and the sea and the silvery line where they both meet. It was a spectacular house with extraordinary design and color. Unfortunately it was being laid to waste for Mala had died many years ago. Although the house was marvelous, it was in a location far away from the cities on a rather secluded spot. Doubar would never live there and Sinbad was too little to decide for his own. It had been locked up by Doubar and the keys and the deed documents were in safekeeping of Sinbad's old Uncle who came once in three months to air the mansion. Sinbad was angry that the house should go to waste. Also, his Uncle was not a good care-taker. He had taken out many works of art and sold them for a cheap price. Sinbad demanded the deed from his Uncle , saying that he would restore his mother's house and brought it back to Baghdad. Now, the moment Asif laid eyes on Mala's home, he fell in love with it. He conspired to obtain it somehow. When they returned to Baghdad, he induced Sinbad for one last gambling game and Sinbad agreed. After all,he was about to leave on another important voyage as a newly appointed Captain and he may never see Asif again. So they played the game. The stakes got higher and higher… and Sinbad, in equally high spirits, said aloud that he would throw in the deed as well. Suddenly, Doubar, as once before, charged in to disrupt the game. He had followed his brother and was upset that he was gambling once again. A fight ensued and this time, Doubar collapsed the gambling board and threw away the coins and the dice. The manager got a big black eye! Now, Asif had sabotaged the game, promising large amounts of money to this manager once he got his hands on the deed. When the man realized that Doubar meant to haul away Sinbad, he sent his men to set fire to Sinbad's new ship!"

"What? What happened then?"

"The sail and the mast went up in orange flames. Billows of smoke gushed from the inner cabins and there was nothing that Sinbad could do. Doubar could not fight a blaze like that alone! Then Doubar did the only thing that he could do. He handed over every bag of gold he had saved so that the manager could call off his men and leave his brother alone. Asif tried to be a peacemaker in this fight. He wanted Sinbad to bet on his mother's deed. The men left and Doubar , Sinbad and Asif ,along with some sailors and the owner of the ship, put the flames out. The owner demanded the name of culprit who had done this. Doubar accepted the entire blame for he didn't want Sinbad to lose his Captaincy. Sinbad was very upset . Then as he came closer, Doubar saw the deed rolled up in his sash. Doubar was horrified for he didn't know that it was now in Sinbad's possession. Sinbad admitted that he meant to gamble with it and that he should never taken it from his Uncle in the first place. After that, Sinbad could never look Asif in the eye again."

Nassima paused to gather her breath. "Then on the day that Sinbad planned to set sail, after a month or so, Asif came down to the docks to meet him. He begged for his forgiveness and the forgiveness of Doubar. He said that he would never again covet Mala's home. But it would always be the mansion of his dreams. Perhaps he would build a house like that.. someday. They parted on good terms although Doubar was still very angry. And the dream gave Asif a new spirit. He worked hard, studying architecture and mathematics and became a great builder! His first masterpiece was right in the heart of Baghdad, a mighty pillar of blue stone, with five hundred slit windows and a stairway of twenty-two hundred steps! The Sultan was thrilled with excitement and promised three camel-loads of gold as a reward!. And then ,Asif built a summer palace for Princess Alisha. He made a lot of money and decided to settle down with his family in Beuid-Merra. He built there, the mansion of his dreams. The same terrace gardens and the same white pathway. And he never forgot Sinbad the sailor."

"This is an incredible story",said Maeve, after a pause.
"Oh,yes.", agreed Nassima."You will understand fully when you come to our home. My description is nothing in comparison to the actual thing. The house is an exact duplicate of Mala's home. The arches, balconys, fountains, windows, statuary and even the lawns - everything is the same. But the colors are brighter and the furniture is truly is, the 'mansion of Asif's dreams'"
Maeve reluctantly marveled Nassima for her frank narration of the story even though it portrayed her husband in a rather bad light. Quite suddenly she felt protective of her innocent friend. She thought of warning Nassima that her husband's past mistakes are secrets which mustn't be shared with others. After all, the others cannot offer their help. It is a mistake that's already happened. Nothing can be done to erase it away!Instead the story will probably get circulated amongst friends until it becomes a hideous rumor!. Maeve's thoughts now drifted to her own terrible mistake. "I can never really tell anyone the truth about Dermott. It was my fault and it is up to me to make it right then-"
"What are you thinking of?",asked Nassima,interupting her thoughts. She lay a hand on Maeve's arm and the latter jumped lightly in surprise. "You looked so serious just now. As if.."
"It was nothing."
"A story of your own?"
Maeve smiled distantly. "Yes. A story of my own". She quickly added,"But it's a boring story. Nothing worth listening to-"
There was a loud peck on the door followed by a rough grating sound.
"Coming, Dermott",said Maeve and rushed to open her door. To Nassima's utmost surpise, a hawk flew in with a screech and perched itself on a post. "This is Dermott. Dermott, meet Nassima"
"A pet hawk. H..How.. very nice.", said Nassima, quickly backing towards the door, her eyes fixed entirely on Dermott."I 't suppose he's er.. dangerous?"
"Of course not!", cried Maeve."Dermott is very sweet. He would'nt hurt a fly!". She turned to Nassima who was still staring at Dermott in fright."But if you're afraid of him-"
"I..I don't much like birds - especially ones that have sharp beaks - er.. He is a ..a lovely bird. I will go see what Asif is upto. I feel much better than before. I will see you later". Nassima sped hastily out of the room.
Maeve smiled afer her, amused.
"What do you think of her,Dermott?", she said in soft tones."Isn't she nice? It's too bad she was scared of you..!"
Over a dish of roasted fish, Asif listened to a story narration of a different sort from Sinbad. "And suddenly, out of no-where,a hawk flew right at me. Like this..",said Sinbad, motioning with his hands."with his talons ready to dig into my flesh. It took me completly by surprise. I was on my back trying to fend away the hawk with my sword and then, all of a sudden, he took off on his own. I looked up and she was right there. Maeve. Sword in hand and holding the stance of a warrior"
"Your worst nightmare yet,eh?",asked Asif , a twinkle in his he spoke the words, he carefully reached inside his cloak and brought out a tiny bottle. He pulled out the cork."So tell me,Sinbad. How was your first encounter with Maeve?"
Sinbad raised his eyebrows as high as he could and gave an exaggerated "whew". "She was about as pleased to see me as a little fireball when it finds some hay to burn!"
"Oh, she can't be bad as all that!", objected Asif ,with more animation.
"She wasn't happy to see me,that's for sure. No matter what DimDim had told her,she was going to test my character for herself to find out what I was really like"
"And the verdict?"
"After my swordplay with her hawk, she pronounced me to be "harmless".."
"Well,well.. That's blow for you.. To be just "harmless".."
Both the friends burst into laughter.
"But really,Asif",said Sinbad,growing serious."I have never seen a woman like her before." Dull orangish vapors began to emanate from Sinbad as he spoke the words. They were invisible to him but visible to Asif. The vapors formed a long thin line of smoke and entered slowly into the little bottle."Her flaming red hair,glistening in the hot sun and her eyes like gimlets,glowering down at said that I was to back off or Dermott would have my eyeballs in her hands before I had time to blink.I thought she was the most pig-headed girl I'd ever met. She didn't even give me a fair chance to explain then I heard from DimDim that she was to go along with us on our journey-... she was the LAST person I would have wanted on my ship. Prince Casib and Admir were bad enough!"
Asif kept nodding and smiling. His eyes followed the vapors as they entered completly into the bottle. He corked it and hid it back inside his cloak.
"But over the past year, we've become good friends. Maeve's very powerful. And she is a hardworker. Her goal is to find Rumina and destroy her."
"Why?"
"I don't know. Maeve wouldn't tell me"
"Why not?"
Sinbad shrugged. He frowned in thought."Sometimes I see her staring out into the open sea. But she doesn't know that Im watching. And there is such sadness in her eyes. As if she was reliving a painful memory. As if something was haunting her. And then she looks around for Dermott and when he comes to her, she pets him or speaks to him. And he sortof speaks back". Sinbad laughed lightly at his own imagination. "It's silly,I know. But Dermott is something special to Maeve. Sometimes it's as if he means everything in the world to her... And as she talks to Dermott she sortof steadies herself. And she becomes all-right again."
"Perhaps she misses her family. Who sent her on this quest?"
"I do not know. I think she is on this quest for herself. I do not know of her family. I've never asked her about them"
"Why not?"
"I don't know. We're just good friends for now"
Asif leaned back and sighed."You're a strange one,Sinbad. The way you care for people who may not return the same care for you.. I can never comprehend this part of your character. It will be an eternal mystery to me"
"Maeve does care for me..and for her friends.",protested Sinbad."But perhaps not as openly as most women do"
Nassima walked in just then. Asif suggested taking her on deck for a tour of the ship and Sinbad welcomed the idea at once. Sinbad gave orders for the crew to turn the ship around and head for Beuid-Merra. They were going to spend the next week in the company of Asif and his family.