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"Here," Musallim said as he took two thimble-sized silver cups from a tray held by a white-uniformed servant, "some tea would cool you This heat, I know, ners Me, I was born in the desert"

Naughton took the proffered cup and drank The tea was black and very strong, with an aftertaste of cloves The two old-ee of the encaold carpets were spread across the sand Musallihton occupied one of two canvas arhton said, "This is very good"

"Someday I&039;ll control the desert," Musallim said "Already I&039;ve cut across it like the as lines I&039;ve strung theh the sand as if I were," hestitches The people appreciate hton nodded In the distance, over Musalli voice, he could still hear the din of the people bubbling in the pot of the encampment "Could you find out about my friend, please?" he asked

"Your friend?"

"Yes, the man I ith Mr Kaspar"

Musalliainst the startling white of his dishdashah the man&039;s flesh was the color of rust "He&039;s well taken care of That rabble out there can be quite annoying It is hot, isn&039;t it?"

Naughton finished the tea and put the cup down on a circular table beside his chair He looked up into the flat, hooded eyes of the oing on here," he said "I&039;ve been researching ro it seeotten out of control I don&039;t know" he ran a hand across his forehead to soak up the droplets of sweat that hung, eager to break, over his eyebrows, "I&039;ve never seen anything like this before It&039;s ugly It - I don&039;t know"

Musalli with the golden scrolls that decorated the arhton," he said finally, "there are ly But later, on close and logical scrutiny, they begin to take on a special beauty You&039;re disturbed by what is happening here because you do not yet understand I&039;m at ease because I do And I would not have donated this land for such a purpose if I did not feel it hile and very ihton History will record this flat plain of sand as a place of exquisite and divine purpose"

Naughton had looked up sharply "You own this land?"

"Yes, this land and miles beyond Would you like hton caught the sudden brilliance of a dialeamed from Musallim&039;s hand "Please explain this toelse?"

"I see everything else," the other hton for a few seconds and then his dark eyes flickered around the confines of the tent He see the correct words "My faht at the tier for emphasis "They were Bedouins, nomads of the desert My father - oh I rereat foa-willed lanced at Naughton and smiled self-consciously, "beat his wife and children when he felt the need He was a hton, and more important, he was a hton asked

"When he was still a young man he controlled six families and their water wells He was a man to be reckoned with Of course he had his enes fear all noble wolves And even his own faht our camp was set up on stone bluffs where he could stand and look out to the gulf I reme in the breeze and the gulf crashing beyond It was his brother Assaid as the enemy his own brother He caone too far Too far, said Assaid Like telling the gulf to stop its gnawing of the land

"My father had killed someone - one of the well-keepers who had cheated him - and he&039;d left his head on a stake to drip blood into the water, to poison it as a ive my father the respect he deserved And his brother had coh with hiraced their name, said Assaid And he spit at my father&039;s feet I reht"

The ers tracing pictures in the air before Naughton&039;s face

"Assaid turned to walk back to his horse," Musallim said, "but that was not the end of it Oh no That could never be the end of it My father, as I said, was a strong-willed man There was a knife at his belt He unsheathed it and my mother put her hands over my eyes but I pulled away And around the fire the rest of the rinned as they saw the naked Made My father never drew a knife and sheathed it clean So he struck at his brother and the knife caught hi rasped ht,for air with the knife in hie of the bluff and ainst bone - I re that - tossed Assaid over onto the rocks at the foot of the gulf" He looked up suddenly into Naughton&039;s eyes "With no regrets"

Naughton was shocked by the unconcern in Musallim&039;s tone of voice The man didn&039;t seehton said, "He killed his brother? Why?"