Free Sandstorm by Megan Derr Page A

sheep was missing a chunk of fur. He didn't need to know the marks on the man's face to know he was the Sheik.
    "No one of importance," he said slowly, pain making his words somewhat slurred.
    "How doe a western bastard know our language so well?"
    He glared. "I'm a good soldier."
    "You were," the Sheik replied. "Until you attempted to invade Jackal. What was your goal?"
    He refrained from pointing out that he'd only been caught because he'd interrupted one of the Sheik's men in a tryst. But that would imply the Sheik's men had trysts, which implied disobeying orders, which implied they had no respect for their Sheik's authority, which was not the best thing to bring up when you were not only a prisoner but one they thought was western. Making the Sheik mad would get him killed that much sooner, and he preferred to stay alive as long as possible.
    This time he saw the hit coming, and managed to avoid the worst of it, though the room still spun dizzily for a moment.
    "Why are you here?" the Sheik repeated.
    "Just visiting," he replied.
    The Sheik shook his head, but held up a hand to forestay another hit. "Clearly you are western; a man of the Desert would have more respect for the situation you are in. Tell us your name."
    "All this smacking me around seems to have scrambled my memories. I don't remember my name."
    Chuckling, the Sheik motioned and the nearby soldier backhanded him again, over and over, repeatedly, until he was dizzy, nauseous and bleeding. "This isn't helping my memory."
    This time the Sheik threw his head back and laughed. "How rare, a western man who can stand upon the sands." He started to say more, but a motion from someone across the tent stopped him. "A pity I do not have more time for you. We will continue this discussion later, yes prisoner?"
    "I will look forward to it."
    "Bahadur," the Sheik said, "take him to the prison tent. See that he's sedated. I don't trust this one to be left too aware. If you can learn anything, do so, and perhaps I will relax your punishment for disobeying my orders."
    "Yes, Sheik," Bahadur replied, voice rough, dark.

    Calloused hands hauled him to his feet, and he was dragged away, barely able to stay upright, and eventually thrown to the floor of an empty, barren tent. He didn't bother to resist as his hands were chained to the central pole, behind his back, giving him almost no room to move.
    He looked up as the man called Bahadur knelt before him.
    Dark and rough was rapidly becoming the best way to describe the man. Bahadur was tall, broad-shouldered, built like he could probably lift and throw a grown man with very little effort. His skin was bronzed dark, no doubt as rough as his hands, weathered by the son. He was smooth shaven, odd when everyone else in the tent had favored beards. His eyes were a clear, pale gold, made all the paler by his dark skin. Scrolling calligraphy was inked into his cheeks, across his forehead, a small jackal head at the center. He was handsome in the same manner as the desert - in a hard, untamed sort of way. Not to everyone's taste.
    "I'd really prefer not to be sedated."
    Bahadur looked at him thoughtfully. "I would like to know your name and purpose for being here. Given…" he sighed. "Let us start with your name, and perhaps I will not sedate quite as heavily as the Sheik would like."
    "That depends - do you think me eastern or western?"
    Bahadur looked at him, confused. "What else could you be but western?"
    He sighed, the pain familiar. If not for his inordinate amount of time in the sun, his skin would be bone-white, as his mother's was. Hair that looked wildly exotic to the Tribes; Isra had once told him it looked like dark rubies. Eyes a bright, bright green. "Then I guess my name is Simon," he said, no longer caring.
    Bahadur frowned. "What if I had said eastern?"
    "You didn't," Simon said, unable to keep out the bitterness. "My name, so far you're concerned, is Simon. Will you hold to our bargain?"
    "Of course," Bahadur said,