BASRA

Ten days later the Nomad reached Basra. It had been decided that the young Rumina would be left in safe hands with trusted friends in Basra, who would raise her and keep a close eye on her to make sure she remained as pure and innocent as she seemed. Even though Maeve had many opportunities to observe the new Rumina and was convinced that she was as she appeared, Maeve was still uncomfortable around her. She was relieved that they were finally in Basra.

Sinbad had been up out of bed for two days now. Maeve would have liked it better if he had remained in bed longer but Sinbad would not hear of it. He insisted that he was well enough to get around by himself. He said that he would be needed to convince his friends in Basra to take Rumina. Maeve could see that he was still pretty weak from the way he walked, but it was nice to see him upright.

Early in the morning, Sinbad, Maeve, Doubar, and Rumina threaded their way through the narrow, crowded streets of Basra towards the home of Sinbad's friend, Caliph Bahraan. The other crewmates had been given shore leave. Firouz and Rongar went off together. Sinbad and Maeve walked side by side in front and Doubar and Rumina followed them. Maeve walked on Sinbad's right side to protect his injured side from being jostled as they walked. She was careful to let him set the pace, as she did not want to tire him out.

Just as they reached one of open marketplaces, they heard someone calling Sinbad's name. "Sinbad, Sinbad, is that you?" A young, very attractive, dark-haired woman rushed up in front of Sinbad, blocking their advance. "It is you!" she bubbled happily. "Remember me?" she asked expectantly.

Maeve eyed the woman suspiciously. She had long, black, very curly hair, and brown eyes. Just the type Maeve didn't want knowing Sinbad. Maeve took hold of Sinbad's arm possessively. She could feel the green anger of jealousy taking control of her emotions.

"Keirdra, right?" Sinbad answered. "Yes, I remember." He realized instantly that this was an awkward situation and he was anxious to get out of it. He remembered his nights with Keirdra all too well and he did not want to discuss them in front of Maeve.

"Will you be staying in Basra long, this time?" Keirdra persisted, ignoring Maeve. She reached out and placed a hand on Sinbad's forearm. Maeve tugged on Sinbad's arm to get it away from Keidra and said, "Sinbad and I have important business. We really can't stop to talk now. So if you'll excuse us..." She pulled on Sinbad's arm to get him moving, causing him to wince with pain. She pushed her way past Keirdra and got the party moving again. Undeterred by this, Keirdra called after them, "You know where to find me."

Maeve gave Sinbad a hard stare. He started to explain. "I really don't know her very well.."

Maeve cut him off. "Don't bother explaining. I don't want to know." The irritation in her voice was obvious.

"She's the daughter of one of the sultans we trade with. She' s really very ni.."

"I said I didn't want to talk about it," she snapped. Sinbad gave up trying to explain.

Neither of them talked for the next few minutes. Behind them though Rumina chattered away to Doubar about all the things that she was seeing around her. For so long Maeve had held her tongue about all the different women that had known or wanted to know Sinbad. She felt she had no right to say anything or interfere. But now, now that they were together more or less officially, she could get upset. She had no intention of standing by while some other woman fawned over him. She had had her fill of standing by biting her tongue while that went on.

They turned off the main thoroughfare and went up a side street. As they proceeded Maeve spotted an imposing structure of washed stone rising high above the other dwellings. She knew that this must be the home of Sinbad's well-to-do friend. "This is the place," Sinbad said.

At the door, a servant greeted them and Sinbad instructed him to inform his master that Sinbad and some of his friends had arrived to visit. The servant disappeared after asking them to wait. Shortly the servant returned and ushered them through several rooms to a spacious sitting room. As soon as the Caliph saw Sinbad he rose and came to embrace him, welcoming him as though he were a long lost relative. After a few quick inquiries as to his health, he paused long enough for Sinbad to introduce the others. The Caliph was quite taken with Maeve's appearance, exclaiming that his abode had seldom had the pleasure to host such a beauty. Maeve smiled politely but said little. Finally the Caliph asked what had brought Sinbad to Basra again, and Sinbad replied, "It's a very long story." Then he whispered in the Caliph's ear and shortly after that one of the Caliph's maidservants appeared and the Caliph spoke to the young Rumina. "I'm sure that you will quickly tire of our old talk," he said. "My servant here will bring you to several people your own age for you to play with." He waited until they had left and then he continued.

"I love long stories, especially those told by you," the Caliph explained. "But if it is true that your story will take some time, we'd better have some refreshments to sustain us." He rang a small golden bell and spoke quietly to the servant that appeared. He motioned everyone to get comfortable. Maeve waited for Sinbad to choose a place to sit and then sat down beside him on the long, low couch that he chose.

Over the course of the next few hours, Sinbad, with occasional help from Maeve and Doubar, related the tale of how they had defeated Rumina. Sinbad practically had to force Maeve to recount her trials inside Black Mountain obtaining the Crystal of Goodness. When she finished the Caliph said to her, "You are a woman of considerable fortitude and courage, as well as being a delight to the eyes. Sinbad is fortunate to have met you."

Then Sinbad continued the story of how Maeve had finally come face to face with Rumina and had defeated her. He conveniently left out the part where Rumina threw her dagger at Maeve and it had hit him. Maeve interrupted, saying, "Sinbad is much too humble to mention how he managed to save my life by intercepting a dagger that would certainly have killed me. He very nearly gave his life for mine, a sacrifice I will never forget." She reached over and took his hand and squeezed it.

The Caliph was quite alarmed that Sinbad had suffered a near fatal injury and it took all three of the guests to reassure him that Sinbad should not immediately go to bed to rest.

At the end of the story, Sinbad turned to the Caliph, leaned forward, and said softly, "And that is why we are here. The young woman who accompanied us here and is playing innocently with your maid servant is none other than Rumina herself." He waited to see what the Caliph's reaction to this new would be.

The Caliph spoke softly also. "I had assumed that was the case by the time you finished your story."

"What you may not know is that when the Crystal of Goodness was activated, it removed all traces of evil in its vicinity. This took Rumina back to when she was innocent of all evil. The girl we brought with us resembles Rumina only in outward appearance. Her soul and mind are as pure as any child; purer, in fact, than any child I have ever known."

"Let me save you some time and effort, Sinbad, since you are recovering from a serious injury and probably should not be here at all. You have come here because you would like me to take this child to raise in my household. Am I right so far?"

"Yes, you are," Sinbad answered.

Maeve spoke. "Rumina has been my enemy for many years. She took from me one of my most precious possessions - my brother. Not only that, but as a result of her curse, she had cut me off from any expression of my affection for the love of my life." She paused and looked in Sinbad's direction. "Even though I can see the innocence in this girl we have brought with us, to me, she will always be Rumina. I will never trust her, or allow her to get close to me. Or to him either. For that reason we cannot continue to care for her." Again she nodded in Sinbad's direction. "We want her to have the chance to become something other than what she was. I owe this young girl that." She paused and Sinbad stepped into the opening.

"We have every reason to believe that given different circumstances than her original experiences as a child, this Rumina will turn out to be a completely different person than the first one. I think that you would be an ideal person to raise this young girl. You can provide the types of experiences that she needs to become a fine young woman. Your three grown daughters are proof of that."

"I thank you for your confidence. I am very proud of all of my daughters. I believe that my wife would welcome the chance to have a young child again, especially a girl."

"Then it's settled?" Sinbad asked. "You'll take her?"

"That I will. And gladly. It will be nice to hear the sound of innocent laughter around here again."

Maeve smiled broadly. "It looks like Sinbad has once again proved himself an excellent judge of human character."

The Caliph laughed enthusiastically. "I see proof sitting right beside him now! And it appears that he is also an excellent judge of beauty as well, if I may say so." He laughed again.

Maeve let out a soft laugh of her own. "You are too kind, sir!" Usually comments about her looks only annoyed her as most often they were made with a not-so-hidden motive, but coming from the Caliph, Maeve was quite pleased.

The Caliph insisted that they stay for dinner and entertainment, which they did. Doubar was quite happy they stayed, for dinner was sumptuous both in quality and quantity, and he enjoyed watching the dancing girls after their meal almost as much. Maeve, however, found herself growing more and more annoyed with the show. She eyed Sinbad suspiciously as he watched. It upset her that he too seemed to enjoy the show immensely. She was glad that the lighting was dim, so that he could not see the jealousy that showed so plainly on her face. And that made her angry too - at herself.

Maybe that was why, later that evening, she was so receptive to the Caliph's suggestion that she and Sinbad go on a holiday together, just the two of them. It was casually enough said, but the idea at once took root and grew in her mind. "You know you two ought to go off for a little rest," he had begun. "Sinbad needs to take it easy for a while and I'll bet you'd welcome some time to unwind from the rigors of your adventure with Rumina." He winked at her, and added, "I'll bet you wouldn't mind some time alone, without everyone watching the two of you. Am I right?"

Maeve raised one eyebrow and gave him a sly smile and cocked her head a bit to the left in reply. But his comment definitely got her wheels turning.

The Caliph could see by her widened eyes that his idea had found a home. "I know of a very beautiful island just a few days sail from here. Almost uninhabited too. There's just a caretaker and his daughter keeping an eye on the place for me. I have a little place there to escape the bustle of the city."

"Sounds interesting," Maeve answered. "Let me talk to Sinbad about it."

Sinbad had stepped out onto the balcony to cool off. Maeve looked around the room and didn't see him and had a moment of panic, but she asked where he had gone and then she went out to join him. She slid up next to him and took him by the arm. "Beautiful, aren't they?" she commented, looking up at the stars and remembering the sunset they had shared together that special evening on the Nomad.

"If you mean your eyes, yes, they are," Sinbad replied. Maeve tossed her head and rested it against his shoulder. "I'll bet you say that to all the girls," she teased. She regretted her words as soon as they were spoken. She did not want to sound jealous.

Sinbad put his arm around her shoulder and gave her a little squeeze. "You're the only one I'll say that to from now on."

Speaking slowly and choosing her words carefully, Maeve began. "You know what would be really nice? If we could have some time alone. I think everyone on the Nomad could use some extended shore time. We've been on the sea a lot in the last six months. The Caliph was telling me about a beautiful little island that he owns that's only a two-day sail from here. It's almost deserted. There's just a caretaker and the caretaker's daughter. It has a small house we could stay in and the island's big enough for us to do some exploring. There'd be no one looking over our shoulders." She slid her hand up and down his bare arm. "We can do whatever we feel like doing, whenever we want." She slid around to face him and gave her head a little toss. She looked up into his eyes and brought her face within a few inches of his. "What do you say?"

"Well, I must say there are certain aspects of it that do appeal to me. Our treasury is okay at the moment, so we don't really need to rush off on another journey. And I have heard the men grumbling a bit about all work and no play. Especially my brother. I guess we could steal a little time."

"Well, you don't have to sound so enthusiastic about having some time with me," Maeve shot back at him.

"Whoa, woman! Can't you tell when I'm pulling your skirt? I have only been waiting two years for this, you know! I would love to have some time alone with you. As long as we can be this close." He enclosed her form with his powerful arms and pulled her into him in a tight embrace.

"Mmmm. I like it, I like it," Maeve murmured. "Then it's settled. We'll go tomorrow?"

"At the break of dawn, if I have anything to say about it." He chuckled aloud. "We'd better go back in now before someone sends a search party."

And that is how, two days later, Maeve and Sinbad found themselves on the Caliph's little hideaway island, Zariph. The crew dropped them off with a week's provisions and promised to come back for them at the end of the week.