Desert Justice by Parv Valerie

Author:Parv, Valerie [Parv, Valerie]
Format: mobi
Tags: Suspense
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2006-05-25T05:00:00+00:00

At the royal lodge at Karama, she was given a little breathing space. For the first three days of their stay she saw no sign of Business Suit, and barely enough of Markaz himself.

Fine with her, she told herself, although small surges of resentment troubled her when she saw him from a distance looking noble in his elaborate robes, about to preside over the majlis, the traditional-style Nazaari court of justice.

At the majlis, anyone could bring a grievance to the sheikh and receive a hearing, Amal told her. Concerns could range from a request for a piece of land or a scholarship for a son or daughter, to the effect of government policies, foreign relations and employment. Discussion could be heated and intense, Amal said. People sometimes waited a week or more to see Markaz.

Except when petitioning the sheikh themselves, women weren’t involved in the proceedings. They might not be segregated in a harem, but they may as well be, Simone thought. Whenever she stepped outside her room or the living rooms used by the royal women, she had to ensure her veil was in place. Not that she was often alone anyway. Amal was usually with her. And lately Bibi had taken to dogging her heels.

She couldn’t blame Bibi. For a teenager separated from her boyfriend, Karama must be the height of boredom. To Simone it was the very opposite. She had never felt so much at home anywhere.

According to Amal, this lodge had been built on the ruins of an eighth-century castle destroyed by an earthquake. Little remained of the original. Now lavishly decorated pillars stood at the entrance to a central hall where Markaz held court. The vaults of the different sections opened off the core and one section was reserved for the women.

As they approached the lodge, they’d driven along a road leading to an ancient Roman reservoir half the size of a football field. This provided Karama with water and the local farmers with irrigation, Markaz had explained. Then they’d crossed a line of palm trees marking the boundary between the desolate Lost Quarter and the arc of oases surrounding the city.

Simone was fascinated by the contrast between old and new worlds. The desert might be at their door, but satellite communications and state-of-the-art computer facilities linked the lodge with the world. She was able to keep in touch with her mother, and was pleased to hear she was showing slight improvement.

She’d debated telling her mother that she was close to finding Yusef, but decided against it. If Omar turned out to be the wrong man, raising her mother’s hopes could do more harm than good, particularly when the excellent care she was receiving seemed to be helping her progress.

Plus, the sheikh seemed to doubt that Omar was a hero, although everyone else thought so. Simone chafed at the restrictions keeping her from talking to the guard again.

She told herself she’d get another chance when the women went shopping at the Karama souk, the desert equivalent of a shopping mall.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.