Princess Sultana's Circle

young women into rooms and
lock them away.
    “ Maha!” I shouted as I
looked around wildly. “Come here, now!” The idea that my daughter
might be locked in with these poor women brought me to the verge of
hysterics.
    I grabbed Maha’s hands as
soon as I found her. Once she was safely by my side, I began to
plead with Khalidah, hoping she would support the cause of women,
her sisters.
    “ Khalidah, you must know
that these young girls are being raped repeatedly—by your husband,
sons, and other men!” I paused, “And surely, as a wife and mother,
this cannot be to your liking!”
    On the surface, Khalidah
was stunningly beautiful, but her words today proved to me that she
was ugly inside. Worse, she was emotionally and spiritually
dead.
    She appeared to be unmoved
by my words. “Sultana, this business concerns men,
only.”
    “ If you truly believe that,
Khalidah, then you are nothing more than a reed in the wind, with
no mind of your own.”
    Khalidah’s face reddened,
but she did not respond to my challenge.
    I had heard the rumor some
years before that Khalidah’s attraction to Faddel’s enormous wealth
was the cause for her blind obedience and loyalty. I longed to
shout at Khalidah, to remind her of the wise proverb, that “she who
marries a gorilla for money, when the money goes, the gorilla
remains a gorilla.” Life is indeed strange, and the day might come
when Khalidah found herself with a destitute Faddel whose
wickedness would prove more permanent than his wealth.
    But I said nothing, aware
that such words would not further the cause of freedom for these
young women.
    Faddel had the effrontery
to try to justify his evil deeds. “Although it is no business of
yours, Sultana, every woman here was sold by her parents. They
received what they were after, as did I. These transactions were
legitimate. I have done nothing wrong.”
    “ Legally, perhaps not,
Faddel. Morally, most certainly.”
    Faddel shrugged.
    Stung by the knowledge I
was not going to succeed in freeing these young women, I
intentionally insulted my cousin. “Faddel, is it so terribly
difficult for you to find sexual companions who don’t have to be
chained, first?”
    Maha turned to him in
scorn, “You are a wicked beast! You are!”
    Faddel chuckled when he
retorted, “Sultana, I believe that you and your daughters are
conspiring to blacken my reputation.”
    Maha grabbed me by the
waist. “Mother! Surely we cannot leave them here!”
    My heart sank as I looked
into Maha’s face. “Yes, Daughter, we must. There is nothing more
that we can do here.” I pulled her along, “Come.”
    Khalidah turned her back
and left the room.
    Faddel’s deceptively soft
voice spoke menacing words as he guided Maha and me out of that
place. “You know, Sultana, if you were anyone else, I would have
you killed.”
    Walking beside that
depraved man, I felt greater hatred than I had ever felt for any
person, even my brother Ali. How I longed to threaten Faddel with a
million curses. But I knew that the law of Saudi Arabia had no
provisions to help those girls. There was nothing that I could do,
and I knew it. Most hurtful of all, Faddel knew it, too.
    As we walked away, I heard
the heartbroken cries of the young girls, calling out from behind
locked doors. It was more than I could bear! I could not imagine
how this was affecting Maha.
    Dismal thoughts flooded my
thinking. Oh, Allah! What a land! What a people! We are so wealthy
that we give no thought to exchanging expensive real estate for a
nest of motley birds that will satisfy the crazy whims of our
children. Yet, we are so morally corrupt that young women are
routinely held captive as sex slaves, and incredibly, there are no
legal means available for decent people to free these women. I felt
hot with shame for my country and my countrymen.
    Faddel summoned our driver.
He was careful to wait by our side until he saw us off. When our
automobile appeared, Faddel opened the door, returned my cellular
telephone, and bade us an ironic farewell. “You must come again,
Sultana.” He chuckled, “But, please, come to the main house
instead.”
    Sometimes the defeats in
life seem beyond human endurance. I could not speak, and I could
not think until I was free of Faddel’s loathsome
presence.
    Maha began to weep. I was
too heartsick to offer comforting words, and just gently stroked
her shoulder.
    As we reached the first
turn in the driveway, the eunuch Omar stepped in front of