The Power of Five Oblivion

his smile crooked. Despite the air-conditioning, he was sweating alcohol. Scarlett could see it on his skin. There were black caviar eggs on his lips and caught in his beard.
    “So, Miss Scarlett,” he asked. “Where have you come from?”
    “I was in Cairo,” Scarlett replied. It seemed the easiest and the safest answer.
    “Cairo! I hear things are very difficult there. The people are at each other’s throats. I will tell you the mistake they made. Not enough fear! The people of Dubai love me but they are afraid of me. Tomorrow you will see why.”
    “What’s happening tomorrow?” Scarlett asked.
    “There is a man, an Australian, who tried to steal from me. His name is Larry Carter.” He spoke the two names slowly, with distaste. “And tomorrow, at midday, I am going to have him executed at the Meydan Grandstand. I am going to have him boiled alive. It is not something I have seen before. I think it will be quite a spectacle.”
    One of the bodyguards handed him a stuffed vine leaf. He had already bitten off one end. The sheikh pushed the rest of it into his mouth.
    “Would you like to come?”
    “I’m not very interested in executions,” Scarlett said.
    “You’ll get used to them in time.” The sheikh chewed and swallowed. He drank some champagne. “You are a very attractive girl, Scarlett.” He leant towards her and took hold of her wrist. Scarlett had to fight not to show her horror and disgust. “I want you to stay with me.”
    “I’m afraid that won’t be possible,” Scarlett said. Everything about this man made her recoil. It was like sitting next to a slug. “Richard and I have to get back to Cairo.”
    “I don’t think you understand me.” Suddenly his eyes were very black, the madness all too obvious. “I do not want you to leave. There is something about you that fascinates me. You come here from nowhere. At the roulette table, you win a great fortune…”
    “I didn’t win anything,” Scarlett reminded him. “You took it away.”
    “Only because you cheated. It seems to me that, somehow, you glimpsed into the future. I will be fascinated to know how you did that, Scarlett. I am looking forward to getting to know you better. I want you at my side.” He tightened his grip. The idea had come to him all at once. “I want you to be my wife!”
    “I thought you were married.”
    “Jaheda bores me.”
    “I’m only fifteen!”
    “In Yemen, in Egypt, in many parts of the Gulf, girls get married as young as ten!”
    Scarlett jerked her hand free. “It’s very kind of you,” she said and there was nothing but scorn in her voice. “But I’m not interested.”
    Rasheed’s face darkened. He stared at her, his black eyes burning into her. Suddenly his lips were very close to her ear so that only she could hear. “This is my kingdom,” he said. “Everything that I want, I take. Nobody argues with me. I have made my mind up about you, Scarlett, and if you try to leave here, I will have you locked up and your friend – the man who came with you – beheaded. Do you understand? You should not have come here if you were not prepared to stay. And I, only I, will be the one who will tell you when you can leave.”
    He picked up his glass and thrust it out, demanding to have it refilled. A waiter hurried forward but in his haste he spilled some of the champagne. The yellow liquid splashed down. Some of it splattered onto Rasheed’s sleeve. His reaction was so instant, so fast, that Scarlett thought of a snake lashing out from behind a rock. The sheikh cried out. He brought the wine glass down and smashed it against the table, then sliced it through the air. The waiter cried out as the jagged edge missed him by inches. “You fool!” the sheikh screamed. “You idiot! You’re fired. Get out of here!”
    There was a sudden silence in the room, apart from the quartet outside who were halfway through “The Sound of Music”. Scarlett sat there, rooted to the spot. Across the table, Richard was about to get up to go to her, but suddenly he felt a hand grab hold of him, pinning him down. It was Jaheda. “Do not give him an excuse to kill you,” she said.
    The sheikh seemed to realize what he had done. He suddenly laughed and clapped his hands. “Time for pudding!” he crowed. “And more champagne.”
    The guests cheered and applauded. The meal went on.
    Richard looked more closely at Jaheda, wondering why she had changed her mind and suddenly decided to help him. The two