Wherever The Winds May Blow

“Give your friends your money and blood but don't justify yourself”

Salma knew her friendship with Layan would never be accepted. They were too different. Yet she knew she absolutely had to meet Layan later. Her husband had decided she needed three guards to accompany her at all times. She was the Sheikha and she was his captive.

She was wondering if she could run out of the bath house later as the men stood guard and meet Layan near the Great Stone. No one would see her. The villagers would be stoned should they be seen outside the house while the Sheikha was out for a bath.

Salma arrived at the baths. Maybe it was her demeanour, maybe the guards had grown suspicious of their Sheikhas activities at the bath house, but for whatever reason Jaleel had decided to accompany them to the bath house. Salma knew this was beneath his station, she would find it hard to sneak by. She prayed that Layan would not wait for her tonight.

“Be wary around your enemy once and your friends a thousand times”

Layan knew how dangerous her friendship with Salma was. She knew where she stood in the eyes of these people. To them she was just a mountain goat. But the great Sheikha had taken a liking to her and asked to meet again. Layan knew resisting her was futile, she would oblige, she would always oblige.

Wherever The Winds May Blow

Their friendship was rooted in a most incredible meeting. Layan was caught sneaking through the walled gardens by the most trusted eunuch Jaleel. Salma had stopped him from killing her. There was no reason for her to be so kind, there was no consequence for murdering a Druze. She has told the Layan to run away but meet again at the Great Stone on the night of the New Moon.

As the moon rose out Layan was already at the Great Stone. She waited, praying that Salma came alone.

“Visit rarely and you will be more loved”

Jaleel had watched from the tower, every new moon, as his Sheikha had run out to meet the Druze girl. The mountain girl was reaching beyond her station. Jaleel knew of the magic the mountain people practiced. They would cast spells on his Sheikha and it would weaken his people in turn. He could not let this happen. Jaleel called upon Sami. He knew Sami would not have any qualms dealing with the mountain girl.

Sami, having donned the Sheikha's clothes, approached the Great Stone. He could make out the distinctive clothing of the mountain girl, the witch, as Jaleel had described her. He carried his knife unsheathed in the night. He quickly ran up to the girl and dealt her the final blow. As she fell, Sami could hear the Sheikha's scream of realization punctuate the night as Jaleel held her captive in the bath house, and he watched as the poor mountain girl pay the ultimate price for a Mistresses’s indulgence.