<div class="floatleft">(http://images2.fanpop.com/images/photos/5700000/Kingdom-Of-Heaven-kingdom-of-heaven-5751717-400-225.jpg)</div><hr/><strong>Name:</strong>Rashid<br/><strong>Race/Culture:</strong>Bedu<br/><strong>Location:</strong>The Thirteen Monkeys Coffee House<br/><strong>Day/Time:</strong>Yaus al-Niwt (Day of Houses), Amt (first month) of Alak Paret (Harvest Season), Mid-Morning<br/><strong>Tagged:</strong>Shazadi, open<br/><hr/><br/>"Endure your presence? Shazadi, those around you endure your presence the same as the oasis endures the water at it's heart, we sit around you and stare longingly at the gentle grace of your simple existence, and yearn only to enter your embrace." He replied with a teasing touch of his finger along her chin. He could not get over how at ease Shazadi made him feel, so when he saw news of his problems had caused her worry, he flapped his hand in the air in a dismissive gesture.<br/><br/>"No man of any sort of moral code can exist in this world without making an enemy or two. A few winters ago I was exploring the sands near the city, and found that the last sand storm had cleared the Dune Sea off from an old temple of Upuaut. I went inside to see what was there, but noted by the tracks in the sand that others had beaten me to this revealed treasure. I roamed the halls of a temple that had been buried from sight, for at least a century based upon the writings upon the walls. And then, at the altar of Upuaut, I found five young men using hammer and chisel to shatter a golden statue of Upuaut,intending to tear it down and melt it for it's gold." He recounted his tale in a calm voice, until he reached the part of the shrine being defaced. His brows knit together and the low rumbling thunder of his old anger showed through in his speech. "I warned them to stop in the name of Upuaut, asking if they did not realize their actions were sacrilege. The oldest lad turned to me and told me his father was a wizir, and he had the power to do whatever he wished, and that he cared not what a sand blasted fool thought of his actions. Then he lifted a spear, and tried to skewer me."<br/><br/>He turned his face from Shazadi, ashamed at the flashes of anger and hatred that he knew still burned in his eyes and simmered in his heart. He spoke with a tight clenched jaw as he recounted the rest of his tale.<br/><br/>"The boy had made his last mistake of this life. I killed him with the first pass of my blade, I don't think he even realized I had closed the distance. Three others I killed before they could even properly lift arms to oppose me. Foolish children who had been told they had the right to defy the will of the Gods. The last I told to carry the bodies of his friends back to their homes. I would not have parents weeping over children lost to the sands. A month later, a messenger found me, garbed in the raiment of one of Sha'Ib's Emir's. Apparently the Wizir this boy was the heir to, serves a powerful master. The messenger told me that Wizir Caliph thanked me for the return of his son's body, and as payment for that service, promised me that when he decided I must die, he would ensure that it happened in a manner that left me the chance to defend myself. I have survived two attempts on my life since then. Once in the sands while escorting a caravan from the city, and once inside the walls. So, I am as safe here as I am anywhere Shazadi, do not worry for my life. When Upuaut feels he no longer has cause for me to wander the Dunes, he will take me with him to wander the celestial landscape beside him."<br/><br/>He tossed back the last of his coffee, and closing his eyes tilted his head back, consciously working to let the anger and disgust drain out from him, to let the calming presence of this intelligent woman beside him fill his mind instead.