<div class="floatright">(http://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/d/dc/Arouj.jpg)<br/><strong>Name:</strong> Arouj al-Qadir (http://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=141932.msg6401727#msg6401727)<br/><strong>Location:</strong> The Dirty Secret - Galley<br/><strong>Languages:</strong> English, Arabic<br/><strong>Tagging:</strong> Anyone on board<br/></div>The sound of other crewmen, shouting and thundering down the gangways behind him, was Arouj's salvation.  As much as he wanted to pull the whore's tongue out, as much as he wanted to gut the Frenchman, he must swallow his own anger instead. The time would come, but spilling blood before they'd even left the dock, with Mary's fate in the balance as well... no. This would not happen.<br/><br/>Sharp white teeth clenched, his dark face fixed in a snarl as he pushed away from the doorway and the demon of temptation within. He forced his eyes off the whore and fixed them on the planks overhead. Speaking again in Arabic, he whispered words that sounded like prayer rather than curse:<em>"No one will be granted such goodness except those who exercise patience and self-restraint, none but persons of the greatest good fortune."</em><br/><br/>Without daring another look towards the captain's berth, he turned and stalked away, repeating the same phrase several times over for good measure. The whore had to come out sometime. The French dog had to be alone sometime. There was fortune in patience, look at what it had already brought him. His little rabbit. Soon, his white bird.<br/><br/>He crossed to the stern and arrived in time to see Mary leading a man with a burden into the galley. A wicked, hopeful smile curled his lips for a moment. Could this be the ship's original cook? Someone who needed to be dispatched as quickly as possible? Eager to vent his bloodlust on a convenient target, he eased a worn dagger from its sheath at his hip, its ivory hilt warm and soothing in his hand.<br/><br/>Approaching the doorway, he held the blade low as he focused on the stranger's back. Mary seemed intent on the bundle he was carrying. Supplies of some sort, grain or - a delicate, feminine hand was suddenly revealed, dangling from a lace sleeve - something far more interesting?<br/>