Wearing a black cloak, he moved in the shadows, though if he were to openly saunter in front of them, they would still not have seen him. Drunkards for guards made the perfect weakness that begged to be exploited. Sami braced his back against the incredibly-tall wall, merging into the shadows, as two patrolling guards passed by, chattering away drunkenly. He needn’t have bothered to conceal himself; they were so engrossed in their conversation.

“She’s the prettiest one yet!” He heard the older and fatter of the two proclaim.

“No, I say the previous one was prettier. She had a bigger chest.” drawled the other one, “Besides, we’re not even sure if she is a she. She wore a thobe, I tell you!”

At that, they both fell silent, no doubt in serious contemplation of the issue at hand.

When they rounded the corner, disappearing out of sight, Sami stepped out of the shadows and produced the loop of cloth. Before he rose a palm tree right next to the residence’s formidable wall –a wall, he was about to breach in the simplest way imaginable. He wrapped the loop around the tree then tied it after he stepped into it. Using the cloth loop as weight leverage against the tree, he leaned back into it and started to climb the tree at an optimum angle. At the very top, he dropped the cloth and clung to the fronds, and bracing his feet against the tree, shot out of the tree and onto the wall.

He barely stopped himself from giving a low whistle. The place was grand, possibly the grandest place he’d snuck into so far. The garden was huge. Palm trees lined the inner wall. Seeing them, he grinned. He’d been wondering how he was going to get down from the wall without risking his legs breaking –it was too high to jump down from. The mansion itself was at the very centre, a splendid architectural masterpiece.

Just as that snake had said; Zain had found himself quite the town to call home.

Strange small figures moved about the garden, but it was too dark to discern what those figures were exactly. Until one of them screamed. Sami was nearly startled off the wall.

A peacock.

Blinking, he finally noticed the table at the corner –and the man sitting at it. From what he could see, he was enjoying quite the feast all by himself.

Zain.

Although oil lamps were burning on the table, he couldn’t quite make out any of his features from this far away. And sitting as he were, he also couldn’t tell if he were tall, short, fat, thin, anything. He remained on the wall out of sheer curiosity, watching the seated man down below. Zain, the leader of the now-disbanded Scorpion Band, was a legend among outlaws and the law-abiding alike. The successful raids he’d conducted on famous cities and prominent villages had earned him infamy far and wide, especially throughout the Arabian Desert, and had had a ridiculously-large bounty placed on his head -one of the largest bounties in history. It was also said that he was a master strategist and his swordsmanship was exceptional. Sami still wasn’t entirely clear on how he’d managed to become a sheikh.

This very man –this living legend—was their target.

He’d been sent to scout out the place for when the time came to take him down.

A man emerged out of the house, followed by a giant. Sami stared at the impressively-large man in surprise, paying no heed to the other one. There was no doubt that he was much stronger than an ordinary man; how could he not be with that colossal build of his? So Zain had such men in his employ.

He finally noticed the smaller man, whose hair draped down to his hips. Sami frowned disdainfully. How disgraceful for an Arab man to allow himself to appear so effeminate. Only women grew their hair so tall. The peacock screamed again, startling him. Said man sat at the table opposite Zain. He watched them eat in silence. Something compelled him to stay a bit longer. Something about the smaller man…

They talked as they ate, not that he could hear anything they were saying, but he could still tell that we’re having a very heated conversation.

Sami, having seen enough, started to crawl along the wall in the direction of the mansion. Time was of the essence; every minute he wasted loitering around risked his detection.

In his peripheral, he saw them both rise. The smaller man shot to his feet and took off running. Zain moved so fast it shocked him. He was upon the smaller man in an instant, taking him down to the grassy ground. Sami cocked an eyebrow at the strange scene. What was going on?

Little by little, he started to recall the two guards’ cryptic conversation. And little by little, he started to put the pieces together. They mentioned something about a girl wearing thobes. Sami’s eyes narrowed on the smaller man, who lay trapped beneath Zain, his hair spread about him wildly. He wore a thobe. Realization dawned on him. Sami choked.

Not a man.

A woman.