THIRTY-EIGHT
Philemon would have given everything he owned to bypass the oasis without having to look at the accursed place, but his travel companions were having none of it. Besides, with the wells of Tasnim still dry, they would need to replenish their water supplies.
He busied himself helping the other men unload the camels and set up camp. A task for servants, but Anahita had made it clear there were no servants or masters in this travelling party. A peculiar princess indeed.
She stood at the water's edge, wearing a pair of flimsy sandals and a short tunic. They might have been the same ones she'd worn the day they met. Then, she'd taken him in her hands, lifting him out of despondency and saving him from certain death. An irresistible desire rose up within him, to take her in his
