The guard at the checkpoint to the city ordered them to proceed in single file through the passage. Mohza went first, followed by AJ, then Abram leading the camel. AJ’s neck prickled. Though she was careful not to look up, she knew they were being watched every step of the way.
After about half a mile, the passageway opened onto a wide central square, flanked by enormous buildings carved into the living rock. Narrow lanes cut into the rock face led to other buildings on side streets. Abram headed down a lanes set up as an outdoor market.
AJ towered over the people in the market, including her companions. Tall enough to see over the heads of most of them.
That’s how it happened. They wandered down the crowded aisles, past tables covered with pottery and exotic fruit, metal tools and beautifully woven rugs. Customers jammed the market. Very few of them were female. The women walked behind their men, swathed head to toe in shapeless dark garments, heads down, careful not to make eye contact with anyone.
The men, on the other hand, wore all types of dress, from djellabas to Greek togas to loincloths and cloaks made of animal skins she couldn’t identify. She felt like she’d stepped into one of the holographic displays of ancient times at a museum back on Earth.
One woman had two children with her, one on each side. The boy, about six or seven, wore leather sandals, loose white trousers, and a multicolored sleeveless vest, reminding AJ of a young Aladdin. The lad chattered nonstop, touching all the sharp knives for sale, begging for a cluster of sweet dates from one stall and a clay whistle from another. His weary mother urged him on, trying desperately to keep up with a male striding along ahead who sent angry glances her way every time he had to slow down to wait for them.
On her other side, a little girl who looked to be about four years old, wearing a miniature version of the woman’s shapeless garment, plodded along silently, as though she’d already learned how different her place was from her brother’s in this society. She clutched a puppy tightly in her arms, half swaddled in her voluminous robe.
The mother turned away for a moment, softly imploring her son to move faster. The little girl took advantage of the moment, holding her puppy up to show it a cage filled with baby chicks on the other side of the narrow lane.
The puppy lunged forward, barking wildly, struggling to get out of the child’s embrace. Tiny as he was, he still proved too strong for her. Wriggling away, he darted across the lane and under a table, where half a dozen other cages filled with chicks sat on the ground.
The little girl cried out and ran after him. She never paused for the team of horses barreling down the lane, pulling a cart piled high with barrels of wine.
AJ glanced around, but no one else had the vantage point she did, and the driver was too busy trying to control his horses to notice a little girl in front of his wagon. Shoving half a dozen shoppers out of her way, she dove headfirst into the horses’ path. Grabbing the girl, she rolled in the dirt with the child in her arms, both of them narrowly escaping the hooves that would have trampled the little body into the dust.
They lay there for a minute, both trembling. Then the child’s mother let out a bloodcurdling scream. She ran over and fell to her knees in front of them, pulling her daughter into her arms as she babbled her thanks.
AJ barely heard her. She’d banged her forehead on the wooden leg of a stall as she rolled out of the way clutching the child. Putting a hand to her head, she stared at it blankly, as if it belonged to someone else, when it came away covered with blood. She felt dizzy, and her vision was blurred. The part of her mind still functioning registered the fact she’d suffered a concussion. She sat up slowly, head pounding so hard she half hoped it would fall off.
The market fell silent. Even the mother’s weeping stopped. She looked around. Everyone was staring at her.
AJ put a hand to her head again. Then she understood. The day was blistering hot and, as was the custom, she wore nothing under the djellaba. In her frantic dive, her hood had fallen back and the woolen robe, torn at the neck, hung down off one shoulder. Both her long hair and the unmistakable curve of her breast were fully exposed.
Quickly, she gathered together the edges of the djellaba and pulled the hood back over her head. But the damage was done. Angry shouts from the spectators replaced the cries of the shocked mother.
Strong arms seized her. Yelling and cursing, half a dozen men in the crowd took her prisoner.
Chapter Two
Abram and Mohza had disappeared into the crowd. She’d made them promise not to try to rescue her if she was discovered, knowing that in all likelihood they’d be killed or imprisoned. As a female, she hoped she’d be treated differently. Besides, AJ felt certain that with her training she could handle these relatively primitive beings.
Two soldiers appeared, dressed like Roman legionnaires, wearing short tunics and leather sandals laced halfway to their knees. One grabbed her wrists and hauled her to her feet, forcing her to let go of the torn robe. It slipped down, baring her nearly to the waist on one side.
She heard loud gasps, followed by a lewd hiss from one of the spectators. The other soldier bound her wrists together in front of her with a leather strap that apparently took the place of handcuffs here. AJ didn’t even try to resist. She’d be more likely to gain access to the information she sought if these people didn’t see her as a threat and treated her as just another inferior female.
She managed to curl her fingers around the edge of the robe again, pulling it up to cover herself. The soldiers took their places. One stepped in front of her, yanking on the opposite end of the leather strap to drag her down the narrow lane, while the other marched behind, prodding her from time to time with the tip of his sword to hurry her. AJ shuffled along with her shoulders hunched, head down, to make herself seem smaller and weaker.
From the few words the soldiers exchanged, AJ guessed they were taking her to a place called the Citadel, to see General Tok. She willed away the pain in her head and vowed to keep her wits about her. The accident had been a stroke of luck. She’d be able to meet the general in person and gather information straight from the command center of his desert fortress.
As they marched her through the city, AJ was surprised to see fountains and pools everywhere, surrounded with lush plantings. Date palms, banana trees, a riot of colorful flowers blooming – it was all the more amazing after the vast sweep of barren land the caravan had crossed in the last few days.
The builders of Petra had apparently discovered a bountiful supply of water deep in the mountains, channeling it to run freely through the city. It reminded her of pictures she’d seen of Las Vegas, the legendary emerald-green metropolis of flowing fountains in the heart of the American desert. That city lay in dusty ruins now. The river the reckless inhabitants drained to feed their dancing fountains had long ago dried up and disappeared.
She looked around, trying to take in as many details as possible. Walls higher than her head surrounded most of the homes, with gated entrances leading to inner courtyards. Vines covered with purple and red blossoms cascaded over the walls. She could see the tops of more trees inside the courtyards.
They passed quite a few men and boys. All of them stopped to stare at her, and several made crude remarks to her guards. The soldiers ignored them, intent on getting her to their destination. She never saw another female, but she heard soft voices and children laughing inside some of the walled compounds they passed.
Carved into the side of the mountain, as were so many of the structures in Petra, the Citadel was an imposing building. It faced an enormous square plaza. Stone columns across the front of the building, easily sixty or seventy feet tall, dwarfed anyone seeking entry. A flight of wide stone steps led up to the entrance high above the plaza, making the structure look even more impressive.
They entered the building through a set of carved wooden doors that looked small from below but were three times her height. Inside, the air was cool. Flickering flames from massive silver candleholders reflected off the blue crystal walls, creating the effect of a giant ice cave.
They marched down a long hall, past side passages that led to a warren of other rooms. Stopping in front of another set of double doors, this one a mere ten-feet high, one of the soldiers knocked briskly.