Stung by the
SCORPION
I had heard rumors whispered of
him, the Black Scorpion of the Tahari,
the Pasha of the Osais...The Bastard of the Sand
He was loved and hated, envied and loathed.
A living legend. Cypress, Tarian Sleen...he's been called many things but I only know him as Master.
I thought him a myth.
I was left by the Kashani's to die in the desert,
It was the tenth ahn, on the forth day of Camerius when he found me.
My veils and robes stripped of me.
I thought he was a mirage,
He had to know I was left for a reason,
a woman of no worth.
He was mounted high atop the kaiila,
His burnoose billowing about him.
The kaffiyeh shrouding his face and
it was only his eyes I saw as his men circled me.
I thought he was sent by the tribe, sparing my celebrated Father from killing me himself.
I lifted my arm to shelter the harsh rays of the blazing, central fire. Now able to look into my executioners eyes.
When he asked who I was I knew he was not sent to kill me.
As happy as I was, I knew now that the tribe wished my death to be slow which only caused my heart to further empty into the sand below.
Hollow at that ehn, I answered
and his hand was offered, pulling me up to ride behind him.
He had saved my life. It was later that I heard him referred to as "Scorpion".
He was no longer a myth.
Although my past still haunts me,
I felt safe in his keep.
The demons put to a temporary rest.
I was in his collar only a short time before he gifted me to another promising me I'd be back in his keep again someday.
I thought he was only offering a kind word to a unwanted slave until taken back to the Tahari wearing the same collar he had placed on my neck so long ago.
I am where I belong now, back in the Tahari serving the one I was meant to, serving the man I owed my life to. In his keep I learned as much as he allowed me and then some.
He'll remain my true Master for as long I still breath and I will, if ever released from his collar, find my way back.
He is and always will be the keeper of my soul, the smile that cuts across my lips and the only reason I'm alive, I owe him everything. I'll love no one like I love The Bastard of the Sand.
