Читать книгу Rayan - Son of the Desert - Indira Jackson - Страница 9

Scarface kept to his threat and had come back. The whole procedure was repeated: ten more lashes and after that the shower with salt water. Rayan was determined to hang on, until … until what? He wasn’t quite so sure anymore.

However, his natural pride kept him on his feet. He would not be defeated that easily! Furthermore, the hard lessons that his father had taught him in the past had their worth, so he was not easy to knock over.

Meanwhile he was additionally suffering due to the heat and knowing that Scarface would come back, that much was sure.

His mind worked frantically to think of something to do. Though this time, his usually quick intellect full of ideas did not present any glorious solutions on how to get himself out of this dreadful situation.

The searing pain in his arms and wrists and especially his wounded back were not helping him to think clearly.

At some time around noon he heard two of Scarface’s men whispering to each other; after a short while one of them came closer and grabbed his shirt – or rather what was left of it – at the front side and had a look at his chest.

He let out a low whistle. “Well, have a look at what it is we have here. If it isn’t a very special kind of treasure that we have found.”

"Damn it, luck really is not on my side today“, Rayan thought dejectedly – because the man had found his tattoo. As first son of the Sheikh he had received a tattoo on his chest shortly after his birth. It depicted a blue waterfall over which a reddish sun could be seen, a silver moon and three stars – the symbol of Zarifa.

The men literally ran to Scarface and only moments later they prepared their horses and rode away in a hurry. Rayan could figure out easily where they would go: for sure they wanted to get for themselves the bounty that his father had put on his head and also it was likely that they wanted to double check if he really would approve of them executing him.

Maybe this would cause enough of a distraction to give him a break? Surely they would leave him alone now until the riders came back?

However, when Scarface came back to him, one glimpse at his sadistic smile was enough to shatter his hopes into pieces.