Chapter 421

After that, they drove through the desert in a silence that stretched Kate’s nerves to their breaking point. Eventually, they reached an oasis. A distinctive Bedouin tent loomed out of the darkness, pitched beneath several palm trees and illuminated by flickering oil lamps. Moonlight dappled the inky surface of a large natural pool, and more stars than Kate had ever imagined existed studded the sky like pins in a velvet pincushion. Some distance away she could see more tents, and, following her gaze, Ahsan explained, "Servants’ quarters." But I don’t have many staff here, and they are under strict orders not to disturb us.