Dust rose in stifling clouds into the Arabian sky. Struggling frantically to reach his companion, the boy shouted, "I won't let them take you!" The girl stared, confused, standing in between the black-robed men who held her. Her wide brown eyes shifted feverishly. Fruit sellers and villagers at the nearest stalls stopped their business to watch the drama unfold.
Breaking free from his captors, the boy lunged, but he was knocked to the ground before he could reach the girl. "Listen to me!" he pleaded. "You're bewitched. We don't belong here."
The girl tugged at her long black curls. She made to kneel, to reach out to the boy, but strong hands kept her on her feet. The boy's fair hair and pale complexion contrasted sharply with the people in the market, but she couldn't remember why that was important. Hardly distinguishable from the overwhelming odor of cattle dung and fruit, a spicy, pungent smell hung in the air. The girl's heart raced with excitement now at the wonders around her. Her feet wanted to dance. Wherever the black-robed men wanted to take her, she felt no danger in going with them. After all, they knew her name.
"Please," she murmured. "Do not harm him."
"My lady Shaharazad," said a tall man beside her. "Your father will be mad with worry. How you left the garden without escort is beyond my knowledge." He cast a dark glance at his men. "Take the lady back to the palace. At once!" The black-robed men forced a path through the throngs of people, opening the way to a grand palace in the distance.
The girl's eyes grew wider at the splendor of the whitewashed fortress with its golden turrets. The boy shook his head to clear the fog spreading over his mind. "We've got to get back to the library," he stammered sluggishly.
A powerful foot pinned the boy to the dust. Uttering a final plea he shouted, "Shari! Please! Let's go home!"
Before the girl could answer, the men closed around her and she disappeared in a mass of swirling black robes and glinting scimitars. The tall man turned back. He waited for the crowd to envelop the girl and her guards. Then, hands on his hips, he regarded the boy with forbidding eyes. Tapping his sword, he ordered the remaining guards, "Chop off his head!"
