Chapter V
[The Story So Far] A gruesome robbery was committed at the Royal Palace of Bahrain leaving the best minds of the Bahrain State Police Force (BSPF) baffled. Inspector Lomdi invited DJ and the Doctor to recover the missing Crown Jewels, but DJ had ulterior motives in entering the Royal Palace. After narrowing escaping from a wily sniper, DJ and the Doctor sneaked into the Sheikha’s chambers. DJ promptly began disrobing himself.
******************************************************************************
The Sheikha began to scream. Then I began to scream1.
DJ had relieved himself of the black UMM shirt and was untying the knots of his trousers when it all began to go downhill. The eunuchs slept lightly, a fact I realized late. With a shriek that would put a French prostitute to shame, they were upon us with cutlasses and scimitars. I stopped screaming as a blade caressed my throat. The eunuch holding it licked his lips and glared at me.
DJ on the other hand, had tried resistance, but as his legs were hampered by the partially removed trousers, he knocked himself to the floor. Half a dozen eunuchs pounced upon him and held him to the floor. A rope was procured and his hands and feet were tied.
“I’m innocent. It’s not what it looks like”, DJ kept saying over and over. The eunuchs got annoyed and stuffed some unwashed undergarment down his throat. Sheikh Madar, hastily dressed and eyes bleary, came shortly, a look of disbelief etched on his face.
“What were you thinking, DJ?”, he asked. DJ moaned and shook his head. I felt the Sheikh faintly smelled of hay but let it pass. “Attempting to rob the chastity of a Sheikha of Bahrain!”. To be truthful, it felt much worse, hearing the accusation from the Sheikh.
“The Arabi Council will convene tomorrow morning and decide what to do with the two of you”.
“Two?”, I protested, “But I had my clothes on!”
“It does not matter any more, Doctor”, said Sheikh Madar as he stepped out of the room shaking his head in disgust. I noticed that Sheikha Mariam had slipped out in the midst of all this mayhem.
The eunuchs then marched us to the basement. It was smelly, dark and dirty. One of them opened a metal door that creaked loudly and the others threw us in. I was able to grab the wall in time but DJ landed on the cold stone floor with a dull thud. The ropes tying DJ’s limbs were sliced off and the door was banged shut. A key turned in the lock and all fell silent.
A tiny bulb on the ceiling threw yellow light. DJ rolled over and lay on his back, lost in thought. No one spoke for a couple of hours. The adrenaline was slowly receding and I was falling into an uncomfortable sleep when DJ spoke up.
“Doctor, there is something I have to show you”.
I said nothing. DJ got up and once again began undoing the knots of his trousers. He slipped them a little downward and came closer.
“See here. This mark”.
I strained to see in the faint light and the dark skin and sure enough, there was a crescent shaped almost imperceptible mark on his hip.
“What does this mean, DJ?”, I asked.
“This is the birth mark of the Royal Bahrain blood line. It is found on all the male members of the Royal family”.
“So the Sheikha is your…”
“Mother”, completed DJ.
I stared at him in disbelief, “But DJ, you look nothing like her. You look like a…”
“Shush, Doctor”, cut in DJ, agony plastered all over his face, “The other half of my genetic makeup is not something I wish to talk about. I was merely a folly of her youth. Created when curiosity met desire on a fateful afternoon. Back then they did not have eunuchs for Royal escorts”.
I sighed not knowing how to comfort the unnamed heir to the throne of Bahrain2.
“But then, we can mention this at tomorrow’s Arabi Council”, suggested I.
“Have you no brains, Doctor”, DJ cried in exasperation3, “If I reveal the truth, the Sheikha will be defamed for eternity. A scandal would ensue that would ruin everyone involved. That I cannot have. This secret will go with me to the grave. Promise me Doctor, that you will utter this to no living being4“.
“Well in that case, we won’t have to bear the burden for too long”, I commented dryly, “The Arabi Council usually chops away something when its assembled”.
“Fear not, Doctor. All is not lost”, said DJ, the light coming back to his eyes, “I have a plan”.
1. Events were spiraling out of control and I had no idea what else to do.
2. Being the eldest son in the bloodline generation, this would have entitled DJ to the throne.
3. This is one of the only three times I have seen DJ display something resembling a human emotion.
4. [Editor's Note] The promise was revoked when the regime was toppled and the Sheikha passed away shortly thereafter of a mysterious illness undisclosed by the palace authorities. This has led many conspiracy theorists to believe that the disease was one brought about on account of the Sheikha’s promiscuity. This narrative was added to the volume only after her death, making this the last one, but is placed here to maintain the chronological order.
