The King
Dreams
Amy Sexton sat with her legs crossed on the floor next to the Sheikh. Amy Sexton was dressed in a blue burqa, covering herself completely. She was listening intently to the man who was speaking English in front of her. Amy was working as a translator for the Sheikh Rameen Rasheed.
Amy was 21 years old and had just graduated with a bachelor's degree in journalism. She was an American woman from New York, and she had come to Saudi Arabia for a very specific reason. There had been rumors that the Sheikh had been kidnapping Saudi women and keeping them as sex slaves in his harem. The international media didn't want to touch this story for fear of upsetting their oil partner, but Amy wanted to be the one to break the story. This could get her a Pulitzer award and kick-start her career.
She had applied to work as a translator in the Sheikh's palace in Saudi Arabia to get access to the palace. She had a few months before the job started, and she had hired a tutor to give her lessons in Arabic so that she could become fluent in the language. After she was content with her competency, she boarded a plane and flew to Saudi Arabia.
It was a culture shock for the young American, as she had to discard her clothes and wear a burqa to cover herself at all times. However, she successfully pulled off the ruse, gaining acceptance into the Sheikh's inner court where she was hired as his translator. Rameen Rasheed had opened up the country to Western companies, but he himself had little English, so he required an interpreter.
The Throne room of the Sheikh was expansive and colorful. On the left side of the Throne, where the Sheikh was situated, there was a group of women wearing colorful burqas. These were the many wives of the Sheikh. Amy sat on her knees on the right-hand side of the throne, listening intently to the man before her.
The man was a representative of some international food consortium looking to gain access to the Saudi market to sell their food products. Currently, he was explaining his growth strategy and the profits that would benefit the Sheikh and his family. Amy dutifully translated for Rameen Rasheed.
The Sheikh considered the proposal and clearly could not gainsay the information that was presented before him by the foreigner. Amy translated the Sheikh's response to English, and the foreign representative bowed and smiled at the Sheikh, evidently content to do business with Rameen Rasheed.
The number of foreign dignitaries and business representatives who had come before the Sheikh and pledged their services in return for access to the Saudi market perturbed Amy. Rameen Rasheed did not have an excellent record for governing his area of the country, and there were many rumors of him violating the human rights of his own people, which is what Amy was investigating herself.
After the meeting was done, the Sheikh vacated his throne, and his group of plentiful wives dutifully followed him out of the Throne room. Amy, for her part, waited till the Sheikh had left and then got to her feet, her legs sore from kneeling for such a long time. She quickly left the Throne room also in a rush to catch the foreign business person.
Amy had been employed by the Sheikh for months, and yet she had no tangible leads on which to follow up on. She was going to try a new tactic out of desperation, which would involve confronting the business representative and blackmailing him into providing her with information.
"Excuse me, sir," said Amy politely as she approached the man who glanced at her suspiciously. He was clearly not used to conversing with women in the Sheikh's palace. "May I have a word in private?" asked Amy as she motioned for him to join her in one of the private, smaller rooms that were next to the Throne room, and hardly ever occupied. The man nodded his head and opened the door for Amy in a chivalrous display.
"You're one of the Sheikh's interpreters," said the man as they entered the room. The room was much smaller than the Throne room, but not less lavish. The room was colorful and immaculately clean, with a small water fountain in the center of the room to which Amy led the man, and they both sat on the edge of the fountain.
"I am," replied Amy. "My name is Amy Sexton, and I'm an American." Amy pulled down the burqa that covered her face so that the man could see her face properly.
"My dear, I don't think that you should remove that burqa around here," said the businessman. He looked around in alarm to make sure there was no one else around.
"Relax, no one comes in here very often, and if they do, I'll hear them walking up the corridor and put back up the burqa mask," promised Amy. "What's your name?"
"You can call me Roger," replied the man, a bit more at ease as he glanced once more at the door, and then returning his attention to the woman before him. "What do you want from me?"
"I want information," replied Amy matter-of-factly. "You see, I'm working as an undercover journalist trying to unearth the abuses of the Sheikh's regime here. I need some dirt on him for my story, and that's where you come in."
"No," said Roger aghast. "Do you know what the Sheikh does to his enemies? I won't endanger my life like that," Roger said as he stood up and made for the door.
"I'm not sure that the public would like what your company is doing here?" said Amy with menace in her voice. Amy could recollect the entire conversation that had just transpired between the Sheikh and Roger, and she was willing to go to the press with that story if she couldn't get what she wanted. Roger stopped at the door, and then returned to the fountain and sat back down.
"This is blackmail," he said indignantly. Amy was surprised that a businessman who was willing to work with the Sheikh had such an opinion of her ethics when he should look at his own.
"And yet if you don't cooperate, I'll break this story about you instead," said Amy curtly, letting her threat perchlorate in his head while they both listened to the sound of the water behind them.
"Fine, what do you want to know?" asked Roger impatiently.
"I want to know about the human rights abuses that are happening here," said Amy triumphantly, as her plan had worked, and she coerced his cooperation.
"There are countless human rights violations going on here," started Roger. "You'll have to be more specific."
"I'm talking about the Saudi women he is keeping as his slaves," replied Amy. "I've heard rumors of a secret harem that he has."
"As have I," Roger said, confirming her story. "However, they are only just rumors. What you need is confirmation from a senior source. There is a senior official I'm friendly with. His name is Rafiq Dar, and he is a cousin to the Sheikh. He may have the answers that you seek. I will schedule a meeting between us here in the palace, and he may talk. He is no friend of the Sheihk," said Roger, "and given enough alcohol, he may just tell us what's going on here."
"Alright, you set up the meeting and leave the rest to me," instructed Amy. The two westerners then exchange mobile phone numbers so that they could stay in contact and execute their plan. "You should leave first," Amy said, and Roger stood up and hastened to the door, before momentarily stopping before leaving.
"I hope you know what you are doing Amy, otherwise it will be both our assess on the line," cautioned Roger, before opening the door and exiting the room.
Amy, for her part, replaced the mask covering of the burqa and listened to the sound of the fountain water as it cascaded down the marble. She sighed in relief as her plan had worked: she had coerced Roger into joining her in helping to expose the Sheikh's evil. She was going to be world famous when this article broke. Amy Sexton would become a household name.
She stood up and exited the room. Amy walked through the many halls of the lavish palace and entered the east wing of the palace where her room was located. She opened the door and entered her own personal space.
The place where she was assigned to live was also, in keeping with the rest of the palace, was lavish and ornately decorated. Amy removed her burqa leaving her wearing nothing but her white bra and panties. She carefully folded her burqa and placed it in her bedside drawer. Amy would not miss wearing her burqa once she returned to the United States. She found the clothing garment extremely restrictive and a sign of women's oppression in the country. Amy couldn't believe that a country as wealthy as Saudi Arabia could treat its women so backwardly.
Despite the air conditioning in the palace, it was still quite warm in her room. Amy removed her bra, letting her A-cup, small perky books to breathe in the air. She collapsed back on her bed and placed her mobile phone on her toned and flat stomach, whilst she waited for the phone call, she prayed would come.
If Roger didn't follow through on his part of the bargain, she would have no moral qualms about breaking a news story about him and watching the media and the American judicial system destroy his life.
Amy had no personal connection to the plight of these elusive Saudi women that were being held as slaves. Her driving motivation was more self-centered, she acknowledged to herself. She wanted to be the woman to bring down the Sheikh Rameen Rasheed. She wanted to be the one to bring this man to justice and to get the credit and accolades from the Western media system.
