Silk and Secrets(53)

Time and again Juliet could have killed Habib, for his wild lunges left him critically exposed, but she waited for an opening where she could cripple him without taking his life. But where. would it end? This was no wrestling match; in a knife fight with a killer, any error could be lethal.

He glanced around the growing circle of onlookers, hoping to see Abdul Wahab, the only man with the authority to stop the fight, but the kafila-bashi had not yet appeared.

There was an ear-piercing shriek of metal against metal, followed by a collective gasp from the watchers. Ross snapped his gaze back to the fight. The long blades of the combatants were locked together hilt to hilt, a position in which Habib's superior strength gave him the advantage.

As vividly as if he were inside Juliet's skin, Ross felt her muscles strain as she tried to hold the camel driver's dagger away from her, but inexorably the joined blades were being driven back toward her throat. She could not even kick out at him without risking a disastrous loss of balance.

When Juliet's strength was forced to the very limit, the camel driver twisted his dagger with so much pressure that she had to drop her own weapon to save her wrist from being broken. As it tumbled, glittering in the torchlight, Habib gave a shout of triumph and lunged forward to administer a killing stroke.

Once more, only Saleh's iron grip kept Ross on the sidelines; he would have bruises where the older man's fingers had dug into his arm. But even if Saleh had allowed Ross to interfere, he could not have done any good. Juliet must save herself.

She reacted to being disarmed with a cat-swift retreat from Habib's attack. Since it was impossible to retrieve her knife with the camel driver standing over it, she bent and grabbed the full waterskin behind her. With one smooth motion she opened it and tossed it at him, growling, "Cleanse thyself, swine."

The onlookers roared with derisive laughter as Habib howled with rage and fell back, dragging his sleeve over his eyes to dry them. By the time his vision was clear again, his opponent had retrieved the fallen knife.

Furious at being an object of mockery, Habib lunged at Juliet like a maddened bull. She parried his knife thrust easily, but this time his strategy was different. Barreling into her like a battering ram, he knocked her to the ground, Habib landing on top.

Ross's nails stabbed his palms from the force of his clenching fists. In close combat, Habib's strength would overpower Juliet. Also, though at the moment it seemed of minor importance, he might yank off her veil or feel enough of her body to realize she was female. God only knew what would happen then, but Ross doubted Habib would be overcome by sudden chivalry.

Juliet lay still for an instant, stunned by the force of her fall. Then she began struggling furiously to break free of her opponent. The combatants rolled across the ground in a cloud of dust as Habib tried to thrust his dagger past her guard. When he finally stabbed, she managed to deflect the blade from striking a vital area, but it slashed deeply into her upper arm. Juliet gave a sharp, quickly choked-off cry of pain that pierced Ross like another knife.

Then Habib made a mistake, though an understandable one. He lifted his weight a little above his opponent to get extra power, then smashed his knee between her legs in a blow that would have paralyzed a man.

The onlookers moaned with horrified sympathy, but Juliet was not incapacitated as much a man would have been. Taking advantage of Habib's momentary imbalance, she managed to hurl his body off hers. He landed sprawling on his back two feet away.

Making what the watchers assumed was a superhuman recovery, Juliet leapt to her feet. In a flurry of perfectly judged motions, she ended the fight. First she kicked Habib, her booted foot knocking aside his knife before smashing into the same ultra-vulnerable spot where he had attacked on her. He screamed and doubled convulsively around his genitals.

With her opponent beyond all thought of self-defense, it was simple for Juliet to lean over and hamstring his right leg with one precise, cold-blooded slash. Suddenly it was over, leaving Habib in no condition to pick another fight any time soon.

Juliet stood over the moaning figure of the man she had defeated, her dagger still ready in her hand as she breathed in great wrenching gasps. So intensely was Ross absorbed in her struggle that he felt every rasping breath as if it were his own, just as he shared the fierce exultation of her triumph.

Abdul Wahab appeared, finally drawn by the sounds of fighting. "What is going on here?" he barked, his gaze going from one of the combatants to the other. "Who started this?"

Since neither Juliet nor Habib seemed disposed to explain, Murad spoke up. "Sir, I was returning from visiting a friend at another fire and happened to be near the well when the fight began." He made an insulting gesture at Habib. "This son of a scorpion taunted Jalal. Ignoring him, Jalal tried to return peacefully to our fire, so Habib attacked without warning."