Desert sands blown aside ,
heatwaves rolling across the distant horizon ,
countless dunes that seem to run ,
endlessly , as far as eyes can see .

Within the vast scope of this seeming wasteland though ,
lives life .
Such an unusual destination unlike any other .
Too savagely hot by daylight ,
icy chilled like an iceberg by moon's gaze .

A city before the sea ,
the logical domain of an oasis ,
lit by the reflectiveness of azure waters .

Behind these formidable stone sentries ,
holding the golden tides at bay ,
a palace rises majestically like an eagle .
Beautifully contrasting against such a harsh backdrop .

Standing intertwined blocks of smooth stones towering ,
with spiraling tops of silvery emerald .
Lushly constructed forecourts ,
of breathtaking architectural signatures ,
grounds brimming with rich liquid gardens ,
animated by a multitude of exotic varieties .
A far reaching cry from the arid outside .

She sits beside silent pondering as one .
By nightfall two days hence ,
the blessed suitor shall announce ,
his infernal intentions in person .
The mutterings that preceed his highness ,
paint a truly ghastly picture ,
of a creature spawned in devils own image .
Primordial and stubbornly entrenched in ways past .

Thus another boringly frivolous day passes .
She lays down upon the softest of finest silks ,
yawning a quiet wish for some djinn ,
to escape from heaven above and grant her three chances .
Such depths of longing in isolation ,
for loves spirit to flutter down upon her ,
with a kiss of enduring warmth ,
to embrace this shell weary of unproductiveness .
A body trapped by circumstance ,
it's course set in stone pillars that surround ,
all four points of the compass .
Like a ship that sails wherever the captain tells it ,
without any chance to veer upon another route .
What of the intervention of natural cause ?
This existance preordained from the first breath taken .

The hour is vastly submerged within nights embers .
A slightest shuffling nearby so close ,
awakens her from lightest futile dreaming ,
to locate the prowling source .
a figure moves on one side of the immense bed chamber ,
searching amongst her possessions with utmost discretion .
As if paramount such intrusion should go unnoticed .
She has suspicions to the identity .

Whispering wind !

Her utterance stills all movement instantly .
The prince of thieves who none has seen ,
As if a legend or childrens fable .
I find you now invading this sanctuary of place ,
where no man has ever trodden .
The sentence for such is general knowledge .

Are you so truly foolish dear prince ?
Can you not speak ?

Princess of grace ,
first bestow upon me this humble request .
Step please , fully into the light of unlying moonlight .
For I have heard it said in all honesty
thou possesses a beauty second to none .
I would gaze upon such treasure ,
with mine own judgement intact ,
before sentence is passed .

I react favourably for thy words are like honey ,
upon these innocently virgin ears .
I never expected such literal culture from a scoundrel !

Sadly I am not prince by chance , but birth .
The title is well deserved .
Circumstances of court aren't always transparent ,
loyal council it seems not always merited on trust .

Royalty !

What does worthy blood deem !
now that I stand beneath the ire of fullest light ,
my charms wholly revealed !

I would take thee in all aspects without hesitation ,
am I not a man who appreciates a unique delicacy ?
Yet find alas , the rumours to be sorely true .
I am but a spectre who knows ,
a woman is a denizen of heaven .
Not a trifling possession for idle affection .

Gentleman cast of refinement ,
how suavely you banter words ,
truly are thou equal to thy fame !
The tales thus told would seem stemmed in truth .
Thus I put to you this propostion ,
man of honourable deeds .
I am collected like a payment ,
two days hence by the devil incarnate .
A marriage based upon only the convenience of alliance .
Take me away upon a grant of adventure ,
a life of crime .

We'll share notoriety together !

Princess the thrill you seek ,
is often times unrepentant in it's cruelty .
I was taken bitterly from regal ways ,
thrust upon this sea of misfortune to drown .
You have no inkling of the trials you would face ,
no preparation for that which awaits ,
beyond the threshold of your sanctuary .

Prince of thieves ,
a ladies heart could easily be lulled to persuasion ,
by your flawless edge .
That force even now magnetises ,
the trace elements within my blood .

Princess my time has flown like water carelessly spilt ,
upon the desert sands by sunlight hour .
I shall return upon the morrow ,
Now to escape the first harkens of daybreak .
Precisely weigh your request .
I shall tell thee when our paths again cross ,
if such a thing be feasible .

A lost soul she sighs alone .
Perhaps he shall return ,
more likely evaporate to safer lands .

The hours of unending luxury crowd around her .
Every whim fulfilled like suffocation ,
save those two the sultan derides as trivial pipe dreams .
Love and freedom to express ,
without any preset storyline to adhere towards .

Night dawns once more and the birds doze to slumber .
The sun yawns upon the eastern skies .
She knowing only unabating entrapment ,
of a prison without obvious bars .
Every decision belonging to another ,
no chance to saviour the ways of a dove .
To face adversity challenging the struggle of survival ,
with those tricks life is so fond of !
Her ladies in waiting tell stories of the real world ,
she has hungered to know her entire life .
But the guards are too numerously rigourously trained ,
though she knows how to fight she is vastly outnumbered .

Now father comes , as always the sultan ,
everyone expected to obey .
There is no tolerance for errors .

Clunk ! Clank ! Thud !

He precisely turns the key at the appointed hour .
She is safely caged away from the lures ,
of knowledge and especially temptations of flesh .
Thus this night meanders onwards .
She stares restlessly at the shadowed ceiling ,
finding familiar shapes there .
Thoughts far gone to that other place ,
were she is her own person .

Something , the slightest sound unimagined ,
would he dare to return !
So admirably brave , his abilities otherworldly .
Such stealth no person could rightly possess .
Where does one learn this trade ?
Who teaches such things ?
He materialises , appearing to simply flow suddenly ,
through her open window .
Pausing a moment to survey the surroundings .
She senses the super-heightened alertness .

Princess , true to my word I am recalled !
Never before have I revisited any destination .
I assure thee in sincerity .
Never have I beheld such as thee ,
whose aspect is burnt raw upon my imagination .

Prince of thieves , I thankyou for this flower .
I know it is truly rare ,
yet how you should find it at such short notice ....

A gift as rare for another ,
moreso rarer still princess .

So future king of all criminals of the desertlands .

No criminal , just a victim of misfortunate events .
There are those who adjust poorly to new ways .
Yet , I thrive nobility on adversity .
My fathers dying breath alive ,
as inspiration within these veins .
You cannot know the blackened suffering I have endured ,
because of the hunger for power ,
my fellow man subscribes to .

Your attributes show you a worthy suitor ,
So take me with you .
I shall be your queen eventually .
I have endured forever and this is what I sought there .

Princess I implore thee !
Don't place thy fate in these hands .

No my prince , you are the one , the only ,
I grant you myself .
Shedding these garments of worldy splendour ,
before thine eyes .
The only man ever to have witnessed this pureness .
I lay all before your presence .

Princess .... I

Hush , I may be naieve to the world itself ,
but instinct tells me your desire is overwhelming .
Even now your noble resolve is frail .
Why resist , does your honour tell you so ?
Why did you return once again then at pain of death ?

For me !

There is no need of acknowledgement or denial .
Here now be mine alone ,the first and only .
let us make a pact upon our lifetimes ,
below heavens sleepless eyes who none may void .
That by tomorrow we are far away ,
this previous life but a dream slowly fading .
Your eyes are in agreeance ,
but words ensure a woman's statements are sated .
You surely would know this .

Yes , together as one , no other .
For I have known nothing to compare to thee ....

Twilight stars twinkle playfully under a cloudless sky .
She allows her clothes to shed themselves ,
down her shoulders arthouse style and disappear .
To reveal a perfect princess of form ,
the woman below the guise .
He is stunned in wit-dulling amazement ,
when usually self assured .
It is she who must guide his hand ,
breaking through the awestruck expression upon his mind .
His touch is her wish knowing physical statement ,
as it should be .
Firm yet without flagrant forcefulness .
Sparks of lightning enrich her .
She feeling every sensation never imagined possible ,
revolving around the focal point .
Her heart melts into a billion butterflies that flutter ,
finally freed from their constraints .
The hours diminish in rapid sucession .
Then she is glancing finally ,
at the past in peaceful contentment .
He takes her away for always into the desert's veils .
She to become the the whisper within the wind ,
an echo of what once was .
Eventually a queen of legend and fable ,
a hallowed image of freedom across the centuries to come .