"Ishmitar?" Doubar asked.
"I'll tell you about him later, Doubar. " Maeve answered. She turned to Talia, "how did he come to you?"
"I don't know." Answered Talia, "this man came to me and offered me 8000 dinars for stealing the pearl. I don't know what he looked like, he had a cloak and it was dark…"
"Yeah right!" exclaimed Duraid, and he muttered, "stupid bitch!"
Talia made a face. She felt much more comfortable being so open with her emotions, now, that Maeve was around…after all she did have enough control over Mike.
"Mike," said Sinbad, "what else do you know about this Taita?"
"He is a sorcerer like Ishmitar… and he practices black magic…I think he wants revenge for what happened to Ishmitar "
"Oh." Said Maeve.
"So Lynn, are you going to help us or no? I don't mind paying you…" said Mike with a pleading look. His gang members were surprised…Mike NEVER begged.
Maeve looked at Sinbad, then said to Mike; "you'll have to ask my captain…"
Mike sighed; he had a feeling this would happen. He nodded, and looked at Sinbad. The only thing Sinbad wanted to do was flatly refuse, the last thing he wasted was HIS Maeve working with this guy, whom she also liked…but he knew that if he did that, Maeve might not be happy; besides, there was no way that the legendary crew, would give up an opportunity to fight evil and restore peace in the world again…even though that was a secondary reason.
"Maeve…can we discuss this?"
Maeve nodded, and looked at Mike. Mike motioned his men to get out of the room. He kissed Maeve's hand (on purpose…to get Sinbad jealous, which he succeeded at to his satisfaction), and left the room.
There was silence for sometime, then Maeve said, "you are my friends…you think I should help him?"
"Why don't you brief us up on how you know this…this…guy, Maeve?" suggested Firouz.
Maeve nodded. She took a deep breath and said, "before I met Dim Dim, I was in Cairo. I was penniless, and I had to steal for food... I did not want to do it…but I was not prepared to beg."
She looked at the others…they understood what she felt; she smiled as Doubar placed a comforting hand on her back. She went on, "Mike saw me steal once, he had the same reputation as he does now… he approached me with work. I refused to kill and steal for a living; but he said that the reason was noble…and it was. You see, there was a very powerful sorcerer called Ishmitar… Osiris, the brother-husband of Isis, the Egyptian god, responsible for judging people in the afterlife…his temple had four stones each representing an element. Ishmitar had stolen the fiery eye…or the stone representing fire. Ishmitar was shrewd and cunning… Hales, the temple high priest knew that the Pharaoh's men were not capable of handling him…so he approached Mike… Mikey isn't a bad guy…he just does bad things, that's all…but he does work for the prevalence of good. Mike told me he thought I was good at the job…maybe I was…I needed money to go to Baghdad, so I agreed to work for him…I wasn't happy with working with thieves…. But some of them were very nice…those who weren't…well I just showed them their place…" at the last sentence they chuckled a bit.
"Well, I worked with them for about a year… when we restored the fiery eye, to its place, and killed Ishmitar, I got my pay and left for Baghdad…where I met Dim Dim. I wasn't a sorceress before I met Dim Dim…so I presume these people don't know about my magical abilities…" then with an evil snicker she added, "let them find out the hard way…"
They all laughed. Maeve said, "I want to help Mike…not only for old times sake, but for the sake of the pearl…I feel it is my duty, to restore the pearl to its place…"
"Maeve… we'll agree to let you go on one condition…" said Sinbad, who had taken her hand in his. Maeve looked at him half-expecting what he was going to say next, "…We will help you." The crew nodded.
Maeve smiled, and said, "I would be much more comfortable if I had you guys around me…but there is one thing…Mike is the boss…he likes it that way…"
"That's okay Maeve," said Sinbad, "we'll handle ourselves…as long as we can be watching out for you." Maeve smiled again…she called for Mike to come in.
When he was inside, Maeve said, "Mike, you don't have to pay me…but, you have to agree to my conditions."
"As always…" Mike teased
"You allow my friends to help you…you treat them with RESPECT…as if they were your own friends…don't think they can't fight…fighting is one of the reasons this crew has become legendary…right?" she looked at her friends, who grinned back at her.
Mike sighed, and said, "whatever you say Fireball…after all it isn't every day one gets to work with the legendary Sinbad."
Maeve shook her head and said, "you know my other terms…"
"Yeah."
"What are they?"
"Umm…I will not try any dumb tricks with you, I will not try to stop you from leaving, I will not interfere with your method of working and I will not in anyway order you around…" the crew chuckled as they heard these almost impossible terms.
Maeve asserted, "same goes for my friends…you shall include them…"
"I will, love, I will…now is that a deal?" Mike asked stretching his hand.
Maeve smiled and took it, "Deal."
To her surprise, Mike yanked her towards him, and gave her another steamy kiss. The crew laughed, as they saw Sinbad's face switching from shades of red and green. Maeve broke the kiss and backed away. Mike grinned sheepishly. Maeve said, "I'll see you tomorrow at the den."
"Until then, my sweet…" Mike smiled. He bade goodbye to the crew, and walked off, after giving instructions to Nimmur to take care of the crew.
Sinbad was not happy with the kiss; neither did he like the way Mike called his girl "my sweet" or "love". He looked at Maeve, who looked away. Doubar and the others were giggling like idiots at Sinbad's jealousy. Talia chuckled too, she finally said, "I think you guys better get some sleep…Mike likes to keep people busy."
They nodded. Doubar was still laughing at what happened. They had their dinner, and went upstairs to bed. Sinbad could not eat much…he was still recovering from the way Mike treated Maeve…and the way Maeve seemed to allow it. He stomped off to bed. Maeve wanted to follow him; he had to know that she did not feel more for Mike. However, since the others were around she decided to sneak into his room.
Finally, when it was close to midnight Maeve knocked on Sinbad's door.
"It's open, Maeve." Sinbad said…he sensed her presence.
Maeve walked in and locked the door. Sinbad was standing at the window and staring at the moon. She smiled, as she saw the moonlight bathe his perfect silhouette. His back was to her. Maeve walked up to him and put her arms around him. She kissed his back, then said, "Sinbad, you were the one who said he was no competition for you…then why do you doubt me, love?"
"Because, I am crazy about you, Maeve…I don't want to lose you."
"You have nothing to lose Sinbad…you already own my heart…only you can give it away."
He turned around to face her. He put his arms around her and whispered, "I will never give it away." Saying so he kissed her, tenderly. He felt so relieved, he could see the sincerity of her words…he knew she loved him. What happened between her and Mike was not her fault…she could not push Mike away… as much as he could not push Talia away…but…
He suddenly broke the kiss and said, "that does not stop me from being jealous."
She giggled and said slyly, "then maybe you should do something that would make Mike jealous…"
He smiled, as he understood her meaning. He playfully kissed her for a long time. He tugged at her clothes, as she tugged at his…when something came off, it went flying somewhere. When they were both undressed, Sinbad pushed Maeve to the bed, and showed his magician's apprentice, what true magic really was.
When We Were Thieves - Part 9
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