That Zaid had such a sum at his disposal was a reflection of the enormous changes which had come to the Mutayr because of the oil wealth. No longer nomads, they now lived in concrete houses near the pipeline pumping station on the outskirts of Hofuf. Although the royal family kept most of the petrodollars, enough trickled down to the desert sheikhs so there was no lack of money. Everyone had become car and gadget crazy, although since there was no one to fix them, as soon as they broke they were thrown away and the land behind their houses became covered in enormous junk piles. The towns were full of foreigners—Palestinians, Iraqis, Egyptians, Yemenis, Pakistanis and even western Giaours with fair hair and blue eyes that everyone knew were the sign of the evil eye.

As a result of his once-despised western origins, Nick’s stature had grown enormously as well. He alone knew what to make of these strange dhimmis and their clever gadgets. When Sheikh Zaid first moved into his house, he kept dates and fruits in his toilet bowl because he could not imagine any other use for such an incredible object. Laughing, Nick explained its real function and Zaid turned away, embarrassed. “What a bizarre use for precious water,” Zaid muttered into his beard.

Nick had become a strong and resourceful youth and he was acknowledged as a leader among the young men. Mounted on Fidda, his splendid white mugathir camel, he had led the Mutayr on a ghazwa against the Saar raiders, killing two of them with his own hand. He had well-learned the harsh law of the desert: “Mercy is for women and children; for men, weakness is death.”

On the way back, his natural talent for warfare led him to bypass the wadi they would normally have passed through, thereby avoiding a retaliatory Saar ambush. When they returned, the Mutayr honored him with a lavish feast and Sheikh Zaid called him “a true son.” His reputation was beginning to precede him, like a shadow when the sun is low. The legend of “the Scorpion” was becoming known among the tribes of the Najd and the Hasa. Only Bandar remained his enemy.

Together with his brother Youssef and Sheikh Zaid, Nick went into the desert with Faraj and Bandar. Ostensibly, they were going on a falcon hunt, but everyone knew that their real purpose was to try one last time to convince Bandar to release Aisha.

At their first camp Youssef, unable to restrain himself any longer, stood meekly before Bandar, his head bowed, and humbly begged Bandar to accept his gift of a million riyals. In the sight of his brothers and Allah he swore eternal honor and friendship. Sheikh Zaid and the Scorpion promised that Bandar would be honored in the tribe. Youssef pledged that he and Aisha would name their first son after Bandar.