Then the woman who sat at his feet threw aside her veil, and all the others did the same. Khaled saw that the one was certainly more beautiful than the rest, for her skin was as white as milk, and her eyes like the sea of Oman when it is blue in winter. She had also long hair, plaited in three tresses which came down to her feet, red as the locusts when the sun shines upon them at evening, and not dyed. 'There is a bay mare in a stable of black ones,' Khaled said. 'What is the name of the bay mare?' 'Her name is Aziz, and she is a Christian,' said one of the women. 'Not Aziz--Almasta,' said the beautiful woman in an accent which showed that she could not speak Arabic fluently. 'Almasta, a Christian.' 'She was lately sent as a present to our master by the Emir of Basrah,' said one of the others. 'He paid a thousand and five hundred sequins for her, for she was brought from Georgia,' said another. 'But I am a free woman, and myself the daughter of an emir.' Then all the others began to scream. 'It is a lie,' they cried. 'Your father was a white slave from Syria.' 'You are fools,' retorted the woman who had spoken. 'You should have said that you were also free women and the daughters of emirs. So our lord would have treated you with more consideration.' The others saw their folly and were silent and drew back, but Khaled only smiled. 'As good mares are bred in the stable as in the desert,' he said, and the women laughed with him at the jest, for they saw that it pleased him. But Almasta was silent and sat at his feet, looking into his face. 'You must learn to talk in Arabic,' he said, 'and then you will be able to tell stories of your native country to the Sultan, for he loves tales of travel.' Almasta smiled and bent her head a little, but she did not understand all he said, being but lately come into Arabia. 'I will go with you,' she answered. 'Yes. You will go with me to Riad to the Sultan, and perhaps he will make you his wife, for he has none at present.' 'I will go with you,' she repeated, looking at him. 'She does not understand you,' said the women, laughing at her ignorance of their own tongue. 'It is no matter,' said Khaled. 'She will learn in due time. Perhaps it has pleased Allah to send my lord the Sultan a wife without a tongue for a blessing in his old age.' 'I will go with you,' Almasta said again. 'She can say nothing else,' jeered the women. One of them pulled her by her upper garment, so that she looked round. 'Can you say this, "My father was a dog and the son of dogs"?' asked the woman. But Almasta pushed her angrily away, for she half understood. Then the woman grew angry too, and shook her fist in Almasta's face. 'If you fight, you shall eat sticks,' said Khaled, and then they were all quiet.