Chapter 11: Public Audience

The following morning, Ambassador Sharon Klein was ushered into the presence of His Magnificence Mahmoud Abdullah, may he live for ever and have many sons, Emir of Kobekistani, to present her credentials as Ambassador. She was surprised that there seemed to be thirty or forty people in the room.

He completely took the wind out of her sails by saying, in perfect English, "Hello. I'm the Emir, you must be the new Ambassador. Would you like some coffee?"

She had not been an Ambassador before, but was expecting a very formal meeting with speeches, and she had one prepared, full of earnest wishes for closer cooperation between their two countries and so forth. She had also insisted on bringing an official interpreter, although the Embassy had told her it was totally unnecessary.

The Emir studied the woman before him. Dressed in a conservatively cut dark blue business suit with a high necked white blouse, she looked every inch the power-dressing young American. He guessed that she was some twenty years younger than he, and that hidden away under the jacket and starched blouse was a very attractive pair of breasts. Her long dark hair showed off her creamy, almost Levantine, skin very well and two dark brown eyes sparkled with life.

She, for her part, suddenly felt weak at the knees when the full import of the Deputy's quick briefing sank in.

This man before her, this handsome Emir who had just offered her coffee, was a ruler of absolute power. Anything he said was automatically the law here. Powerful men had always attracted her, and this was probably the most personally powerful man she had ever met. President Suarez could, in theory, start World War Three if she so decided, but that power was so hedged round by restrictions to prevent misunderstandings and accidents that in essence she had to abide by the consensus of her advisors' deliberations. This man could order anything. Have poison put in her coffee as easily as sugar, and then smooth it over as an unfortunate accident. Have her strip searched in front of him. Have her carried off to his harem. The possibilities were endless...

She was brought back to earth by the Emir repeating his question, "Would you like some coffee?"

She nodded, unable to speak for the moment.

The Emir sat on an ordinary chair and waved for her to do likewise. As they sat she looked around, seeing a small throne on a dais at the far end of the large room, close to which there were a number of men waiting patiently.

"Are these your advisors, Your Magnificence?" she asked.

"Oh, no. These are petitioners who want a decision on something."

He waved one over, and the man came forward and knelt, pressing his forehead to the floor. An attendant took a paper from his hand and passed it to the Emir who read it and passed it back to the attendant.

~La, he said, meaning, "No."

The petitioner rose, turned and left the room slowly and with dignity.

Sharon looked questioningly at the Emir.

"He wanted me to attend the wedding of his daughter," explained the Emir, "They all want that and with up to a hundred weddings a day in the country I could not possibly go to more than a very few of them."

"Pardon me, Your Magnificence, but will he not be offended that he was allowed to ask you personally, yet was refused in such a ... forthright manner?"

"What did you expect me to say?"

~It may be possible, I will consider it, she replied in near perfect Kobekistani dialect.

~You speak our language well, he complimented her, ~Where did you learn it?~

~I was Professor of Classical and Modern Arabic at ... a place of advanced learning before taking up this post, she said, then hastily added, "Your Majesty."