A list was prepared of the guests whom Kamal Qumsiyeh thought should be invited. This gave him much trouble and he cursed himself for suggesting it wi...thout having planned first. When forced to give the Emir an answer as to which names he proposed, the only name he had was that of Prince Habib, who was the heir apparent to a neighbouring Khan with whom they had had some niggling border disputes. It also transpired that Ghada Baroud, the Foreign Advisor had suggested him.Maliciously intending to. "Are you telling me that we're going out on a date, later tonight?" "Telling? No. I thought I was asking. But yes, that's what I meant." Ashley slowly put her arms around Jarrad's neck and started to dance again. She was face to face with him. There was less than an inch separating them. "So how do we work it... so we don't piss everyone off too bad." "When this dance ends, you make some excuse to go to your room. Make sure everyone understands you're not coming back. Then, after you've gone,. Stay calm, she told herself. Stay calm. Whom ever it is, what they want is panic. They want me to be scared. But right now, there's nothing to be scared of. It just an empty room. Stay calm. Stay calm.It didn't work but repeating the words to herself kept her from dwelling on other ideas - like what they plan to do to her eventually - whoever 'they' turned out to be.She woke suddenly - suddenly aware that she had drifted to sleep, suddenly aware of the scarf tied over her mouth. Muffling even. ... but when his shoulder hit the glass door, it did not move.Alex bounced off the door, falling to the floor in a confused heap. He looked up -- a magnetic lock. How could it be locked? Had the old man done it? Were they time locks? Was there a release somewhere? Alex kicked madly, again and again; the door came off its lower hinge, but the magnet above held it in place. He looked around frantically for anything that could help -- the machete was just a few feet away. He grabbed it -- maybe he.