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Aliysha el
Fayad is a Bedouin Princess of indeterminate age. Early in Lee Crane’s career,
he is sent on a second mission to the desert country of Abdul Azziz and Luana, to
help out in furthering the country’s fight against a second dictator. His
mission is successful for the underground, but disastrous for him. He is wounded
and must make his way across the desert in order to get to his contact. His
attempt fails and he finds himself in a camp of Bedouins. They are Aliysha’s
tribe, her people.
She is of
Circassian descent, blonde and tall, with blue green eyes, and a slender build
that belies her inner strength. She was married at age 14 to her husband, Karim
el Murad, a man much older and far more experienced. Surprisingly, however, it
was a love match, and Aliysha comes to deeply love and respect her husband. He
saw to it that she was educated and given all the benefits his wealth can afford
to make her into an equal partner, both in their marriage and in the political
upheavals that surround them and their country. He also introduces her to the
underground network, sponsored in part by the American CIA, who is supporting
the work of the people to get their freedom.
Aliysha
proves to be an adept student and she and Karim lead and protect their tribe,
while aiding their people in their struggle for freedom. She and her husband
hope for many children, but after several years, they realize they are unable to
have them. They then began to think of their people and their tribe as their
‘children’ and continue to guide and protect them.
Tragically,
some ten years after their marriage, Karim is killed when a horse he is riding
stumbles and falls, throwing him into a nearby rock formation and breaking his
neck. From that point, the tribe becomes Aliysha’s sole responsibility and she
assumes leadership with strength and a willpower that surprises her people. She
has many suitors who seek marriage to the wealthy, widowed princess. Many
attempt to become her lover, but she spurns them all, dedicating herself to her
tribe and her cause.
During this
time, she met Michael Briggs and developed a working relationship with him.
Finding him an enigmatic and charming man, but one with too many secrets to
become romantically involved in, she nonetheless resists a valiant effort by him
to seduce her.
It is
through her ‘association’ with the CIA that she later finds Lee Crane in the
desert.
Crane’s
wounds are serious and he is tended by Aliysha, her women and her doctor, Omir.
A troop of men from the government come into the encampment searching for him,
but cannot find him. Finally realizing that their search is useless, they
leave the camp. Unfortunately, Crane had been further injured during the raid when
he had been quickly hidden.
He is cared
for over several days by the tribe, and on the last night, because of drugs and
the injury, he has what he believes is an erotic dream of making love to
Aliysha. However, unknowingly, it is not a dream but he will never realize it.
Ultimately, Aliysha and her people bring Nelson to him in a rescue attempt. He
leaves, never knowing that because of their lovemaking, Aliysha became pregnant
with their daughter, whom she calls Desert Rose, and who is a Bedouin Princess
like her mother.
Lee returns
to the country years later, just before he marries Caitlin Davis. Aliysha is
tempted to tell him about Rose, but does not, fearful that if he finds out, he
will want to take her back to the United States with him. Rose grows up under
her mother’s tutelage, and attends the American University in Beirut. She then
goes on to become a member of Michael Briggs’ ‘Angel Corps.’
Aliysha
passes away several years before Rose meets her father, and is never able to
thank Lee Crane in person for giving her the greatest gift of her life. |
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