It's like when the Cybermen invade earth on Doctor Who, I told myself finally.
"Moonbeam!" Mahmood called. "Come with me." He took the girl's hand and led us both into the hallway. The soldiers had grouped around the two stairwells leading from the floors below, one on either end of the long hallway.
Mahmood took us down another hallway and into a parlor style room. Five other women accompanied us in nervous silence.
"You must stay here, no matter what," he warned me. He held out the hand of the girl he held. "Hide there." He pointed to a tapestry stretching from floor to ceiling.
I took her hand and nodded. This was starting to feel real - and I was scared.
The princess and I went to the heavy tapestry. I pushed it around until we were able to move behind and was pleased to find a cutout in the wall where we could hide without the weight of the tapestry. It was heavy and stuffy, but we made it to the cutout and huddled together. The girl's arms went around my waist.
This is crazier than the Old West. Though in fairness, I at least knew who the enemy was here.
We waited and listened. The sounds from the room were muffled by the heavy tapestry. Women were talking and soon fell quiet. I didn't imagine the raiders had reached the home of the princess so soon, but it wasn't long until the sounds of banging on the door reached us.
The girl hugged me more tightly, and I rested a hand on her back, pulling us both deeper into the crevice in the wall. Screams burst from the women in the room followed by the clash of metal on metal. I couldn't imagine what was going on and wondered if these were Mahmood's people fighting over the princess or Mongols fighting Mahmood's people.
I closed my eyes, willing this to be some sort of nightmare or at least for us to evade discovery forever. If we survived the raid, I could ask my new puppet master what to do next.
Silence fell, and I held my breath.
"Ugly one."
Oh, shit. This voice I recognized. I didn't think the prisoner was here for me, but how did he know the princess was with me? Better yet, how did he know I was even here?
The warrior prisoner smashed something on the other side of the room, a wardrobe or wooden screen being knocked to the stone floor.
Something else crashed to the ground. He was moving closer, tossing the room in an attempt to find us.