Desert Warrior

Help.

Please.

Help me.

They are looking for us.

"Us"? All I see is an old man in trouble.

This is yours.

There's plenty of more gold.

In that cave.

Please.

Wait. Wait.

Hind, stop!

He's helping us.

- My daughter. - You are blessed.

Wait.

Those are good mounts.

Not the mounts of bandits.

More like soldiers.

Sassanid by their armor.

So, tell me who you are.

In time.

There's not much of that left.

The dagger is worth ten pieces of gold.

I guarantee you ten more.

That shroud, it has pockets?

I have gold.

Lakhmid gold.

Help us reach the Shaybani settlement,

and it is yours.

The dagger and the gold.

You have my word.

Into the dunes!

No. No!

Come on. Yalla!

Other side of the dune!

Run!

Run!

- Got them! - Go. Go!

Go.

Come on. Come on.

Mount up!

Go!

Baba!

I come in peace...

Kill him!

Wait! Wait.

What is this mischief?

Two vagabonds, brother.

Helped by this bandit.

And they bring mercenaries to the border.

Let's see these vagabonds.

Commander Jalabzeen.

It's been a long time.

How can the Shaybani help you?

I'm here on the orders of the Supreme Emperor Kisra,

ruler of your kingdom

and the lands of the fertile crescent

where the Tigris and the Euphrates

-flow into the sea. -Something to drink?

Your emperor has sent me

to retrieve his subjects,

Al-Numan and Hind Bint Al-Numan.

That girl there.

His Highness, King Al-Numan

and Hind Bint Al-Numan, Princess of Al Hira

are now guests in my home.

You're also welcome to our hospitality,

fresh horses if you need them and safe passage home

as is my sworn duty to my emperor.

Allow me to enlighten you, Chief Hani.

That old man is no longer a king,

as his appearance makes clear.

He is a fugitive. And Al Hira, liberated from his rule,

is now governed by Ibn Qabisah,

a loyal subject of the emperor.

So, in the name of Emperor Kisra,

I demand that you hand over this girl,

who has been made his concubine.

- It is you who is the emperor's whore!

-Brother. -Please.

Please.

She's a princess. Leave her alone!

You won't stop running, huh?

Samir!

An emperor who rules so many lands is perhaps unaware

we, kings of the desert,

have never given our daughters to others as tribute,

not even to pharaohs or caesars.

You may go in peace.

Hyah!

This isn't the first time you've entered our land without permission.

I will leave as soon as I am paid.

Chief Hani, this man helped us.

I owe him.

Payment is his life.

Get lost, thief.

Hyah! Ha!

We could kill the father.

The father is not the problem.

Then we kill them all.

That would be a mistake.

We make it clear to them.

Get in the water.

She's Lakhmid. My daughter is Shaybani, Hani.

We ask Al-Numan and his daughter to leave.

Two camels, Hani, and we will leave at first light.

No.

You are my guest.

That still means something to the Shaybani.

While you're under my roof, you and your daughter are safe.

And I won't cast them out.

I need you to deliver a message for me.

Do you hear me, boy?

Good.

Good boy.

My good, strong boy, huh?

Huh?

Strong, strong man.

This girl has brought the devil to our home.

She is a curse on us.

Looks like my horse missed me.

Why are you still here?

Do you want something from me?

Huh?

Then pay me what you owe.

A dagger and gold.

Get out of here.

And leave my horse.

Have you no honor?

Honor is for fools and princesses.

One slap from you is enough.

I'm tired of fighting.

When trouble follows you, you have no choice.

Like I said, trouble.

Hind Bint Al-Numan!

How much?

Forty pieces of gold should do it.

I told my father not to trust you.

You give her to him...

you go free.

Ugh.

Your life means nothing to you?

A deal with you means nothing to me.

Make it to the horse before they reach us.

Argh.

To the horse!

Hind!

Go.

Hyah!

Ho! Ho! Ho!

Let her go!

This is Shaybani land.

Then Shaybani will pay.

Hey! Hey! To Ctesiphon!

Hyah! Hyah!

He saved her life.

Nine Sassanid killed on our land.

Kisra will punish us for this.

The bandit is responsible.

Who can't see that we are at their mercy?

We are at their mercy.

What about honor, my brother?

Yes, and look what it got us.

There's bloodshed.

There's bloodshed!

Enough.

- Listen to me. - Enough!

The bandit dies tomorrow.

Shh!

Things always get worse when you show up.

-I brought you water. -Do you care to pour?

Why didn't you give me over to the Sassanid?

He is my enemy just as much as he is yours.

You are cutting my skin.

I'm saving your life.

So, where will you go?

The empty quarter. With the other unwanted.

I owe you.

That's right.

A dagger and gold.

Your life isn't enough?

I won't keep it long without payment.

Then you better hope to see me again.

May I never be so blessed.

Go!

Go back. Your insistence brought us here.

We can't go back, Aasif.

What matters now is we stand by Al-Numan and his daughter.

Guard and protect them.

Until when, Hani?

Until when?

We're all dead?

You let in outsiders, Lakhmids,

and pitted us, your tribe, against an empire.

Your tribe, brother.

-For what? -Aasif!

You expect us to lay down our lives for others not of our clan.

You act like an enemy to your people.

What are you doing?

Dare you dishonor me?

Challenge me again, brother,