The Scrabble Writing Prompt: 30 percent

Liang and I met next in the dinges of one of the suqs of Cairo, one and a half ar of shady dealings. He'd left me a note at the arboretum, hidden, as always, under the ala of the pea plant between the ilex and the fern. I must avow that I was nervous. Why was Liang meeting me in this fair, full of yobs and ogres, under this unrelenting sky?
"Hello, guv", I heard behind me, and there he was, dressed in a jean robe, walking around on getas and, from the look of his ab and the morsel of food on his lip, recently fed by his maid.
"I got your message on the Web", I said. "Is everything ok?"
"The jewel is heavily guarded in a palace, a jinn couldn't get to it", Liang said."The local rex carries the key to the jewel box on his person at all times."
"But?"
"Something big is afoot. Next week, the king weds Princess Mahudi. To get to her ring, the giver must open its box. That is our chance. Those two are madly in love, so while those loved anes coo like a couple of elhi kids, we grab the diamond, head down to the river, and ford our way across for a lotic escape that will send the bloodhounds off our track."
"How do we get into the palace?"
"That's the pith. We disguise ourselves as beggars suffering from farcy. His Majesty's father had farcy, so they'll let us in. I ordered special masks made of zein, and a zit here or there wouldn't hurt either."
"You've thought this through, haven't you."
"Ed," he said solemnly, "I know how many mho the electrical fence around the compound has. Leave nothing to chance. That's a rule of mine."
I whistled a high si of approval. "Liang", I responded, "we're so alike, you'd think we're from the same clade."

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