Chapter 1

Z

afirah's father owned a thousand camels. Hundreds of them would fall apart for her wedding. As a dowry. And she would marry one of them. Yes! Zafirah was engaged to a camel. An old, rich, stinky camel. She'd been engaged to him since her childhood. It was the trader Musad al Maqarra, to whom she was promised by her father when she was seven. But to this day, she had seen him only once during a single visit: He was entirely decorated in brocade shoes and shiny gold robes. And his pockets jingled of coins. Her future groom had gold and prestige. So what? Even the most expensive jewelry could not hide his true appearance. She was still a child when she had seen him for the first time. He was truly one of the ugliest men she had ever seen. How would it be in bed with him, now that she was no longer a child? She had a loathing of the sunken chin and the elephant-like, unkempt crumb ears! Zafirah hoped that he was smart in some degree. She thought she would have get used to the thought to marry this dirt bag. But what was she besides a hundred camels?