Sheiks of Ahalamin - Book One.
He's an audacious Middle Eastern Prince. She's a prideful Wall Street Princess. These two warring hearts will burn a trail from the skyscrapers of New York City to the scorching sand of Ahalamin.
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Rashid sipped a cup of hot, mint tea just as the sun touched the morning sky with magenta strokes. In front of him stood one of the scouts sent out the night before.
"What have you learned, Nadir?"
"My Lord, Alkmud's position is one hour's ride from the border. Three guards stood near the tents. We saw none on the outer edges of the encampment. The men rested unconcerned around their fires with many women and children accompanying them."
"How many men?" asked Rashid.
"Forty or fifty, My Lord."
"You did well. Go now and refresh yourself; we break camp soon."
Rashid walked to the side table, poured himself another cup of tea, and picked up a date cake. He turned and offered some to Califar, who took three.
"Alkmud is cunning and wise," said Califar.
Rashid returned the plate of cakes to the side table and retook his seat. "Yes. He knows we will not attack women and children. He will view our patience as a weakness. His own arrogance will surrender him to us. Tell the others to await my return. We will then decide a plan to eliminate the threat Alkmud and his men pose."
"Sheikh Kahanjar will not be happy with this delay," Califar replied.
"A circumstance which cannot be helped. For now, we must wait. However, there is another matter I would discuss with you before you go." Rashid gestured for Califar to help himself to another cup of tea and was amused when his friend picked up two more date cakes.
He was reminded of his grandfather's words, Every man has a weakness for what is sweet, whether a date cake...or a woman. Califar's was definitely date cakes. His, he was about to reveal.
"In two weeks' time, I will take a bride."
Califar's lips parted in shock. "My Lord?" Tilting his head in a questioning gesture, he added with a hopeful tone, "surely you jest?"
"I see no jest in the statement." Rashid scowled. "As you know, my intention in going to New York was to obtain the ancestral lands to the west. A task I have now accomplished. The terms of the agreement included an American woman."
Califar choked on his last bite of date cake. After downing a half cup of tea, he asked. "You bought a foreign woman? Since when do you, Prince of Ahalamin, need to barter for a woman?"
"I did not barter! She is Jacob Ballard's daughter. The terms were of her father's choosing," Rashid said, his jaw thrust stubbornly forward.
"And she agrees to this arrangement?" Califar questioned.
"To my knowledge, Jacob had not yet informed his daughter of his decision. When he chooses to inform her is of no consequence to our arrangement. He made the request for a marriage alliance. I agreed. It is done."
