Berengar sat in the middle of a room, closed off by translucent silk curtains; sitting atop his lap was a lovely maiden who was a few years older than himself. She was dressed in a skimpy belly dancer's outfit and wore a gossamer face veil.
Through some difficulty, he could make out the delicate features of her gorgeous face as her shining amber eyes stared into his own. She had just asked him a question that put him in a rather tricky position. Quite obviously, this was a trap set by Hasan to force Berengar's hand into marrying his sister, and if he did not play his cards right, he would undoubtedly be bringing another bride home from this war.
While such a thing did not frighten Berengar, after all, he was the man of his house and by law was allowed up to five wives; the fact of the matter was he did not like the idea of falling into Hasan's trap. If he were to marry Yasmin, it would be under his terms, not someone else's.
