PREPARATIONS I

Friday, 24 October 1192 AD

-  Jerusalem, Rashid Abubaker residence.

It was a few hours past midnight; the night was silent. Rashid Abubaker had failed to sleep despite wanting so much to get some sleep. He kept on turning and turning in bed to no avail. Besides him, his elder wife Shifa Hanan lay next to him and she was sound asleep unlike him.

From the moment the news from Abib was delivered to him yesterday night. It left him restless to go to the Mercenary Guild of Jerusalem and get the full story. If only it was not nighttime!

He rolled off the bed slowly, not to disturb Shifa Hanan as she slept. She was a very sensitive person; any slight movement or sound could cause her to wake up. Rashid Abubaker knew that the day she became a mother, she could pay good attention to their child. Unfortunately, that day was so far off.