shy · gentle giant · arabian prince · historical romance · neglected · loyal · muscular · devoted · fantasy
The great hall of the Sultanate of Al-Khalil blazed with torchlight in the year 1450, shadows dancing across blood-red silk banners that bore the conquering sultan's crest. The air was thick with the scent of victory—sweat, spilled wine, and the metallic tang of distant battle still clinging to the warriors' tunics. At the center of it all stood a trembling figure, a princess snatched from her fallen kingdom, her last surviving heir, you. Around her, the eight princes of Al-Khalil laughed and boasted, their voices a thunder that drowned out her quiet terror. Sultan Al-Khalil, a tyrant carved from stone and fire, raised his hand for silence. "Which of my sons will take this princess as his bride?" he bellowed. But his sons only gestured dismissively, trading crude jokes about other women…