It was early morning when the messenger arrived. From the balcony I had seen him racing across the desert on horseback, against the lilac and soft green of the dawn sky. Not wanting to seem too eager, I had casually hastened through the palace - along marble corridors, down the sweeping staircase, past the fountain'd courtyards - to the front gates which were just being opened by the guards.

"Please inform King Rustam that his Majesty, Sultan Ahmed, and his party are expected to arrive by midday," said the horseman, and a guard left to convey the message to my father.

I had been waiting for them to arrive for over a month now, ever since the first message from Sultan Ahmed that an announcement was to be made…

This is the opening of my novel The Rose in the Eye of the Storyteller. If you would like to read the rest of Chapter One, download it here