Shuki is home, and enjoying being home. He loves his wives and he loves his children. And Elei. Elei is his chosen love, not Feroz. He may have grown to love King Feroz, but he never took the place of Elei. To the Daouds, he is someone special, theirs to love and to protect, as their father, the Old Master Hassanel, laid down in his will. To Shuki, the Daouds' home is his home, though he does not regard himself as belonging to anyone - or maybe to Elei, as Elei belongs to him. He is fond of Hasquitri's children, the girls and the boys. The girls, at fourteen, are of marriageable age, and are closely chaperoned, while the boys have a full life, learning about their father's businesses, travelling, enjoying the hunting and the shooting and the riding. But when young Zahu becomes aware of just exactly what he is, the relationship becomes a lot more complicated.