A boy stood on the clifftop. I could see him clearly from my spot, crouched just under the tops of soaring pines and oaks. He looked young, no more then twenty or twenty-one. He stood near the edge of the cliff, snapping pictures from the camera in his hands. He didn't seem to be scared of the height. The hikers rarely did, really.
A girl's voice called to the hiker, urging him to let them leave. He took a moment, collecting a few more photos before he had to leave.
The boy began to turn, probably giving in to following his partner. I began to stand, my head beginning to push the tops of trees away to allow me to straighten. The boy must have glimpsed something, as he turned back to the drop and squinted in my direction. I immediately recoiled, my head ducking back under the cover of branches. I wrapped my hand fully around a thick oak tree, trying to support myself so I wouldn't fall and cause a disturbance. The boy had seen something, and I knew it.
After a moment of staring back into the forest below, the boy turned back to the path and followed his companion out of sight.
I breathed out a sigh of relief. He hadn't seen, or he hadn't pursued his sighting, at least.
After a brief pause for safety, I reached up with my long, skeletal hands, parting the fifty foot trees with one hand easily as if they were only leaves.
Noor, a dancer in the Royal Court of the Al-Yauzhan Empire wants nothing more than to pay off her debts and lead a nice, simple life-but a chance encounter with the crown prince and his brother brings her into the dangerous world of court politics. As Noor and the princes investigate their uncle and cousin's possible treason, she grows closer to the crown prince, but in order to save the kingdom and the person she loves, Noor will have to risk everything...
A romantic adventure set in an imagined Arabic kingdom, THE DANCING GIRL is a story of court intrigues, romantic entanglements, and secret meetings as Noor and her best friend Amir try to help the princes they're falling for expose corrupt court officials with plans to seize the throne. Noor and Amir are close to having everything they've ever dreamed of...now all they need to do is survive.