A retelling of the "Arabian Nights" story which casts Shahrayar the king as a tortured man driven to violence by the pain of his queen's betrayal, and the storytelling maiden Shahrazad as his saving grace--and newfound love.

When her little brother is kidnapped and taken from Pakistan to race camels in the desert, eighteen-year-old Nadira overcomes her own past abuse and, dressed as a boy and armed with knowledge of the powerful storytelling of the legendary Scheherazade, is determined to find and rescue him.