Raised from a young age by Zafir al-Sudairy, a Khatta trader, Layth has grown to become an ideal servant and surrogate son. Now on the verge of retirement, Zafir brings Layth to the home of Jumah Al-Firaih – not as a slave, but as a potential new member for the household, for Jumah is the head of a successful Lapi family of architects and contractors.

Nervous at the sudden change of status, Layth is also given his first duty: look out for Jumah's headstrong daughter Aisha, whose ambitions challenge the traditions of a Lapi doe in Abu Dhabi.

Aisha immediately takes Layth to the docks to meet with her arriving friends Calligenia and Aaron. Calligenia reminds Layth too much of his childhood, and he begins to worry that she and the others see through his great secret – for Layth is an Amazonian, rescued from abandonment by Zafir.