BOOK 1.

Abrax is a wealthy Egyptian born in Siwa, many adored him and his kindness towards the slaves his parents insisted he kept. When he was five his parent's bought two slaves. Adira, and Benuu. Adira was the daughter of a prostitute who couldn't afford a daughter and an unhealthy drinking habit, so Adira was sold for a husband that would provide her mother with a comfortable life. Benuu however was born into slavery, his father and mother being voluntary slaves for protection from the Ptolemy. 

Abrax's parents signed a deed that binded Benuu and Adira as husband and wife, no matter how much they hated each other, and soon Adira became pregnant. Abrax's parents make a deal with Adira and Benuu; they'd grant them a divorce and land to live off of after the child turned eighteen, on the grounds that the child marry Abrax if it were a girl.

And with that, little Eboni Zarra was born, and Adira ends up finding that being a mother is a comfort to help ease her nerves with the arranged marriage.