"As you said," Jamin said. "A man can never have too many wives. Perhaps once I kill the winged demon, Aturdokht will look kindly enough upon me to not bury a blade into my heart?"
Marwan laughed. The men who had remained seated around their shaykh laughed as well.
"I see you have taken my daughter's measure!" Marwan clapped his hands twice. Garshan, the meek wife, returned carrying a tray of flat bread and some roasted acorns, food these people could scarcely afford to share. "Come! Eat! I wish to try this oil you have brought to negotiate my daughter's hand!"
No one, not even his father, had ever broken bread with the people of the desert. This was a new level of alliance with these people who tolerated his machinations to kill the winged demon because doing so suited their interests.
