The other men arranged themselves in a circle in the carefully orchestrated seating arrangement of social rank, Marwan upon a plump cushion while the others picked seats around the fringe of the rug.
"There," Marwan pointed to a seat at his left-hand side. Jamin glanced at the man who had been ordered to move over, expecting to see a murderous glare at this usurpment, but the hawk-faced man bore laughter in his eyes. Whatever was going on, they found it funny.
Marwan clapped his hands twice. A flap at the back of the tent which divided the canopy in half opened and a woman glided out, covered from head to toe. Although her clothing was fine, she had that same, gaunt look the children had, the face of a woman who was not eating all she should. She approached Marwan with a flagon of water,
