Al Yamama

She lets go of it and it dives into the sand, moving around until LAITH catches it and\nscoops it up. Laith is Yamama’s best friend and it is now his turn to throw the drowner into the\nsand, to see if Yamama can catch it. As the drowner goes under the sand once more, Yamama\nfails to catch it, and an epic chase ensues heading towards the village. Yamama is so focused on\ncatching the drowner, she hasn't noticed that she is now in the midst of a huge crowd, as there are\ncelebrations going on all around.

She passes a puppet play of her father, King Kuliab, of how he\ndefeated the Yemeni King and rescued her mother, Jalila, to become the king of the Arabs of\nBadia.

Finally, Yamama focuses and scoops up the drowner from under the sand, but her victory\nis interrupted by her mother, JALILA. Jalila is furious that Yamama is not wearing her dress and\nis all dirty from the sand during the celebration, as her father is about to give a big speech to all\nthe tribes that have come in.

Yamama is taken to go stand with her family, and is immediately\nscooped up by her uncle, EL ZEER, who seems to love her very much.

Jalila stands next to her\nbrother and El Zeer’s bestfriend, JASAS, as they wait for the King to start his speech.\nKING KULAIB gives his speech and surprises everyone that all the water wells will be\nopen to the public.

The crowd erupts in a joyous frenzy, as Jasas looks to El Zeer to ask him if he\nknew anything about this, who claims he did not know. Jasas is shocked and worried that King\nKulaib is giving away their family’s greatest wealth to the public, the water wells.

The drowner\nthat was nestled in Yamama’s hand manages to break free and dives back into the sand, but is\neventually caught by King Kuliab.\nKing Kulaib takes the drowner and Yamama to the outskirts of the village, facing the\nundulating sand dunes, he sets the creature free. He lovingly lectures Yamama about the\nimportance of freedom for all living creatures, but she is determined that this drowner is hers and\nshe catches it again. King Kulaib starts training Yamama, and it is evident that the king has plans\nfor her to become a warrior, and perhaps even one day to inherit his title. Yamama scoffs at the\nthought, claiming that it is not possible because she is a girl, but her father remains firm in his\nbelief that anything can change.

To change the subject, Yamama asks her father if he really saved\nher mother from the King of Yemen, or was it all an exaggeration? King Kuliab teases her by\ngiving a playfully vague answer.\nA dinner is prepared for all the chiefs of the tribes that have come in, as Yamama helps with\nthe preparations, and Jalila supervises the working servants.

Jasas corners his sister Jalila and\nangrily tells her that King Kulaib must go back on his decision to open the wells to the public,\nclaiming that all the tribe leaders are furious. Jalila attempts to calm her brother, and advises him\nto not to go against King Kulaib and anger him; Yamama overhears their entire exchange.\nYamama continues to help serve food, noticing the presence of Laith and his father,\nHARITH, who is the leader of the Ruwala tribe.

Laith and Yamama exchange looks, as he is\nshocked to see her in a beautiful dress, one that she wore to appease her mother. Jasas stands up\nand confronts King Kulaib in front of all the tribe leaders, criticizing his decision to open all the\nwells to the public, as it is the main source of their income. El Zeer is next to Jasas, who also\nshares his anger about the decision.

King Kulaib tells the chieftains that he, like all the rest of\nthem, will open the wells for the people, agriculture, and the overall betterment of their society.\nHe reminds them of their enmity with the Kingdom of Yemen, and that it is important for the\npeople to be strong should they need to prepare for war. The King looks to El Zeer, and reminds\nhim that he is the one who strives for peace with the Kingdom of Yemen, even leading the\ncommunications with them, and King Kulaib insists that his decision will be beneficial for that\ngoal.

Darting back at Jasas, the King alludes that if any resistance or hypothetical rebellion\nshould happen, there will be consequences.\nYamama is finding it difficult to walk because she is visibly not used to wearing dresses.\nShe stumbles on the excess fabric and falls, but is caught by Laith, who cannot hide how\nbeautiful he thinks she is.\nThe next day, King Kulaib alongside Yamama and Jalilais are the line up to get water from\ntheir own well just like everyone else. The people are visibly in awe by his commitment.

Jalila\ntakes this time to talk to her husband about his decision about opening the wells to the people, to\nwhich he replies that he is choosing the side of the masses and not the interest of a few in power.\nA delegation from Yemen arrives in the village in efforts to strengthen their peace talks, and\nKulaib is glad to see the delegation witness the public happy with his leadership, as he thinks it\nwill aid their negotiations for peace.

The Yemeni delegation is indeed impressed, especially with\nKulaib out in public with no guards or protection.\nYamama and Laith spot each other from a distance and give a playful nod to one another.

A\nsoldier approaches King Kulaib and notifies him that Jasas is refusing to let anyone drink from\nhis well until his camel drinks first. King Kulaib sets off angrily as Jalila is trying to calm him\ndown.\nKing Kulaib approaches Jasas’s well, and there is a very long line of thirsty citizens. He\nconfronts Jasas, who is allowing his camel to drink. Jasas explains that his camel will drink first,\nand when it’s full, then the people will be allowed to drink. King Kulaib asks the people if Jasas\nhad stood in line, to which they reply no. Jasas interjects and states that he and his camel should\nat least have priority over the others. King Kulaib, getting visibility frustrated, asks Jasas to stand\nin line. Jasas stands his ground, announcing that he will not. King Kulaib breaks away and grabs\na spear from one of his men, to which he throws with all his strength at Jasas’s camel, killing it in\nan instant. All the witnesses to this are shocked, as the murder of one’s camel is considered to be\na great insult in the world of Bedouins and Arabs.\nYamama returns home to find her mother hysterically crying over what happened with King\nKulaib and Jasas. King Kulaib arrives and Jalila blames him for what happened, accusing him of\nnot respecting her family, just before she storms off to stay with her brother. Yamama attempts to\ncalm her angry father, urging him to reconcile with her mother, as she does not want her to go to\nbed sad. King Kulaib gives in to her request, as he often tries to make his daughter happy at any\nturn.\nKing Kulaib and Yamama head over to Jasas’s house, where everyone is gathered, visibly in\na state of grief and humiliation, because killing one’s camel is a great slight to their honor. King\nKulaib breaks the grieving silence by offering to give Jasas a camel, but Jasas doesn't want it.\nJasas states that no camel he could offer could replace the one he lost, and that the only thing that\ncould make this right is to offer a camel and issue a public apology. King Kulaib insists that he\ndid the right thing, further stating that he is here to make things right because they are family, not\nbecause Jasas was wronged. El Zeer interjects and tries to salvage the failing reconciliation,\nasking Jasas to consider the King’s offer as a suitable consolation; Jasas reluctantly accepts.\nKing Kulaib escorts the Yemeni delegation to the outskirts of the village and is preparing to\nsee them off. The Yemeni delegation promises King Kulaib that they will try their best to\nconvince the Yemeni King to seriously consider the peace talks, as they were very impressed by\nKing Kulaib’s personality and influence over his people. King Kulaib bids them a safe journey,\nas he spurs his horse to return to the village. Yamama is playing outside the village, and as usual\nis chasing a drowner. She spots her father riding back and she calls out to him, but he does hear\nhim. She tries once more and she finally gets his attention, King Kulaib smiles and starts to head\nover to her.

However, Jasas suddenly appears next to King Kulaib and tells him that he came to\napologize. Lulling him to a sense of ease, Jasas quickly unsheathes his sword and stabs the King\nin the back, sending him flying off his horse.\nYamama witnesses her father’s death and screams, which catches Jasas by surprise, who\nstarts to chase her.

Running for her life, Yamama manages to reach her fathers horse and attempts\nto escape. Jasas tries to catch up to her, but a violent sandstorm descends upon them, obstructing\ntheir vision.\nJasas breaks off and loses hope of finding Yamama in the blinding sand storm, as he takes\nhis sword and wounds himself. He returns to the village and confronts the tribe, announcing that\nthe Yemeni delegation killed King Kulaib and kidnapped Yamama. El Zeer is shocked by the\nnews, as he is the reason for letting the delegation into the village; he blames himself for the\ndeath of his brother and niece.\nYamama is lost in the desert, her horse collapses to the ground, dying of thirst.

Yamama\ncontinues on foot for as long as she can, but the Arabian desert sun gets the best of her, as she too\nfalls unconscious.\nBack in the village, Jalila is devastated as she mourns the loss of her husband and the\ndisappearance of her daughter. Jasas consoles his sister and promises that he will do everything\nhe can to find Yamama.

Jalila holds her stomach and tells her brother that she is pregnant, which\nstuns Jasas. Realizing that if it is a boy, he will inherit Kulaib’s title. Jasas tells Jalila to not tell\nanyone of her pregnancy, because if the Yemenis find out then her and the baby will be in danger.\nHe offers to adopt her child in order to keep them safe, and if it happens to be a boy, then he will\nmake him king after him.\nA convoy of slavers passes by Yamama’s unconscious body.

The leader of the slavers,\nABBAS, spots Yamama and goes to investigate. He feels her pulse and there is a faint heartbeat,\nso he signals to the caravan to carry on their trek.

SELM, an 14 years old slave, sympathizes\nwith Yamama, and urges Abbas to take her with them; Selm will share his water and food with\nher.

The convoy stops once again, and they load Yamama on.\nJasas holds a solemn funeral for King Kulaib, as he carries his coffin with El Zeer, who is in\nruin. After the funeral, all the tribal leaders convene to discuss who will be the next king. El Zeer\nannounces to the chieftains that he does not deserve to be king after he caused the death of his\nbrother.

A few names are tossed around, but that quickly ends with all of them choosing Jasas.\nKing Jasas stands among the chieftains and promises to avenge Kulaib, to which they respond\nwith battle cries and chants for the newly appointed king.\nThe convoy is still cutting through the harsh desert, as Selm puts some water on Yamama’s\nmouth to wake her up. Yamama eventually regains consciousness and accepts water and food\nfrom Selm; she even waters the drowner who is still in her possession. The two introduce\nthemselves to one another, and Yamama tells Selm her name and that she is from the Taghlib\ntribe. Selm quickly puts his hand over mouth and tells her to not tell anyone, informing her that\nthe Taghlib tribe killed the Yemeni delegation because they murdered King Kulaib; the war has\nbegun and that is why the convoy is going back to Yemen. Selm suggests that she changes her\nname.

Yamama thinks about it for a while… She chooses Khalida.\nThe slaver convoy arrives in Yemen. Abbas loads off all the slaves, and attempts to sell\nSelm to the royal palace, who's fighting skills are tested to join the royal guards. Abbas attempts\nto sell Yamama as a girl who will soon be fit to join the Yemini King’s harem, but she is rejected\nbecause she is too young. Yamama does not want to be separated from Selm, so she requests that\nshe be allowed to be tested to fight as well. The men from the royal palace mock the situation,\nbut they agree as they are finding this rather amusing. Yamama grabs a wooden sword and\nshield, and shows a lot of potential facing a guard twice her size. The head of the royal guards is\nimpressed by her resilience, he decides to buy her, deciding that she will be a guard of the King’s\nHarem, as they do not have any female guards.

Royal guards get a small amount of money, that\nover time, if they save enough they could one day buy their freedom. As Yamama enters the\npalace for the first time, there is a grand celebration, and she is surprised to find out that it\ncenters around the death of her father; Yamama does her best to hide her sadness.\nYamama becomes the only guard allowed to interact with the King’s harem, because she is\nthe only female guard.

She and Selm spend every day together training, strengthening not only\ntheir skills, but their friendship as well. They receive news that the Yemeni army is preparing to\nmarch against the Arabs.

Yamama asks Selm to help her sneak into the army, her plan is to get as\nclose as she can to her city, she will sneak away and expose Jasas.\nYamama successfully infiltrates the Yemeni army, but before they start moving she hears\nword that Jasas has become King! Realizing that she can no longer go home, Yamama returns to\nher post at the royal palace.

But before that, she releases the drowner she had held onto into the\nsand. If she can’t go home maybe he can."