The Sky Of Nadira Giovanni Mongiovì Sicily, 11th century. Nadira is an innocent girl of Berber origins, who lives with submission the impositions of her brother; for examples when he told her that she will have to become one of the wives of the emir of her city. However, his eyes are something strange and bewitching that they attract the attention of more than one pretender. Soon the fame of a curse spreads: men who meet his gaze cannot help but desire and try to have it. The very eyes of Nadira, and that boundless sky that they remember, will be the cause of the outbreak of the last war that the Muslim Sicily will experience. Meanwhile, the de Hauteville brothers, fearsome Norman warriors, are waiting to take advantage of any pretext, so that they can cross the sea in order to begin a crusade against the Moors. ”Can there really exist something so extraordinarily irresistible and cursed as to irreparably shake the desires of those who watch it?” Nadira's atypical blue eyes seem to prove that this is the case. Sicily, 11th century. We are in the latest period of Arab domination: the emirs of the main cities of the island are fighting a war between each other and the Christian forces are waiting for an excuse to intervene so as to undertake their holy war against the Muslim enemy. Nadira is an innocent Berber girl who lives with submission the impositions of her brother; like when he told her that she will have to become one of the wives of the emir of her city. However, her eyes are something strange and bewitching that attract the attention of more than one pretender. Soon the fame of a curse spreads: men who meet his gaze cannot help but they desire and try to have it. The very eyes of Nadira, and that boundless sky that they remember, will be the cause of the outbreak of the last war that Muslim Sicily will ever experience. Meanwhile, the de Hauteville brothers, fearsome Norman warriors, are waiting to take advantage of any pretext, so that they can cross the sea in order to begin a crusade against the Moors. Corrado, a Norman too, moves in all of this, but raised among Sicilian Christians. His ambition is boundless and his revenge against Muslim rulers stronger than common sense. Corrado's fate will eventually cross with the ”sky of Nadira” and with the mystery that hides behind the nature of those eyes. But only if he can reveal what binds a man's heart to the desire that subjects him to evil, he will be able to overcome the danger that Nadira's beauty represents. The war is still raging, which has now become a clash of cultures and religions, when the fragile sprout of tolerance begins to emerge from the ground of hatred ... hope cured by those who have been able to put their soul's concerns in order. A multicultural setting, a story told from all perspectives, an objective story with a current flavour, a novel that lovers of adventure historical fiction cannot ignore. Giovanni Mongiovì THE SKY OF NADIRA Regnum On the cover: Luana’s eyes (with courtesy); A norman shield, Athens, Museum of war. giovannimongiovi.com (http://giovannimongiovi.com) Copyright © 2019 - Giovanni Mongiovì Copyright © 2020 - Arianna Raimondi (translator) I don't need to write something indescribable, that try without success the description of the immensely perfect, the awareness I am raising is already poetry, the highest and pure, written by intangible hands, conceived by an excellent mind, inspired by a huge heart; my love, we ended up in the art of God: "that one being loves another with ever more indissoluble love". That I love you more every day ... To Valentina and Tommaso ... lustru dê me òcchii ... Summary Introduction 6 PART I – THE STRANGER TIED TO THE POLE 7 Chapter 1 8 Chapter 2 12 Chapter 3 18 Chapter 4 20 Chapter 5 22 Chapter 6 26 Chapter 7 33 Chapter 8 35 Chapter 9 40 Chapter 10 45 Chapter 11 48 Chapter 12 52 Chapter 13 58 Chapter 14 62 PART II – THE WAR OF THE QĀ’IDS 67 Chapter 15 68 Chapter 16 72 Chapter 17 76 Chapter 18 79 Chapter 19 82 Chapter 20 86 Chapter 21 89 PART III – THE TRUCE OF MUḤARRAM 91 Chapter 22 92 Chapter 23 98 Chapter 24 102 Chapter 25 107 Chapter 26 111 Chapter 27 116 Chapter 28 118 PART IV – THE RETURN OF CONRAD 121 Chapter 29 122 Chapter 30 125 Chapter 31 128 Chapter 32 133 Chapter 33 138 Chapter 34 141 Chapter 35 146 PART V - THE PLOTS OF POWER 150 Chapter 36 151 Chapter 37 154 Chapter 38 157 Chapter 39 161 Chapter 40 167 Chapter 41 172 Chapter 42 179 PART VI – THE CURSE OF PENTHESILEA 183 Chapter 43 184 Chapter 44 188 Chapter 45 194 Chapter 46 199 Chapter 47 204 Chapter 48 209 Chapter 49 213 PART VII - THE CONDITIONS OF FREEDOM 218 Chapter 50 219 Chapter 51 224 Chapter 52 228 Chapter 53 235 Regnum - The coral hunter 243 Others wotks of the autor 244 Biography 245 Introduction No matter how many rivers flow into the sea, they will never have the name of the waters where they throw themselves for the simply motive that the sea cannot be a reason for a river. In the same way, the beginning cannot replace the definition of the end, nor can it exceed its importance. Look at the source of a river, at the high cliffs from which it flows, taste its waters, and give it a name based on this. It is not the action that makes a man, it is not the hand that perform the action, the reason for everything is the heart. The essence of original sin was not to pick the fruit, but all that moved that gesture. The greed can hide everywhere: in the succulent meat, in the redness of wine, in the shapes of a girl... or at least it is so that justifies himself who surrenders. The truth is that it hides exclusively in the eyes and hearts of those who feel that consuming fire, that devouring flame that is lust. Among the illustrious of these people descendants of ancient Greek, a story was told. It was a story that survived the baptism of Christianity and the sword of Islam. Penthesilea, a powerful Amazon, was called to fight in defence of the Trojans. She was a beautiful woman and, as often happens in Greek myths, the goddesses envied her. For this reason, Aphrodite wanted to punish her with the most terrible sentence: every man who had seen her, would have felt such an unstoppable desire to have her, and for certain he would have tried to rape her. Penthesilea hid under her armour for as long as she could, except that, during a battle, Achilles killed her and stripped her of her weapons. Only then was it evident that Penthesilea's curse overcame the same death: in fact, Achilles could not resist it ... Beyond the myth, can something so extraordinarily irresistible and cursed really exist to stir the wishes of those who watch it? A beauty of such power to let the malice of hearts emerge, but also ambivalent, as it can bring out the noble virtues in the soul of the deserving. The following story is the first of many others about men and women, about blood that binds each of them to their own past and the future. It is the story of this land, its peoples, its wars, its vices and its dormant qualities. However, what follows is the first, and being such is therefore the original ... Конец ознакомительного фрагмента. Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес». Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию (https://www.litres.ru/pages/biblio_book/?art=63011743) на ЛитРес. Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.