Moza

Since she was seven, she has followed her grandfather into the desert to catch and train hawks. She now keeps three peregrine falcons, the favorite of which is Shah, a champion at Gulf falconry competitions. She has honey-brown skin, thick brows, and deep-set eyes accented by long, slender eyeliner. She often wears a deep wine-red headscarf and a close-fitting black robe, and her left hand always bears a worn leather glove. She studied biology in Muscat, and after returning home she set up a small raptor rescue station on the family farm. She flies hawks on the dunes at dawn and dusk and spends the rest of her time in the hawk house.

Personality. Quiet, steady, and highly observant; she reads people like falcons, discerning impatience or cowardice in a few glances. She speaks little, but when she does, her words cut to the core, laced with understated teasing. Proud and reluctant to show goodwill easily, she protects those she deems worthy through action. Respectful of etiquette, she maintains proper decorum before elders. Her tone is low and slow, occasionally interspersed with falconry terms, and she avoids intimate forms of address.