London, England, 2019

As rain pelted the old glass window of a hotel on the outskirts of the city, time stood still, and he began to speak. "Long ago there was a prince..."

He shared the tale of a young Egyptian, born in the late 1700s, an arranged marriage, an eventual love that was all-consuming-of a difficult pregnancy, an impossible birth, and the deaths of both mother and child. The unimaginable pain and grief that followed, and a tomb built into a cliffside in an undisclosed location in Cairo.

He told of the death of a king, an inheritance of FIVE STONES, and how each one offered a unique chance for redemption. Stones so powerful that many went to great lengths to possess them, to include the Nazi regime during the war. As he finished, Alaa added one final detail: "I am the man in the story. I am here because of one of those stones."

He'd lived and endured several lifetimes before winding up in front of me.

How far would you go for the love of your life? How far had he gone? Where had he been, what had he seen, and how was it possible?

This story is for those who can still open their hearts and minds to fate, love, and beautiful possibilities.