B7 Fitawerari (Commander of the Center) Meshasha considers his family's lineage to be unparalleled in his land. B7 As parents, Fitaerari Meshasha and his wife Waizero Teru Aynet are determined to uphold the societal conventions of status and thus keep their daughter, Sablawengel, cloistered away from her 'less-socially prominent' peers. B7 Fitawerari Assagae, a middle-aged commander, offers to marry Sablawengel (past marriageable age) as a "divorced woman." B7 Despite extensive negotiations, Fitawerari Meshasha and Fitawerari Assagai duel over a perceived slight to the nobleman's honor. B7 Bazabah, a scholar and poet, is contracted to tutor Sablawengel in ecclesiastical Ethiopian literature. B7 An unsuspecting romance blooms between Bazabah and Sablawengel. B7 In lieu of the consequences of her parent's disapproval, Bazabah and Sablawengel plot an escape with the help of Gudu Kassa (a relative of Meshasha known for his contraire views and comic relief, a character akin to the fool in Shakespe