By the Shores of the Middle Sea is the second novel in Dana Stabenow’s Silk and Song Trilogy. In Everything Under the Heavens, 16-year old Johanna fled Cambaluc—and her murderous stepmother—joining her uncle's westbound caravan on the Silk Road. With her foster brother Jaufre and a few faithful companions, they made it to the rooftop of the world—Terak Pass—separating Mongol China from the scattered sheikdoms of the Persian empire. Then, disaster struck. In a climactic skirmish, Johanna and her stallion, North Wind, were abducted and Jaufre left for dead. Now, in By the Shores of the Middle Sea, Johanna is a prisoner in the harem at Talikan, with Baron Ogodei's army pillaging the countryside and preparing to sack the tiny Persian enclave.
