‘Yusuf, look! That’s where you’ll live,’ his father said while
they rode through some small villages just outside Aleppo.
On a high hill in the middle of the town, the boy saw the tall
walls of the castle climb up towards the sky. They made Yusuf
feel very small and unimportant. The building looked like it was
growing even taller while he rode through the town towards it.
Yusuf wanted to go back home, but he knew that he couldn’t say
anything to his father. Ayyub rode up into the castle and Yusuf
followed silently. They found the general talking to his men in a
large room full of swords. Shirkuh was an ugly man, with only
one eye. No one could say that he looked like a general, but he
was brave and he knew everything about the best ways to fight
and win.