In 1906, Jessica Grey, a ravishing American heiress, is engaged to marry handsome young British diplomat Forest Pinkerton. When Forest is ordered to report to Damascus, Jessica joins Forest in the Ottoman Empire to marry him there. On the long train ride to Damascus, Jessica learns that the Sultan's empire is in the throes of an insurrection led by the handsome rebel Tarik Ahmet Pasha. Her journey is violently interrupted when Pasha and his men board the train and kill one of the passengers.
Pasha is immediately struck by Jessica's beauty. Soon after her arrival in Damascus, Pasha and his rebel troops attack, abducting Jessica and taking her from theb arms of Forest once again.