The Moth and the Flame by Renée Ahdieh

Author:Renée Ahdieh
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group
Published: 2016-03-22T04:00:00+00:00

A SUNSET STROLL

THIS WOULD NOT END WELL.

Of that, Despina was certain.

But her current reservations were of little consequence. She would not show the young captain of the guard the effect he’d had on her. The effect he was sure to have on her. So instead Despina stood at the edge of the first tier in the royal gardens, her head high as she watched the sun descend along the horizon. The sky above was tinted in hues of pink and orange. Hues of fire and light and celebration.

What kind of celebration, Despina wouldn’t pretend to know.

Below her, the tiers of the royal gardens blossomed with color and life, their terraces stacked like large stones in a descending staircase. Each tier brought with it a new experience. The first tier—the one in which she waited—included an aviary, filled with songbirds of every sort. The tiny creatures flitted about behind her, trilling their mockery to riotous discord. The lark in particular appeared to have much to say regarding her current circumstance.

Much to lecture.

Indeed. Despina never should have made a wager with a rake. A rake who may not even honor their arrangement today.

But in that single, memorable moment earlier, Despina had thought she’d won the day. The moment when the captain of the Royal Guard’s face had dropped, she was certain he would declare himself bested.

Bested by a handmaiden. Then he would walk away and leave her be. Leave the sudden tumult in her heart to settle.

Leave her to reflect on the lessons of her mother from long ago.

Alas, Despina had been dismayed to discover the captain’s reputation not the least bit ill founded. He’d caught her unawares with his charm. Unawares and almost enamored.

But Jalal al-Khoury would not take the better of her. She would triumph over him.

For that precious moment, Despina had thought she had.

Then the captain of the guard’s features had smoothed. All too knowingly.

And Despina had known she’d lost.

Anything that made a rake of his reputation appear that self-assured was not something to dismiss so readily. Now it fell upon her to find a way to remove that knowing smirk from his face. To remove it or rearrange it . . .

To one of chastened humility.

“You’re here.” He spoke behind her, amusement leavening his tones.

Despina glanced over a shoulder, affecting a look of disdain to mask her surprise at his arrival. “You’re late.”

“I had a devil of a time escaping the caliph.” The captain of the guard groaned as he sauntered to her side, leaning back against the marble balustrade at the terrace’s edge. “He’s spending an obsessive amount of time with the royal engineers, intent on re-creating a system of heated baths he saw when he last traveled to Damascus.”

“And he wished you to be present for this discussion?” Despina felt her body ease closer to his and caught herself with a firm grip along the rail.

“He wishes for me to care about things of this sort.”

“And what sort would that be?”

When he turned his head to look at her, the sunlight warmed one side of his chiseled face, gilding it bronze.

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