The Wrath and the Dawn by Ahdieh Renee

Author:Ahdieh, Renee [Ahdieh, Renee]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Romance, Fantasy, young adult, Historical
Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group
Published: 2015-05-11T07:00:00+00:00

The corridors of Taleqan were as silent as the grave.

As dark as the most sinister of intentions.

Jahandar climbed the stairs, clutching the bundle in his left arm tight. The torch in his right hand wavered with every cautious step, casting shadows along the uneven stone walls.

His heart pounding, he pushed the wooden door to his room ajar and leaned into it until it shuddered closed with an echoing thud.

When he was certain no one had heard him moving about, he breathed a sigh of relief before setting the bundle atop his desk and barring the door.

Then he removed the dagger from beneath his cloak.

It was a simple blade. Insignificant at first glance. A wooden handle with commonplace carvings. Slightly hooked and forged of dark iron.

Quite unremarkable, really.

Jahandar closed his eyes and clenched the dagger in his palm.

It was time. After more than two weeks of painstaking study and tedious translation, the moment was upon him.

Tonight, he would learn if the book had chosen him.

Tonight, he would discover if he was worthy of its power.

Again, he walked to the bundle on his desk. He unwrapped the linen.

Nestled in its center was a sleeping hare of soft tan fur.

His first test.

Jahandar swallowed.

He did not want the creature to suffer. It seemed wholly unfair to take the life of such a helpless thing in such a gruesome manner.

But it could not be helped.

He had to do what was necessary. For his children. For himself.

He raised the dagger in his right hand and drew it across his left palm in a single, quick motion. A line of blood appeared in its wake. He dripped the crimson liquid onto the dark blade.

As soon as his blood coated the dagger’s edge, the metal began to glow a white-hot blue.

Jahandar’s eyes gleamed.

Now the cycle had to be completed.

He inhaled through his nose, silently beseeching the sleeping hare for forgiveness. Then he drew the luminous blade across its throat.

Jahandar watched the small creature’s bright blood spill onto the dagger, and the metal turned from a glowing blue to a fiery red.

The magic rose from the blade into the air, filling the chamber with an eerie rubicund light.

Finally, he touched the dagger to his palm.

Power flowed into the open wound, raw and frightening. It seared as it pummeled through his body, heating him to his very bones. His eyes flashed once, and the dark blade fell to the floor.

When his vision cleared, everything around him appeared sharper than before. The fatigue of only a moment ago was but a distant memory. He stood taller. Breathed deeper.

Felt invincible.

He bent to the floor and retrieved the dagger, wiping its surface on the bundle of linen next to the motionless body of the tiny hare.

Jahandar paused in thought.

Then he waved his hand over the bloody carcass.

And it disappeared in a burst of cool light.

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