Page 38 of A Filling of Fables and Firelight

“‘Kamden,’ he answered, waiting to see if there was any spark of recognition. To his disappointment, there wasn’t.

“‘Thank you, Kamden,’ she repeated. ‘My name is…”

Rana trailed off for a moment, torn out of the story at the aggravating problem of needing to name a character.

“Rain.” Kamaran supplied.

She blinked. “Rain?”

“That should be her name.” He smiled innocently. “Kamden and Rain. What lovely names.”

She opened her mouth to argue, then decided it wasn’t worth the effort. “Fine then. ‘My name is Rain,’ the servant girl said. She led Prince Kamden to a corner of the garden where the rose bushes had always bloomed best. Sure enough, the air around the fragrant blossoms was buzzing with a swarm of bees.

“Rain stood back as Kamden crawled along the ground, unbothered by the flying insects. Plucking the flowers was a little more difficult than he had anticipated, as the thorns were sharp even to his scaly skin, and reaching the stems with the biggest blossoms required him to climb up into the branches of the rose bush, but he finally was able to present Rain with twelve beautiful roses.

“She clapped her hands together. ‘Oh, thank you!’ Her eyes widened as she took in the scratches on his body. ‘You’re hurt.’

“‘It’s nothing. I’m glad I could help,’ he replied, surprised to find that he meant every word.

“Rain shook her head. ‘It’s not nothing. Here, as payment for your services.’ She pulled a chain over her head, revealing a shiny gold ring.

“‘I don’t need jewelry,’ he said, touched all the same by her show of gratitude.

“She slipped the chain back on. ‘There must be some way to repay you.’

“Prince Kamden hesitated. ‘I am hungry.’

“‘Of course!’ Rain’s face brightened. ‘I don’t know what talking lizards eat, but I’m sure we can find you something inside. You’ll have to let me carry you, though.’

“Before he knew what was happening, Rain scooped him up and dropped him in her apron pocket. ‘I’m not certain that Cook will be pleased to have a lizard in his kitchen, but just whisper what you want and I’ll put it on my plate for you.’”

“Aha!” Kamaran cheered sleepily. Rana looked up to see that his eyes had fallen to half-mast. “She’ll take him in, they’ll share a plate, and then they’ll fall in love.”

Rana exhaled a laugh as she shook her head. “She’s not going to kiss him.”

“Yet,” he mumbled, clearly fighting the edge of sleep. “Never underestimate the charm of a lizard prince. Rain is destined to fall.”

Her heart squeezed painfully as she watched him succumb to his drowsiness. Rana leaned her cheek against the cushion as she studied him. He looked so peaceful and content, more like a young man and less like a Sultan with the weight of a country’s expectations on his shoulders. If she were the one telling their story, they would live in the moment forever—a moment where they were the only two in the world, living out their own fairy tale without the looming reality of a bridal competition that threatened to take him away.

She sighed, reaching for his fingers and squeezing them affectionately.

“The charm of a lizard prince indeed.”

Chapter Nineteen

RANA

“I’ve always said my cooking was good enough for a Sultan,” Teta sighed happily over her steaming cup of tea. “If only your grandfather were here for me to tell him, ‘I told you so.’”

Rana grinned as she set her own cup back on the small table between them. Dan and Aida’s apartment above the tailor shop was small, but cozy, and the kitchen was full of bright sunlight and the fresh, calming scent of the trailing ferns that hung from hemp baskets on either side.

It had been too long since she had been able to sneak away and visit Teta. After the incident with the scorpion the night before and the sudden revelation of the feelings she was still trying to fight against, Rana had taken the entire morning off.

“Didn’t you normally break out that line when something burned and he happened to notice?”

“Details, details.” Teta waved her comment away. “What matters is that our Sultan has tasted my Adhavian Delight. Even more interesting.” Her eyes took on a calculating gleam. “Is the fact that you willingly shared with him. What happened to staying as far away from him as you could?”

She could feel the blush creeping up her neck, and she picked her cup up again and held it with both hands in front of her face, as if somehow the tiny vessel would hide her from Teta’s far too knowing gaze. “He kept finding me.”