Despina el-Sharif

Shahzad al-Khayzuran ('Cousin'-in-law)

**Despina al-Khoury** (nee **el-Sharif**), is a character of The Wrath & The Dawn and The Rose & The Dagger.

## Physical Appearance

Despina was described by Shahrzad al-Khayzuran as being a beautiful plump woman with honey-walnut colored hair that falls to her lower back and sparking blue eyes. Due to her Greek heritage, Despina has fair skin. It can be safely assumed that she inherited more from her mother that her father.

## Personality

Despina has often been regarded by many as having a silver-tongue with a sly expression. On more than one occasion, Shahrzad has accused Despina of being bold and when Despina tried to deny, albeit rather poorly, Shahrzad merely told her that she was 'bold enough' to have had an relationship with Jalal al-Khoury.

However, underneath her bold personality, Despina had always longed for a family and was desperate to protect that of her neglectful father and younger paternal half-sister. She revealed that her father had sent her to Khorasan in order to spy on Khalid Ibn al-Rashid in hopes of gaining information on the Caliph so that he would be forced to abdicate and Salim would be able to claim Khalid's kingdom.

She has proved herself a remarkable capable spy. She is an incredible actor, and uses a coy persona to deflect attention from her deceptions. She is unltimatly a very caring person, however. She primarily used her position to protect others.

## Biography

Despina was born as the illegitimate child of Sultan Salim al-Sharif and an unnamed woman who was regarded as the most gifted beautician of Thebes, Greece. Having been fatherless from the time she was born, Despina grew up under the care of her single mother - who always hoped that Despina's father would return to claim his child.

On her deathbed, Despina's mother had revealed who Despina's father was and that she was truly, by birthright, a Princess of Parthia.

## Relationships

### Jalal al-Khoury

Despina met Jalal when Ava al-Rashid was still Khalid's wife. He flirted with her, and was pleasantly suprised when she ridculed him for his attempts. Despina proceeds to play hard to get, and makes a fool of Jalal with a wager about "know[ing] everything about women" when he does not know her name. In recompense for losing, he must climb a tree to fetch her a bud of Jessamine for her. He falls out of the tree, and in the insuing conversation, they get on a first name basis. She stays the night with him on the night after Ava's father's curse is placed. It is unclear whether they slept together that night or another, but no matter the result, Despina ended up carrying his child.

### Ava al-Rashid

Despina was meant to be Ava's handmaiden, but the queen had brought servents of her own, downgrading her to "Guardian of the garments, instead." They do not interact much for this reason, but they do have a single interaction in which Despina encourages Ava to mention her calligraphy to Khalid, as she appears hesitant about the venture. Although Despina hold out hope that this encounter will lead to becoming closer to the queen, "the calipha never called on her again."

## References

1. ↑ Renée Ahdieh, *The Moth and the Flame* (Place of publication not identified: Penguin Young Readers Group, 2016).
2. ↑ Ahdieh, *The Moth*, [Page 2].
3. ↑ Ahdieh, *The Moth*, [Page #].