All This Twisted Glory

Kamran and the others glimpse Alizeh briefly and are glad she is alive. However, Huda wonders if Cyrus has sent Alizeh to a dungeon. Hazan reassures her this cannot be the case, as the dragon took her west, toward the Tulanian temple. Meanwhile, Cyrus lies at their feet, still breathing. Kamran, torn with guilt over shooting Alizeh, directs his rage against Cyrus. He wonders aloud if he should kill the king, but Hazan reminds him that Alizeh did not want Cyrus to die at Kamran’s hand.

As Hazan and Kamran argue over Cyrus, Huda grows tired of Kamran’s arrogance and tells him that Alizeh never spoke so rudely to others despite being a messiah. Hazan reminds Kamran that his first loyalty as a Jinn is to Alizeh: If Alizeh wanted Cyrus alive, Cyrus must live. Just then, a regal-looking older woman with coppery hair approaches them: Queen Sarra, Cyrus’s mother. Seemingly indifferent to Cyrus’s state, Sarra greets Kamran and invites his party to her palace for breakfast. Hazan interrupts the queen to ask why she does not help Cyrus. Sarra ignores Hazan, and he shouts for help, lifting Cyrus in his arms. Finally, some people arrive from the palace and take Cyrus away. Kamran accepts Sarra’s offer, though he is taken aback by her shoddy treatment of her son.

Queen Sarra’s behavior over breakfast leaves Huda, Kamran, and the others discomfited. Sarra insults Huda’s ruffled yellow dress and scoffs at the idea of her being Alizeh’s lady-in-waiting. She finds the idea of 12-year-old Omid being Kamran’s home minister amusing and talks down to Deen and Hazan, grilling them about their connection to Alizeh. When Hazan tells Sarra that his connection with Alizeh is none of the queen’s business, the queen announces that Alizeh is her business, as she is soon to be her daughter-in-law.

Sarra’s announcement leaves the Ardunians in shock. Kamran, in particular, is dismayed, though he tries to hide it by declaring he was never in love with Alizeh. Hazan chides Kamran for lying. Kamran’s companions tell him that his arrogance has kept him from winning the hearts of Alizeh and his people. In a heated moment, Kamran tells Sarra that he came to Tulan to kill Cyrus, but to everyone’s surprise, the queen is pleased by this news. She asks him to make it look like an accident to prevent a war.

Meanwhile, Hazan assures Sarra that a marriage between Alizeh and Cyrus will never take place. Alizeh is the queen of the Jinn and would never ally with murderous, clay-born Cyrus. Sarra responds that a union between Cyrus and Alizeh is politically necessary. The Jinn of Tulan know Alizeh’s true identity and will not let her go. Hazan blanches at the news that Alizeh’s identity is now public. Soon millions of Jinn will be arriving in Tulan, clamoring for an audience with Alizeh.

Cyrus is stuck in a nightmare in which he falls seemingly forever before crashing into the ground, his body shattered. Though Cyrus knows this is a nightmare, he feels no less pain. Iblees has been tormenting him with such nightmares for the last eight months. Cyrus knows that next in his dream, Alizeh will come to him. Through his broken teeth, Cyrus begs dream-Alizeh to stay away, but she says she only wants to help. She bends over Cyrus and mends him slowly with her touch. When Cyrus is healed, she embraces him. The two are transported to his bed, where they engage in sexual acts, Cyrus calling Alizeh “angel.” However, soon Cyrus realizes that this is still a dream. He bolts up and shouts at himself to wake up.

Kamran is taken aback at Hazan’s prediction that millions of Jinn will be drawn to Alizeh. He realizes that Alizeh is no nominal queen, but the liberator of her people. Though Kamran was enchanted by Alizeh’s beauty, he now feels he hardly knows her. Kamran worries that if the Jinn of his kingdom rebel and join Alizeh, the very foundations of Ardunia will shake. He remembers the inscription on the Book of Arya, which suggests the way forward is to unite clay and fire. Kamran wonders if marriage to Alizeh will fulfill the prophecy and safeguard his rule and his people. Even as the thought gains strength, Cyrus enters the palace, telling Kamran and his company to leave before he kills them.

For the first time since he started having the nightmares, Cyrus was able to rouse himself from one. He awoke to find himself mended by magic, his concerned staffers hovering nearby.

Now, in the palace, his body has healed, though he is sapped of energy. Kamran tells Cyrus he has no intention of leaving without Alizeh, whom Cyrus has kidnapped. Cyrus responds that Alizeh came with him of her own volition and is now recovering with the Diviners. She is safer with him than with hot-headed Kamran, who nearly shot her to death in his thirst for revenge. Kamran and Cyrus exchange heated words, edging toward a fight. When Kamran calls Cyrus the killer of Zaal, Cyrus reminds him that Zaal was no innocent, having made his own pact with the devil to unnaturally prolong his life by feeding on the brains of young children. Zaal whisked poor orphans off the streets of Ardunia to keep himself alive.

Uncomfortable, Kamran changes the subject, asking why Cyrus wants to marry Alizeh. Queen Sarra responds that it is the command of Iblees. Since Cyrus is under Iblees’s debt, he must carry the devil’s desires. What is more puzzling to Omid, Deen, and Huda is why Alizeh would consider marrying Cyrus. Cyrus explains the offer he made to Alizeh: He will make Alizeh the sole ruler of Tulan after she marries him. To ensure he is no competition to her rule, Cyrus has granted Alizeh the right to kill him after he fulfills his debt to Iblees. Once they are married, Cyrus will not touch Alizeh sexually unless she so desires. Kamran doubts Cyrus’s promise, and Cyrus responds that he plans to enter a blood oath with Alizeh to cement his words. A blood oath is dangerous, dark magic that will use Cyrus’s blood to bind him to Alizeh.

Everyone, including Queen Sarra, is shocked by Cyrus’s plan to forfeit his own life. Kamran, however, senses an opportunity and says that once Cyrus is dead, Kamran will marry Alizeh and Ardunia will absorb Tulan. Cyrus wonders if he did the wrong thing by revealing his plans to Kamran. Just then, a trio of Diviners arrives to speak with Cyrus about Alizeh.