These Infinite Threads (this Woven Kingdom, #2)

The second installment in the Woven Kingdom series picks up immediately after the events of This Woven Kingdom, set in a fantasy world inspired by Persian mythology where two peoples, Clay (humans) and Fire (Jinn, beings forged from flame), coexist under uneasy terms. Alizeh, a young Jinn woman and the lost queen of the Jinn, has been exposed, and the consequences are catastrophic.

The novel opens in the aftermath of a ruined royal ball at the Ardunian palace. Kamran, the crown prince of the world's largest empire, watches as Alizeh charges through a ring of magical fire created by Cyrus, the young king of the neighboring empire of Tulan, and emerges unscathed, proving she is Jinn and fireproof. Kamran's grandfather, King Zaal, lies dead, murdered by Cyrus, with twin snakes exposed at his shoulders. Kamran's grief fuses with rage as he concludes Alizeh has been conspiring against him, allied with both Cyrus and Hazan, Kamran's own home minister. He orders Hazan seized and sentenced to hang.

Alizeh flees, launched into the air by dark magic and caught by a Tulanian dragon that carries her into the night. Kamran and Cyrus fight a brutal sword duel. Despite severe injuries, Kamran gains the upper hand, but Cyrus uses magic to paralyze him and vanishes. Zahhak, the defense minister, seizes the moment to declare the prince dead and position himself for control of the crown. Kamran's mother saves him by throwing her ruby dagger into his shoulder; the blade, fortified by the Diviners, a priestly order of magical authorities, shatters Cyrus's enchantment. Kamran discovers that the golden birthmark bisecting his torso, which signifies his right to the throne, has shattered and branched across the left side of his body, turning one eye gold. Bleeding and near death, he is found by Omid Shekarzadeh, a twelve-year-old street urchin whose life Kamran once saved. Omid gives him a Sif, a magical healing ration the murdered Diviners entrusted to the boy, saving Kamran's life.

Meanwhile, Cyrus reveals to Alizeh that they are heading to Tulan, where he intends to marry her. Iblees, the devil, demands this marriage as repayment for a debt, and Alizeh will become queen through the union. Alizeh possesses a nosta, a magical orb that warms when it detects truth and cools when it detects lies, given to her by Hazan. She resolves to use it secretly to expose Cyrus's deceptions. They arrive at the Tulanian palace, perched atop cliffs surrounded by colossal waterfalls that sustain Alizeh, since Jinn are nourished by water rather than food.

At the palace, Cyrus's mother, Sarra, greets Alizeh warmly, but the nosta reveals some of her words are lies. Alizeh declares she will not marry Cyrus. When she challenges him to a fight, he throws her off the cliff; dragons catch her, but one bites her, depositing her in an opulent suite. She realizes she left her carpet bag behind in Ardunia, containing her mother's handkerchief and an irreplaceable enchanted book.

The next morning, Kamran appoints Omid as his new home minister and heads to the dungeons to confront Hazan, who drops all pretense, revealing he is Jinn, a fact he concealed throughout their fifteen-year friendship. Kamran offers Hazan a deal: his life in exchange for knowledge of Alizeh and the Jinn. Hazan reveals the significance of Kamran's transformed birthmark: His right to the throne is no longer absolute, and a worthier inheritor may exist. Hazan then tears off his shackles and rips the prison door from its hinges, demonstrating his concealed Jinn strength, and becomes Kamran's reluctant ally.

In Tulan, Sarra visits Alizeh privately and reveals the source of her hatred for Cyrus: He murdered her husband, the former king, and showed no remorse. Sarra asks Alizeh to help kill Cyrus by pretending to accept his marriage proposal, gaining his trust, and poisoning him. Alizeh reluctantly agrees.

Cyrus instantly guesses Alizeh has been conspiring with his mother. In the confrontation that follows, the nosta confirms Cyrus cannot and will not hurt her; the devil has forbidden him from harming her. Cyrus makes his real offer: a marriage in title only, long enough to satisfy Iblees's demands. Once discharged of his debt, he will give Alizeh leave to kill him and take Tulan for herself. When pressed about why he killed his father, he recites a verse from Iblees warning that revealing the reason will result in his death. Alizeh does not accept but promises to consider.

In Ardunia, Miss Huda, daughter of Lojjan's ambassador to Ardunia, arrives with Alizeh's abandoned carpet bag and testifies that she witnessed the first time Alizeh and Cyrus met, insisting they were strangers. Omid also brings Deen, a local apothecarist who once treated Alizeh's wounds, for Kamran to question as a witness. Kamran dismisses her claims, but when a firefly escapes from the bag, he recognizes it. Fireflies hold deep significance in Jinn culture, and Kamran had earlier found this one among Hazan's possessions. Its presence in Alizeh's bag confirms that Hazan's loyalties were tied to Alizeh independently of Cyrus, forcing Kamran to rethink his assumptions.

Cyrus takes Alizeh into the royal city of Mesti, where Jinn residents begin recognizing her. A crowd surges forward, crying out about imprisoned family members and injustices, calling her their queen and begging her to speak. Overwhelmed, Alizeh nearly faints. Cyrus transports them to a secluded flower field, where Iblees seizes him without warning and tortures him for two hours while Alizeh watches helplessly. She recognizes the display as manipulation designed to pressure her into accepting the marriage. After Cyrus loses consciousness, she cradles his head and cleans the blood from his face. He enters a delirious recovery state, unable to distinguish reality from dreaming, and she persuades him to transport them back to the palace, where he collapses.

Hiding in Cyrus's locked study, Alizeh discovers her stolen enchanted book inside a cabinet that responds to her presence. Cyrus appears with a sword at her throat, admitting he stole the book days ago. Her trust shatters. They fight with swords, and in the aftermath, Cyrus confesses that Iblees planted vivid dreams of her in his mind for months, weaponizing his affections. The nosta confirms everything. Alizeh holds firm, telling him she cannot be with him because he could never choose her over the devil, though she might accept a marriage in title only for her people's sake.

Kamran and Hazan examine the enchanted book, finding a cryptic inscription and a symbol Hazan identifies as representing Arya, the mountain range in northern Ardunia where the Jinn built their first kingdom. The mountains are rumored to hold a hidden magic accessible only to the true Jinn sovereign. Kamran connects this to intelligence about Tulanian spies and unexplained avalanches, theorizing that Tulan has been goading Ardunia into war to divert forces while operatives search the mountains. Kamran confesses he would have married Alizeh; Hazan suggests the inscription might mean Kamran, not Cyrus, is meant to marry her. They resolve to travel to Tulan.

As Kamran prepares to depart, Zahhak corners him with Diviners who seize him with magic and deposit him in the tower prison, the palace's most brutal form of solitary confinement. In the freezing darkness, the Diviners command him to empty his pockets. He finds a package the murdered Diviners left him: a black feather and a torn scrap of his grandfather's will explaining that the feather belongs to Simorgh, a legendary magical bird who raised Zaal as a child. Touching the feather to his blood will summon her.

In Tulan, thousands of Jinn storm the castle, threatening to burn the city if Alizeh does not show herself. Alizeh, hearing her people's desperation, resolves to step forward. She remembers what her parents would want and emerges from the shadows.

In the tower, Kamran presses the feather to his bloodied hand. Hazan arrives with Miss Huda, Omid, and the apothecarist Deen, having tracked him using the firefly. Hazan breaks down the door. Simorgh appears, enormous and magnificent, destroying the tower roof and kneeling before Kamran. Her four children provide mounts for the rest of the group. Simorgh launches into the sky, trailing color across the heavens. Kamran looks back at the palace, wondering who he will be if he ever returns, as they fly toward Tulan. The story continues in All This Twisted Glory.