Contents
Chapter Forty: Arin
Overview
Arin awakens in Essam, haunted by Sylvia’s departure and reports of her overwhelming power. He discovers Binyar Lazur’s secret pages and reexamines the fall of Jasad’s fortress, rejecting the accepted narrative. Following the clues, Arin concludes Hanim and Rawain conspired—and that Arin is their son, binding claims to both thrones.
Summary
Arin wakes in Essam feeling watched and disoriented, his body battered from recent battles and marked by intimacy in the Mirayah. Vaun rages against Sylvia for Arin’s injuries, but Arin defends her strategy: rendering him incapacitated protected both her people and him from their respective armies. Jeru reports sightings of Sylvia flying on a kitmer and hurling gold and silver lightning, which jolts Arin with fear for her mind’s stability.
As Jeru announces visitors, Arin dismisses them and searches his coat, finding a tightly folded packet of torn pages not in Sylvia’s hand. The pages, signed by Binyar Lazur of Nizahl, recount movements around the fall of Jasad’s fortress. Arin rereads them, testing the accepted belief that the fortress collapsed because the royal bloodline died at the Blood Summit—yet Essiya survived, so the bloodline still existed when the fortress fell.
Arin follows the implications: if not bloodline loss, then the fortress’s sustaining enchantment failed. He considers the annual renewal by the Qayid(a), Niphran’s reinstatement, and the rumor that Hanim provided a false enchantment. Binyar’s account suggests Nizahl marched in advance as if forewarned, implying collusion. Arin reasons Hanim would only risk the fortress if promised the Jasad throne through an irrefutable claim.
Arin assembles the final pieces: Hanim once led the Mufsids and conspired with Rawain when Rawain was Heir; Rawain later betrayed her, yet she still gambled on him. The only assurance strong enough was blood—an heir uniting both thrones. Arin recalls Isra, the lower-village woman who raised him and went to the Blood Summit knowing she would die. With mounting certainty, Arin concludes Hanim and Rawain are his parents, making Arin the living claim to Jasad and Nizahl.
Who Appears
- ArinNizahl prince; defends Sylvia’s choices, finds Binyar’s pages, and deduces he is Hanim and Rawain’s son, heir to both thrones.
- JeruAdvisor; reports Sylvia’s dramatic escape and visitors; present as Arin begins investigating the documents.
- VaunLoyal guardsman; furious at Sylvia for Arin’s injuries, highlighting court tensions and Arin’s defense of her tactics.
- Essiya of Jasad (Sylvia)Off-page; reportedly flies on a kitmer and casts gold and silver lightning; leaves Arin Binyar’s pages.
- Binyar LazurDeceased Nizahlan general; his pages detail movements before Jasad’s fall, triggering Arin’s conspiracy deduction.
- HanimFormer Qayida; allegedly authored a false enchantment and conspired with Rawain; likely Arin’s mother.
- RawainFormer Nizahl Heir, later Supreme; conspired with Hanim; likely Arin’s father, tying him to Jasad’s claim.
- IsraArin’s presumed mother; lower-village woman who raised him and went to the Blood Summit knowing she would die.