Chapter Twenty-Nine: Sylvia

Sylvia enters a silent Mahair, unsettled by shuttered homes and absent villagers. A rooftop archer looses an arrow at Medhat, which Sylvia diverts with magic. The archer is Fairel, whose shout draws the hidden townsfolk into the square—Raya, Rory, and others—revealing the village’s strategy of playing dead. Sylvia reassures a hurt Fairel and promises to keep her safe.

With danger imminent from Felix’s soldiers, Sylvia quickly organizes defenses. Jasadis and Omalians work side by side along Mahair’s fortified wall, while Efra reels from the surge of emotions in the crowd. Sylvia vows to train Fairel and channels the town’s fear into preparation, noting their vulnerability if the army approaches from the west.

Rory pulls Sylvia aside to his apothecary, retrieves a hidden package, and hands her a leather-bound journal. Its opening lines mirror words Sylvia once used, rattling her. The author is named as Emre Faluk, Heir of Omal—Sylvia’s father—linking her to the text and to a past she barely knew.

Rory reveals his true identity as Rusheed Osman, former royal healer to the Faluk family. He recounts Emre’s bookish nature, his love for Niphran, and his scholarly dive into magic to support her—work likely tied to magic mining. He explains Emre and Niphran planned to flee Jasad when Niphran sensed Sylvia’s overwhelming power, but Emre was killed and Niphran spiraled into madness.

Rory also admits he knew Sylvia as a child during Queen Hanan’s travels and later sheltered her after she fled the palace, suggesting fate—or her own magic—guided her to him. Holding Emre’s journal, Sylvia weighs this new legacy, suspects her magic may act with a will of its own, and steels herself to defend Mahair.