Chapter 18: Nahri

Nahri wakes in her lavish quarters, uneasy with servants and the reverence her supposed Nahid lineage commands. Nisreen readies her for a first patient and urges faith and ritual, revealing fragments of her own past with the Nahids and emphasizing tradition as grounding. Nahri’s doubts about her blood and isolation simmer beneath the preparation.

In the infirmary, a wealthy Daeva matron arrives with a suspected fire salamander parasite. Guided by Nisreen’s elixir, Nahri alone perceives the creature moving under the woman’s skin. Her inexperience and frustration spike; when she barks at the patient, the parasite swells and constricts the woman’s throat. Nisreen calmly counteracts it with liquefied charcoal, while warning Nahri that intention shapes magic. Shaken by nearly killing the patient, Nahri abandons the procedure and flees.

In the palace gardens, Nahri reflects on homesickness, suspected captivity under Ghassan, and fear of failure. She stumbles upon Ali swimming at a canal that flows upward over the palace wall. Spotting books marked with Afshin symbols, she confronts him and learns that Dara’s tattoos are an ifrit-imposed record of human masters killed, confirming Dara’s coerced, violent past and revealing Ali’s investigative interest in their story.

Ali offers to escort her back and, in his modest study, their hostility softens into negotiation. When Nahri admits she cannot read and wants practical knowledge, Ali offers to teach her Arabic and share materials on markets and economics. Weighing her need for information and leverage—especially with Dara absent and suspicion mounting—Nahri accepts, beginning lessons immediately.