Chapter 4: Ali

On a cold, rainy morning in Daevabad, Prince Alizayd al Qahtani meets Sheikh Anas at an old mosque, pressing him about rumors that the Tanzeem are arming and inciting violence. Ali demands accountability for his secret funding; Anas instead offers to show Ali how the money is used that night.

After dark, Ali disguises himself as an Ayaanle noble and meets Anas and Hanno, a shafit shapeshifter, at the Daeva Gate. They slip into a Daeva tavern to buy a baby from the slaver Turan, who traffics shafit children to pass as purebloods. Ali witnesses a terrified shafit girl servant with bruises and offers his jeweled collar to purchase her freedom, drawing Turan’s suspicion.

Turan traps them with a warded door, but Ali—Citadel trained—breaks the enchantment and finds Royal Guard massing outside. In the storerooms, Turan and a guard ambush them; Ali ignites his zulfiqar to defend the shafit children. When the Daeva guard recognizes Ali, Hanno kills him and then Turan to prevent exposure.

As the Guard, led by Qaid Wajed, breach the tavern, the group flees into alleys only to face Daeva archers on elephants. Anas decides to distract the soldiers so the others can escape, entrusting Ali and Hanno with the baby and the girl. Under fire, Ali and Hanno scale a trellis, sprint across rooftops, and, with soldiers closing in, Hanno makes an impossible jump to the quarter wall.

Cornered by duty and fear of his father’s wrath, Ali follows Hanno’s goading and leaps, committing fully to the dangerous path he has chosen with the children in his care and Anas’s sacrifice behind him.