Chapter 23: Nahri

Nahri and Ali race through Daevabad on Muntadhir’s prized horse to stop expected Daeva reprisals at the shafit camp. They arrive to devastation: workshops burned, homes ruined, and stunned survivors amid smoke and ash. Subha confronts them beside a murdered youth burned alive during the raid.

Determined to help, Nahri breaks the Nahid taboo and openly heals the wounded shafit, saving many who would have died. By sunset, she has treated brutal injuries and learned that riders claimed to act in the Nahids’ name, sowing fear even of the hospital.

Ghassan rides in with the Guard, Muntadhir, and Kaveh. Ignoring Nahri, Ghassan strikes Ali, forces him to his knees, and orders his arrest and the camp’s destruction. Nahri interposes herself and, when Kaveh condemns her healing, she doubles down, demonstrating her power and condemning their failure to contain violence.

In a tense exchange, Nahri threatens to tear the city apart if Ghassan destroys the hospital or imprisons her partner. Ghassan weighs her challenge, then relents partially: the hospital may continue, but Nahri is barred from returning until completion, contact with Ali is restricted to monitored messengers, and loyal Guards will confine her movements.

Turning back to Ali, Ghassan blames him for disobedience and collateral harm, then delivers a final blow: Hatset will be exiled to Ta Ntry. The chapter ends with Ghassan asserting control, Nahri securing the hospital at great political cost, and Ali seized as tensions sharpen across Daevabad.