Contents
Chapter 5: Ali
Overview
Ali teaches in Bir Nabat, quashing rumors that link his water gift to the marid. An Ayaanle cousin, Musa, arrives with a valuable cursed-salt caravan and pressures Ali to escort it to Daevabad for Navasatem, citing turmoil in the city and Ali’s family.
Ali refuses and humiliates Musa, who sabotages Bir Nabat’s cistern and flees. After repairing the flood, Ali resolves to take the salt to Daevabad and dispatches fighters to capture Musa, setting his reluctant return in motion.
Summary
Ali conducts a sand-letter lesson for Bir Nabat’s children, but their questions reveal circulating rumors that his water-finding gift is tied to the marid. Disturbed, Ali shuts down the talk. Lubayd interrupts with news of a large, off-route Ayaanle salt caravan approaching the isolated oasis.
Ali, Lubayd, and Aqisa meet the caravan and a single, ostentatiously wealthy Ayaanle man: Musa, who claims distant kinship to Ali. Musa proves the cargo is Ayaanle-cursed by burning Lubayd’s hand and requests Ali’s help escorting the tax salt to Daevabad for Navasatem. Ali, resentful of Ayaanle scheming and exile, interrogates Musa, who invokes Daevabad’s worsening crime, corruption, and Ali’s suffering family to persuade him.
Ali rejects the plea, threatens Musa privately, and publicly imposes penalties for abusing Bir Nabat’s hospitality. He orders Musa to leave at dawn, allowing villagers a share of the cargo for their losses. Musa, angered but outwardly compliant, yields for the night.
Before dawn, Ali awakens to a catastrophic flood: the cistern rocks restricting the spring have been moved. He dives to contain the rupture, confirming deliberate sabotage by a trained swimmer. The village sustains damage to aqueducts and orchards, while Musa vanishes amid the chaos, leaving the salt behind.
Weary and furious, Ali recognizes that abandoning the cargo would invite royal retribution on Bir Nabat. He resolves to escort the salt to Daevabad despite his exile, first organizing repairs. Ali orders fighters to pursue Musa for capture, disavowing any kinship with someone who would poison a well, and vows to return to Bir Nabat after completing the task.
Who Appears
- Alizayd al Qahtani (Ali)Exiled prince teaching in Bir Nabat; rebuffs Musa’s plea, survives a sabotaged cistern, and decides to deliver the Ayaanle salt to Daevabad.
- MusaAli’s Ayaanle cousin; arrives with a cursed-salt caravan, pressures Ali to escort it, sabotages the cistern, and flees.
- LubaydAli’s friend in Bir Nabat; alerts him to the rupture, helps manage flood response, and supports the plan to transport the salt.
- AqisaGeziri warrior; distrusts Musa, urges harsher measures, and prepares to help with the salt and pursuit.