This Woven Kingdom, #2
These Infinite Threads
by Tahereh Mafi
Contents
Fourteen
Overview
Alizeh confesses to Cyrus that Sarra urged her to kill him, then tries to flee. Cyrus pursues but insists he cannot harm her, and the nosta confirms it, cooling hostilities into a tense truce.
Unable to reveal his motives due to Iblees’s curse, Cyrus offers a bargain: marry him to satisfy the devil, then kill him and claim Tulan.
Summary
Alizeh recoils from Cyrus’s touch and, pressed by his uncanny insight, admits Sarra charged her to kill him for her freedom. She bolts for her rooms, but Cyrus follows, catching her after a frantic chase through the unfamiliar space and pinning her against a wall.
Though furious and shaken, Cyrus vows he will not hurt Alizeh, and the nosta confirms his claim, easing her fear. They argue over his past threats—sewing her eyes shut and throwing her from a cliff—and the dragon bite she suffered, trading barbs that cool into a reluctant, wary truce.
Seeking answers, Alizeh asks why Cyrus bargained with the devil. Iblees’s curse speaks through Cyrus, threatening death “bit by bit” if he explains, preventing any confession. Recognizing his bondage yet rejecting complicity, Alizeh refuses to become a pawn in the devil’s schemes.
Cyrus counters with a new bargain: marry him to meet Iblees’s demand, allowing him to discharge part of his debt; when he is free, Alizeh may kill him and claim Tulan. The proposal reframes their conflict into a high-stakes political and moral choice.
Who Appears
- AlizehConfesses Sarra’s assassination plot, tries to flee, verifies Cyrus’s restraint via the nosta, rejects being Iblees’s pawn.
- CyrusAnticipates Alizeh’s intent, pursues without harming her, bound by Iblees’s curse, proposes marriage-for-freedom bargain.
- IbleesEnforces a lethal curse preventing Cyrus from explaining his motives; demands their marriage.