This Woven Kingdom, #2
These Infinite Threads
by Tahereh Mafi
Contents
Twenty-Eight
Overview
Alizeh accidentally breaks into Cyrus’s locked study and discovers he stole her enchanted book. A heated confrontation escalates into a restrained fight, revealing Cyrus’s skill and his refusal to harm her. The book responds to Alizeh alone, confirming her claim. Cyrus proposes again, and Alizeh ends by questioning his memory of recent events.
Summary
Fleeing a maid, Alizeh panics and tears open a bolted door in Cyrus’s private wing, inadvertently breaking the lock. She hides in his cozy, cluttered study filled with personal effects, maps, minerals, and weapons. A trembling, enchanted cabinet draws her to it and a compartment snaps open, revealing her book.
As Alizeh reaches for the book, Cyrus appears silently and corners her with a sword at her throat. Under pressure, he admits he stole the book days ago and swapped in an enchanted decoy. Alizeh, wounded by the betrayal, vows to retrieve what is hers; the cabinet’s response to her confirms the book recognizes her.
They argue over trust and culpability. Alizeh attacks to reclaim the book; Cyrus only defends, displaying preternatural speed and restraint. He drops his sword, refuses to harm her, but still refuses to return the book, bound by obligations to Iblees. When Alizeh threatens to wreck his specimens, he advances and disarms her with magic, reminding her he does not fight fair.
Amid the standoff, Cyrus presses her motives, realizes she entered the room by accident, and asks how she opened the cabinet. Alizeh explains the book unlocked itself for her; Cyrus reveals he has been trying and failing to animate it. He proposes marriage again, seeking a broader solution, while warning her not to push him.
The immediate danger subsides when they clarify the maid’s intrusion woke him. Alizeh insists she had no plan to steal from him, only to hide. The chapter closes with her pointed question—whether Cyrus remembers what happened earlier—hinting at missing time or outside influence on him.
Who Appears
- AlizehHiding from a maid, she breaks into Cyrus’s study, finds her stolen book, fights to reclaim it, and challenges his memory.
- CyrusConfronts Alizeh in his study, admits stealing her book, defends without injuring her, magically disarms her, and proposes marriage again.
- Unnamed snoda maidEnters Cyrus’s bedroom, screams upon seeing him, and flees, inadvertently triggering Alizeh’s panicked flight into the study.