Nineteen

Alizeh and Cyrus stroll through Mesti under bewitched wisteria. Cyrus buys Alizeh bread, and their banter reveals her inexperience with everyday pleasures after a life of servitude. As they walk, Alizeh notes Tulan’s open use of magic and a visible, content Jinn populace unlike in Ardunia.

Alizeh senses they are being followed and spots a young woman in a red dress staring at her. Initially invisible to Cyrus, the woman loses control of her concealment and collapses, screaming. The commotion draws a crowd who begin to connect Alizeh’s features and rumors to old prophecies and recent news.

As recognition spreads, people weep and shout, calling Alizeh their queen and pleading for redress of atrocities across empires. Alizeh, torn between responsibility and fear, resists fleeing, absorbing the crowd’s appeals for justice, while Cyrus urges retreat to protect her from the surging mob and the weight of their expectations.

The crowd speculates about Alizeh’s presence in the palace and her potential marriage to Cyrus, even praising him. Reeling and light-headed, Alizeh questions why the people like Cyrus. When she begins to faint, Cyrus abandons her no-magic rule and uses his power to remove them from the scene. They vanish together, underscoring the peril and promise of Alizeh’s public emergence.