Eighteen

Alizeh challenges Cyrus’s invitation to see Tulan, pointing out she might run. Cyrus starts to leave, but when Alizeh admits she may not flee today, he lingers. He laments the indignity of begging for marriage and death, and Alizeh’s compassion slips through despite herself.

An intimate, wary exchange follows when Alizeh tries to console Cyrus. He catches her hand, the moment turning charged until he withdraws. Cyrus then casually erases a tea stain from her dress with magic, prompting a discussion: Alizeh explains Ardunia’s restricted, crown-controlled magic and her unknown, intuitive power; Cyrus contrasts Tulan’s broader training.

Cyrus decides to demonstrate more and take her into Tulan. On their way out, Alizeh steps through the doorway and panics at a perceived void; Cyrus explains the stairs are transparent glass. Flushed and embarrassed, Alizeh admits little, while Cyrus needles her about her tendency toward sympathy.

After a brief, raw hint of Alizeh’s past neglect, Cyrus impatiently ends the debate. He takes her hand and draws her onto the glass stairs, leading her from the suite toward the city, their banter and mutual pull underscoring a fragile, growing rapport amid unresolved stakes of marriage, murder, and empire.