The City of Brass

Nahri and Ali study in the library together. She says that she will learn Divasti so that she can read the Nahid texts herself and encourages him to join her.

When she returns for her healing, she finds Dara waiting with Nisreen. When Ali protests, he smashes his hand through a table to create an injury for Nahri to heal. Dara tells Nahri about the king’s plan for her engagement, and they briefly go over their time apart. Nahri asks Dara to tell her about his role in the rebellion, and he says that he will when they have enough time. Dara finds Ali waiting behind the door for him to leave. After Dara’s dramatic exit, Ali stammers an apology to Nahri.

Nahri and Ali are in the depths of the library looking for a scroll that transformed into a giant snake when Nahri opened it. Ali slays the snake and then encourages Nahri to wield fire. After she tries several times, he urges her to try in Arabic and it works. After mentioning slavery, Ali tells her to ask whatever questions she has about slavery.

Ali explains that an enslaving curse turns djinn back into their fully powerful selves, but with the catch that they can only use their powers to serve their human enslavers. The ifrit do this because they don’t dare to directly harm humans, but when given unchecked power, the humans harm themselves. For an enslaved daeva to achieve liberation, their vessel (something like a lamp or a ring) must be united with their relic (small piece of themselves) by a Nahid. The ifrit enslaved the daevas’ souls, not their bodies, so a relic is a way of preserving themselves. To enslave someone again, Nahids use another body.

As Ali and Nahri enter the main area of the library, Ali finds Rashid, whom he hasn’t seen since visiting the orphanage. Rashid is disappointed that, since seeing the plight of the shafits, Ali has befriended a Nahid, executed innocent shafits, and given no money to the Tanzeem. Ali explains his plan: In the future, Muntadhir will let him help more. Rashid is disappointed, but he believes that Ali knows what is right. Rashid says that when his judgment day comes, Ali’s loyalty to his family will not excuse him.

Nahri arrives with Nisreen to the Grand Temple where she finds Dara surrounded by daeva admirers. Nisreen emphasizes the importance of this visit to Nahri, but Nahri struggles to understand the finery. Dara sends Nahri with Jamshid and stays to discuss something with Kaveh and Nisreen.

As they walk through the temple, Nahri sees statues of her ancestors who defended the daeva, including one of Dara himself. She meets the grand priests, the oldest one named Kartir e-Mennushur, who leads her alone to an underground room filled with vessels of enslaved people that they did not know what to do with.

When Kartir leaves, Dara enters. He tells Nahri that she and Jamshid would be a good match, and she becomes angry that Dara would suggest a daeva match that is not himself. He confesses that, because he is not alive, he probably cannot produce children and continue her bloodline, which is the most important thing. She asks if what happened in the cave was one-sided and he says no, but she deserves someone who can give her children. She is angry that her bloodline is prioritized over her happiness. She reminds him that this day was supposed to be a time for her to ask about his past, and he tells her that he was banished from Daevabad for following the orders of the Nahids, which is why he was not there to save his family. She says that he just thinks of her as a low-life thief and that she doesn’t need him to plan her life for her. She storms out.

Ali and Nahri use the telescope to marvel at the stars while Muntadhir and Zaynab lounge. Nahri says that it must be nice for Ali to have a family, and he says that she could have one, too. Before they finish discussing, a servant comes to retrieve her.

Zaynab complains of the cold and leaves Muntadhir and Ali alone together. Ali admits that he enjoys Nahri’s company, and Muntadhir is shocked by his admission. Muntadhir says that Ali is the favorite child—that if Muntadhir had funded the Tanzeem, he would have been killed already. Then he tells Ali about Dara on their journey—that he does nothing but stare, compare things to how they were back in his time, and turn daeva soldiers into fire worshippers. Ali inquires about Dara, theorizing that Dara has retained some power from the years during which he was enslaved. Muntadhir says that he won’t marry Nahri because her mother was terrifying.

Ali is left alone to ponder, and Hanno, one of the members of the Tanzeem disguised as a servant, comes to the roof and stabs him. Hanno almost kills Ali, but Jamshid arrives, and together they kill Hanno. Ali tells Jamshid to get rid of Hanno’s body so that Ghassan cannot use it as an excuse to kill more shafits. He tells Jamshid to summon only Nahri.

Nahri hurries down to the infirmary to treat a patient she’s seen before. He is an old, dying man, turning to charcoal before their eyes. The king is sitting beside him when she enters, apparently to say goodbye to his sheik. Nisreen explains that they cannot save the man, but they can buy him time for his wife to say goodbye using a procedure that only Nahri can do. Nahri does not want to do this because she has no practice, but Nisreen insists. When the time comes, Nahri inserts the needle too deeply, and the man dies instantly. Nahri, frustrated, says that it’s Nisreen’s fault for making her try and calls the daeva fire-worshippers. Nisreen accuses Nahri of not caring about their history or tradition and feels hurt that Nahri used a slur that has been used against their tribe for centuries. Nahri storms away to her room to cry.

Late in the night, Jamshid brings a bleeding Ali to Nahri’s room and she heals him, partially with her fingers, then with stitches. He drinks water that also heals him. Eventually, Jamshid brings Muntadhir back to his room, and Muntadhir says that their story is that this was a sparring accident.

Nahri reflects on the moment of peace she felt at having succeeded in healing someone. She practices that procedure dozens of times using animal bladders and banana peels, finally perfecting it. To prove it to herself, she tries inserting the deadly copper piece through a banana peel on top of her own skin. She does it successfully and then goes to speak to Ghassan. She has a list of demands before she agrees to marry his son.