Daughter of No Worlds

As the party advances on the Mikov estate, Zeryth announces that he must leave because of urgent business in the Capital. He assures Tisaanah that she can accomplish her mission without him. Zeryth has asked Ahzeen to host a party, ostensibly to receive a delegation from the Orders, so gaining access to the palace will be easy. Tisaanah savors avenging her past mistreatment: “Every powerful Lord in Threll would be there. All in one room […] And how poetic it would be, to devour Esmaris’s legacy where it had once devoured me, little by little, night after night” (431). The plan is for the Syrizen to teleport the enslaved workers out of the estate while Tisaanah offers a distraction.

Ahzeen welcomes the delegation and doesn’t recognize Tisaanah. The group toasts to Ahzeen’s recent victory over rival Threllian Lords. Much to her relief, Tisaanah sees Serel among the soldiers at the back of the hall. He sees her too and guesses why she is there. As Tisaanah performs a dance, conjuring butterflies to the amazement of the guests, two Syrizen transport enslaved people away.

However, Tisaanah cannot resist making her vengeance known. She baits Ahzeen until he finally remembers who she is. She prepares to attack him with her magic but is shocked to realize that her powers have been neutralized. Their glasses of wine have been laced with Chryxalis, a drug that prevents Wielders from using their abilities for hours. Ahzeen expected a sneak attack from the Orders and took the necessary precautions.

As the rest of the delegation is dragged away by Ahzeen’s soldiers, Ahzeen hauls Tisaanah to his father’s study, where he intends to kill her using Esmaris’s whip. Tisaanah tries to reach Reshaye, who is lurking in the depths of her mind. She finally succeeds, summoning the entity to the surface and allowing it to take control of her. Then, Reshaye uses Tisaanah’s body to wreak havoc, killing Ahzeen and unleashing her fury on his assembled guests. Meanwhile, Max and Nura struggle to fight off their guards.

After Max and his companions free themselves, they must battle the soldiers without the benefit of magic. However, Max has a secret source of power, transforming into a “massive serpent that wove through the air and the crowd, its body made of flames that ran together like water, sparks glinting as scales on its skin” (464). Max enters the ballroom in his serpent form and tries to reach Tisaanah, but Reshaye remains in complete control.

Inside her mind, Tisaanah tries a new tactic to reach Reshaye. Instead of resisting the entity, she dives deeper into the darkness of her mind to confront Reshaye directly: “No more dividing myself up as an offering to more powerful monsters […] no more would I fail to unleash the full potential of the power—my power—at my disposal” (474). Tisaanah takes control of the entity and harnesses its power for her own use, no matter how Reshaye resists. Conscious again, Tisaanah recognizes Max even in his snake form. She draws a Stratagram on the floor using her own blood, transports the two of them away from the estate, and collapses. Hours later, Tisaanah awakens to find Sammerin tending to her wounds. He assures her that Max is all right and that the enslaved people have been rescued. Serel comes to her chamber, where the two friends share a tearful reunion.

The serpent form that Max has kept secret from everyone was a parting gift from Reshaye—a snide reference to Max’s fear of snakes. When Max explains this to Tisaanah, she realizes that the cloudiness in Max’s blue eyes is actually a thin reptilian membrane covering his irises. Max has always kept it closed to prevent his inner serpent from emerging. Now, he understands that accepting its presence gives him the power to use it.

Nura informs Tisaanah that the group must now return to Ara. When Tisaanah asks a pointed question about Zeryth’s orchestration of the party, Nura concludes that Zeryth only wanted Tisaanah to learn how to fight with Reshaye and didn’t care about anyone else: “Possess or destroy. You’re either a tool or a threat—and in this case, we were all both” (493).

That night, Reshaye rises to Tisaanah’s consciousness, feeling more connected to its Host than ever. The feeling is mutual, as Tisaanah now relishes the power at her command: “{Our story is not complete, Daughter of All Worlds.} A caress writhed against my mind. And my lips twisted into a smile. Not long ago, I would have been afraid. Not anymore” (496).

On the return journey, Max imagines a future that would never have occurred to him without Tisaanah. Tisaanah considers how much she has changed in only six months: “I am a free woman and yet still a slave. I am fragments of many things but a whole of only myself. I am a daughter of no worlds, and all worlds. And I am not done yet” (501).

Back in Ara, Zeryth and the royal Valtain advisor Tare urge Queen Sesri to attack a possible conspirator named Lord Laurel, but the queen insists that they find another way. Outwardly, Zeryth acts surprised by this sudden burst of assertiveness, but inwardly, he isn’t worried because the queen’s behavior suits his plans perfectly. As he walks back to the Towers, Zeryth congratulates himself on acquiring both Tisaanah and Max, “two outrageously powerful weapons at his disposal” (505), and on securing a powerbase in Threll. In his office, he composes a letter to Nura: “By the time you read this, he wrote, Sesri will be dead” (506).