1: The Solace of Kinship

Sat, 30 May 2026 13:37:27 +0000

The sun hung low over the spires of Shahryar’s capital, gilding the domes of his palace in molten gold. Pigeons wheeled above courtyards where fountains wept silver into marble basins, their waters laced with rose oil and the musk of ambition. It was here, in a chamber lined with lapis lazuli and tapestries spun from Tyrian purple, that the elder king sealed his summons to Shah Zamán, his younger brother. The parchment bore his seal—a lion devouring the moon—and words that dripped like syrup over the blade of a dagger: