get back to my patients.”
“Nahri, wait!” Ali shot to his feet, desperate. “Please. I’ll make this right. I swear to God.”
She pushed past him. “You can’t make this right.” She wrenched open the door. “Go back to Am Gezira.”
LUBAYD AND AQISA WERE WAITING FOR HIM WHEN ALI left the hospital.
Lubayd took one look at him and then grabbed Ali’s arm. “Is she okay?”
Ali’s mouth was dry. “She’s alive.”
Go back to Am Gezira. Suddenly, in a moment of weakness, Ali wanted nothing other than that. It would be easy. The city was in chaos; the three of them could slip out in an instant. His father wouldn’t blame him—he had told Ali to leave and would probably be quietly relieved he didn’t have to force his son to obey his wishes. Ali could be back in Bir Nabat in weeks, away from Daevabad and its constant bloody heartache.
He rubbed his eyes. Ahead, the sight of the shafit camp caught his eye. It had been rebuilt—expanded—after the attack and was bustling now with tense workers streaming into and out of the hospital.
Sick fear crept into his heart. The Daevas had attacked this place before, killing a score for the death of a single man.
What would they do to the shafit for the destruction wrought today?
They could go to war. It was his father’s constant concern, Ali knew. The Daevas and the shafit made up the majority of Daevabad, thoroughly outnumbering the rest of the djinn, and the Royal Guard might not be able to stop them. Ghassan might not even be inclined to let them try and stop them. Ali knew their world’s cold calculus; the Guard would be sent to watch over the other quarters, to keep the purebloods of the djinn tribes safe while the “fire worshippers” and the “dirt-bloods” had their final fight.
But his first instinct will be to stop this. To brutally stamp out anything that might escalate.
The door opened again, Subha stepping out to join them.
The doctor took a deep breath. “I didn’t think I’d ever see worse than the attack on the camp,” she confessed by way of greeting. “I can’t imagine the demons who planned such a thing. To attack a parade full of children …”
They were children themselves only a few years ago. Ali knew in his heart this traced back to the Tanzeem. The few twisted souls who’d watched their sheikh murdered, their orphanage burned, and then their adopted brothers and sisters die on Daevabad’s lake, just as Sister Fatumai had said.
“I think we’ve got the survivors out of danger for now,” Subha continued, her expression heavy. “I wish I’d been there,” she said softly. “Lady Nisreen … I probably could have gotten the bullet out.”
“Please don’t tell Nahri that,” Ali said quickly.
Subha shook her head. “I can tell you it’s already on her mind. When you lose a patient like that, you never stop wondering what you could have done differently. And if it’s someone you love …”
Ali flinched. “Will you stay with her?” he asked. “With Nahri?”
“Where are you headed?”
He hesitated, trying to think. “The Citadel,” he finally decided. He wasn’t welcome at the hospital and didn’t trust his father not to lock him up if he returned to the palace. “I want to see what we can do to keep people from each other’s throats while we figure out who’s responsible for this.”
Aqisa narrowed her eyes. “Are you allowed at the Citadel?”
Ali took a deep breath. “I think we’re about to learn exactly how popular I am with the Royal Guard.”
THE SOLDIERS AT THE GATE CERTAINLY DIDN’T STOP him from entering; indeed, there was open relief on the faces of a few.
“Prince Alizayd,” the first man greeted him. “Peace be upon you.”
“And upon you peace,” Ali replied. “Is the Qaid here?”
The man shook his head. “You just missed him heading back to the palace.” He paused. “He seemed upset. He went tearing out of here with a few of his most senior officers.”
Ali’s stomach dropped, uncertain what to think about that. He nodded and then continued on, striding into the heart of the Citadel, the place that in many ways had been a truer home to him than the palace. Its tower stood proud, stark against the setting sun.
A knot of Geziri officers were just inside, arguing loudly over a scroll. Ali recognized all of them, particularly Daoud, the officer who’d made a point of thanking him for his effort with his village’s well when he first arrived in Daevabad.
“Prince