This post discusses the events before the chapter “To Inflict a Dark Wound.” in The Wrath and The Dawn by Renée Ahdieh. Make sure you’re all caught up!
Let’s Discuss What We Read So Far…
Reading The Wrath & the Dawn so far is like watching an intense chess match. There are multiple chess pieces moving in a game of politics with a set of interesting characters and relationships that are destined to clash.
As of now I have no way of predicting how the story will come to a satisfying resolution, making the novel a natural page turner. Let’s take a second to analyze the forces in play, and their levels of influence.
Analyzing the Characters and their Motivations
Shahrzad al-Khayzuran
Shahrzad is the 16-year old main character who wants to kill the caliph to avenge her best friend Shiva. Shiva was one of the many victims who was taken as the caliph’s wife just to be killed the following morning. Shahrzad volunteered to be his next queen.
Shahrzad has survived well beyond the first day and is attempting to gather intel on how to complete her goal, although she doesn’t seem like she can follow through on it.
On her journey she is burdened with many challenges. Firstly she is a queen who isn’t simply given respect, but she must fight to earn it. Also, there have been two attempts on her life including almost being poisoned. Nobody seems to trust her with much information, and rightfully so.
Khalid Ibn al-Rashid
Khalid is the Caliph of the kingdom of Khorasan. He seems to struggle with his identity, as he doesn’t know if he is the actual son of the previous Caliph.
He appears to have grown quite fond of Shahrzad who shares countless of traits with his mother, a woman who was strong-willed and told him stories.
It was also briefly mentioned how he has some sort of sickness.
Tariq al-Khamsais
Tariq is a family friend and the former lover of Shahrzad whom she left behind. He plans to gather supporters and allies to lead a revolution against the caliph, all to save Shahrzad and avenge the ruthlessly murdered women.
Alongside his best friend Rahim, Tariq travelled to his uncle Reza’s wealthy home to construct a plan on how to spark and lead a revolution. He’s already met and gained the favor of the sheikh of the Badawai tribe.
Even though Tariq’s intentions are pure, it seems he needs to be wary of his uncle Reza’s intentions.
General Aref al-Khoury
Aref is the Shahrban of Rey, the uncle of Khalid, and father of Jahal.
As the highest ranking general in Rey, he is very protective of Khalid and wants what is best for him. Understandably, he is cautious of Shahrzad but he’s also taken notice of how happy she makes Khalid. General al-khoury honors Khalid’s request of keeping Shahrzad safe despite going against his better judgement.
Captain Jalal al-Khoray
Cpatain Jalal is the son of General al-khoury, cousin of Khalid, and the captain of the guards.
Jalal and his brother grew up with Khalid. First hand he watched Khalid turn into a monster when his older brother died, then his father died a year later. This was very traumatic for someone who also witnessed the brutal death of his mother at age 6 by his own father’s hands.
Jalal tried to reach a hand out to him then, and wants to do the same now. He encourages Shahrzad to do the same.
With as close as they used to be, Jalal doesn’t show the respect to Khalid that his father thinks he should, and he’s appears to be growing a rivalrous friendship with Shahrzad. Twice they’ve competed in archery games which they openly used to pull information out of each other.
Despina
Despina is Shahrzad’s maid. From the beginning, she was rooting for her survival, though sometimes they might clash due to Shahrzad’s fiery personality.
Despina struggles to withhold information from Shahrzad. She learned of the swordsmanship tournament that happened at the palace from her. Shahrzad also found out that Despina is pregnant, and she suspects that Jalal is the father. How will Shahrzad use this knowledge to her advantage?
The Rajput
The Rajput is the best swordsman of Rey, who’s been given the responsibility of being the queen’s body guard.
He’s shown signs indicating that he greatly respects Jahal, but is friendly with Khalid.
Omar al-Sadiq
Omar is the old man who played silly when he first met Tariq. Tariq helped Omar retrieve his bucket in a well under the condition that Omar would bring him to Badawi, a tribe known to have the finest horses.
Intrigued by his motivation of wanting to win the heart of a beautiful woman, Omar lead Tariq to his tribe. When they arrive, Omar is greeted by his family with a great deal of respect.
He officially introduced himself to Tariq as the sixth sheikh of the Badawi tribe. As a scholar who studied sword making in Damascus, he is wise, wealthy, and influential. He’s just the person Tariq needs to move forth in his ambitions.
Musa Zaragoza
Musa is the Sultan of Parthia who visited the palace to see Khalid while he was away in the city of Amardha. As the queen, Shahrzad greeted him instead.
As the former tutor of Khalid’s mother Leila, he has a lot of knowledge on who Khalid was before turning into the monster we know today. He blames himself for not being there for Khalid after his mother died before his eyes.
He also says that Shahrzad possesses a “gift”, or some sort of magical ability. Perhaps this is why those around her take such a great interest in her and her family.
Jahandar and Irsa
Jahandar is Shahrzad’s father and Irsa is Shahrzad’s little sister. They both left the city of Rey the night Shahrzad was married to Khalid.
Khalid and his people are currently looking for their whereabouts. There are brief mentions of them throughout the novel.
Shahrzad instructed them to flee to Taleqan, the stronghold of Tariq. On their way there, Jahandar retrieved a mysterious and magical book that will help him to aid Shahrzad.
Throughout their short passages, we learn that Shahrzad’s mother died of an illness and Jahandar regrets not doing anything to save her. To me, this foreshadows that Khalid has this same illness that Shahrzad can later help him with.
The Rising Conflict in the Wrath and The Dawn
It’s inevitable that the story will end in some kind of betrayal, whether that be Shahrzad to her original family and friends, or Shahrzad to the palace and the people of Rey. No matter which way Shahrzad goes, there is some type of conflict that she will need to confront.
For example, Tariq and Jahandar are currently making gallant strives towards helping Shahrzad to fight against those responsible for killing Shiva. How will they react if they find out that Shahrzad stands behind the very man who’s responsible for the death of Shiva and hundreds of other women?
Or what if Shahrzad does follow through with her plans to kill Khalid? How will Jalal or general al-Khoury respond to such a blatant betrayal of their trust?
In my opinion, Shahrzad already proved to me that she cannot kill Khalid because of the romantic feelings she is developing for him. I am looking forward to how this will play out when her family and close friends confront her and the kingdom. Maybe they will condemn Shahrzad for her betrayal, or everyone will band together to fight against a bigger evil.