Daughter of No Worlds

When Tisaanah presents Esmaris with the sum that he once set for her freedom, he becomes enraged that one of the people he has enslaved could raise such an amount. Accusing her of using sex work to get it, Esmaris whips Tisaanah brutally. Fearing that he is about to kill her, Tisaanah somehow manages to enter his thoughts and uses her magic on him: “I yanked on that thread between us as hard as I could. A deafening crack split the air” (31). Esmaris falls dead just as Serel enters the room.

Thinking quickly, Serel stabs Esmaris in the chest with his sword, making it appear that the rich man was killed during a robbery. Tisaanah gathers some of the gold coins and takes Esmaris’s lily brooch, a symbol that grants passage to people traveling on their enslavers’ orders. Tisaanah changes clothes to cover the blood streaming down her back, and Serel leads her to the stables, where a stablehand named Vos gives her a horse, thinking she is acting on Esmaris’s commands. Serel sends Tisaanah off and remains behind to stage the murder scene. Before leaving, Tisaanah repeats her promise to come back and free him.

For several harrowing weeks, Tisaanah journeys to the island of Ara. The deep cuts on her back become infected, and she grows feverish as she arrives at her destination. In broken Aran, she murmurs, “My name is Tisaanah. I am from Threll. Friend of Zeryth Aldris. I must speaking him” (44), before passing out.

When Tisaanah comes out of her delirium, she finds herself tended by a Healer named Willa. Zeryth is away, but a high-ranking member of the Order of Midnight named Nura Qan arrives that night. Threll has become unstable in the wake of Esmaris’s murder; Nura suspects that Tisaanah was involved, and the Orders prefer to remain politically neutral. However, Zeryth has written to vouch for Tisaanah’s magical abilities and suggests that she receive training.

Tisaanah begs to be admitted to the Orders: “This is why I come. Because my people need me. And for helping them, I need the Orders” (53). However, Nura explains that everyone must serve a six-year apprenticeship first. Tisaanah protests that she doesn’t have that much time. Nura agrees that at 21, Tisaanah is already past the age of formal training. Since no official mentors are available, Nura plans to assign Maxantarius “Max” Farlione to train Tisaanah. Nula teleports Tisaanah to a small cottage surrounded by an elaborate flower garden. There, Tisaanah meets Max, a surly young man in his late twenties. Tisaanah infers that he has a history with Nula because of their tense attitude toward each other. Nula demands that Max train Tisaanah: “‘There are no Valtain in the Order of Midnight who are available to apprentices right now,’ Nura snapped. ‘You are Tisaanah’s only option’” (61). He insists that Tisaanah must leave in the morning.

The following day, when Max still protests that he will not train the girl, Willa reminds him, “You are still beholden to the Orders. You know what the penalties are for failing to uphold your duties” (75). Tisaanah will be evaluated after five months and might be reassigned at that time. After Willa leaves, Max explains that he hates the Orders “[b]ecause they’re archaic and controlling and power-hungry” (77). Max remains uncooperative, but Tisaanah studies his books. That afternoon, Max receives a visit from his friend Sammerin, another Healer, whose 12-year-old apprentice, Moth, is clumsy and has trouble controlling his abilities.

For weeks, Max refuses to teach her. Finally fed up with his attitude, Tisaanah points out that Max’s vendetta against the Orders has implications for her future: “I left my most important people. They need me. I cannot fail them. To help them, I need this” (89). Even if the Orders are run by corrupt people, Tisaanah might be able to make them function as a source for good. This moves Max, who decides to help her with the training.

Max sees that Tisaanah’s conjuring abilities are unusual for a Valtain, so he decides to develop them further. He instructs her to conjure a flower identical to one in his garden, down to the last detail. This exercise takes Tisaanah all day to master because it requires great concentration, but she continues until she succeeds: “I’d never tasted anything sweeter than the quiet, muted surprise on Max’s face as he took the flower from me, turning it around in his fingers” (99).

Sammerin returns and explains the difference between his magic and Willa’s: While she is a Valtain Healer and thus works from the inside out, as a Solarie Healer, Sammerin takes an outside-in approach. When Max briefly leaves the cottage, Sammerin confides that Max is the best teacher Tisaanah could ever hope to find.

The next morning, a beautiful blond woman named Miraselle flits through Max’s cottage, startling Tisaanah. Max explains that Miraselle used to be a hummingbird, but he changed her into a human when she asked him to.