Chapter 28 Summary and Analysis

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.

Summary

A few days after the events of the previous chapter, Imani wakes from a nightmare about the burning garden with a sudden idea for the prisoner wagon swap. For the past week, she, Taha, and Muhab have been sneaking into the city to observe the prisoner wagons, with Taha using his falcon to monitor them from angles the others cannot reach. They have learned the wagons' routes and arrival times, but until now they have not figured out how to conceal their swap with the prisoners inside.

Before dawn, Imani notices that Taha's bunk is empty. She is not surprised—since leaving Qalia, he has risen earlier than everyone else to train. She reflects on how she initially assumed he trained early to prove his dedication, but he never once mentioned it to her; she only discovered the habit by secretly observing him one morning. She now believes Bayek instilled this routine in him from a young age.

When Imani emerges on deck, she spots Taha walking along the pier away from the ship. She tells herself the explanation is probably innocuous—perhaps he is buying breakfast or conducting another investigation—but something about his behavior makes her follow him, maintaining a careful buffer of distance and ducking behind walls and parked carriages when he seems about to glance back.

Taha passes Zak's home and enters the Field of Memories, taking position behind an obelisk to watch the line of terraces. Zak soon emerges with a cloth bag and hurries toward the bazaar. Taha follows him without surprise, and Imani shadows both.

In the crowded bazaar, Imani struggles to keep sight of them. She brushes into a Harrowlander woman and apologizes in clunky Harrowtongue, noting that the colonizers favor the phrase