Praise for the

  An Ember in the Ashes

  Quartet

  An instant New York Times bestseller

  A USA Today bestseller

  A Wall Street Journal bestseller

  One of TIME’s 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time

  One of TIME’s 100 Best YA Books of All Time

  Named One of the Best Books of the Year By

  Amazon * Barnes & Noble * The Wall Street Journal * BuzzFeed * LA Weekly * Bustle * Paste Magazine * Indigo * Suspense Magazine * The New York Public Library * PopSugar * Hypable

  “This novel is a harrowing, haunting reminder of what it means to be human—and how hope might be kindled in the midst of oppression and fear.”—The Washington Post

  “A worthy novel—and one as brave as its characters.”—The New York Times Book Review

  “A captivating, heart-pounding fantasy.”—US Weekly

  “An Ember in the Ashes mixes The Hunger Games with Game of Thrones…and adds a dash of Romeo and Juliet.”—The Hollywood Reporter

  “Fast-paced, well-structured, and full of twists and turns.”—NPR

  “Blew me away…This book is dark, complex, vivid, and romantic—expect to be completely transported.”—MTV.com

  “This is a page-turner. There comes a moment when it’s impossible to put it down. Sabaa Tahir is a strong writer, but most of all, she’s a great storyteller. An Ember in the Ashes glows, burns, and smolders—as beautiful and radiant as it is searing.”—The Huffington Post

  “It’s addictive, and there’s no way you can put it down before you figure out what happens to the characters you have fallen for over the course of the 400 some-odd pages. So I didn’t.”—Bustle

  “Spectacular.”—Entertainment Weekly

  “Fresh and exciting…Tahir has shown a remarkable talent for penning complex villains.”—A.V. Club

  “One of the best YA series of the last decade.”—Buzzfeed

  “Let me tell you, it does not disappoint.”—Book Riot

  “An unabashed page-turner that scarcely ever pauses for breath.”—The Christian Science Monitor

  “Fast-paced, exciting, and full of adrenaline.”—Bucks County Courier Times

  “Thrilling…Tahir meticulously plots these novels, ramping up the suspense and including plenty of surprises.”—The Buffalo News

  “Delivers in every way…The stakes have never been higher, and the tension is acutely felt as Elias and Laia run for their lives.”—USA Today’s Happy Ever After Blog

  ★ “Tahir proves to be a master of suspense and a canny practitioner of the cliffhanger, riveting readers’ attention throughout…[An] action-packed, breathlessly paced story.”—Booklist, Starred Review

  “Excellent.”—Kirkus Reviews

  “The rare sequel that improves on the original…unputdownable.”—Common Sense Media (Five Stars)

  “This series is an epic hero’s journey, with love, adventure, and magic woven throughout. Recommended for every young adult collection.”—SLJ

  “Be prepared to be blown away by this fantasy-thriller-adventure.”—Girls’ Life

  “I was so engrossed with this book that I missed a connecting flight. If that doesn’t convince you to read An Ember in the Ashes, I don’t know what will. An explosive, heartbreaking, epic debut that will keep you glued to the pages. I hope the world’s ready for Sabaa Tahir.”—Marie Lu, New York Times Bestselling Author Of Legend

  “With An Ember in the Ashes, Sabaa Tahir shows us light in the darkncess, hope in a world of despair, and the human spirit reaching for greatness in difficult times.”—#1 New York Times Bestselling Author Brandon Sanderson

  Praise for

  All My Rage

  An Instant New York Times Bestseller

  An Instant Indie Bestseller

  Winner of the National Book Award

  Winner of the Michael L. Printz Award

  Winner of the Boston Globe–Horn Book Fiction and Poetry Award

  A Walter Award Honor Book

  An NPR Best Book of the Year

  A Bookpage Best Book of the Year

  A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year

  A Booklist 2022 Editors’ Choice Top of the List Winner for Youth Fiction

  A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year

  A Shelf Awareness Best YA Book of the Year

  A Buzzfeed Best YA Book of the Year

  A Boston Globe Best Book of the Year

  A Chicago Public Library Best Book of the Year

  A New York Public Library Best Book of the Year

  • • •

  “All My Rage is a love story, a tragedy, and an infectious teenage fever dream about what home means when you feel you don’t fit in.”—The New York Times Book Review

  “An incredibly profound story of devastating loss, friendship, family, identity, and personal struggles.”—NPR

  “This is the kind of book that positively climbs into your bones and steals your breath in the very best way.”—Buzzfeed

  ★ “Put this book at the top of your list.”—School Library Journal, starred review

  ★ “An unyieldingly earnest generational story for contemporary audiences, All My Rage is a knife-sharp narrative with an obliterating impact that will leave readers thinking of it long after turning the last page.”—Booklist, starred review

  ★ “A deeply moving, intergenerational story. An unforgettable emotional journey.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

  ★ “A gift every step of the way.”—Bookpage, starred review

  ★ “Heartbreaking but ultimately hopeful, this memorable novel leaves the characters with what they deserve most: a future.”—BCCB, starred review

  ★ “This standalone novel feels timely and important and should be on every library shelf for teens.”—School Library Connection, starred review

  ★ “[A] powerful, viscerally told novel.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review

  ★ “This unforgettable multigenerational contemporary YA novel delivers pain, heartache, and anger—but also love, hope, and redemption.”—Shelf Awareness, starred review

  ALSO BY SABAA TAHIR

  All My Rage

  An Ember in the Ashes Quartet

  An Ember in the Ashes

  A Torch Against the Night

  A Reaper at the Gates

  A Sky Beyond the Storm

  G. P. Putnam’s Sons

  An imprint of Penguin Random House LLC

  1745 Broadway, New York, New York 10019

  First published in the United States of America by G. P. Putnam’s Sons,

  an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, 2024

  Copyright © 2024 by Sabaa Tahir

  Map design by Sabaa Tahir / Map illustration © 2024 by Francesca Baerald

  An Ember in the Ashes excerpt copyright © 2015 by Sabaa Tahir

  Penguin Random House values and supports copyright. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part of it in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin Random House to continue to publish books for every reader. Please note that no part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner for the purpose of training artificial intelligence technologies or systems.

  G. P. Putnam’s Sons is a registered trademark of Penguin Random House LLC.

  The Penguin colophon is a registered trademark of Penguin Books Limited.

  Visit us online at PenguinRandomHouse.com.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Names: Tahir, Sabaa, author.

  Title: Heir / Sabaa Tahir.

  Description: New York, New York : G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2024.

  Audience: Ages 14 years and up. | Summary: Told in alternating voices, three teens, whose fates intertwine to stop the murder of innocent children, journey across two warring nations to ensure a better future for their people.

  Identifiers: LCCN 2024022597 (print) | LCCN 2024022598 (ebook) ISBN 9780593616949 (hardcover) | ISBN 9780593616956 (epub)

  Subjects: CYAC: Magic—Fiction. | Murder—Fiction. | Fantasy. LCGFT: Fantasy fiction. | Novels.

  Classification: LCC PZ7.1.T33 He 2024 (print) | LCC PZ7.1.T33 (ebook)

  DDC [Fic]—dc23

  LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2024022597

  LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2024022598

  Ebook ISBN 9780593616956

  Cover art © 2024 by Micaela Alcaino

  Cover design by Kristin Boyle

  Design by Rebecca Aidlin, adapted for ebook by Andrew Wheatley

  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or thir
d-party websites or their content.

  pid_prh_7.0a_148404609_c0_r0

  Contents

  Dedication

  Part I: The Fall

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Part II: The Hunt

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Part III: Mother Div

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Part IV: The Empty

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Acknowledgments

  Excerpt from An Ember in the Ashes

  About the Author

  _148404609_

  For Cathy Yardley, who has waded with me through the muck of my ideas for a decade. Your forbearance and love are a gift. Thank you for reminding me that I have things worth saying.

  And for Sami, my very own furry Light of Eärendil.

  Part I

  The Fall

  1

  Aiz

  Kegar, the Southern Continent

  Aiz wished she didn’t hate her enemies with such fervor, for it gave them power over her. But she was a gutter child, and the Kegari gutters bred tough, bitter creatures, ready to stab or scheme or slink into the shadows—depending on what the moment required.

  What the gutters didn’t offer was luck. Only a divine entity could bestow good fortune.

  So, with dawn approaching, Aiz crept through the hushed, wood-beamed halls of the cloister and out to its stone courtyard. Her thin shoes and ragged skirt did little to protect her against the foot of snow that had fallen in the night. Still, she shoved forward, grimacing into the biting wind that whipped off the mountain spires and stole her breath. Perhaps it would steal her anger, too. Today, of all days, she needed a clear head.

  For today, Aiz bet-Dafra would commit her first murder.

  The orphans of the cloister and the clerics who cared for them still slept. Lessons began after sunrise. Kegar—a crowded city of a quarter million—was quiet beyond the cloister walls. Aiz was alone, accompanied only by her fury as she regarded the blackened timbers on one side of the courtyard. The orphans’ wing, still in ruins ten years after it burned to the ground.

  Her chest tightened. She could hear the screams of the children who’d died there. She dug her nails into her thigh, into the ridge of skin beneath her patched skirt. Mostly, she ignored her scars. But some days, they still burned.

  Your anger will be the death of you, Cero, her oldest friend, told her years ago. He’d seen her lose her temper too often to think any different. You must control it. Get what you need. Forget the rest.

  She needed vengeance. Justice. She needed her plan to work.

  Aiz stopped before the statue at the center of the yard: a woman wearing bell-sleeved robes and looking toward the mountains. Her stone face had hollow cheeks, thin lips, and a heavy brow; her hair was swept back from a high forehead. She wore a headdress carved with a beaming half-sun. Aiz liked to imagine that she and the woman in the statue had the same brown hair and light eyes.

  The woman had many names. Vessel of the Fount. First Queen of the Crossing. But here in Dafra slum, where so many were orphaned by military drafts, illness, and starvation, she was Mother Div.

  The statue’s plaque was pocked and weathered. But Aiz had learned the words as a child: Blessed is Div, Savior of Kegar, who led our people to refuge in these mountain spires after a great cataclysm engulfed our motherland across the sea.

  “Mother Div, hear me.” Aiz clasped her hands in supplication. “Don’t let me fail. I’ve waited too long. If I’m imprisoned or tortured, so be it. If I’m killed, it is your will. But I must succeed first.”

  Strange, Aiz knew, to ask the patron of light and kindness to bless a murder. But Mother Div loved orphans, too. She’d have wanted revenge for those killed in the fire. Aiz was sure of it.

  A Sail passed overhead, its shadow like that of a giant bird, before winging off to the north. Tiral bet-Hiwa, the highborn commander of the air squadrons, sent patrols over the slums. A reminder that the Snipes who lived here were being watched. And a promise that, if they were lucky, they could join the watchers. Aiz observed the aircraft for a long time, and jumped when she heard a step behind her.

  Sister Noa crunched through the snow, her frayed woolen skirt dragging. “Light of the Spires, little one,” the old woman greeted Aiz.

  “Long may it guide us,” Aiz responded.

  Sister Noa lifted a brown, wrinkled hand to Mother Div’s stone forehead before wrapping her own scarf around Aiz’s neck, waving off her protests.

  “You’ll be working at the airfield,” Noa said. “While I laze.”

  “Drinking tea with biscuits,” Aiz said, though the cloister was too poor for both. “Bossing your servants about.”

  Noa smiled at the lie, dark eyes sparkling beneath the paling snow clouds. As a cleric in Dafra slum’s biggest cloister, she’d be on her feet all day, no better than a servant herself—overseeing lessons, running the kitchens, ensuring the care of any who came to the cloister for aid. And shivering all the while, no doubt.

  She smoothed Aiz’s hair back with the same hands that had smacked her when she stole barberries and held her when she screamed at the death of her mother. Noa seemed old even then. Now she was gnarled and wrinkled as a thorn-pine.

  The cleric peered at Aiz. “You’re troubled, little love. Tell me a dream.”

  “I dream of a Kegari spring.” Aiz smiled at the familiar question. “And a belly full of siltfish curry.”

  “May Mother Div make it so,” Sister Noa said. “The sun rises. Get to the airfield. If you ride with Cero, you’ll arrive before the flightmasters give you a hiding.”

  Noa nodded to the cloister gate. Beyond, a horse stamped its hooves in the cold. The figure beside it paced in circles, equally impatient. Cero.

  The calm that had entered Aiz’s heart at Noa’s touch evaporated, replaced by a memory: A night six months ago, before a new crop of pilots was announced. Waiting with Cero in his quarters to find out if they’d been chosen for the elite Sail squadron. Aiz had paced from cot to window, unable to sit still until Cero took her hand. His touch elicited a spark, a kiss, confusion followed by delight and laughter and hope.

  And then the morning after, Cero became a pilot and Aiz became nothing.

  “I don’t see why he lives here,” Aiz said. “Taking up a bed. Eating our food. He can quarter with the other pilots.”

  “The cloister is his home,” Sister Noa said. “You are his home. Don’t punish him because Mother Div saw fit to make him a pilot. Now, get moving, love.”

  Aiz tucked the scarf back around Noa’s short white curls. She needed it more than Aiz did. “Go inside, Sister. Warm your bones for a bit longer.”

  When Sister Noa had shuffled away, Aiz regarded Cero, waiting beyond the cloister gate. He hadn’t spotted her yet.

  She turned away and snuck out the back.