#irsa al-khayzuran

[fish-champ16]

idc what y’all say i blame Tariq for Rahim’s death 100%

bro wants to act on his own impulse? fine, go ahead, but don’t risk others while you go pull that stupid shit. 

[clockworkbee]

“It must be a special book.”

“All books are special, dear.”

—Irsa and Jahandar, from The Wrath & The Dawn

[vesperascorpio]

Khalid reached beneath the bed pallet, then lifted the small bundle her sister had been clutching by the well. “Irsa left it with me last night,” he said quietly. “I kept it within arm’s reach, along with my sword and your dagger.”

“Irsa?” Shahrzad almost smiled at the familiarity. “She gave you permission to call her that?”

“In a fashion,” he murmured, tucking her hair behind an ear.

“You once said you had no intention of being beloved by your people, Khalid Ibn al-Rashid. Yet you’ve managed to win over several of your harshest critics in a single evening.” Shahrzad grinned without reserve.

“Irsa was one of my harshest critics?” He arched a brow.

“She’s my sister. Of course she was.”

The hint of a smile touched his lips. Shahrzad’s heart warmed at the sight.

[earlgreyandanime]

I ship it.

[elia-the-bibliophile]

You can’t keep doing as you please and expecting everyone to wait for you. As though we have nothing better to do. As though we are capable of nothing else.

-Irsa al Khayzuran

[arch-wistcrias]

BELOW IS ALL YOU MAY NEED TO KNOW ABOUT SHAHRZAD AL-KHAYZURAN, A CANON CHARACTER FROM THE WRATH & THE DAWN DUOLOGY. 

INTRODUCTION.

FULL NAME: Shahrzad al-Khayzuran  NICKNAMES: Shazi  ALIASES: The Calipha of Khorasan  AGE: 16-22  DATE OF BIRTH: April 19th  BIRTHPLACE: Rey ( similar to Nishapur ), Khorasan, Persia ( modern: Oxford, England )  SEX/GENDER: cis-female  RELIGION: mazdayasna / zoroastrianism ( modern: islam )  ORIENTATION: heterosexual  ETHNICITY: iranian  OCCUPATION: actual queen ( modern: writer )  LANGUAGES: old persian, english ( modern: turkish, farsi, english and basic french and arabic )  FAMILY:  Irsa Al-Khayzuran ( sister, alive ), Jahandar Al-Khayzuran ( father, deceased ), Khalid Ibn al-Rashid ( husband, alive ), Haroun Ibn Khalid ( son, alive ) 

APPEARANCE.

HEIGHT: 5′8″  WEIGHT: 125lbs BUILD: she is tall, with an average build.  COMPLEXION: golden, but more on the bronze side. she spends a lot of time in the sun and her skin soaks it up beautifully. being the Calipha she is also bathed in goat’s milk and uses rose oil to keep her skin soft and youthful, as well as rosewater to keep her skin bright.  EYE COLOR: as Calipha her hazel eyes are lined in kohl, but she does not usually bother with it day to day. modernly, she wears brown pencil liner a lot more.  HAIR COLOR & STYLE: her hair is wavy and shiny as Calipha. occasionally decorated with jewels, she uses raw olive oil to allow it to grow thick and healthy. her hair is described as having “gleamed like polished obsidian”, though in the sunlight it’s a dark brown. day to day, it tends to lie on the wild side, described as “vagabond hair”. it normally also smells like lilacs and rain, and sometimes olive oil and jasmine. in the second novel it’s cruedly shorn by the enemy’s guards, and falls to her shoulders in varying lengths. it grows back to her waist-length after, though.  NOTICEABLE FEATURES: the knowing smirk usually on her face. the way she carries herself with “poise and strength”. her “impudent” chin.  AESTHETICS & STYLE: damascus prints. sandy footprints. rubies and lapis lazuli and gold chains hanging down middle-parted hair or around a sun-soaked stomach. bejewelled daggers. black tea. fragranced lamps. golden coins. apple-scented smoke ( of the hookah / water pipe ). sugared dates. honeyed nuts. dried apricots. henna-ed hands, and its earthy scent. dried blood. FC: Medalion Rahimi 

HEALTH.

PHYSICAL DISORDERS: n/a  MENTAL DISORDERS: n/a  EATING HABITS: Shahrzad has a taste for decadent foods. she adores labnah and flat bread and jewelled rice, but has a fast metabolism ( that lucky bitch ). she regularly snacks on dates and pistachios, and drinks a lot of jasmine water, and water in general to stay hydrated. roast pigeon is her favorite food as a child, though not the most royal of dishes. ( modern Shahrzad lives for rice pudding and bastani [ saffron vanilla ice cream, usually with rosewater ]. she can’t stand the taste of maple syrup, however, since she used to it all the time as a kid and eventually grew to hate it, gagging whenever it hits her tongue. now she eats her pancakes with jam and nothing else. )  EXERCISE HABIT: running. often. it helps her clear her mind. sparring as well, but what burns a lot of calories and keeps her fit is actually using her powers as it takes more physical exertion than what one might expect. 

PERSONALITY.

POSITIVE TRAITS: inquisitive, strong-minded, courageous, enduring  NEGATIVE TRAITS: insolent, impatient, one-dimensional  TALENTS: storytelling, archery ( never needs to use the guides or aims ), staring people down  ZODIAC: Aries ( Taurus cusp )  HOGWARTS HOUSE: Gryffindor ( but a total hatstall because she could have been Ravenclaw )  NOTE: based heavily on Al-Khayzuran, an important figure in Iranian history. Like, it’s so obvious lmao. Scheherazade was said to be based off of her, and the stories based off of Harun ( as in Haroun, Shahrzad’s son ). "The histories do not detail Khayzuran's political achievements, but coins were struck in her name, palaces were named for her, and the cemetery in which subsequent Abbasid rulers were laid to rest carries her name, all testifying not only to status but also to civic largesse." Such as is Shahrzad’s legacy. 

ABOUT.

A magic-infused retelling of 1001 nights. IDR really remember a lot bc I need to reread so I could be mixing some things up. 

Basically Shahrzad’s best friend was killed by the Caliph ( king ) of Khorason. What she doesn’t know is that there is a curse upon the boy-king, Khalid, that he must marry and kill a girl of 16 every day for a 1000 nights for the curse to be lifted, or else the kingdom won’t have another night of rain again. Shahrzad volunteers to be the next girl to be wed and then killed, but she tricks Khalid by telling him stories that overspill into the dawn, and he is so bewitched by her that he resists killing her until eventually they have both fallen in love with one another. 

Shahrzad’s father meanwhile dabbles in dark magic in an attempt to save her. The kingdom goes up in flame. Shahrzad and Khalid are torn apart after she finds out the reason behind the girls’ murders. Basically Shahrzad also finds out she has the same powers as her father and learns to harvest and train them while she is living with the badawi tribes outside of Khorason.  Meanwhile the ruler of Parthia, a kingdom adjacent to Khorason is trying to kill Khalid and that’s just a mess. 

A lot of shit happens tbh, but obviously Shahrzad and Khalid live happily ever after ( although, her father did kill him and then gave up his life in return for Khalid’s after seeing how devastated Shahrzad was ) and they have a son they name Haroun. Also, she totally has a magic carpet. 

VERSES.

01. Canon ( compliant with most fantasy settings, such as acotar, game of thrones, tolkien, etc. )  02. Canon Divergent / TVD-inspired ( instead of being a human-witch/magician, she is an immortal-witch/magician [ able to be killed, but otherwise lives forever ] and outlives Khalid, going on to become a nomad of sorts, travelling from country to country ).  03. Modern ( Shahrzad’s father deals in translating old Persian texts and is part of the international federation of librarian associations and institutions. She’s lived in Turkey, England, Lebanon ( briefly ) and New York. Well read, and well travelled, she was published at the age of fifteen and by the age of twenty has three published novels as well as two poetry anthologies. She’s also been named one of Time’s most influential figures, and Vanity Fair’s 30 under 30. Her father tries to keep their Iranian heritage going strong, but Shahrzad barely remembers it during her adolescence. She goes to college in NYU, and  She ends up going back when she’s graduated college, working with women there to publish a third poetry anthology specifically about the modern Iranian women’s experiences. )   04. DC / Marvel / All Supernatural Verses ( Shahrzad has a gift: she writes stories and they come true, and it runs in her family. )  05. OUAT ( Shahrzad is the new Author of the stories. )  06. Harry Potter  07. Grishaverse ( Shahrzad collects the stories from the language of thorns, and publishes them; she travels searching for more folktales, as well as writes her own ) 

[eb-moved-blog]

        s.hahrzad  al-k.hayzuran       :     character  tags

[vesperascorpio]

A nervous flush bloomed across her cheeks. After all, it was not every day the Caliph of Khorasan considered her as though she were a question he sought to answer. “Rahim . . . brought you a change of clothes.” Irsa took a calming breath. “There’s clean water in that pitcher there, and—should you need more—there’s a trough not far from here. I’m sure you’d like to wash away all the—blood. I can step outside if you wish . . . sayyidi.”

At that, the caliph waited to respond, as though he were gathering his thoughts. It was impossible for Irsa to tell, for he was impossible to read.

Impossible in every which way.

“There’s no need for you to call me that.”

A flare of surprise shot through Irsa, stilling her hands of their fidgeting. “But—”

“I’d like for you to call me Khalid.” The caliph braced his elbows on his knees. “Since you’ve already scolded me in typical al-Khayzuran fashion, it shouldn’t be too difficult.” An odd trace of humor flickered across his face.

Irsa’s flush spread from throat to hairline. “I—I apologize for that. I wasn’t in my right mind.”

“I disagree. I think—of all of us—you were the only one precisely in your right mind.”

She brushed back the strands of wispy hair that had fallen into her face. “I suppose you were a bit . . . hot-tempered.”

The suggestion of a smile played across his lips. “A fault for which I’m sure to be reprimanded in the near future.” He glanced down at the sleeping figure of Shahrzad. “Deservedly.”

“Yes.” Irsa smothered a grin, despite her unease. “You probably will be—though how Shahrzad can manage to reprimand anyone for possessing a bad temper, I will never understand.”

At that, the caliph truly smiled. The gesture managed to soften all the edges of his profile, rendering him almost . . . boyish. Almost beautiful.

Absolutely less monstrous.

. . .

The caliph inclined his head contemplatively. “Today when you yelled at me—it was the first time I realized what it might be like. To have a sister.”

“And what did you think?” Irsa whispered.

“I rather liked it.”

Her mouth fell ajar. “Even though I yelled at you?”

“In truth, that might have made all the difference.”

“Really?” Irsa blinked, astounded. “Goodness, but you’re odd. Has anyone ever told you that?”

His smile appeared again, just as mystifying as before. Then—

The Caliph of Khorasan laughed.

And it was not at all like she would have expected.

It was relaxed. Soft and melodic. Though it was definitely not a sound that appeared to have been much practiced, it was also not a self-conscious laugh. It was simply a laugh that spoke of a better time. A time when a small boy laughed at better, brighter things.

Irsa had the distinct feeling she was bearing witness to a rather extraordinary event.

“I’m sorry,” she said, trying her best to be respectful, though she knew her behavior had already surpassed the notion. “I didn’t mean to insinuate that you were odd.”

“You did far more than insinuate; you said it outright.” The caliph’s eyes gleamed, but Irsa could detect no hint of menace in them.

“Yes.” She fiddled with her sleeve. “I suppose I did.”

“In any case, I am far from offended. In all things, I find myself grateful to you. I should probably say as much.”

[vesperascorpio]

So in the end, it wasn’t the pleading whispers of her sister. It wasn’t the fear that coursed through Irsa’s blood. No. It was never the fear. It was so much more than that.

It was older than the desert, this feeling. And it forever put an end to the mouse’s reign. Once and for all.

“Khalid Ibn al-Rashid!” Irsa roared. All eyes whipped back in her direction. “Stop this immediately. For if you do not, I promise Shahrzad will never forgive you!”

Her chest heaved as her gaze fell on the boy lying in the sand.

The boy who always asked the right questions. The boy who made her feel better than beautiful. The boy who gave her the strength to be a lion.

“And if you hurt Rahim, I will never, ever forgive you,” Irsa finished, truth imbuing her words with a steel no sword could strike down.

Even the very grains of sand seemed to yield to her. Seemed to sigh back in relief.

The Caliph of Khorasan gazed at her for an unblinking moment. His features lost a measure of their severity. He stood straight.

And lowered his swords.

Then, as though nothing of import had occurred, the caliph strode back toward Irsa, restoring his blades to a single sword as he walked. Rahim clambered to his feet and retrieved his scimitar before carefully following in the caliph’s footsteps, with Tariq in tow.

The caliph knelt beside Shahrzad and tried to lift her. She grimaced, the tension banding across her face. Her coloring had worsened considerably, her skin sallow, her forehead damp with sweat.

[vesperascorpio]

“By all that is holy, Khalid-jan—she is a vision.” Though Salim looked at her, he addressed Khalid, treating Shahrzad as little more than a tapestry hanging on his nephew’s wall. It rankled her. Shahrzad held firm to her smile. 

“A vision with eyes and ears, my lord.” Khalid continued staring ahead, but the ice set around his features thawed at her retort. Salim’s eyes widened, and something flared for an instant in their pools of contrived warmth. He laughed, and the sound was just as charming as his voice. Just as overdone. 

“Stunning and silver-tongued. What an interesting combination! I can see I will have quite a time getting to know you, my lady Shahrzad.” 

“Quite a time,” Shahrzad agreed. “I look forward to it, my lord.” Though his smile wavered for less than an instant, there was no mistaking it; she was irritating him.

“As do I,” he replied. Each word was like a spear soaked in sweet water.

. . . 

“Have  you  no  appetite,  nephew?”  Salim  raised  an  eyebrow  at  Khalid. “Perhaps it has mysteriously disappeared. That can happen when one is—troubled.” Khalid ignored Salim’s attempt to bait him, choosing instead to take a sip of wine.“Or . . . is it possible you are concerned your food seeks to lash out at you in response to some inexplicable offense?” Salim laughed at his own joke, winking at Shahrzad.

Hateful man.

Shahrzad reached over and snared an olive from Khalid’s plate. Holding Salim’s gaze, she popped the olive in her mouth and ate it. “His food seems fine to me, my lord. I’m not certain which inexplicable offense you might be referencing, but rest assured, his food is quite safe,” Shahrzad replied with a wink of her own. 

“Would you like me to taste your food as well, Uncle?” At that, Jalal began barking with laughter, and even the shahrban was forced to lower his grizzled chin. The suggestion of a smile tugged at Khalid’s lips. Across  the  way,  a  cup  was  set  down  on  the  table  with  unwarranted vehemence. Please, Tariq. Don’t make a scene. Don’t do anything. Salim grinned at Shahrzad. 

“Truly silver-tongued, my lady Shahrzad. I’d ask where you found her, Khalid-jan, but . . .” Khalid’s right hand clenched, and Shahrzad held back the desire to stab Salim in the eye with a utensil.

“Why would you be curious as to where he found me, my lord? Are you in the market?” Shahrzad asked in a nonchalant manner. 

Salim’s  brown  eyes  glittered.  “Perhaps  I  should  be.  Have  you  any relatives, my lady? Maybe a sister?” 

He knows I have a sister. Is he . . . threatening my family? 

Shahrzad tilted her head to one side, tamping down a flare of concern. “I do have a sister, my lord.” Salim  propped  his  elbows  onto  the  table,  studying  Shahrzad  with  an amused yet predatory gleam. Khalid’s full attention was fixed on the Sultan of Parthia, and a taut band of muscle flexed in his forearm. His hand shifted in Shahrzad’s direction. Conversation around them had all but ceased in recognition of the growing tension in the air.

“Am I not dangerous enough, Shahrzad?” Salim asked in a chillingly thoughtful  tone. “Perhaps  too forgiving  of  the  women  in  my  past? Too willing to let them live?” 

Several gasps emanated from around them, rippling across the hall like a rumor being passed through a square. Jalal released a pent-up breath followed by a low oath that garnered a look of warning from his father. 

Shahrzad swallowed her fury and then smiled with the brightness of the sun.“No, Uncle Salim. You are simply too old.”

The room was as silent as a tomb. And then the huge man with the collection of rings on his fingers began to laugh, his oiled mustache twitching all the while. Followed by the nobleman who had arrived on the black-and-white-striped steed. Soon, others started to join in until a chorus of amusement echoed throughout the space.

[vesperascorpio]

“Zoraya. Stop this, at once!” The falcon ignored the command, so Shahrzad whistled softly.

Zoraya squawked in reply, but ceased her assault. Stooping to collect her discarded dagger, Shahrzad stepped before a cowering Teymur. His neck and hands were scratched bloody, and the front of his trowsers was soaked. An acrid tang filled the air. Utterly indifferent, Shahrzad held the piece of dried meat before her. The falcon took it in her talons and landed beside Shahrzad’s feet, her blue-grey feathers spread in protective shadow.

Shahrzad glowered down at Teymur. “If you ever touch me again, I’ll rip off your sorry excuse for manhood and feed it to the falcon.”

Then she stepped closer, brandishing her unsheathed dagger.

“But if you even look at my sister again, I’ll kill you outright.”

[baileysbabbles]

I just started The Rose and the Dagger and I definitely like this book better than the first one. I’m used to this plot and these characters now.

Everything is very somber and on edge right now and I don’t love that but it makes sense for the plot right now and I don’t hate it. Khalid is especially somber but I think this time is kind of good for him. It gives him a chance to reevaluate things and he’s using this time to help his city and connect with his people which is good for him. I just hope he comes out on the other side of this a better person.

I’m getting pretty annoyed with Shazi right now. She’s being very distant and secretive with people that could be her allies if she would let them. I don’t like the way she acts when Khalid is brought up annoys me too and I can’t really explain why. I think it’s because she gets irrationally angry very quickly and makes matters worse when she could be explaining to people who he really is and why she loves him.

I’m very not ready for this war but I hope Omar and Tariq can make good decisions and make things better.

I like that we get to see a lot more of Irsa in this book because I really like her. I hope she can find out her purpose. Her and Rahim are cute together too but I definitely wasn’t expecting them.

Jahandar is making me very nervous because he has become a little more than a little crazy.

I’m very invested in where the story is going right now.