Read a full summary of Traitor to the Throne by Alwyn Hamilton. This page is full of spoilers, so beware! If you are wondering what happened in Traitor to the Throne, the second book in the Rebel of the Sands series, then you are in the right place!
Author
Alwyn Hamilton
Ratings
4.5 stars on Amazon
4.35 stars on Goodreads
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The Rebel of the Sands Series
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***** Everything below is a SPOILER *****
What happened in Traitor to the Throne?
The first book is quickly re-told from Jin’s point of view. It explains how Jin’s path diverged from Amani’s. He went to the Xichan camp as a spy because they are his mother’s people. He translated a message from the Sultan saying he wanted to join forces with the Xichan to battle the Rebels. The rebellion turned into a war.
Meanwhile, Amani is taken prisoner on purpose to gain entry into the walled city of Saramotai, called Free City because local slaves captured it from their masters. She uses her sand powers to unlock her cell and her friends’. Guards approach, a fight ensues, and Amani’s group wins when Ranaa, a young Demdji girl, summons light in her hands and turns the tide of the fight.
Amani helps Ranaa escape. They rescue many women, including one who calls Amani her mother’s name. They’re confronted by a band of soldiers as they are about to escape the city. Malik, the new leader, is among them. When it looks like they’re overwhelmed, Delila appears in invisible form and puts a knife to Malik’s neck. A fight ensues. One of the soldiers shoots and kills Ranaa. The others escape.
Ahmed is mad Amani and Shazad took his little sister Delila on their mission. He asks them to come with him. They’re surprised when he leads them into a council meeting called because Sayyida also arrived back at camp. She was a spy for the rebellion in the Sultan’s house. Ahmed sent Hala in for her after she missed sending her weekly report. She found her in prison.
Mahdi is in love with Sayyida and takes her to the medical tent. She’s not going to make it. They need a new spy in the palace. Shazad volunteers to go in during the Auranzeb party. She’s invited since she’s the general’s daughter.
Amani snaps at Ahmed for sending Jin away while she was still unconscious from her gunshot wound. Ahmed tells her Jin volunteered to go. Amani is hurt and angry.
Amani sees Jin from a distance at Imin’s wedding. She’s surprised he’s back and doesn’t feel prepared to see him. A wound has reopened on her neck. She escapes to the medical tent to fix it and so Jin won’t see her. The woman who called her by her mother’s name is still being treated there. It’s Safiyah, Amani’s aunt. Jin followed her to the tent to help.
Mahdi threatens Delila. They bring him before Ahmed. He’s angry everyone wants death for Mahdi instead of mercy.
The Rebels are attacked suddenly. Amani stays behind to summon the sand to give everyone a chance to escape. Jin stays behind to help her once her strength is gone. They ride away with a few stragglers. When the horses are exhausted, they stop for the night. Jin fixes Amani’s shoulder, which was out of place. He kisses her to distract her from the pain. He acts a little distant but kisses her once more before leaving the tent. Amani decides to find him and either have it out or kiss him again. She’s grabbed and drugged before she makes it to his tent.
Amani wakes on a ship in the middle of the sea. Safiyah kidnapped her. She was in Saramotai to kidnap Raana because she trades in Demdji. Now she has Amani instead.
Amani awakes in the palace in Izman. She’s wrapped in bandages. She makes a noise to lure the guard. She swings a vase. It shatters against a metal leg. It’s Tamid, her best friend from Dustwalk whom she left for dead when she fled with Jin. He’s cold toward her. The Sultan walks in and stops the other soldier from punching Amani. Amani is surprised how young Jin’s father is and how much Ahmed looks like him.
Her aunt walks in. Amani tries to attack her. The Sultan stops her. He says many families bring their young here claiming they’re Demdji to try to get a payoff. He asks her to prove whether she is by saying her father’s not a Djinni. She tries to get around it. The Sultan has known what she is all along. He employed her brother Noorsham and recognized her blue eyes. Tamid came up with a good way to control her powers: embedding bronze and iron under her skin.
The Sultan compels her to follow him to a dungeon to summon a Djinn. Amani’s the missing piece he needs. He hands her a paper and compels her to read the ancient language to summon her father, a Djinn named Bajadur. He uses Amani to threaten Bajadur. The Sultan compels her to stab herself in the stomach if Bajadur doesn’t give up the names of the other Djinn. He refuses. The Sultan stops Amani before she hurts herself. She tries to turn the knife of the Sultan. He stops her. Bajadur’s impressed. The Sultan then compels her not to leave the harem or harm anyone, including herself.
A servant takes her to the baths, where she’s berated by the harem women and observed by the Sultim, Sultan’s oldest son named Kadir. He nearly pulls off the cloth covering Amani until a servant mentions the Sultan’s order not to touch her. Amani continues to be tortured by the wives because they see her as a competitor for their husband’s affection. She makes one ally in Leyla, the teenage daughter of the Sultan.
Amani discovers another hated harem wife: the blessed Sultima, the only wife who has conceived a child for the Sultim. She mostly stays to herself but eventually emerges in the bathing room. Unbelievably, it’s Amani’s cousin Shira. She threatens to tell the Sultim Amani’s part of the rebellion. Amani warns she’ll tell the Sultim it’s not his baby. Her hunch is right. They’re both forced to keep each other’s secrets.
Shira meets with Amani by the Weeping Wall. She presents Sam, her errand boy. He can walk through walls because his parents are Faye (the northern word for Demdji). He claims to be the Blue-Eyed Bandit. Amani surprises him by telling him the truth about who she is. Amani asks him to get a simple message (that the Blue-Eyed Bandit is at the palace) to Shazad.
The Sultim orders Amani to court to show her off along with a few of his wives. The Sultan is not happy. Amani grows bored with the petitions until Shazad appears. She received Amani’s message! Shazad has brought other Rebels with her to look for ways to rescue Amani.
Amani tells Shazad the Sultan has a Djinni. Shazad says she has to get Amani and Bajadur out. Shazad mentions how Izman swarms with soldiers since the ceasefire. Amani has no knowledge of the ceasefire. Shazad quickly explains and mentions the casualties the Rebels sustained. She says Ahmed confronted Jin about always running Amani off. Jin punched him and fled, presumably looking for Amani. No one has seen him since.
Amani finds the Sultan at the lake teaching a son how to shoot an arrow. She makes a bet with the Sultan. If she can kill a duck with an arrow, she can leave the harem (with a guard) to roam the city. She doesn’t succeed until after the Sultan leaves. She barges in on his meeting with foreign ambassadors and drops it on the table. She hears the Gallan representative lie about how many troops he has. The Sultan keeps her there to catch any other lies. She tries to store all useful information she gleans to help the Rebel cause.
The Sultan asks Amani to dine with him on the duck. He’s called away for just a few minutes. Amani searches the adjoining room and steals some paperwork that could be helpful to the Rebels. When he returns, she learns his side of the story on when he took over the throne, why he rules the way he does, and why he thinks the Rebel cause is wrong. The other side of the story makes some sense to Amani.
Amani missed her nightly meeting with Sam because of her dinner. He’s in her room at bedtime. She gives him the stolen paperwork and says the Sultan is leaving in three days to capture Saramotai. She thinks Shazad should try to evacuate it.
Amani is at each meeting with the foreign ambassadors to ensure they’ll be truthful. Other than that, she’s free to roam the city with a guard.
Ayet cuts Amani’s hair while she sleeps. She thinks Amani is to blame for two women who have disappeared. Amani has no knowledge of it. Shira is not behind it either. Shira asks Amani to find out what Leyla’s up to. She’s afraid Leyla’s brother Rahim wants the throne. In return, she’ll help Amani.
Shira fakes labor to distract everyone for Amani to sneak away. Amani goes to see Bajadur to find out how to free him. She’ll have to break the circle of iron set into the floor. The Sultan and soldiers come for her.
Prince Rahim is now Amani’s guard. He’s the one who shot her in the side in Iliaz. He knows she’s with the Rebels. They share the same hate for his father. He sent Rahim away to be a soldier when he was twelve because he harmed Kadir in a fight. He became the youngest and best commander in his father’s army. Rahim wants to help Amani dethrone him. He’ll bring his troops to the Rebel’s aid. He wants Amani to get Leyla out of the palace. Amani, Shazad, and Sam decide to do so during Auranzeb.
The public hears the Sultan is negotiating with the Gallans again. Seeds of rebellion are rising everywhere.
Amani asks Rahim to take her to Tamid. Leyla is there working on his prosthetic leg. There seems to be something between them. Rahim leads Leyla out. Tamid knows Amani’s there to ask him which piece of metal to cut from under her skin to enable her to escape. They argue. Amani leaves. While she’s waiting for Rahim, the Gallan ambassador threatens her. Kadir is with him. Rahim and his soldiers rescue her. The man attacks with a knife. Rahim kills him. Kadir is about to attack. Amani aims a gun at him. The Sultan approaches them.
Leyla knows the plan and asks Amani to take Tamid with them. Leyla’s in love with him.
Ayet sees Amani talking to Sam in a palace garden and thinks they’re involved. She promises to use the information against Amani.
The Gallan king arrives. The Sultan lies about why his ambassador is dead. Amani searches for Ayet to try to bargain with her to keep her quiet.
Shira gives birth to a baby with blue hair, a Djinni’s son. Amani promises to get her and the baby out alive for some dirt on Ayet. Ayet has a husband outside the palace walls.
Kadir finds them as they’re trying to escape. The Sultan arrives. Shira will be imprisoned and tried for treason. The Sultan asks the Djinni’s name. It’s Fereshteh. Shira tells Amani the baby’s name is Fadi (a family name) as she’s led away.
The legend of the traitor Djinni is told. The Djinni were first beings who created humans to fight wars for them. When peace set in, the Djinni voted on whether to keep the humans alive. The vote went against Fereshteh. The humans were allowed to live. He gave that Sultan the names of all the Djinni who voted against him so they could be captured.
The Sultan leads Amani back to the harem. Rahim distracts his father with hurried whispers. Two servants take baby Fadi from Amani. It’s Hala and Imin. Hala will put an image of Kadir drowning the baby in the mind of everyone in the harem so Fadi will be presumed dead. Amani asks them to save Shira. They say it’s either her or Amani. They definitely need Amani alive.
Amani visits Shira in prison and sees Ayet there. Amani’s secret is safe. Shira tells Amani Fereshteh promised to make her the mother of a ruler. Shira speaks out for the Rebellion at her execution and stirs up the crowd. Rebels in the crowd throw bottle bombs.
Amani spots Tamid and vows to rescue him. They talk about their past and argue a bit again. She tells him about Jin and slips that they’re both in love with royals. Tamid says he’ll remove the bronze piece from under her skin so Amani can escape. He’s leaving the iron in so she can’t use her power.
Rioting continues all night. The Rebels claim part of the city by morning. Amani is dressed up for Auranzeb. Rahim escorts her to the party. Imin and Shazad are there and tell Rahim their plan. Amani and Shazad meet with Bilal of Iliaz to set up a meeting with Ahmed to negotiate an alliance.
The Xichian prince arrives. Jin is part of his entourage. He’s soon at Amani’s side. He asks whether she’s been hurt during her stay here. The Sultan walks up and leads Amani away.
Sam sneaks Amani and Shazad out through the wall during the Sultan’s Auranzeb speech. Hala helps them get to the eighteen Djinn. Leyla’s there powering a death machine of her creation. It executes Fereshteh. When his body’s gone, his eternal light and fire escapes. Amani and crew escape. His light fills the decorations at the celebration. The metal statues of the brothers the Sultan killed come alive. The party and the ceasefire were the Sultan’s trap.
Amani orders Sam to get the Rebels out of the palace. She goes for Tamid. She runs into Jin. They fight the soldiers together. Amani and Jin kiss and escape by a rope out a bedroom window with Kadir close behind. The Sultan appears and draws a knife and cuts Kadir’s throat. He’s banking on civil war to erupt the in countries around them when their leaders are killed here at the palace, giving Miraji time to build power by uniting Demdji and machines.
Jin makes it across to Amani while the Sultan’s talking. They escape. They find a place to hide and check their wounds. Amani sees her sheema around Jin’s arm when she takes his shirt off. They make out. Sam and Hala arrive with an unconscious Leyla. She fought them, so they had to knock her out. Rahim was captured. Imin got Tamid out.
They’re at Shazad’s house. There’s a tunnel under the house to a secret garden where the Rebels hide. Everyone is there. She’s surprised when Ahmed hugs her and welcomes her home.
The Sultan announces Miraji’s independence from foreign rule and twists the events from yesterday. There will be a new Sultim trial since Kadir’s dead.
Leyla’s scared of them. Ahmed asks about the army of machines she built. She says the Sultan threatened to harm Rahim unless she built them. They’re impossible to stop unless the power source is destroyed.
Ahmed tells the Rebels he’s going to speak to Prince Bilal in hopes of allying with him. They also need to get Amani to Leyla’s machine to power down the Sultan’s inhuman army. Amani needs the metal out from under her skin so she can use her sand powers.
Bilal isn’t power hungry or wanting to assume the throne from his father. He will offer the services of his army if they’ll give him a Demdji wife. Jin says they can get married so Amani’s not available. She won’t.
Imin says the Sultan won’t execute Rahim since he’s a popular general. He’s being sent to a work camp the next night.
Amani overhears Delila telling Ahmed she wants to marry Bilal to help the Rebels. When it’s just Amani and Ahmed, he tells her he’s in an impossible place. Both are both willing. He won’t force either one. If they can rescue Rahim, Amani thinks the Iliaz army will follow him without Bilal’s orders. He was a respected commander and the soldiers love him.
They ask Leyla how to destroy the Abdals, the clay men powered by Djinni fire. Their power is in the iron in their feet.
Sam and Hala to take Amani to Safiyah to remove the iron under her skin. Hala casts an illusion on Safiyah to make her think Amani is her sister Zahia. All the metal besides one last piece under her gunshot wound is removed. They meet up with the Rebels just in time. They rescue Rahim from the Abdals in his transport. But the whole thing was a trap.
The Sultan was onto Amani the whole time she was under his roof. He fed Rahim bad information to give to Amani to pass along to the Rebels. He wanted to use her to get to Ahmed. Leyla was in on it and on her father’s side the whole time. She put a tracking device in Tamid’s prosthetic to discover where their camp was.
Amani conjures a sandstorm. It’s painful to do so with the piece of metal still in her side, but it works. A fight ensues. Shazad puts Amani and Jin on Izz’s back to fly them away. Izz is shot down. They crash into the water. Jin pulls Amani to safety. They don’t know where Izz is or how the others fared.
How did Traitor to the Throne end?
They learn Ahmed was captured and will be executed on the palace steps at sundown. They race to save him. It’s no use. Amani tries to shoot at the feet of the Abdals. She’s too far away. She tries to draw the sand to her. The metal in her side and her drained strength makes it impossible. The Sultan’s men offer clemency to Rebels willing to join their side. Amani locks eyes with Ahmed just before he’s executed.
The Rebels make their way to Shazad’s with low spirits. They have to regroup. Amani thinks the Sultan will show mercy to the Rebels he’s captured because he’s losing the favor of the people. She announces they lost Imin instead of Ahmed today. She disguised herself as Ahmed, probably Shazad’s idea because Ahmed would’ve never agreed to it.
They look to Jin to lead them now. He refuses. Amani will. They’ll rescue their friends and march Rahim to Iliaz to get the army. They think the Miraji people will unite with them when they see the new legend: the resurrected prince.
There you go! That’s what happened in Traitor to the Throne, the second book in this series. Hero at the Fall, book 3, is set to be released March 6, 2018!
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