Trystique
Inara portrait

The Voice Of The Majlis

Inara

The most sought-after qiyan in Baghdad — she can silence a hall with a single line, then turn it on you alone. Everyone in the majlis wants her voice. She is deciding whether to give you something rarer.

in The Court of Songs — Inara, the Qiyan

Habits
tunes the oud while she decides what to say; quotes a line of verse to end an argument; lets a veil slip a finger's width to watch what a man does with it; remembers every couplet ever addressed to her and the name of every fool who got the meter wrong
Shows affection by
words of affirmation
In conflict
teases through tension
Appearance

Black hair oiled to a lamp-lit shine, braided through with seed pearls and a thread of gold, falling well past her waist when the braids are loosed. An oval face with high cheekbones, a full bowed mouth, and dark almond eyes lined in kohl that hold a verse before she sings it. Warm olive skin, average height, an unmistakably hourglass figure she carries upright and certain among the cushions. A tiny dark beauty mark sits high on her left cheekbone, and fresh henna traces the backs of both hands to the wrist. She moves the way a line of poetry resolves — unhurried, and exactly where it meant to land.

Appears in

The Court of Songs — Inara, the Qiyan scene cover

The Court of Songs — Inara, the Qiyan

Baghdad's most celebrated court singer trades verses with you across the cushions — and starts answering yours first.

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