The second book was hand down the strongest in the series. I loved every second of it. The Jasmine Throne way mainly a set up for this one, which starts off right in the center of the conflict. On one side, we have Malani and her carefully strung together generals and nearly loyal soldiers, on the other, her brother Emperor Chandra. We get to see Malani play a game of political chess as she enacts a war for the soul of an empire that was promised to her both through prophecy, sheer force of will, and, of course, manipulating her strongest weapon, Priya. She calls her to her side to help her in this battle and Priya, ever loyal and also deeply in love, agrees to go. One very interesting thing I find about their dynamic is that neither character is ever trying to stop the other from seeking power or fighting for it, both characters have their own little universe of people to care for and responsibilities to fulfil, but being together is its own special thing. They mean a lot to each other and would fight to the death for each other, even if it means sacrificing a lot of what they've built already. At this point in the story, Bhumika has gained control over Ahiranya after the regent's death (that whole scene was wild and cemented my Bhumika obsession), becoming a temple elder, and trying to create some semblance of normalcy in a rot riven place. Priya lowkey figures out how to heal the land & stop rot from spreading, but for some reason this is not top priority to her or Bhumika which is.... interesting. Priya ends up going to Malani's side despite this deep guilt she feels for leaving her people, half because she really wanted to go, and half because she knew she could trust Bhumika to handle things while she was gone. It is so intensely sad to me that this is the last time they truly see each other. The last half of this book had so much packed into it, from Priya realizing her gods were waking up and planning to bring back the age of flowers, to Prince Aditiya sacrificing himself by fire, breaking Rao's heart in the process. Malani manipulates at least 3 holly people and an entire army to finally get face to face with her evil brother and kills him in a prison cell. She calls it a suicide to keep the priests in line, basically sealing her claim now that her brothers were no longer a threat. Meanwhile, Bhumika finds herself face to face with the yaksa for the first time in a generation. All of these characters have a deep sense of duty and honor, but they also know what it means to sacrifice themselves for their people, land, or ideas. I really enjoyed the second book more than the first, especially the scenes when Priya finally used her abilities to their full capacity. I definitely wanted more scenes with my favs, Sima, Raziya (a literal warrior queen), and Rukh (I'm a sucker for a kid that joins the resistance and has a pure soul), but overall I enjoyed this one the most.