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“That’s right, Zél.” Yemi’s voice dips so low only I can hear it. “Listen to Mama Agba. Be a good little maggot.” And there it is. That word.
“Spit it out, child!” “They’re coming!” Bisi finally exclaims. “They’re close, they’re almost here!”
“They don’t hate you, my child. They hate what you were meant to become.”
“It avoids rather than hurts, it hurts rather than maims, it maims rather than kills—the staff does not destroy.”
When your opponent has no honor, you must fight in different ways, smarter ways.”
“You know how to win,” she says. “Just make sure you know when to fight.”
He wants to believe that playing by the monarchy’s rules will keep us safe, but nothing can protect us when those rules are rooted in hate.
I shouldn’t be asking when things got this bad. I should ask why I ever thought things had gotten better.
But Father raised the divîner taxes. If she didn’t sell my bangle, she and her family would’ve lost their home.
My heart seizes as I watch her tumble to the ground, a finger’s breadth before the gate. Clouds of dirt greet her fall.
OH BIHHHH. She woulda had to get left at this point!
I dash through the gates, rolling through moments before they slam shut.
all this knowing what your baba is dealing with ??!
I can’t believe we actually made it. I can’t believe I’m still alive.
“It’s not just any fugitive,” he says through his teeth. “It’s Amari.”
“Give me that.” I motion for the scroll, eager to inspect it. But the moment it touches my fingers, an unnatural shock travels through my body. I
As much as I want to leave her behind, we’re not done with each other yet.
“When you have what you need, burn that village to the ground.”
Yooooo
“Don’t worry,” Tzain adds gently. “She’ll throw it in her pack, not the sea.”
No matter how much I crave peace, the gods have other plans.
“She loved you fiercely. She would be so proud right now.”
Suddenly all the pieces come together. The thrashing. The vision. I should’ve known all along. Magic …
The electric energy that surged through my veins. And when our eyes locked … Skies. She must’ve infected me.
“Silence!” My voice booms into the night with a power that doesn’t feel like my own.
“Safe?” Yemi meets my eyes with a hatred that impales me like a sword. Though her mouth never opens, her voice rings in my skull. “Safe ended a long time ago.”
Those are the ones you must watch out for, little Zél. They use magic to break into your head.
“You mustn’t tolerate those who get in your way, Inan.” Kaea steps over the corpse, wiping her blade clean. “Especially those who know too much.”
Kaea ain’t no play thang
Everything is possible when it comes to the gods. All that matters is Sky Mother’s will.”
“The gods don’t make mistakes.”
