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“Inan?” Kaea asks. She puts her hand on her blade. I need to give the order. I can’t show weakness. Duty before self.
She’s either the ranking officer, the Admiral, and you’re the captain, or you’re the prince, heir to the throne, and she’s your subject and subordinate. This flip flopping of who calls the shots is getting ridiculous. He was just acting like she was in charge before they entered the wagon and a few other times. Now he has to decide?
“You mustn’t tolerate those who get in your way, Inan.” Kaea steps over the corpse,
He wasn’t in his way.
“They stole it from us.” His voice takes a violent turn. “I will not let you do the same.”
How does that even make sense when they just brought it back?
“Wow,” I breathe out, running my fingers along the carved sênbaría marking each column. The symbols glow in the waning sunlight seeping in through the archways.
They left Nailah outside! Evil ass Kaea might kill her!
“Like hell you can’t.” Tzain steps in front of me, muscles flexing in challenge. “I’m not leaving you alone with my sister.”
So just turn your backs. Easy.
My heartbeat quickens, remembering Mama’s withered body after she used blood magic for the first time. The boundless power ripped her muscles apart. Even with the aid of Healers, it took her a full moon to regain her ability to walk.
Mama wasn’t in a tub of magic water though.
Lekan is about to lead us into the jungle brush when it hits me. “Nailah!”
Exactly.
Inan whips around, death raging in his eyes. They land on me and narrow;
I thought they were hiding behind the wall.
The second they make it across, I push Amari forward, but she doesn’t let go of my arm. “You are weak,” she chokes out. “You will not make it alone.”
Aw shit. Lekan is going to die. He’s last and they are slow and stubborn.
Lekan throws back his arms, sending each ryder flying off the cliff. Oh my gods …
And I bet you’re just standing there watching instead of wisely using the time he’s buying you…
“Run!” Lekan shouts, veins bulging against his skin. Amari pulls me forward as fast as she can, though the bridge weakens with our every step.
See. Just standing there. Tzain didn’t even tell y’all to hurry along,
Amari’s eyes glisten, but there’s not a moment to waste.
Because you’ve already wasted them all.
My body quivers as I cling to the stone panel. Even now I hear it splintering. I know it won’t hold. “Climb!”
Ain’t even thinking about Lekan’s sacrifice.
He held my life in his hands. He had every chance to throw it away. My thumb grazes over Father’s tarnished pawn, my skin prickling as I back away from his body. I understand now, Father. With magic we die. But without it … My gaze drifts back to the dead man, to the hands gifted by the heavens, stronger than the earth. Orïsha cannot survive that kind of power.
So, even though he didn’t kill you… Smdh
“He will blame me for their resurgence. He’ll never look at me the same way again.”
But you don’t seem to be worried that he will kill you…
As I dreamed, I never imagined the hell of the jungle, all the mosquitoes and sweat and jagged stones. But after four days in the desert, I’m convinced there’s no limit to the hells Orïsha can hold.
🤣🤣🤣
“We shouldn’t be spotted together. You guys get water. I’ll find a place to stay.”
THEY shouldn’t be spotted together. They are looking for two girls.
“The stockers send us here for the arena.”
OMG! They make them fight too!
“The nobles are already rich. They don’t need gold. They’re after Babalúayé’s relic.”
The stone! Has to be the stone they are looking for. But I thought the stone was lost. No way they have it and are using it publicly like this.
“Is it actually real?” I ask. “Just a myth,” Zélie answers. “A story maji tell divîners before they go to sleep.”
Stupid.
It’s more of a stone than a jewel, but it’s real. It grants eternal life.”
See.
As we wait, I look past the ornate silks of the nobles to inspect the arena’s deep metal floor.
Metal floor? In this hot desert?
Metal gates fly open on the sides of the arena floor, and an endless wave of water rushes in. This has to be a mirage. Yet liter after liter flows in. The water covers the metal ground, crashing with the expanse of a sea.
Have they imprisoned some Tiders?
The captains join in, eyes glittering at the announcer’s words. Unlike their helpless crews, they aren’t afraid.
But they could still die as well. The captain AND crew have to die for another to win.
“The stone grants immortality?” Amari cocks her head. “Lekan didn’t mention that.” “No,” I reply, “but it looks like it could.” “Who do you think will wi—”
How would she have any inclination as to who would win when she doesn’t know anyone and has just learned about the competition?
At this rate, we’ll die before we ever touch that stone.
How did she come to that conclusion?
Seeing the mural forces me to see the truth, confirming everything Father told me in the throne room. The gods are real. Alive. Connecting the threads of the maji’s lives.
But he’s still going to believe the lies…
I let thoughts of vengeance soothe me as we press against a jagged wall.
So, she’s fine to go on a stealth mission now when she was so weakened earlier today?
The wheel rips off with a strained crank.
Well damn.
“Thank gods!” I force a laugh, searching for the words to fix this. “I’ve been looking all over for you!”
Wow.
It looks like a killing blow. But why can’t I feel his spirit?
Maybe he’s not dead.
Only one excuse will do. “I want to enter your games. Let me compete tomorrow night.”
Figured that was going to be the excuse and that they would somehow end up in the competition.
Better that. Better whipped to death than blown apart on a ship. But no matter how hard I try to convince myself, I know the words aren’t true.
So basically you exposed yourself for nothing if you didn’t actually save him
“He won’t keep the sunstone here tonight after all this.
How’s he going to retrieve it? The handle is gone and the door is broken..
Every moon, Mama would lead a group of Reapers to the isolated mountaintops of Ibadan and use this incantation to cleanse our village of trapped souls.
Why would your village have so many trapped souls each new moon? Who was killing them?
The incantation would flow with ease. I’d have no problem getting a legion of animations to rise from the ground.
And you’ll also be weak again.
Women are distractions, Father would say. Your focus is on the throne.
Yet he has a wife and a mistress…
“If your water cost a gold piece per cup, you’d be doing the same exact thing.”
Girl STFU! You’re talking to damn much now.
“Don’t.” She speaks through her teeth. “You were muttering.
I’m pretty sure muttering isn’t a crime, so why lead with that?
“Kaea, put the sword down.” She hesitates. Her eyes go to my hair. The streak … It must be showing again.
So… she couldn’t see his hair while he was zoned out and muttering? Doesn’t the streak go from the front to the back?
“How long?” she breathes. “How long have you been a maji?” She hisses the word like it’s a curse. Like I’m the spitting image of Lekan. Not the boy she’s known since birth. The soldier she’s trained for years.
Either way though, she can’t kill him. She’d have to take him back for the king to decide.
“You’re lying.” Her lips peel back in disgust. “Are you … are you working with her?”
Now that was not a logical thought at all.
“You can’t.” I reach for her. “He won’t understand!” Kaea eyes the hallway, face ashen. She starts to back away.
Lord…
“Help!” Her screams are frantic now, echoing through the temple halls.
Wow…
“He’s one of them!” she shrieks. “He has been all along—”
So you’re going to get the King’s son killed by a mob? Wow.
A strangled scream escapes Kaea’s mouth. “Let go!”
Why would she say that instead of calling for help?
Kaea’s cries of agony grow. Her eyes turn red. Blood trickles from her ears, trailing down her neck.
Good. She was too ruthless. Uncaring or sympathetic. Blindly following, just like Inan.
“Please!” I beg. I have to keep her contained. She has to listen to me. I am her future king—
Not if she ha anything to say about it. You’re just another maggot to her, not the prince and heir. Not of royal blood. And the sad part is that she’s been alive for longer than 11 years and should know what really happened.
“I’m sorry.” My vision blurs. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” “Maggot,” Kaea exhales.
Well, she should have been smarter about it.
I see the first day she met Father, the way she held him when the maji murdered his family. A kiss they shared in the secrecy of the throne room while Ebele bled out at their feet. The man who kisses Kaea is a stranger. A king I’ve never met. For him, Kaea is more than his sun. She’s all that’s left of his heart.
Dude. Your father is married. Also, you need to be trying to see some relevant shit. And also again, if she was there when his first family was murdered, how did he end up choosing your mother?
