Children of Virtue and Vengeance (Legacy of Orïsha, #2)

by Tomi Adeyemi

“They’re retreating!” Kenyon punches his hands up, shooting a stream of fire into the air. The rest of the maji cheer as the soldiers flee, abandoning their caravans and majacite bombs.

Nope. They are clearing their men to do some real damage…

I grab onto a tree root and lift myself up,

A tree ROOT to pull herself UP? How does that work?

My stomach clenches as I turn, peering into the distance.

Why would she need to turn when she should be watching in the direction of the retreat which should also be the direction of the advance?

“Retreat!” I scream. “Get back to the sanctuary!” The Iyika meet me with confused stares

And that’s where y’all differ from the soldiers. A retreat was called for a reason. Do it. Don’t stand around looking stupid. That’s what white folk be doing.

“There’s one thing we can do.” Mâzeli balls his fists, filling his chest with a confidence I know he doesn’t have. I step back, looking at the tattoos along my skin.

Smdh. Don’t kill this boy! Where the hell is Amari! Still crying in the forest?

But the longer we push, the greater the strain. The more I feel our pain. “Zélie…” Mâzeli’s voice scratches through his clenched teeth. His screams turn sharp as strips of skin peel away from his arms. The powerful ashê rips through our veins. It burns through us both. But despite how I want to let go, the Winder cênter still stands. “Just once more!” I shout. “Ẹmí àwọn tí ó ti sùn—”

She’s going to kill him…

I turn to Mâzeli, but he doesn’t move. Blood drips from the corners of his mouth. His fingers fall limp. “Mâzeli?”

She killed him.

I see the strain of our combined magic, the great power that’s eaten through his being. His hands go to his chest and I feel his heart seize beneath my own ribs.

I hate her.

“They’re safe.” I fight the knife in my throat. “Because of you, everyone is.”

I hate her.

MY THIGHS BURN as I race up the steps to the maji sanctuary. All around, I see what damage I’ve caused. The scars left from trusting Inan.

How she miss the entire fight but Inan was with his people almost right away?

“Zélie?” I scan for her through the chaos, but she’s nowhere to be found. I can’t even find Mâzeli. None of her Reapers stand in the crowd.

Girl she don’t want to see you! You’d better look for Tzain.

“Don’t touch me!” Her shriek pierces my ears like shattered glass. She pushes Mama Agba so hard the elderly Seer stumbles into a column.

Well damn. YOU did the spell. YOU decided not to stop when he basically told you it was too much!

We may have chased Inan’s armies off today,

We? What did you do, other than lead them there?

I’ve ruined everything. And I don’t know if I can fix it again.

No hun, there is no fixing that.

I’ve been training my tîtáns. The general’s last words to me return.

Training them to do what? Stand in a circle and die? Because that’s all that they did. Allowed you to pull their ashé and life force out of their bodies.

The general was supposed to be our secret weapon. A force even Zélie couldn’t beat. Her strength was the only reason I felt powerful enough to enforce peace, but what kind of peace could last when our enemy is capable of this?

Wow. What is he even saying!

It doesn’t matter if I didn’t sanction this attack. Any hope of peace lies with my dead on this battlefield.

So they were supposed to be attacked and die and NOT defend themselves? Why is this idiot even breathing?

This war ends with me.

Yes. I agree. With your death.

“Summon the rest of our soldiers.” Mother turns to Ojore. “We’ll lead another assault while they’re down.”

You are not in charge woman!

“By using the one thing Amari and Zélie hate most,” I answer. “Me.”

How would using him divide and conquer anything? Unless he means Amari and Zelie. They’ve already done that themselves over you.

“Roën?” I whisper.

Who let Roën in the sanctuary? He has no loyalties…

“The elders summoned me. The lot of them pooled together every resource they had just to hire me to help.”

Really? Why? Shouldn’t Mama Agba see his connection to Nehama?

“Why does she get a choice?” Kenyon asks. “Someone drag that girl out of her room!”

Wow…

Orïsha waits for no one. “If I can surround myself with enough Connector tîtáns, I think I can take Mother down.”

So why didn’t you do that when you brought them to the maji’s doors?

“Who else can challenge her?” I ask. “Who else can suck the life from Inan’s veins?”

Obviously no one because you did neither…

The monarchy’s expecting us to march on the palace and exhaust our forces in the wrong location. They plan to annihilate us when we’re divided.”

But why would you be divided? You wouldn’t know anything about Idaban to even think to go there.

“We can break for Ilorin’s coast. Sail beyond Orïsha’s borders.”

Didn’t Inan just send Ojore there to build something?

I can almost see the acceptance I crave. But when Amari walks forward, her face lights up as a new idea takes hold in her mind. “Zélie’s right.” Her voice echoes in the silence. “This is the only chance we might have to escape. But it could also be our chance to win.”

Smdh. Now she stills your thunder. This is the real divide and conquer. Roën just set her up.

Amari presses her lips into a hard line. Her gaze settles on my hand. She exhales a long breath and closes her eyes. “I’m sorry, but I can’t abandon my home without a fight.”

Then you stay! She was only speaking of the diviners and maji!.

“Let us rise!” She punches her fist into the air. “Let’s band together and end this war! Together we can win! Gba nkàn wa padà!”

So now they are excepting her as an “us”? Wow. Did she forget that Zelie could expose her part in the location breach and take all of that away?

With Zélie against our attack, command of the Iyika falls to me. My head spins as we sit in the dining hall, using every maji at our disposal to hammer out the final details.

And that’s all she wanted. To be in control. Zelie should actually leave.

I feel the part of me that wants to argue that Inan wouldn’t sacrifice his people, but I no longer believe it. He and Mother don’t care who they hurt. They’ll kill anyone to win this war.

And you should have known that from way back at your rally when your mother drained her own troops.

When the monarchy attacked, you defended these sacred walls. You have made every one of your ancestors proud.” Her words rouse a few cheers from the crowd. Mama Agba smiles to herself as she takes in the faces that fill the hall.

But you feel no guilt at that speech…

But because of you, we have a chance. Because of your spirit, we can still win this war. We will bring our people the freedom they deserve.”

And she’s the most powerful Seer? Wow. She can’t see the trap?

“If I decide to let you be queen, you’d better throw more celebrations like this.”

Wow. So she has quickly switched from Zelie being queen!

Zélie’s the one they’ve wanted on my throne.

Her throne…

Father wouldn’t drink before battle. Neither can I. More memories of him fill my mind as I drift through the crowd. I wonder if he would be proud of what I’ve done. The ruler I’ve become.

That entire family is delusional! What ruler? When?

Dancing with him takes me back to the fields of the divîner festival, back when it felt like tomorrow was ours.

But I thought you were just preaching that tomorrow would be yours….

“If my lips are on yours, can you try not to think about my sister?”

Exactly.

We gallop across the Opeoluwa Plains, heading north from the sanctuary.

He’s taking her to Idaban…

The boat’s hum intertwines with the crashing waves as we sail.

Why is a wind powered boat humming?

The wind turbine shudders as it comes to a stop.

Oh. THAT kind of wind powered. Not a sail.

As he works, I remove my tunic, leaving only the wrap fastened around my chest.

He hasn’t seen her back before…

With no warning, he snaps into action, removing a crossbow from his pack that’s loaded with a flat hook instead of an arrow.

Lord.

The beast cuts through the water like a cannon, so large it changes the ocean’s currents. It lights up the sea with its approach. My heart thrashes when it nears.

Lord.

With a jolt, he pulls the trigger of his bow, launching the flat hook through the water, and the projectile connects under the whale’s massive flipper. A moment is all we have before the connecting cord yanks us through the water. Every bone in my body rattles as we shoot forth. It’s like being pulled by a thousand elephantaires. Water pounds against our skin as we fly through the ocean at unimaginable speeds.

Did he do all of this to take her on a whale ride? Like jet skiing?

“That was incredible!” I scream. “The most amazing thing I’ve ever seen!” Roën smiles as I yell. “That’s usually what my lovers say about me.”

🤣🤣🤣

“That.” His fingers rest along the corners of my lip. “It’s been far too long since I’ve seen that.”

In all honesty, the first and last time he likely saw it was at the Diviner’s camp. Every time she was with him after that, it wasn’t fun times…

“Is everyone clear on their marching orders?” Mother takes charge in my silence.

She takes charge even when you’re talking? What you mean?

Her low voice echoes through the pyramid ahéré outside Ibadan’s village center,

So Roën’s intel was factual. Good.