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

by Tomi Adeyemi

She stares out the square window, watching the families that line up in front of the village well.

Wait. Why are the families lining up in front of the village? Are they really using them as fodder?

By winter’s dawn, we will have wiped the scourge of maji from this land. Even your wretched father couldn’t achieve that.” “Mother, what are you talking about?” I grab her arm. “We’re fighting the Iyika. Not the maji.”

You are truly an idiot.

“Did your father ever tell you how close the monarchy came to unifying with the maji clans?”

“That referendum would have changed everything,” Mother hisses. “In no time at all, the maggots would’ve usurped the throne. This crusade began the moment I realized that I was the only person who could stop it.”

Wow. She did it! She’s the cause of Ojore’s burns and his parents death and then raised him out of guilt? Or pity.

“Burners assassinated the king. They’re the ones who killed the referendum.” I wait for her to correct her mistake, but she only holds my gaze.

And she also killed the queen and her kids, securing her position and the positions of her own. Wow. That’s deep.

It could’ve worked. It would’ve worked. There was a chance for a better path. But Mother destroyed that chance herself. She’s the reason we’re still fighting now.

And she’s destroying every chance now as well, stupid.

I search for regret in her eyes. An ounce of remorse.

Really? You think some will be there after all that she has done since the Solstice?

“Are you coming with us tomorrow?” I nod, though I wish it weren’t true.

Us? He’s choosing a side?

I scramble to the far wall, putting as much space between us as I can. Everything I fight forces its way out, spinning out of my control. I hear Mâzeli’s voice. I feel Inan’s touch. I smell Baba’s blood as it pours out of his chest.

Seriously?

“Well, I don’t care about you!” The words sting coming out of my mouth. But I know it’s all I have. The only weapon that can keep Roën away.

No, it’s not. You’re just being a bitch for no reason. Just telling him you simply changed your mind or that you thought you were ready but you’re not would have sufficed.

“You’re just a mercenary.” I shake my head. “Just a monster for hire. At least Inan was a king. At least he believed in something!”

I hate her. And he was not a king when you did that.

The look on Roën’s face cuts deeper than any other blade I’ve experienced. For once, I don’t see his armor. Only the boy who let me in. “I don’t care about you.” My breath shakes with every word.

And yet you keep going with your poisonous words… make sense.

I scramble to my feet. “Do I look foolish enough to fall for your tricks again? How dare you summon me after attacking our base!”

But he didn’t stupid. He just got betrayed trusting the wrong people. Which is his karma. Though he wasn’t the one that really suffered. OAN, is she even dressed?

“I know ‘I’m sorry’ will never be enough. But being queen means you don’t get to rule by your emotions.”

Queen, huh?

He’s gotten so good at lying he doesn’t even know when he’s lying to himself.

That part.

“Everything that’s happened … it started with Mother. But it can end with us!”

Kill your mother then…

“I will win,” I growl. “And when I do, I will make up for everything our family has done wrong. I will be Orïsha’s greatest queen. I will change the entire kingdom!”

Lame

WITH A GASP, I shoot up, clutching Tzain’s agbada against my bare skin. He snores by my side. I lie in my quarters again.

Why is his robe in her bed?

“You’re wrong,” I whisper under my breath. They both are. Victory hangs just beyond my fingertips. It’s so close, I can taste it.

I just wish they’d all die. That royal family’s mindset is the worst! The lot of them.

Mother and Inan were right to use those villagers as shields. Even if word got out about their location, their presence ties our hands. But if those villagers were out of the way … if they weren’t a factor at all …

How does she suddenly now know for sure that they are using the villagers?

I walk up to Zélie;

Leave her alone!

“Thank you.” I smile. “You didn’t have to volunteer.”

I hate when someone tells me something I already know about my own actions.

She brushes past my shoulder, not even seeing how deep her hatred cuts.

I’m pretty sure she does see.

When her eyes land on Ojore, the ache erupts in my core.

I bet he overheard.

“Inan, we need to stay in here,” Mother calls after me. “The Iyika could strike at any moment—”

So they do know their location has been compromised. So why did Inan say he and his mother were safely out of harms way and not in Lagos?

How many people must die to protect a stolen throne?

That part!

I clench my fist as the lock clicks and the door handle groans behind me.

The lock clicks?

“I couldn’t leave my soldiers to finish this war themselves. I was coming to tell you. I didn’t expect to walk in on you and your mother celebrating the death of my family.”

Ok. Hold on, now Ojore! Don’t put that on Inan! He’s done a lot of shit but he was definitely not celebrating that shit and he was upset about it. You should have heard that as well.

My blood runs cold when he removes his sword. “I’ll kill her,” he whispers under his breath. “I’ll kill her before she kills anyone else.”

She is not in this room, so why remove his sword now?

“Ojore, wait.” I hold up my hands, positioning myself between him and the door. “Mother will answer for her crimes, I promise. But right now there are lives at stake.”

Dude, no she won’t. She’s a center. How do you plan to restrain her? Majacite doesn’t work on her.

As soon as the blue light sparks in my hand, Ojore strikes.

As he should. You’re protecting a mass murdered with no remorse. Also, since when was he able to control his powers again to visit his dreamscape?

But with a wave of his hand, the dagger halts in midair. Dark green ashê surrounds Ojore’s fingers as the dagger hangs between us.

Hold on… he was a titan all this time?

“You should know that your soldier is a coward,” Roën retorts at our backs.

Facts

“Roën,” I call after him, but he doesn’t turn back.

Why would he? Here’s another one you’re going to get killed! Say what’s important! You were just arguing, he’s not going to listen otherwise.

“Wait!” I’d know that burning scent anywhere.

Say why dumb bitch!

I grit my teeth as one lands on my leg. The stone digs into my flesh, cutting through muscle as I pull. I open my eyes to darkness as the truth sets in.

But you can create shadows and animations to fight people… Smdh.

We walked right into a trap.

Yep.

If they set this trap below, what other dangers lie above? What traps have they set for our people marching past Lagos? The maji and diviners are nearly defenseless.

Yep. And the ever so helpful Inan told her nothing, despite saying he wanted to stop the killings. Clearly, that was another lie.

I choke as I leave every scar they carved onto my heart behind and break through the water’s surface.

Wow… why couldn’t she have had that literal breakthrough before.

I fling another dagger from my belt,

He’s a Welder dude.

“You don’t deserve the throne.”

That’s true…

“You can’t claim the right to lead after all you’ve done to tear this kingdom apart.”

Why is he putting it all on him? Inan tried to share food and call a treaty. His mother and Jojoke are the headhunters that were pushing him to do more against them. I mean, he was weak enough to listen, but…

I can barely see straight as he lifts me up, hanging me in front of him with metal restraints.

H seems to forget that he has mental magic…

I look back, not recognizing the monster that wears Ojore’s face. We did this to him. We poisoned him with all our hate.

Yep.

Roën’s limbs start to float. There’s only one way to break him free. My heart slams against my chest as my shadows shift, wrapping around his arm.

Oh no! She’s going to cut off his arm!

My shadow slices through his shoulder as I use up my last breath.

She took the entire are off!

“Zïtsōl.” He forces the word out through his final gasp. He grips me with the last strength he has. “Home.”

That’s what it meant? Wow!

Inan’s right. I can’t win unless I play their games. But can I really go through with this? Is any cost too great if it’ll end this madness?

So they are going to kill the villagers themselves?

I think of all the villagers we saw in Dakarai’s search; the children playing in the lake, the parents lining up at the village well. I think of what it will actually mean to wipe Mother and Inan from their earth. I think of the fact that Zélie could be alive inside those walls.

So she was going to blow it up anyway, just to win. Wow.

In what world could I sacrifice her after everything she’s done for me? Everything she means? She and Tzain are the people I love most in this world. Who will I be if I sacrifice that love just to win the war?

You knew that when she volunteered to go in…