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

by Tomi Adeyemi

“At the time, I thought I was peeking into the beyond. Now I see my vision was of you all along.”

Wow.

I expect her to make her way forward, but she walks to Kâmarū.

Of course she must say goodbye to each and every one of you. You aren’t the only one she has cared for,

The gods work in mysterious ways. Have faith in their greater plan.”

She’s pregnant with a maji.

When it hits the maji around me, ten disparate heartbeats fill my head.

Hold on. Is it also hitting Amari as an elder?

For so long I’ve struggled to do the right thing. Tonight I leave my mark as king.

I hope he plans to kill himself and his mother…

By dawn, all your enemies will be gone.

By dawn? How does she figure that when she doesn’t have every one. Plus all those prisons with maji locked up all over the kingdom. No one’s spoken about that in a long while.

She reaches for the pitcher on Father’s dresser and pours red wine into the crystal flutes, before handing one to me.

He poisoned it.

Our glasses clink, and Mother is quick to take a generous sip.

Yep, he poisoned it.

“I appreciate your guidance, Mother, but it doesn’t matter what I wear.” I set down my flute and meet her eyes. “This is it. I’m dissolving the monarchy tonight.”

He didn’t drink.

She blinks as she stumbles forward, bracing herself against the wall. “What’s going on?” she asks, her words starting to slur.

Smh.

“I worried you’d recognize your own sedatives,” I say,

Sedative? He gave her a damn sedative? Wow. Yep. That’ll stop her!

“You rotten little m…” Her words slur together and her muscles spasm as she fights the concoction.

What was she going to call him, a maggot?

I think of him as I turn to the others, not wanting to see the ruins of Ilorin.

I think Inan repaired it. He sent Ojore.

“Get some rest,” I continue. “Prepare yourselves.

Get some rest? If they are at Ilorin’s coast then they are basically right around the corner from Lagos. Too late for rest. Now’s the time to wake up.

It’s clear to me now that the plague of Orïsha has never been magic at all. It’s us—Father, Mother, and me. Even Amari has been twisted by this throne. The monarchy poisons us all.

When they hell did he have time to write this being unconscious for the ride back from Abedan and then what it seems like he was locked in his room for misbehaving? He just realized what his mother did, leading to what his father did, right before Amari’s attack.

“Tzain, how you feel about her, that’s not something you can just turn off—” “She almost killed you,” he interrupts. “There’s no coming back from that.”

Now that’s a real brother.

“Next time let’s fall for a pair of siblings that don’t come with a crown.”

Lol

Majacite mines explode, one after the other, mushrooming in clouds of black.

The mines are all in Lagos?

The legion of tîtáns run forward in droves,

How do they have so many titans? Nehanda killed quite a few and so did jojoke.

My eyes widen when the realization hits. The elders … They’ve come for the people we took.

I thought you all were expecting that. Your mother said they would all be dead by dawn.

I raise my hand to strike, but she wrenches a chunk of marble up from the ground and shoots it at me.

Stupid.

My stomach clenches as the slab rams into my core. The impact knocks me into the wall, stealing the breath from my throat. I’ve barely hit the ground when Mother hobbles forward, punching out a shaking fist up that glows with green. A pillar of earth crashes through the marble floors and hits me square in the chest. I wheeze as it collides, reaching for my lungs.

I’m sorry but,she’s not invincible. Shouldn’t some shit he broken?

“What’re you waiting for?” Powders and paints streak down Mother’s face as she taunts me. But I drop my hand, blinking as I step back.

Idiot. Unless that was Inan and he’s coming to do it.

“It’s over…” The realization catches me off guard.

Huh?

But feet fly past our cell and down the hall, stealing the air from my chest. The relief of saving my Reapers fades when I turn to see Inan. His spirit pulls on me like an anchor, dragging me back to him. He sprints down the opposite hall, two soldiers at his heels.

In the cellar? Why would he flee to down there?

“Inan?” Rage grips me as I dare to whisper the name. The boy shifts, and a thin ray of moonlight illuminates the amber eyes I know far too well.

Well, that lets you know he had nothing to do with it. Hope his mother is in chains somewhere so she will know what it feels like. Also, I have a feeling these people are from Roën’s home country.