Children of Virtue and Vengeance (Legacy of Orïsha #2)(20)

How can I tell her that her brother lives after I caused her all that pain?

“Safiyah, let’s go.”

Sweat drips down the Healer’s brown skin as she removes her hands. Safiyah hangs her head back with exhaustion, taking slow, labored breaths.

“I’m sorry,” she says. “But we have to keep moving. Nehanda’s t?táns have been rounding up every maji east of Zaria. Entire villages are being imprisoned in Gusau’s fortress.”

Gusau? I think of the village a few days east. I wonder if their maji are locked in chains. If they’re carving into them the way they carved into me.

“Thank you.” I rest my hand on Safiyah’s knee and she smiles.

“My thanks goes to you, Jagunjagun. It’s an honor to heal the Soldier of Death.”

My brows knit at the title as she and the maji move back into the Adichie Forest. No one meets the other’s eye when we’re alone. I force myself to break the tense silence.

“How’d you find me?”

Tzain nods to Nailah, curled at my back. “She came running to us in a frenzy. We flagged Safiyah down after Nailah brought us back here.”

I frown at the shallow gashes in my lionaire’s skin, marks where gravel and branches cut through her golden coat. Her front paw lies wrapped in bandages, swollen from a sprain. Though it hurts, I reach up and pet her snout. She nuzzles me back, rough tongue sliding across my forehead.

I direct her to Tzain and he closes his eyes, wincing as Nailah licks his face. “Is this your way of saying sorry?”

“It is if it’s working.”

Taking my cue, Nailah turns aggressive, slathering Tzain with wet kisses. He pushes her away, but he can’t fight the smile she brings to his face.

“I’m sorry.” I reach for his hand. “I know I was out of line.”

“I swear on Baba.” He shakes his head. “If you pull that dung again—”

“I won’t.” I lace my fingers through his and squeeze. “You and me?”

“You and me.” He nods. “Even when you’re an ass.”

I grin, but it fades when Tzain glances at Amari. The bags under her eyes tell me she hasn’t slept all night. Her face is still flushed from crying.

She looks away, running her fingers through the new waves in her hair. It grows curlier by the day. I wonder if her awakened magic is to blame.

“I’m sorry.” I hang my head. Shame fills me from every horrible thing I yelled. “I didn’t mean what I said. I was just upset.”

Amari nods, but her lips still quiver. I expose my aching ribs.

“You can kick me if you want.”

“Will that make us even?” she asks.

“No. But it’ll be a start.”

Though Amari still won’t meet my gaze, a small smile settles on her lips. I reach out and grab her hand. It makes her eyes brim with tears.

I can almost see my apology ease the weight on her shoulders, but that doesn’t change the war we’re in. The countless soldiers and t?táns who now oppose us. The powerful mother she might have to kill.

“Do you still plan to take down Nehanda?” I ask.

“I don’t see another way.” Amari’s shoulders slump. “But this is my fight. I won’t ask you to get involved again.”

“We talked about it,” Tzain informs me. “If you really want to leave Or?sha, we’ll help you run. I may not agree, but you’ve suffered enough. I understand why you want to be free.”

Free.

The word already feels like a distant memory. Even from the grave, Inan had iron chains around my heart. With him alive, those same chains burn like majacite.

Freedom doesn’t lie beyond Or?sha’s borders. Not while the little prince still lives. Still wins.

If I want to be free, I can’t run.

I have to kill him.

“I’m not running anymore,” I say. “If war is what they want, then war is what we’ll give them.”

Amari grips my thigh. She and Tzain exchange a glance.

“I don’t understand,” she says. “What changed?”

My muscles tense and I take a deep breath; I don’t want to hurt her again. But she has to know the truth. The other member of her family she fights against.

“I think your brother’s alive,” I sigh. “And I’m going to be the one to kill him.”





CHAPTER SIXTEEN


AMARI


I THINK YOUR brother is alive.

Days pass, yet Zélie’s words remain trapped in my mind. They haunt me as we make our way through the Olasimbo Mountain Range, moving through the shadows of night. Blankets of fog sweep our feet as we hike up a dirt trail that will give us a view of Gusau’s fortress meters below. I need to focus on freeing the maji trapped inside to build my army and face my mother, but all I can think about is Inan.

I don’t know what to do if he still breathes. I know I cannot allow Mother to sit on Or?sha’s throne, but do I need to free the imprisoned maji in Gusau’s fortress if Inan sits there instead? If Inan is king now, will he still wage this war?

Watching Father drive a sword through my brother’s gut was a wound I felt in my own heart. If Inan is truly alive, I don’t want to fight him anymore.