I failed him today. Him, and my kingdom. I let a div?ner wreak havoc on all of Lagos. Of course he’s going to punish me.
I lower my head and hold my breath. I wonder how badly this will hurt. If Father doesn’t ask me to remove my armor, he’ll go for my face.
More bruises for the world to see.
He raises his hand and I shut my eyes. I brace for the blow. But instead of his fist against my cheek, I feel his palm grip my shoulder.
“I know you can do this, Inan. But it can only be you.”
I blink in confusion. Father’s never looked at me this way before.
“It’s not just any fugitive,” he says through his teeth. “It’s Amari.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
ZéLIE
WE’RE HALFWAY TO ILORIN before Tzain feels safe enough to pull on Nailah’s reins. When we come to a stop, he doesn’t move. I must’ve sparked a new level of rage.
As the crickets chirp in the towering trees, I slide off the saddle and hug Nailah’s gigantic face, massaging the special spot between her horns and her ears. “Thank you,” I whisper into her fur. “You’re getting the biggest treat when we get home.”
Nailah purrs and nuzzles her snout against my nose like I’m the cub she’s been tasked to protect. It’s enough to bring a smile to my face, but when Tzain drops to the ground and stalks toward me, I know even Nailah can’t protect me from this.
“Tzain—”
“What’s wrong with you?” he shouts with such fury that a family of blue-whisked bee-eaters flees from the trees overhead.
“I didn’t have a choice!” I rush out. “They were going to kill her—”
“What in gods’ names do you think they’re going to do to you?” Tzain slams his fist into a tree with so much force the bark splits. “Why don’t you ever think, Zél? Why don’t you just do what you’re supposed to do?”
“I did!” I reach into my bag and throw a velvet purse at Tzain. Silver pieces spill across the ground. “I got five hundred for the sailfish!”
“All the money in Or?sha won’t save us now.” Tzain palms his eyes, smearing tears on his cheeks. “They’re going to kill us. They’re going to kill you, Zél!”
“Please,” the girl squeaks, drawing our attention. She possesses an uncanny ability to shrink; I forgot she was even here.
“I…” Her face blanches. Under her long hood, I can barely make out her stark amber eyes. “This is my fault. All of it.”
“Thank you.” I roll my eyes, ignoring Tzain’s glare. Without her, Tzain would be nothing but smiles. Our family would finally be safe.
“What did you do?” I ask. “Why were the king’s men chasing you?”
“Don’t tell us.” He shakes his head and jabs his finger toward Lagos. “Go back. Turn yourself in. It’s the only chance we have to—”
She removes her cloak, silencing us both. Tzain can’t look away from her regal face. I can’t stop staring at the golden headdress fastened into her braid. It dips onto her forehead, all swooping chains and glittering leaves. In the center, a diamond-crusted seal shines. An adorned snow leopanaire, which only one family is allowed to wear.
“Oh my gods,” I breathe.
The princess.
Amari.
I kidnapped Or?sha’s princess.
“I can explain,” Amari says quickly. Now I hear the royal affect that makes my teeth grind. “I know what you must be thinking, but my life was in danger.”
“Your life,” I whisper. “Your life?”
Red flashes behind my eyes. The princess cries out when I slam her against a tree. She chokes, eyes wide with fear as I wrap my hands around her neck and squeeze.
“What are you doing?” Tzain shouts.
“Showing the princess what it looks like when her life’s actually in danger!”
Tzain yanks me back by the shoulders. “Have you lost your damn mind?”
“She lied to me,” I shout back. “She told me they were going to kill her. She swore she needed my help!”
“I did not lie!” Amari wheezes. Her hand flies to her throat. “Father’s executed members of the royal family just for sympathizing with div?ners. He would not hesitate to do the same to me!”
She reaches into her dress and pulls out a scroll, gripping it so tightly her hand shakes.
“The king needs this.” Amari coughs and gazes at the parchment with a weight I can’t place. “This scroll can change everything. It can bring magic back.”
We stare at Amari with blank faces. She’s lying. Magic can’t come back. Magic died eleven years ago.
“I thought it was impossible, too.” Amari registers our doubt. “But I saw it with my own eyes. A div?ner touched the scroll and became a maji.…” Her voice softens. “She summoned light with her hands.”
A Lighter?
I step closer, studying the scroll. Tzain’s disbelief sticks to me like the heat in the air, yet the more Amari speaks, the more I dare to dream. There was too much terror in her eyes. A genuine fear for her well-being. Why else would half the army chase down the princess if her escape didn’t pose some greater risk?
“Where’s the maji now?” I ask.
“Gone.” Tears brim in Amari’s eyes. “Father killed her. He murdered her just because of what she could do.”
Amari wraps her arms around herself, squeezing her eyes shut to keep the tears inside. She seems to shrink. Drowning in her grief.
Tzain’s exasperation softens, but her tears don’t mean a thing to me. She became a maji, her voice echoes in my head. She summoned light with her hands.
“Give me that.” I motion for the scroll, eager to inspect it. But the moment it touches my fingers, an unnatural shock travels through my body. I jump back in surprise, dropping the parchment to cling to the bark of a jackalberry tree.
“What’s wrong?” Tzain asks.
I shake my head. I don’t know what to say. The strange sensation buzzes beneath my skin, foreign yet familiar at the same exact time. It rumbles in my core, warming me from the inside out. It beats like a second heartbeat, vibrating like …
Like ashê?
The thought makes my heart clench, revealing a gaping hole inside me that I didn’t even know still existed. When I was young, ashê was all I ever wanted. I prayed for the day I would feel its heat in my veins.
As the divine power of the gods, the presence of ashê in our blood is what separates div?ners from maji. It’s what we draw on to use our sacred gifts. Ashê is what maji need to do magic at all.
I stare at my hands for the shadows of death Mama could conjure in her sleep. When ashê awakens, our magic awakens as well. But is that what’s happening now?
No.
I crush the spark inside of me before it can blossom into hope. If magic’s back, that changes everything. If it’s truly returned I don’t even know what to think.
With magic come the gods, thrust into the center of my life after eleven years of silence. I barely picked up the shattered pieces of me after the Raid.
If they abandon me once more, I won’t be able to do it again.