I roll my eyes. I can hear the smile in Amari’s voice. I have no doubt that if I sat up, I would catch Tzain smiling as well.
“It does sound like a love story,” I tease. “But that’s not accurate. If you want a love story so bad, why not call it ‘The Princess and the Agb?n Player’?”
Amari whips her head around, a flush rising to her cheeks. “I didn’t mean—I—I wasn’t trying to say—” Her mouth clamps shut before she can choke out anything else.
Tzain shoots me a glare, but it lacks true malice. As we approach the Gombe River, I can’t decide whether it’s endearing or annoying how the smallest taunt makes them both clam up.
“Gods, it’s a beast!” I slide down Nailah’s tail and find my footing over the large, smooth stones lining the muddy bank. The water stretches wide, curving a path through the heart of the forest and the trunks of massive trees. I kneel down in the mud and bring the water to my lips, remembering the way my throat burned for it in the desert. The ice-cold water feels so good in this humid air that I’m tempted to thrust my entire face in.
“Zél, not yet,” Tzain says. “There’ll be water up ahead. We still have a ways to go.”
“I know, but just take a sip. Nailah could use the rest.”
I rub Nailah’s horn and nuzzle my face against her neck, grinning when she nuzzles me back. Even she hated the desert. Since we’ve left, she’s had an extra spring in her step.
“For Nailah,” Tzain concedes. “Not for you.”
He jumps down and crouches by the river, careful as he fills up his canteen. A smile spreads across my lips. The opportunity is too great to resist.
“Oh my gods!” I point. “What’s that?”
“What—”
I ram into his body. Tzain yells as he topples over, hitting the river with a splash. Amari gasps when Tzain reemerges, soaked, teeth chattering with cold. He locks eyes with me, a wicked grin breaking through.
“You’re dead.”
“You have to catch me first!”
Before I can take off, Tzain lunges forward, grabbing me by the leg. I shriek as he pulls me under. The water is so cold it hits my skin like Mama Agba’s wooden needles.
“Gods!” I sputter for air.
“Was it worth it?” Tzain laughs.
“That’s the first time I’ve tricked you in ages, so I’m going to have to say yes.”
Amari jumps down from Nailah, giggling as she shakes her head. “You two are ridiculous.”
Tzain’s grin turns mischievous. “We’re a team, Amari. Shouldn’t you be ridiculous, too?”
“Absolutely not.” Amari backs away, but she doesn’t stand a chance. Tzain rises from the water like an Or?shan river python. Amari only gains a few meters before he hunts her down. I smile as she squeals with laughter, spouting every excuse she can think of when Tzain throws her over his back.
“I can’t swim.”
“It’s not that deep.” He laughs.
“I’m a princess.”
“Don’t princesses bathe?”
“I have the scroll!” She takes it out of her waistband, reminding Tzain of his own strategy. To keep all of the artifacts from being in one place, he carries the bone dagger, Amari holds the scroll, and I guard the sunstone.
“Good point.” Tzain snatches the scroll out of her hand and places it on Nailah’s saddle. “And now, Your Majesty, your royal bath awaits.”
“Tzain, no!”
Amari’s shriek is so loud that birds fly out of the trees in alarm. Tzain and I burst into laughter as she crashes into the water, flailing around although she can stand.
“It’s not funny.” Amari shivers, grinning in spite of herself. “You’re going to pay for that.”
Tzain bows. “Do your best.”
A new kind of smile rises to my face, one that warms me even as I sit on the bank of the freezing river. It’s been far too long since I’ve seen my brother play. Amari fights in earnest to dunk him under the water, though she can’t be more than half his weight soaking wet. Tzain entertains her, crying out in pretend pain, pretending she might win—
Suddenly, the river vanishes.
The trees.
Nailah.
Tzain.
The world spins around me as a familiar force carries me away.
When the spinning stops, reeds tickle my feet. Brisk air fills my lungs.
By the time I realize I’m in the prince’s dreamscape, I’m thrust back into the real world.
I wheeze, clutching my chest as the cold of the river hits my feet again. The flash of the dreamscape only lasted a moment, but it was powerful, stronger than it’s ever felt. A chill strikes my core as the realization settles in. Inan isn’t just in my dreams.
He’s close.
“We have to go.”
Tzain and Amari are laughing too loudly to hear me. He’s lifted her once again, threatening to throw her back in.
“Stop.” I kick water at them. “We have to go. We’re not safe here!”
“What are you talking about?” Amari giggles.
“It’s Inan,” I rush out. “He’s clo—”
My voice chokes in my throat. A distant noise pounds near.
Our heads whip toward the sound, thumping and constant.
At first I can’t decipher it, but as it approaches I recognize the steady patter of paws. When they round the riverbend, I finally see what I feared most: Inan speeds toward us.
Rabid on his panthenaire.
Shock slows my steps as we scramble out of the river. The water that once held our joy weighs us down, current strong now that Amari and Tzain fight to get out. We’re idiots. How could we be so foolish? The very second we let ourselves relax is the second Inan finally catches us.
But how did Inan get over the broken bridge at Chandomblé? How did he know where to go? Even if he somehow tracked us to Ibeji, we left that hell six nights ago.
I race over to Nailah and mount first, gripping her reins tight. Tzain and Amari quickly scramble up behind me. But before I snap the leather, I turn around—what have I missed?
Where are the guards he traveled with before? The admiral who killed Lekan? After surviving a sêntaro’s attack, surely Inan wouldn’t strike without backup.
But despite all reasonable logic, no other guards shoot forth. The little prince is vulnerable. Alone.
And I can take him in a fight.
“What’re you doing?” Tzain screams as I release Nailah’s reins, drawing her to a halt before we even start.
“I got this.”
“Zélie, no!”
But I don’t turn back.
I throw my pack to the ground and jump off Nailah’s back, landing in a crouch. Inan halts his own ryder and dismounts, sword brandished and ready for blood. With a growl, the panthenaire lopes off, but Inan hardly seems to notice. Crimson stains haunt his uniform, a desperation burns in his amber eyes. And yet, he looks thinner. Fatigue rises from his skin like heat. Something crazed shifts in his gaze.
Suppressing his powers has left him weak.
“Wait!” Amari’s voice quivers.
Though Tzain tries to hold her back, she slides off Nailah’s saddle. Her nimble feet hit the ground without making a sound, tentative as they walk past me.