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CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE

TZAIN

T HE FEAST THAT FOLLOWS the war rally is unlike any I’ve ever seen.

New Gaīans dance to the beat of crimson drums. They howl to the full moon.

Golden plates filled to the brim with slow-cooked pork and rice pass from hand to hand.

Children nibble on chocolate truffles. People join together in the marketplace, cleared out for the New Gaīans to rally.

“Vai! Vai! Vai!”

I pass a crowd that’s formed around Mae’e. She dances between twirling skirts, throwing her fists and stomping her feet. Her raven hair flies free. She’s almost too beautiful to see.

Amari stares from outside the ring, transfixed by the woman before her. A new glint shines in her amber eyes, and a flush rises in her cheeks.

It’s the way she used to look at me.

Watching her now, I think of all we were supposed to be. I see the life I thought we would live. The son of a fisherman with Or?sha’s future queen. Somehow, it always felt too perfect to be true.

“Tzain,” Amari calls out to me. I join her from the fringes of the crowd. Amari’s brows lift at my Lamina tattoo: a bone axe to replace the Skull’s.

“Ready for tomorrow?” she asks.

Despite all we’re up against, I nod. Over the past nine days, training with the Laminas has transformed. No longer on the outside of their pack, the warriors have pushed me past my limits. We’ve battled from dusk to dawn.

“Are you?” I ask.

Amari flashes me her side, and I catch the obsidian sword attached to her waistband. She flexes a burst of blue magic in her hand, illuminating the carved vines swirling down the black glass. The girl who questioned her place in this fight has disappeared. The valiant warrior I know is here.

“They got her once,” she says. “We can’t let it happen again.”

As we stare out at the sea of New Gaīans, Amari leans her head on my arm. I close my eyes and soak in her soft touch. Her gentle breath. The cinnamon scent of her hair.

I put a hand over her shoulder, and her body softens. The simple gesture takes me back. I still remember the first time I saw her, the moment she pulled the brown cloak from her head after we rescued her from Lagos. Even without her headdress, I could see it in her amber eyes.

The very air she exhaled was rare.

All I wanted was to be enough. To live day after day witnessing the smile on her face. When she told me she loved me, that dream became real.

I felt like I held the entire world.

“Have you seen my sister?” I ask. The crowd that swarmed Zélie after the rally terrified me as much as the Skulls. She couldn’t leave for hours. Mae’e’s people embraced her like she was their own.

“ Aurelia! ” they shouted. At the time, I didn’t know what it meant. Later, Koa shared the translation: Aurelia. The Golden One .

“I think she’s underground,” Amari answers. “The Green Maidens snuck her into the vine bunkers. It was the only place she could be alone.”

I nod and start to move, but something holds me back. I push past the way my heart aches.

“You…” I clear my throat. It’s a struggle to find the right words. “You should tell her.” I nod my chin at Mae’e. I force a small smile to my face.

Amari’s amber eyes shimmer up at me like stars. She looks at the hierophant before looking back at me.

“Tell her.” I kiss her forehead one last time. “You’re perfect, Amari. I know she feels the same.”

I HOLD THE VINE WALLS as I make my way under the city. Built by the Green Maidens, the new tunnel of vines reaches deep underground. They create a path from the city’s floating plots to the safety of New Gaīa’s black sands.

A wall of incense greets me when I hit the bottom. My bare feet pass over the warm stone. With time, I reach the canals. Giant lily pads float down the stream, ready to carry people to safety.

My sister glitters at the end of one canal branch. The turquoise waters glow against her dark skin. I can hardly believe I know this girl. That we grew up together in the mountains of Ibadan.

“ Aurelia! ” I whisper.

Zélie turns back to me, a wry smile on her face. Her feet dangle in the waters. I join her at the edge, allowing my feet to slip in as well.

The moment brings me back to when we were young. I see the lake outside our stone hut. Back then, the only enemies I had to face were the boys on the agbon courts.

“You were magnificent.” I nudge her. “Baba would be so proud.”

At the mention of our father, tears fill Zélie’s silver eyes. She takes my hand in hers. We squeeze each other’s palms, feeling the void of all we’ve lost.

“Do you think he’d ever believe we were here?” she whispers.

“Do you think Mama would?” I ask instead. I haven’t spoken Mama’s name for years, but tonight, her face is all I see.

I couldn’t protect her back then. I wasn’t strong enough to take down the guards. But this time with Zélie is different. This time I’m not a boy.

I’m a warrior.

I fight with the endurance of the Skulls. I battle with the might of the Laminas. I’m finally strong enough to protect my sister.

I’ll die before I let her get hurt.

“I need you to promise me something.…” Zélie’s fingers spread over the golden ink on her skin. “If the worst comes to pass—”

“No.”

“Tzain—”

“I won’t let you talk like that.”

Zélie takes away her hand and exhales. Tangerine candles flicker over her silver gaze.

“We’re taking them down,” I push. “We’re going back home.”

I know it. I feel it. Deep in my chest. This time, we have the nation of New Gaīa behind us. We have all of Inan’s plans.

“Look at me.” Zélie grabs my clenched fist.

I hate the way my eyes sting.

“Tzain, look at me,” she whispers. “ Please. ”

She puts her hands on both sides of my face. The tears that shine in her eyes cause mine to fall.

“If the worst comes to pass, you have to defeat them. The Skulls won’t stop at New Gaīa. They’ll sail for Or?sha, too.”

“I won’t let anything happen to you.”

“But if it does…” Zélie releases a shuddered breath. “Promise me you’ll fight. Promise me you’ll do everything you can.”

Though I don’t want to speak the words, I force myself to nod.

“I promise.”