Page 40 of Children of Blood and Bone

“I love you,” Baba whispers to us both.

“We love you, too,” I croak.

He gestures at Tzain to mount Nailah. Amari follows, silent tears leaking onto her cheeks. Despite my grief, a prickle of anger flares. Whyis she crying? Once again, her family is the reason mine is being torn apart.

Mama Agba kisses my forehead and wraps her arms around me tight.

“Be careful, but be strong.”

I sniffle and nod, though I feel everything but strength. I’m scared. Weak.

I’m going to let them down.

“Take care of your sister,” Baba reminds Tzain as I mount the saddle. “And Nailah, be good. Protect them.”

Nailah licks Baba’s face and nuzzles his head, a sign of a promise she’ll always keep. My chest seizes when she walks forward, traveling away from my heart and my home. When I turn back, Baba’s face shines with a rare smile.

I pray we’ll live to see that smile again.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

INAN

“COUNT TO TEN,”I whisper to myself. “Count. To. Ten.”

Because when I finish counting, this horror shall end.

The blood of the innocent will not stain my hands.

“One… two…” I grip Father’s sênet pawn with a shaking hand, so tight the metal stings. The numbers rise, but nothing changes.

Like Ilorin, all my plans have gone up in flames.

My throat tightens when the village falls in a fiery blaze, taking the homes of hundreds with it. My soldiers drag the corpses through the sand, bodies charred beyond recognition. The shrieks of the living and the injured fill my ears. My tongue tastes nothing but ash. So much waste. Death.

This was not my plan.

Amari should be in one hand, the divîner thief chained in the other. Kaea should’ve retrieved the scroll. Only the divîner’s hut need have burned.

If I had succeeded in returning the scroll, Father would’ve understood. He would’ve thanked me for my discretion, praised my shrewd judgment in sparing Ilorin. Our fish trade would be protected. The only threat to the monarchy would be crushed.

But I’ve failed. Again. After begging Father for another chance. The scroll is still missing. My sister at risk. An entire village wiped away. Yet I have nothing to show for it.

The people of Orïsha are not safe—

“Baba!”

I grab my blade as a small child hurls his body to the ground. His cries cut through the night. It’s only then I discover the sand-covered corpse at his feet.

“Baba!” He grasps at the body, willing it to wake. The blood of his father stains the skin of his small brown hands.

“Abeni!” A woman trudges through the wet sand. She gasps at the sight of the approaching guards. “Abeni, no, you must be quiet. B-baba wants you to be quiet!”

I turn away and squeeze my eyes shut, forcing my bile down.Duty before self.I hear Father’s voice. The safety of Orïsha before my conscience. But these villagersareOrïsha. They’re the very people I’m sworn to protect.

“This is a mess.” Admiral Kaea stomps to my side, knuckles bloody from beating the soldier who lit the fire too soon and started the blaze. I fight the urge to walk over and beat him myself as he lies moaning in the wet sand. “Get up and bind their wrists!” Kaea barks at the guard before lowering her voice again. “We don’t know if the fugitives are dead or alive. We don’t even know if they came back here.”

“We’ll have to round up the survivors.” I release a frustrated breath. “Hope that one of them…”

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