Page 105 of Children of Virtue and Vengeance

My chest aches as the entire sanctuary gathers on the third mountain. Though Mâzeli was the only maji killed in the attack, every space feels empty without his laugh. His death hangs like the gray clouds below.

The elders move to the center of the bloodstone. It feels like a sin to stand among them. Every day since the attack, I’ve waited for the truth to come out. For people to punish me for my mistake. But Zélie still hasn’t revealed how the monarchy discovered our base. I don’t know why she’s protecting me.

“We have to make a choice!” Nâo raises her voice over the unruly crowd. “The sanctuary is exposed. It’s too dangerous to stay here.”

“Where are we supposed to go?” Na’imah asks. “No place in Orïsha is safe.”

“We don’t go anywhere,” Kenyon shouts. “We fight!”

I look up as Tzain joins the last of the maji walking across the stone bridge. When he catches my eye, he shakes his head. I worry Zélie will never leave her room again.

I have to find a way to win this war. Now more than ever. If I can’t, Mâzeli will have died for nothing. There will be no point to our pain and suffering.

“This started in Lagos.” Kenyon riles up the crowd. “It ends there, too. We keep pretending we’re defenseless, but we held off the royal forces with the moonstone. We know what we have to do!”

“Zélie won’t use that power again,” I tell them. “Not after what happened to Mâzeli.”

“Why does she get a choice?” Kenyon asks. “Someone drag that girl out of her room!”

Tzain’s nostrils flare as he breaks from the ring of people around the bloodstone and storms toward the center. I run to intercept his path.

“Don’t.” I put my hands on his chest. “It’ll only make things worse.”

“Have some compassion,” he shouts over me. “She lost her Second.”

“I lost a quarter of my clan!” Kenyon yells. “I didn’t get to sit around and mourn!”

So many arguments break out at once, it’s impossible to keep track. I close my eyes, attempting to block out the noise. We can’t stay here, but we can’t blindly attack. The next time our forces meet Inan’s, we have to be precise.

Only one of us can survive.

“What’re you thinking?” Tzain asks. I lift my hands and stare at the scars left from my magic. I can almost hear Father in my head, whispering the words he tried to embed in me as a child.

I’ve had the power to end this all along. I just didn’t want to use it against the people I love. But now I have no place to run.

Orïsha waits for no one.

“If I can surround myself with enough Connector tîtáns, I think I can take Mother down.”

“No.” Tzain takes my hands. “It’s too dangerous to face her on your own.”

“Who else can challenge her?” I ask. “Who else can suck the life from Inan’s veins?”

I close my eyes, replaying my mistakes. All these years I thought Father was a monster, but what if ruling this kingdom forced him to act that way? War is a race to the death, and right now Mother and Inan are winning.

I push past Tzain, walking into the center of the circle. I can’t allow any more of our blood to spill. I need to end the war at any cost.

“I have an idea.” I raise my hand, quieting the circle. But before I can speak, a voice rings out from behind me.

“Wait!”

All eyes turn to Zélie as she comes sprinting out of the elder tower. Her purple kaftan flies behind her as she runs. Blood still mats her white coils.

My face falls when she catches my eyes, but she doesn’t linger on me before addressing the crowd.

“We don’t have to fight.” She holds up her hands. “There’s another way out of this war.”

CHAPTER SIXTY

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