Page 118 of Children of Virtue and Vengeance

“You’d really give up the throne?” I ask.

He winces, as if the very word is a curse. “For the good of Orïsha, I’d give up anything.”

I clench my jaw, legs shaking as I step back. I don’t know what happened, but I know he speaks the truth. Sacrificing for the good of Orïsha is all my brother knows how to do.

But when he holds out his hand, I think of Zélie’s father. Of her battered body sobbing over Mâzeli’s corpse. This is how Inan gets in. How he always wins.

He’s gotten so good at lying he doesn’t even know when he’s lying to himself.

“Let me go.”

“Amari, please!” Inan chokes out the words. “Everything that’s happened… it started with Mother. But it can end with us!”

“This kingdom doesn’t stand a chance of surviving until you and Mother are gone for good.” I cross my arms. “I don’t need you to win this war.”

“Yes you do.” He brings his hands to his gut, gritting his teeth with pain. “You’ll never beat her. You can’t. For Mother, no sacrifice is too great.”

“I willwin,” I growl. “And when I do, I will make up for everything our family has done wrong. I will be Orïsha’s greatest queen. I will change the entire kingdom!”

I ball my fists, chest heaving up and down. “This is the last time I’ll ask. Let me go. Now.”

Inan lowers his head and it’s like he shrinks before my eyes. The sight of him makes my throat tight. I look away before I start to cry.

“I never wanted it to be this way.”

I close my eyes as the dreamscape fades.

“Neither did I.”

WITH A GASP, I shoot up, clutching Tzain’s agbada against my bare skin. He snores by my side. I lie in my quarters again.

My heart thrashes in my chest as Inan’s words run through my mind.You’ll never beat her. For Mother, no sacrifice is too great.

“You’re wrong,” I whisper under my breath. They both are. Victory hangs just beyond my fingertips. It’s so close, I can taste it. I just have to push harder. Be bolder. Outsmart every angle.

To beat them, I have to be ruthless.

I have to be willing to fight like Mother.

I move slowly as I slip out of bed, not wanting to wake Tzain. I throw an old tunic over my head and enter the hall, my footsteps echoing in the silence as I run up the stairs.

Mother and Inan were right to use those villagers as shields. Even if word got out about their location, their presence ties our hands. But if those villagers were out of the way… if they weren’t a factor at all…

The new plan takes shape in my mind as I bang on Jahi’s door. A curse bleeds through before it creaks open.

The Winder squints at me through the hall’s lantern light. “We better be under attack.”

“It’s about Ibadan. We need to adjust our plan.”

Jahi steps back, opening his door. “Are the other elders coming?”

“No.” I step into his quarters, picturing Inan’s face. “They have their plan. This one stays between us.”

CHAPTER SIXTY-SEVEN

AMARI

AFTER FOUR DAYSof tunneling through the mountains outside of Ibadan, our entry point finally opens up. Kâmarusteps away from the eroding stone, revealing the glistening water that fills the underground caves. As it ripples below, my stomach turns to rock. The other elders look to me, waiting for my command.

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