Page 54 of Children of Anguish and Anarchy

All at once, the earth caging me in falls away. I tumble to the ground and rub my neck. Kâmaru stands over me, Nâo at his back.

“He won’t kill you.” Nâo bends down. “Not yet. But you can’t stay. Only maji are allowed in the city.”

“Where is everyone else?” I ask.

“They’ve fled.” Kâmaru points beyond Lagos’s borders, into the jackal- berry trees. “Those who want to live stay outside the city walls.”

I shake my head. We can’t afford to fight among ourselves anymore. If we don’t unify soon, we invite our own end.

“I’m not the one who took the maji.” I pick up the Skull’s fallen mask. I try to hand it to the Grounder, but he pushes me back.

“Beyond the wall.” Kâmaru stands firm. “I won’t give you another chance.”

I look to Nâo. There are still maji who need our help. But the Tider ushers me off the port, bringing me back to the deserted lifeboats. Her presence shields me as we move through crowds of maji. Each glares with the hatred of their Grounder.

“What about everything Zélie said?” I lower my voice. “What about all the progress we made?”

“Zélie isn’t here,” Nâo replies. “We have to find a better way.”

Nâo cuts through the vines tying the different lifeboats together until one comes free. We work to reposition its mast and steering lever. With no other choice, I board, preparing to sail it down the coast.

“I can rally the maji.” Nâo points to the battle beyond Lagos’s walls. “But you need to rally them.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

ZÉLIE

THE VERY SIGHT OFthe emperor quiets all sound. He moves with the might of a mountain. His footsteps thunder across the emerald brick.

The emperor shares the brown skin of his people. His dark hair sits in a low bun. A gold chest plate rests on his bare shoulders, decorating his body with rays like the sun.

“O que é isto?” His deep voice rumbles through the medallion.

What is this?The words fill my head. The emperor examines us from the top of the stairs, square face set into a frown.

I force my breaths to still, tuning into the medallion as Köa explains what happened in the jungle. Köa hands the emperor the bronze compass. I watch as he inspects the glass face. The moment Köa points to me, blood rushes into my ears.

Think, Zélie.The moment I’ve been waiting for races at me. But I’m not prepared to respond. How do I explain what we’ve escaped?

Why would this man believe a single word I say?

The emperor walks forward, and the entire city echoes with his descent. When he makes it to the bottom, I stare at the cracks in the emerald steps, unable to meet his face. My throat constricts when the emperor stops in front of where I am kneeling.

“Look at me,” he orders.

I struggle to follow the simple command. The thought of looking into the emperor’s face feels like looking straight into the sun.

“Look at me if you can understand.”

I clench my fists and force myself to look up. The emperor’s pale green gaze burns straight through my soul. Anger radiates off him like heat.

“You speak our tongue?” he challenges me. Somehow I know that no response will suffice. Even still, I pull from the medallion, allowing it to feed me their words.

“There is a girl,” I start slowly. The emperor’s jaw sets at the sound of his own tongue. “An enemy approaches—”

The emperor holds up his hand.

“Kill the outsiders.”

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