Page 61 of Children of Anguish and Anarchy

“Give me one reason I shouldn’t kill you now.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

INAN

SITTING INSIDEMOTHER’S TENT,I don’t know what to say. I still can’t believe she let me in.

The way she stared at me, I thought she would end me where I stood.

She limps under the crimson flaps, anger hardening the creases above her brow. I think of the lavender walls that surrounded her palace quarters. The rich velvets of her bed. Her collection of jewel-studded geles was large enough to fill its own wing. Her wardrobe overflowed with beautiful gowns and colorful silks.

Now her tent houses little more than rolls of bandages, her tîtán armor, a small table, and one metal cot. I never thought I’d see the day.

I can hardly believe the queen I know is living this way.

Mother winces as she sits on her cot. Bloodstains cover the bandages around her abdomen. She reaches for a new roll, and I rise in an attempt to help.

“Let me—”

Mother slaps my hand away with her staff. I grit my teeth against the sting.

“You’re just as likely to wrap the bandages around my throat.”

I watch her as she struggles to remove the soaked cloth around herstomach. Lantern light reveals a brutal gash. Yellow and blue skin surrounds the wound. Her hands shake as she replaces the dressing.

“Don’t you have Healers?” I ask.

“Our Healers were the first to die.” Mother’s voice drips with bitterness. “I commend your people for damning ours.”

I shut my eyes and turn my head away. I think of all the fresh plots outside the tîtán dome. The loss of their Healers doesn’t just hurt the tîtáns.

It hurts anyone the Skulls might harm.

The need to unify presses down on me once more. My shoulders threaten to buckle under the weight. We can’t afford to take one more Orïshan life. If we keep going like this, we’ll destroy ourselves long before the Skulls invade.

“I know you must hate me.”

“Hate you?” Mother breathes. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done? We were at the end of the war! We crushed theIyika! You’ve brought our kingdom to its knees—”

“Even if I hadn’t dissolved the throne, they would have attacked. You would still have these wounds—”

“I would have an entire nation behind me!” Mother roars. But when shadows move outside the tent, she lowers her voice. “I would command a unified army. Not this measly dome!”

“And then what?” I dare to step forward. “More bodies to bury? More endless guilt? The wars we’ve waged against the maji have destroyed our kingdom! That fighting is what’s brought us here!”

“You’re just as foolish as the night you disappeared.” Mother’s amber eyes narrow. “You and your wretched love for the maji—”

“These aren’t just ideals, Mother!” I cut her off. “We can’t afford to fight anymore. An enemy is coming. A foreign king is already raiding our shores!”

“Do you think I would believe a word from your treacherous mouth?” Mother raises her hand to slap me. I grab her before she can strike.

“Don’t believe me,” I say. “See it for yourself!”

A turquoise cloud ignites around my hand before Mother can pull away. My magic rips us from the tent. In the span of a breath, we’re back on the Skulls’ ship.…

“Ugh!” I keel over as a Skull rams his fist into my gut. My mouth fills with the copper taste of my own blood. The Skull hits me again, and I fall to the floor, landing on top of a maji’s corpse.

The Skull drags me back to my feet. He brings his beady eyes to mine. It’s all I can do to spit on his mask. The Skull grabs me by the head, crushing it against the iron bars.

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