Page 83 of Wings of Ebony
O’yatsa do’vexi.
“I don’t know what it means.”
“Say it,” Bati says. “Tell it to me.”
“Uhhm, okay.” My mouth is dry. “Let’s see…”
O’yatsa ki’nyokoo.“O-oh-yah-s-see-key-yoki,” I say.
His brows cinch. “Again?”
“Oh-yatsa-key-nuh-yo-coo,” I say.
“Blood of the ancient,” Bati translates.
O’yatsa do’vexi.“Oh-yatsa-doe-vex-see.”
“Blood of the future.”
Yoo yoo e grizz Yoo yoo e n’sh’kva.“You-you-e-grease-you-you-e-neesh-k-va.”
“Daughter of rage, daughter of truth.”
KeeI’i! Da’ya e kees’i n’boo. “Kee-e-die-yah-e-kees-e-nuh-boo.”
“Burn! Ashes of old. Fire forges the new.” Flames flicker in Bati’s eyes. “The cuffs have chosen a wearer, Jelani. You.”
My heart stops. Me? Why?
I am not even Ghizoni.
Apparently Bati can read the expression on my face. “You see, Jelani, magic is a living thing with a will to survive, like anything else. The Elders knew if our magic was at risk the cuffs would call to someone to bear them—to wield their power.”
What does that even mean?
This is too much.
“Rue,” Aasim’s hand warms my back. “You’re more than a stubborn girl from a poor neighborhood. You’remydaughter, blood of the ancient gods of this land. Before the Chancellor united the tribes, before onyx ever existed,wedominated this land in all our glorious majesty.” He pulls my face to his. “Our people—yourpeople—possessed a magic beyond your wildest dreams.”
My insides scream as he tiptoes around a truth I’m not ready to see.
“You have thatsamemagic inside you, and with these cuffs you can access it. Use it to restore Ghizon.”
No, there’s a mistake.
This isn’t… I’m not…
I can’t breathe. I can’t think.
“You are Ghizoni,” Aasim says.
I’m not.Words lodge in my throat.
He really believes this. That I’m… no, he has it wrong. Somehow, this is all wrong. I don’t even know these people. I hardly knowhim.
I’m just Rue—Rue from East Row.
The world spins and my chest tightens. The cuffs dangle from my wrists. Their burning swallows me and I can’t look away. I’m transfixed, the whispers as clear as day, and yet still a tangled mess in my head.
