Page 118 of Ashes of Gold
“Find her. Tell her I need to see her. I want to talk to her before nightfall.”
Joshi nods and is off.
I round a few corners between armored bodies looking for some glimpse or whisper of Taavi. I duck my head into a large room where meetings were held. Ghizoni and Macazi work in pairs to clear piles of debris stacked against the walls, making space for the lead plates. I give them a thumbs-up and keep on down the hall. Maybe she’s in here? I peep into a small bedroom. Nope. Nothing. No one.Where is she?
I turn and bump into Julius, his expression strained. “Hey,” I say.
“Ole girl and all her people are gone.”
“You mean Kai?”
He nods.
“What do you mean, ‘gone’?”
“I mean, there’s no trace of them anywhere down here. I’ve looked in the room Jhamal was in, everything. No sign of them.”
It crosses my mind to ask if there’s any sign of Jhamal, but I shake off the question. My thoughts and him are like a moth to a flame.Forget about him.I link hands with Julius.
“I don’t know where they could have gone.”
Howling slices the air. I dart down the hall toward the sound, Julius on my heels. Dim light brushes the dirt floor and Rojala’s on her knees screaming. Inches from her are legs, unmoving. Zora lies there, eyes open. I rush over, taking her hand in mine. It’s still warm.
“Zora!” I press a hand to her chest. Something faint flutters there. “Zora, talk to me, please!” Tears sting my eyes. Her lips move, but I can barely make out their whisper.
“I promised her,” she says. “I swore it. But I couldn’t. Not after meeting you. Getting to know you.” She laces her shaky fingers between mine. “My sister. I could never hurt you, Jelani. No matter what she threatened me with.” She holds my hand to her bare right side and tries to speak, but the words come out a sputter, a pool of red growing beneath her.
“No, please! Zora, stay with me. Help! Can we get her help? Bri!” I pat my pockets for the jar of minty potion. I scoop all I can on my finger, tears streaming down my cheeks, and press it into her side where blood gushes. But it’s like trying to mop up water from the ocean.
“More, I need… Bri!” I squeeze Zora’s hand, sobbing harder when I see the words burned into her chest by some sort of magic.
OATHBREAKER
In her hand she clutches two jade stones. She presses them into my palm and shudders one more time. She’s gone. My world darkens and anger burns through me like wildfire. I caress the scars on her arm, just like the ones I saw Taavi take when we made our agreement. Graka eyo, a blood oath. Zora took an oath to Kai, swearing to betray me? The revelation breaks over me like a wave. But she refused. And died for it.
Then it was Kai.
I gasp.
The prophecy.
Kai is who the Seer was referring to.
Which means… Jhamal never…
Boom.
The ground trembles. Something shatters. Footsteps and sniffles echo somewhere far off.
“Rue!” It’s Julius.
I spot a topknot with shaved sides fleeing around a corner.
“Rue!” Julius’s eyes are a web of red. “The Chancellor. He’s here.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
HURRY, HELP ME TAKEher body somewhere safe!” I tug on Julius’s arm, and he and Rojala help me. I rush back down the winding hall and into one of the side rooms, where we tuck Zora away. Her limp arms, the way she pulled on her gloves. How many times did she try to keep emotionally distant in order to spy on me, but just couldn’t? She is gone. My sister who showed me how to fight, who gave me the bell I wear in my hair, who taught me the Ancestors’ prayer. The weight of it makes me sturdy myself on the wall. Rojala’s face materializes in front of me.
