Page 132 of Ashes of Gold
“At first nothing,” he says. “We just poured the onyx on top of the dirt and stood there looking like some dummies.”
“But then Julius got down on his hands and knees and pressed the onyx into the dirt. It absorbed it. Like, sucked it right in.”
“The more we pressed into the surface, the warmer the ground grew, until it was so hot, we couldn’t stand on it. Well, I couldn’t, anyway,” Bri says.
“Yeah,” I say. “As the magic started returning, the more freely our magic moved.”
I catch a glimpse of Titube dancing, a crowd clapping around her. Her fingers coil and twist, flowers bloom everyplace she points. Something like fireworks pops in the air, and I hug around myself.
“All of this… it’s just unreal.” Bellied frogs croak and crickets hum in the branches. In one direction the ocean bathes in the moonlight. In the other, an abyss, a black shadow that used to be the Capital.
“What about the people who didn’t stand with the Chancellor?” Julius asks. “Everyone else on the island?”
“They’re still scattered out there somewhere.”
“Not many,” Bri says. “Their numbers are whittled way down. There’s no surviving out there anymore. There’s nothing to survive on. My parents and brothers are out there somewhere.”
“Bri, we have to find them.”
She nods. But she’s right. The Central District is a deserted heap. And it will no longer be the center of the island. It was built on a lie, which means it’s rotted down to the very foundation and must be rebuilt from scratch. The Ghizon I build will sit at the foot of Yiyo, among the jpango trees. The Central District will be ripped up. All of it. Even the concrete. But I’m not naive: With the history of this island, turmoil is inevitable.
“If anyone out there still toting stolen onyx ever gets the stupid idea to rise again, they’d be severely outnumbered,” I say. “But I’m just gonna do me. That’s all I can do.”
I’m going to lead in a way I haven’t seen it done before. Before, I’d felt so intimidated carving a path, being the first, doing somethingthisbig, because I hadn’t seen anyone like me do it before. But there’s freedom in that.
“Somehavecome forward,” I say. Bri nods. I put her in charge ofoverseeing Unbinding. A hundred or so who’d been working against the Loyalists to restore peace and unity to the island came out of the woodwork, asking for community after the Chancellor had fallen. She made sure their onyx was removed and I ensured they have a place here—a way to make a living and a home.
“A Queen.” Julius licks his lips, and I look away. I love his jokes, but there’s a part of me still pulsing with pain. I need time. I tug my fur more squarely over my shoulders.
“Can I, uhm… catch up with y’all in a bit? The Council is meeting soon, so I’ll see you there.”
“I still don’t understand how you have a Council but you’re a Queen,” Bri says. “Not that I’m complaining. I’ve never been on anything nearly as important in my life.” She laughs.
“Same,” Jue says, and they slap hands. Bri is slow with it, but she sort of finesses the handshake at the end. She’s rough around the edges but a definite keeper.
“Well, I’ll be splitting my time between East Row and here, now. And, besides, everyone’s looking at me, but that doesn’t mean I know everything. If I’ve learned anything about leading at all, it’s that it involves doing more listening than speaking.”
Bri, Bati, and Julius sit on the Ghizon Council. I’d considered Taavi, but she is, understandably, still piecing herself back together. She’d told me how she and her mother had been estranged for so long because of her soft spot for her father. She and Totsi butted heads for similar reasons. But this journey brought them back together, even if only for a moment, before she died. Taavi has a lot of trauma and healing to work through. Stepping down from leadership to heal is probably wise.
Funny thing about whom people see fit to lead. It isn’t always the right bloodline or the right list of accolades.
It’s the heart for the people.
All the people.
The first law we will sign is that magic will be wielded only by my people, the brown-skinned people on this island. The second is that everyone else will be trained in an array of science and tech talents that suit them. But they will not touch our magic ever again. Macazi will be trained too. And the classes Zruki and Dwegini are done. Now it’s just us. And them. But we’re going to work together to build a Ghizon we’re all proud of.
I don’t know if it’s a perfect plan. Or that perfect even exists. But it’s my plan and we’re going to try it.
“Aight, I’ll catch y’all later,” I say.
By the time I’m out of sight of everyone, it’s so dark outside, I can hardly see my hand in front of my face. I slip between branches, tugging my gown with me. It’s so heavy. All of this is so heavy. I straighten, determined to better carry the weight.
When I slip out of the patch of trees, I see it. The mound of dirt encircled with gold and flames I was looking for. The place we laid Jhamal to rest. I haven’t had a moment here, alone, by myself. The last time was for Kai. But this… this is for me.
Flames dance around the grave. I approach and its warmth stokes a tender part of me. I step through the flames and they snuff out a moment under the weight of my gown but rekindle once I’m inside the fire circle. I stare at my hands. Like my love for him, Jhamal’s fire will burn forever here. This is some of the best magic I’ve ever done.
I sit beside the raised grave and dirt soots up the hem of mygown, but I don’t care. My fingers trace the golden plaque affixed like a headstone, its words gleaming in the firelight.
