Page 30 of Ashes of Gold
“Strike first and it will be your last breath,” Shaun, the Beerchi, says. “You Yakanna, so stubborn, unyielding. You’re headstrong and it will be your downfall.”
“Tradition is tradition. But the old way of preparing the yupza takes twice as long. The armor is just fine. We don’t have telee leaves for every little thing. Look how we are living. Some corners will be cut.” Kai scowls, her girls an army at her back. “Back down, coquella!”
“I am not your brother, Kainese. I see through you. You’re a disgrace to Moi Ike Yakanna and everyone here.”
Kai spits and Zora thrusts her javelin, stopping it as it grazes the hair on his throat. Are they really this angry about breaking tradition? The clench of Shaun’s jaw says it’s much more than that.
“Put your blade where your arrogance is, Beerchi, and you can meet Mother Moi Ike in person,” Kai says.
We need each and every person here for the fighting when the time comes. Not to mention more of our blood spilled is the exact opposite of what we’re going for.
“Stop,” I say. “Zora, Kai… you…” All the warmth in the towering Beerchi who greeted me is gone.
“This does not concern you.”
“Maybe it doesn’t, but still.” I’m not sure of a lot right now, but in this I know I’m right. “Kai, listen to me….”
“I do not need your help, Jelani,” Kai says without a glance my way.
“This ain’t about help. We can’t be fighting like this. People out there wanna kill us and you gon’ do it for ’em?” Now I’m shouting, my frustration kindled. “Stop, please!”
No one moves.
Neither speaks.
A voice crackles through the air with age. “Shaun, Kai, you will reap cursing on your heads. Stand down!” Bati’s voice slices and I exhale, taking down the barrier between them, thankful someone else sees the problem with this and is stepping in to fix it. As fragile as he is, he commands presence. He is wearing white Gahlee robes with gold twine tied at his waist.
“Rue, my dear.” His hands cup my face, and a million creases around his eyes greet me. “It is truly so good to have you back here in our midst.” He turns to Kai. “Good work, Kainese. Your girls did good getting Jelani out of there.”
Shaun sneers at the compliment Bati gives Kai. But neither moves. They breathe heavier than before, staring, practically nose to nose, two hurricanes ready to unleash.
Bati sets a hand on Zora’s shoulder. “Please, even Goddess Yakanna held peace in great esteem.”
Zora doesn’t move.
Bati’s words are swallowed by the silence. “Kainese, your mother would…”
Shaun shoves the blade away; its blunt side slams into Bati. He stumbles backward into me. Zora swipes with the blunt end of her stick. Kai ducks when Zora strikes and Zora blocks as Shaun does. It’s a dance, one Zora and Kai have practiced. One Shaun isn’t prepared for.
Kai’s next blow lands and his face is bloody. Her girls hiss in delight. Shaun’s alone and I remember what Jhamal says about the Beerchi. If he can’t hold his own, one of his tribe mates will take his place. I chew my lip, waiting, hoping, wishing someone would jump in and stop this. But the Beerchi stand around arms folded, watching how he handles it. He pummels toward Kai in brute strength. I can’t stand and watch this anymore.
“I said,stop!” Magic shoots like daggers from my hands, my arms warm all over, pinning Shaun and Kai back from each other. Veins bulge in Shaun’s corded throat as he huffs. Kai is more stoic, but the speed of her chest rising and falling says she’s anything but calm.
“Wecan’tfight like this!”
Bati pulls himself up. “Jelani is right. It is beyond time. We will flounder without proper leadership. Get to your rooms. Make your preparations! Kowana Yechi at High Moon.”
Kowana, what?
Everyone stands around, shock written into their faces in lines.
“Now!” Bati yells, and people scatter. Kai cuts a glance at me before leaving. A look that could kill. The same one she gave Jhamal.
CHAPTER TEN
KOWANA YECHI IS THEritual the Ancestors used to nominate a tribe leader from one of the clans, or at least that’s how Jhamal had explained it. They haven’t done one since fleeing into Yiyo. The crowd filters down the thin corridors to where I’d guess the sleeping quarters are. The light from the fissures has dimmed. But it’s a long way until High Moon. Jhamal snaps his armor around himself.
“They wouldn’t… no one in their right mind would think of me that way.”
