Page 102 of The Gilded Ones

I suddenly can’t move, can’t breathe. The deliverer? Free them all?

“That’s absurd!” Keita sputters beside me. “What do you mean, Deka should—”

“It is not your place to speak, son of man!” one of the other armoured women snarls. “You are not welcome here.”

The deathshrieks bristle around me, angry snarls echoing in the cavern. “Murderer!” one calls.

“The lord of Gar Fatu. He killed so many of us,” another says.

They gather around him, their spikes rattling.

“Keita!” I gasp, water sluicing from my body as I strain to rise.

Keita quickly unsheathes his sword, ready to defend himself.

“Calm yourself, Deka,” White Hands says, gently pushing me down again. She walks over to the armoured woman. “Leave him, Zainab,” she says.

“But he—”

“He kept the Nuru safe at the risk of his own life. That alone guarantees his,” White Hands interrupts sternly. “Besides, he would never betray the Nuru.” She turns and looks him firmly in the eye. “Would you?” she asks.

“No, of course not!” Keita replies. “She’s my— She’s my partner.”

White Hands nods at this mumbled admission. “Indeed,” she says. She turns back to Zainab. “Even if not for that, he is one of my descendants.”

Zainab growls. “You have hundreds of them. All of us do. We’re all mothers too. Grandmothers. Great-grandmothers.”

White Hands is implacable. “You will not touch him. None of you will touch him.” She glances pointedly around the room at the gathered deathshrieks. “From now on, as long as the lord of Gar Fatu refrains from any mortal action against us, we will do the same for him.”

Grumbles erupt across the cavern, but White Hands whirls to face those assembled. “This is my will as your general, and you will obey me!”

The grumbles immediately cease, even the deathshrieks no longer clicking in their language.

White Hands turns to Keita. “You may leave now,” she says. “Take Masaima. He will see you safely to the army.”

Keita turns to me, worried. “But I—”

“Leave before my sisters tear you to pieces,” she commands. “Their patience grows short.”

Keita quickly nods. “May I say goodbye to Deka, at least?” he says.

“Make haste.”

Nodding again, Keita wades into the water, puts his hand to my cheek. “Deka,” he says softly, his eyes sad.

I struggle to point my little finger towards him, smiling when he gently intertwines his with mine. “If I could move my hands, I would hold you,” I whisper. Then I admit, a low, soft whisper under my breath, “Keita, I—”

He places his lips to mine.

Sparks immediately explode across my skin. I barely notice the annoyed snarls of the deathshrieks, the growling of the armoured women – all I feel is the thundering of my heartbeat and the whisper of his body against mine. My entire being is warm now, despite the coolness of the water.

Keita tastes like star fruits and fire.

Keita tastes like home.

The kiss is suspended in time, magic coiling between us. A moment I will treasure for ever. When he finally lifts his lips, there’s wonder in his eyes.

“I always wanted my first kiss to be with someone special,” he whispers. “I always wanted it to be with you.”

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