‘I did not get the chance. For two first suns, they had lived in the Sun Temple together and on my first night there, I knew the moment I saw ?niìtàn with Mremí that she had filled the space I once had in his heart. There was no denying what they felt for each other. At first, I thought he had left the Order for Mremí. That he did for her what he could not for me, and believe me when I tell you, it nearly killed me. But that wasn’t it – at least not for Mremí. Because on my wedding day, your mother gave me sleeping herbs and tookmy place, marrying the High Priest and taking my place in our bed.’
L’?r? gasped. Even Alawani looked like his eyes would bulge out of their sockets. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing about her mother. Not the version of the woman who was murdered for being different, but the woman who lied and stole and cheated her way through the kingdom. And for what? Why could her mother have possibly wanted to destroy the lives of so many people? People who offered her sanctuary.
Ìyá-Idán ignored their expressions. ‘When I woke up, it was already too late. The Lord Regent Babátúndé did not know any of his brides nor had he ever seen them. In the days after the king’s death, the mourning queen had been the one to oversee the brides and prepare us for the wedding. We were to be veiled for the entirety of the ceremony, ordered to unveil our faces to the High Priest only when we got to his bed. I was so angry I could barely understand it, but I knew I had to remain silent. Of course, Mremí’s trickery was discovered by the Holy Order the very next morning, but it was too late. She had bedded the High Priest and there was no way to break that bond, nor would he have wanted to. Babátúndé realized his unrequited love was now his bride before the gods and the entire kingdom, and he could not have been more pleased. He and ?niìtàn were like brothers, bound by their trials as survivors where many before them had fallen, and that meant he couldn’t interfere with whatever ?niìtàn had going on with Mremí. Maybe he felt none of them would have her in the end because if all had gone according to plan, one of them would have become the High Priest, married and bound to their wives and priestess, while the other would have been a regular Àlùfáà bound only to their maiden. But with Mremí’s intervention, risking her life to be his wife like that, I just know hetook that to be a sign from the gods themselves. Like all before him, he had fallen hopelessly in love with her. My family barely survived the aftermath of Mremí’s deceit. I don’t know how she managed to, but she produced documents and a witness that proved she had been born in the second ring, which was all the High Priest needed to shut down the council’s call to remove her. She married the most powerful man in the kingdom and, within a month, was pregnant with his heir. She was untouchable. My family, on the other hand, wanted nothing to do with me. The stench of my shame was too much for them. I was forced to return here and this has been my home ever since.’ Ìyá-Idán scoffed, ‘I had fallen in love with my best friend, and he in turn fell in love with Mremí, who claimed to love him only to drop him the moment he turned down the chance to become High Priest, and marriedhisbest friend instead. To have loved Mremí was to destroy your life with your own hands.’
L’?r? was still stuck on the part where her mother married the Lord Regent. ‘My mother married Lord Regent Babátúndé?’
‘Yes, she did,’ Ìyá-Idán sighed, ‘and you are the fruit of their union. The Lord Regent is your true father.’
‘That’s not possible,’ L’?r? said, standing from her chair. ‘It’s not true. My birth father is dead. He was a royal guard killed before I was born. That’s what my fa— Baba-Ìtàn told me.’
‘No word I have said here today is a lie.’
‘That means,’ Alawani said quietly. ‘That means she is one of the high council.’
‘No.’ Ìyá-Idán rose to her feet. ‘It means that you are the firstborn of High Priest Babátúndé and Mremí of Òtútù. You are the firstborn of the sun.’
Once again, L’?r? was speechless. Then she laughed.
Ìyá-Idán looked at her, then curtsied low to the ground.‘L’?r?, you are the true heir to the kingdom of Oru. You are our queen.’
L’?r? wanted to launch herself at the woman to stop her from bowing to her. No one should bow to her, much less this older woman who’d given her refuge in her time of need. She didn’t know why Ìyá-Idán wanted this story to be true, but it simply couldn’t be. Baba-Ìtàn would never have told her that her true father was dead when he lived in the palace, just one ring over from them. Would he?
The look on Alawani’s face reflected precisely how she felt about everything she had heard this morning. His face was contorted with confusion, and he, too, was speechless.
‘Àlùfáà-Àgbà wants you dead not only because you have this agbára òtútù but because you are the heir to this kingdom, and the Holy Order has made it their mission to rid the world of your people. To them, someone with agbára òtútù could never rule Oru.’
‘He killed my mother for this? Because she gave birth to me?’
‘You are a glitch formed within a loophole. When parents with agbára oru and agbára òtútù sire a child, that child has no agbára. The hidden texts written in the blood of the children born that way and slaughtered say as much. But when your mother chose to bed the High Priest, she did so with one born of the sun but also void of agbára oru because of his stripping. If he hadn’t been stripped, you would have had no agbára at all, but because of that, you were born not just of your parents but of the Red Stone as well. The whole reason the priests strip themselves of power and bear children afterwards is so their first child will have direct access to the gods, making them the most powerful in the kingdom. So you, L’?r?, whether you understand it or not, are the most powerful person in this land. And that is what Mremídied for. She made a mockery of the Order. Her mere presence was a threat to the kingdom. Her powers were skilfully hidden and just like you, she used old magic to conceal the truth. Very few people in this kingdom know about your people in the north. That secret is worth more than any life to them.’ Ìyá-Idán lifted the scroll. ‘I think she was coming back here for this. She wanted to get you home. I saw her get killed outside this house and dragged away by the priests, and I mourned for you both. But then, one day, you called my name, and there you were, the child of the north, the queen of Oru.’
‘You can’t go back,’ Alawani said quickly. ‘If this is true, Àlùfáà-Àgbà will kill you and anyone who protects you, no matter what he has promised. I know he will.’
L’?r? could feel her world tilt on its head. Her vision grew blurry, and her breaths came in short bursts. How could Baba-Ìtàn have kept this from her? She closed her eyes to ground herself, and in her mind’s eye, the pillar for Baba-Ìtàn, the one that had protected her all her life, cracked in half, the top of it slipping and sinking into the sand beneath. Her world wouldn’t recover from this.
Ìyá-Idán’s voice cut through the haze in her mind.
‘I’ve told you all this so you can know your true enemy. There is one more determined than the Holy Order. One who will fight you even until death. The one whose seat your presence threatens, the one whose crown you will wear. Your brother, Crown Heir Tofaratì. As long as you draw breath, he will come for you.’
Don’t go, did you think that was all? Sit sit, get comfortable.
Now, where was I?
Many things happened beneath the sky on the Day of the First Sun.
The sun did not set until the next dawn arrived and when it set, the moon was red with blood.
The blood moon appears every thirty days twelve times, then the Day of the First Sun repeats itself.
It has been many First Suns since I walked the earth.
Too many to count or remember.
32
The Royal Palace, Royal Island, Kingdom of Oru
TOFA
