‘You follow Ìyá-Ayé’s orders like a trained dog, just like Àdùnní did,’ Command said, pointing to Milúà, and then she turned to L’?r?. ‘And you blindly follow your father’s wishes. Both of whom got the girls they claimed to love killed. Their fight is not your own.’
Milúà took a step closer and L’?r?’s heart skipped a beat. She thought she saw the maiden’s eyes brim with tears, but she must have been imagining it because Milúà turned her back to them and walked towards Alawani in the distance.
‘Don’t touch him,’ L’?r? shouted, moving to stop Milúà when she felt the heavy blow of Command’s hilt strike her across her head. Pain flared in her mind and then she was falling. Falling into darkness.
The treaty that bound the continent was signed in blood.
Six kings laid down their crowns and yielded to the
Aláàfin – the ruler of the newly formed kingdom of Oru.
In exchange for a drop of the sun all but one yielded their throne and till this day, the kingdom to the west, hidden in the caves and cliffs, lives at the edge of the continent, separated from the gods’ blessing.
They remain as scions of the Òrì?à, untainted by the gods of the sun and sands.
34
Ìlú-Idán, Fourth Ring, Kingdom of Oru
L’?R?
L’?r? opened her eyes to the bright sunlight, and felt its heat radiating off her skin. She moved to sit up, but her body was too heavy and too sore. She slumped back, and her head hit a wooden panel. Groaning, she rolled to her side. She was in the back of an open wagon. The taste of dust and sand on her lips told her she was still in Oru. Gathering all her strength, she heaved her body up and looked around. She was in a clearing surrounded by rocks on all sides. In the distance, a horse was tied to a tall shrub; farther past it, she could see the mighty wall that divided the rings. L’?r? hoped that the wall she saw was the border into the fifth ring, and that Command hadn’t taken her farther from her destination.
‘Alawani,’ she called out, straining her voice. ‘Alawani, where are you? Command, are you there?’
L’?r? climbed out of the wagon and roamed the stony grounds. She checked her pocket, quickly tossing everything out to the ground until she found it. She held the hourglass up to her eye level. The sand had reduced significantly. A wave of panic surged through her as the looming boulders surrounding her seemed to inch closer. Her breath stopped short, and her entire body tensed when she heard her name.She swung round to see Command’s tall figure coming towards her. L’?r? heard the chimes in her hair before she saw her face.
‘Good, you’re up,’ Command said flatly. ‘Now let’s go. I can’t drag you all the way to the capital on this thing.’
‘The capital?’
‘I’m taking you home.’
‘Command, I can’t go back,’ L’?r? said.
‘If you turn yourself in, they will release your father and Kyà,’ Command said briskly.
L’?r? stepped back from her. ‘Àlùfáà-Àgbà will never release them.’
‘It’s not up to him. The Lord Regent sent me to bring you home. It’s his word that matters, not the Elder Priest’s.’
A few light beads ago, L’?r? might have said yes. She trusted no one more than she trusted Command. But Àlùfáà-Àgbà hadn’t told Milúà to stop hunting them, even after the deal to give up her agbára. He wouldn’t even give her a chance to honour her side of the bargain. She wasn’t going back. Not now. Not when she was so close to doing what her father had begged her to do. Escape and survive.
‘Where is Alawani?’ L’?r? said, breathless. ‘Did you leave him with Milúà? She’ll kill him.’
‘You think a maiden of the Holy Order whose life is bound to her priest will kill an Àlùfáà? L’?r?, please, you’re smarter than this,’ Command said. ‘Anyway, my mission is you. And you need time apart from him to understand the situation you’re in. You need to come with me.’
‘I need to go back to him. He needs me.’
‘Do not move from that spot, L’?r?. That boy does not need you,’ Command replied firmly. ‘We need to talk.’
‘Did you know my mother?’ L’?r? said abruptly. ‘If you want to talk, that’s what I want to talk about.’
Command’s shoulders slumped and before she could speak L’?r? went on, ‘You knew my mother and you didn’t tell me. I’ve spent nearly every day for gods know how many first suns with you. Every night you could have told me, and you didn’t.’
‘I chose not to tell you. To save you from walking the same path she did,’ Command said, fuming. ‘Your mother had friends in high places, and enemies in even higher places, and when she chose to defy the gods, she died by their hands. I didn’t want that for you. I was trying to protect you. I am trying to protect you now. I love you. Can’t you see that?’
L’?r?’s eyes stung with tears. Those were words she never thought she’d hear. ‘I love you, Command,’ her voice hitched, ‘but I can’t do it. I can’t go back. What if you come with me?’
