Command stumbled back but didn’t fall. She spat out blood from her lips and cracked her neck. ‘Now we are talking.’
L’?r?’s heart raced as she saw the blood, and she felt her determination slipping away. ‘Please, Command, I don’t want to fight you.’
But Command wasn’t listening. She launched at L’?r? again, throwing high kicks at her.
Jump. Get out of reach!the voice shouted.
L’?r? felt the world slow as she bobbed and slid out of each kick’s reach. Her feet shuffled through the loose rocks on the ground. She was panting heavily by the end, her arms aching with exhaustion as she blocked each strike.
‘Surrender, L’?r?, don’t make me ask you again!’ Command said.
‘I – I can’t. They won’t spare him if I go back. They will kill us both! You don’t –’ she heaved, ‘you don’t know the truth.’
Command lunged again. L’?r?’s reflexes had slowed, so when Command reached for her, she caught her hair, pulled her close, punched her stomach, and tossed her to the ground. L’?r? groaned and attempted to stand, the sound of her pulse pounding in her ears as she tried to keep the world from spinning.
Move, L’?r?, move, the voice said, and L’?r? hit her hand against her head to stop the disorientating noise that echoed in her mind. ‘Leave me alone!’
By the time her sight cleared, Command’s dagger was coming down on her. L’?r? put up her hands in front of her and screamed. She didn’t realize what had happened until she saw Command stagger and whimper, gasping for air. In her panic, she’d channelled her agbára and shot a blast of frost into Command’s core. The ice blast had sunk deep into Command’s chest, oozing dark mists, spreading quickly over her body. L’?r? rushed to grab her, holding her head in her arms.
Command’s lips trembled, her words fluttering as she tried to speak. Stuck on the first letter, she repeated, ‘I – I –’
‘Shh, don’t speak. You’ll be all right. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.’ L’?r? used the dagger to tear through the woman’s clothes to see the impact on her bare skin. The dark streaks across her chest spread out like webs from her core. L’?r? desperately brushed off the flakes of ice forming over Command’s skin. They only grew faster.
‘Channel your agbára. Let your heat warm you up!’ L’?r? pleaded. Command didn’t respond, her gasps ebbing away slowly. ‘Command! Wake up! Curse the sun, please, please, wake up!’ She shook her vigorously. ‘Help me! Somebody, help me, please! Command, wake up!’
Command opened her eyes slowly, and L’?r? leaned in close, her ears to her mouth to catch every word. ‘I wasn’t going to kill you.’
‘I know, I know, I’m sorry,’ she rubbed her face, ‘I’m so sorry, I panicked.’ She placed her hands over her head, confused and more scared than she’d ever been in her life.
Command coughed, and L’?r? hugged her tighter. ‘Please, please, somebody help me! Aunty Títí, please get up!’ shescreamed at the top of her lungs. Command hadn’t let L’?r? call her by her birth name since she was a child. L’?r? couldn’t bear to call her Command in this moment. She couldn’t lose her.
‘You fought well,’ Command struggled to say with the briefest smile across her face. Then she said, ‘Save your father,’ and she went quiet.
Tears poured out of her eyes as she held on tightly to the woman who had loved her and trained her. She was hysterical, ‘No, no, Aunty Títí, please! Wake up! Wake up! Open your eyes! Help me! Wake up! Wake up! Open your eyes! Help me! Somebody help me!’
L’?r? screamed, her voice echoing through the air until her throat was raw, and her sobs came in strained gasps. She jumped at the sound of footsteps crunching on the ground nearby. She looked up to find Milúà staring back at her.
L’?r?’s shoulders fell and she hunched over Command’s body, too exhausted to run or fight. Too tired to do anything but cry.
‘Is she dead?’ Milúà said in an even tone, looking at the ice crystals covering half of Command’s body.
L’?r? looked up at her, frowning, then shook her head. ‘Can you help her?’ She noticed the warm glow of agbára in Milúà’s hands and knew the maiden was there for her, but she couldn’t do anything about that now. She just wanted Command to live. ‘Please help her. Use your agbára to warm her up. There’s ice inside of her.’
L’?r? stepped back in shock when she saw Milúà kneel beside the woman, her face filled with emotion. Ice had formed around the corners of Command’s lips, and her breath came in slow bursts of dark mist.
‘I don’t think anyone can help her,’ Milúà said, glaring at L’?r?. ‘What did you do?’
‘It was an accident. I love her,’ L’?r? sobbed.
‘So you killed her? A commander in the king’s army? What is wrong with you?’
‘It was an accident!’
Milúà scoffed.
‘Please, just try!’ L’?r? shouted, crying and sobbing.
Milúà channelled her agbára, sending a warm glow through her palms and placing them on Command’s chest. The woman groaned softly, and the ice clinging to her chest melted away.
