Milúà’s shout pulled L’?r? back to the fight. The maiden snapped her spear over her knee, breaking it in two. Then she went in again, this time striking from both sides. Tofa turned his sword into a shield, hiding from each blow and using its weight to knock the maiden off balance.How was he doing that?It had to be old magic. But he clearly used his agbára. L’?r? didn’t understand it.
She kept her eyes on Alawani. There was no way through to him without going through the fight that played out before her. Her agbára burned at her fingertips, waiting to be unleashed. The maiden landed on her back more often thanthe crown heir did. It wasn’t a fair fight, but L’?r? noticed that Milúà was still standing where many would have fallen and retreated. She kept going. Nothing was keeping her from saving her Prince Àlùfáà. And for that, L’?r? was grateful.
The thing in Tofa’s hand went from dagger to sword to shield to axe, and now, a sword which he swung at Milúà with full strength. Milúà grunted every time she struck it, clearly exhausted but keeping up with his moves.
Finally, Tofa said, ‘Enough of this, Milúà. I don’t want to hurt you.’
‘Let the girl go,’ was all Milúà said through heavy pants.
‘He’s not worth this,’ Tofa said, looking at Alawani, who hadn’t moved from his position or tried to stop the blood that soaked his shirt.
The pillar in L’?r?’s mind bled as Alawani did. Blood pooled over his hands and the sight of it made her sick with panic. Had he sliced an artery? Was he dying?No. No. No.She felt her mind fraying, coming apart, and she couldn’t find the words. Her mouth couldn’t speak. She didn’t care if it was a trick or a ploy to distract Milúà. She wanted the bleeding to stop. She wanted him to stop. She just wanted it all to stop. Freedom shouldn’t come at such a cost, but if this was how her brother wanted it to be, she’d gladly oblige. Her hands glowed bright, and she felt the energy in the storm billowing around her. L’?r? forced her racing heart to slow and poured all her focus on the crown heir before her. As she stared at him, she reached deeper, finding his core, and then she pulled from it. L’?r? moved closer, drawing energy from him. She could feel her own energy rage through her like the lightning striking the wall. Sparks fell off her body like rain, and Tofa fell to his knees and crawled into a foetal position.
‘What are you doing to me?’ he cried out in pain.
‘What you would have done to me,’ L’?r? said, her outstretched hands trembling as she drew his agbára from him, fuelling her own agbára with his core. The light in her hands crawled up her skin, covering her entire arms. She could feel his energy boosting hers and she felt as though her heart would burst.
‘Stop!’ Alawani shouted.
Hearing his voice, she recoiled and quickly quelled her agbára.
‘Curse you!’ Tofa shouted and flung his hand at her.
He’d clearly expected something to happen. Something with agbára oru. But she’d taken it from him, and his eyes widened in horror as he fell back. ‘What did you do?’ he shrieked, and slumped to the ground, trembling with cold.
‘Gods of the sun and sands!’ Milúà exclaimed.
L’?r? shot her an icy glare, and the maiden stepped back.
Milúà rushed to the crown heir, pouring her agbára into him and heating his body. ‘You are a curse! You’ve frozen his core!’ she shouted at L’?r?.
L’?r? felt a sharp pang in her heart as the words hit her. She’d said as much to herself. She ran to Alawani and pulled the knife from his hands, placing her hand over his wound. She tore off a piece of her top with the knife and wrapped it around the wound.
‘Were you going to kill him?’ Alawani asked.
‘No!’ L’?r? said. ‘Even though he was definitely going to kill me.’
‘What did you do?’
‘I made it impossible for him to hurt me or you or anyone,’ she said, glancing back at Tofa on the ground. She didn’t know whether what she’d done was permanent or not. She didn’t even fully understand what it was that she’d done, but she could still feel his energy inside her, pushing against her core with a violence to match the raging storm.
Alawani’s head shook, his eyes fixed on her. ‘Tèmi.’ My own. That was all he said, and L’?r? felt her heart fail within her. His eyes, his beautiful brown eyes. The ones she’d lost herself in many times looked at her now, and she felt like he was looking through her. ‘I’ve gone as far as I can with you, Tèmi,’ he said, and walked towards Milúà, who was still warming up Tofa’s core to keep him from freezing to death.
Milúà rose to meet him, standing too close to him, her face almost buried in his neck. Alawani whispered something to her that L’?r? couldn’t hear over the howling wind.
‘What’s happening?’ L’?r? said.
Milúà looked at Alawani, and he nodded.
‘Step back!’ Milúà shouted at L’?r? when she moved forward.
Rmí took L’?r? by the hand and pulled her away, putting distance between them and the maiden.
Milúà formed an energy ball and launched it at the wall. Then another, and another. She took a break, exhausted and choking from the dust that ensued and the sand that blew. The storm was closer, and had layered the ground with about half an inch of sand.
‘Keep going,’ Alawani said, encouraging her.
L’?r? didn’t understand what was happening. Was Milúà helping them escape? Why? What did Alawani say? What in the damned names of the gods was going on?
