‘I’m going to close my eyes. When I open them, be gone!’
And just like that, the horde of terrifying men turned into a pack of headless chickens, scurrying away.
L’?r? couldn’t take her eyes off Alawani as he returned the magma to the earth. He waved his hands over the ground and cast the red substance back into moulds of black rocks.
He turned and held her in his arms. ‘Are you okay?’
She nodded. ‘Yes, I just need air.’
In the blink of an eye, he awakened his agbára again and waved his hand around, removing some of the heat from the air that surrounded them. His eyes were still fixed on her, and the heat she felt this time was not from the air but within her. Her eyes fell away from his. She wanted more than what they were but she’d never dare say anything. She was, after all … just a coward.
Báabá s?nù, k’a ri’ra wa he, ni Yorùbá fí n k?’là
To be able to find ourselves if we get lost, is the reason Yoruba people give tribal marks
2
Ìlú-?ba – The Capital City First Ring, Kingdom of Oru
L’?R?
L’?r? had seen ten first suns when she first walked into Command’s arena. It had taken many blood moons for Command to agree to train her, and even then, only in secret under cover of night. Being the daughter of an exiled man, L’?r? shared in his penance – serving time for a crime he’d committed long before she was born. A crime she’d have committed herself if she’d been in his position. So while L’?r? loved her father, she hated the name she was forced to carry like a target on her back.
Winning Ogun and joining the royal guard was her only way out.
Upon seeing Command’s figure emerge from the darkness, L’?r? fell to her knees, awaiting her commander’s next words.
‘You disgrace me,’ Command said finally, walking out slowly from behind the pillar.
Alawani prostrated low before her and stepped back. No doubt still very confused about everything but knowing better than to get in between her and Command when the woman was this angry.
L’?r? rose to her feet. ‘I’m sorry, Command, but –’
‘I don’t know what excuse you can give to justify this,’ Command said in a cool even tone that scared L’?r? more than when the woman shouted. ‘You bring thugs to my arena, and you still can’t win a fight against drunkards? Have I been wasting my time? Is this how you think you’ll win when you get called for Ogun? You think this is what royal guards are made of?’
‘Command, I was outnumbered,’ L’?r? said softly.
‘I trained you to defeat two dozen men,’ Command shouted, then glared at Alawani. ‘He won’t always be there to save you.’
L’?r? lowered her gaze, knowing that nothing she could say would help. Command was right. That should’ve been an easy fight.
Command took a step closer, and L’?r? flinched. She stilled then sighed, raising L’?r?’s burnt arm to observe. ‘Turn around. Let me look at you. Are you hurt?’
L’?r? shook her head, knowing that with Command, anything short of bleeding out her guts was not hurt enough to mention.
Command pulled out a small container and rubbed a sticky substance over the burn on her arm.
L’?r? felt the ache dull immediately and let out a deep breath. ‘Thank you.’ She smiled, hoping the woman would return the sentiment, but Command only sighed again, brushing L’?r?’s hair with her fingers as if checking that the roots were still in place.
‘You should never allow your opponent to get close enough to touch you,’ Command said, pulling out blades from beneath her cloak. ‘And for the sake of all that burns, don’t ever run out of blades in a fight.’ The woman tossed half a dozen blades of different sizes and lengths to L’?r? – two of which she’d pulled out of her greying hair. ‘Wear this.’
L’?r? picked them up and hid them along the belt strapped to her thighs and in her hair.
‘You have nothing to prove to anyone outside these walls. If you want to prove you’re not a coward, do it here during Ogun; do it beneath the sun where even the gods won’t be able to change your name from Victor,’ Command said, her face still stern but her voice a soft whisper.
L’?r? felt a lump form in her throat, and she had to swallow hard to keep from bursting into tears. In the absence of her mother, Command, in her own very unusual way, had kept L’?r? safe and given her refuge within these walls, even when doing so meant risking her life. L’?r? blinked the tears away. The only thing worse than losing that fight, worse than even disappointing her commander, would be crying in the arena. Only blood and sweat were acceptable in the pit of death – never tears.
Command leaned in closer to her. ‘If I didn’t think you could do this, I wouldn’t be wasting my time training you or risking the wrath of the Regent by doing so. I told your father I could make a warrior out of you. Don’t make me a liar.
