By now, most people who’d come for some peace and quiet had run out of the bar, leaving the angry people defending the man Alawani had blasted off.
Gbk finally found his footing. He strolled towards them with charred clothes. ‘So you are, after all …’ Gbk said, slurring his words and pointing at Alawani, whose hood was now uncovered, ‘… the son of that bastard.’
L’?r? saw the anger rise in her friend.
‘Gbk, I said get out,’ the cloaked figure in the corner shouted again.
‘And I said shut up. His father is the reason we’re starving in this ring. All our food ends up in the capital city, and we beg for scraps of what they could not have produced without us,’ Gbk shouted back. ‘Oath-breaker. Just like his father. Did the Holy Order not announce that the gods broke their own rules and called the prince to the Red Stone? So what is he doing here?’
‘Those were just rumours, Gbk,’ the bar owner called out to him. ‘The gods cannot call the prince to be Àlùfáà – it is forbidden, and you know this. Just get out of my bar.’
Gbk spat and slurred his words, ‘This bastard may have turned his back on the gods but I tell you now, our Máywá is destined for greatness, and the gods have told me he will be our next High Priest.’
‘Eèw,’ came a soft whisper from the corner. ‘Abomination.’
Alawani took advantage of the distraction and lunged at Gbk.
‘No!’ L’?r? shouted, but the words caught in her throat. She couldn’t speak. She could hardly breathe; her hands grabbed her neck, and she reached out for Alawani as he collapsed.
One of the figures in the corner stood and pulled off his hood to reveal a bald head and a severe face, tribal-markedcheeks, deep-set eyes, and something bulging in the middle of his forehead like a large stone beneath his skin. When he stood up, everyone in the bar fell to the ground.
‘Mfà!’ the young woman he’d sat next to called out to him. ‘Leave him.’
L’?r? noticed the woman’s cloak was identical to Mfà’s. She didn’t look as sullen as he, and the fullness of her cheeks made her appear younger. She had the same tribal marks as Mfà and most of the people in the bar – six horizontal dashes.
Mfà glanced at the woman, ‘To speak such things is treason,’ he said in a low gruff voice.
‘We don’t need this att—’
Mfà didn’t wait for the rest of his partner’s sentence. He turned towards Gbk, who was now looking up at him in shock, a hint of fear on his face, his hand also holding his neck.
The older man turned slowly without saying a word. Then the lanterns in the room grew brighter, and the room got so hot that L’?r? felt herself growing even more faint. A few feet from her, Alawani was breathing heavily, and she crawled towards him. The man’s agbára boiled the air in the bar and every person except he and the woman next to him was gasping for air.
Alawani stretched his hands towards L’?r?’s face, his agbára taking away some of the heat in the air around her so she could breathe.
The man’s agbára glowed so bright L’?r? squinted to see him and watched in horror as he punched his fingers into the drunk man’s mouth and burned out his tongue.
The younger woman sprang to her feet and shouted, ‘Mfà, stop it! Now!’ She gathered her things and stormed out of the room – Mfà following in step behind her. The roomcooled as soon as Mfà crossed the threshold, and everyone exhaled in unison.
Half the bar emptied after that. The air was no longer hot but heavy with delayed panic.
‘Gbk, you idiot! No one in this entire state is foolish enough to pick a fight with Mfà. You’re lucky he didn’t burn us all alive. I’m warning you for the last time. Don’t come back to my house,’ the bar lord said, ignoring the drunk man’s pain-filled groans as his friends carried him out of the bar.
L’?r? looked at Alawani, eyes wide with panic. She whispered, ‘What in the cursed names just happened?’
Alawani helped her to her feet. ‘Let’s go up.’
The storm raged on, so they had no choice but to stay in the room they’d paid for.
In moments, they were up the stairs and in the room. Once in, they barricaded the door with the single bed.
‘Curse the sun, Alawani. Why did you let that man pick a fight with you?’ L’?r? said. ‘You might as well tell the Holy Order where we are.’
‘You heard what he said about my father.’
‘It doesn’t matter what he said. Staying alive is all that matters,’ L’?r? spat back.
Alawani turned away from her, and she sighed, frustrated.
