What about?bàtálá, Odùduwà, Aganjù and Erinl
And all the other Irúnm?l – the principal divinities?
If you do not know them, find one whose wisdom sparks from their grey hairs and sit at their feet to learn from them.
I do not have the time to tell you the things you should already know.
What you may not know, though, is to be careful when seeking the gods.
It’s best to call upon the gods of your fathers and their mothers before them.
Do not call upon a god that does not know your name.
30
Ìlú-Idán, Fourth Ring, Kingdom of Oru
L’?R?
When night fell that day, L’?r? found herself counting the stars that blinked across her vision. Using all the will she could muster to avoid falling asleep and into the desert dream where Àlùfáà-Àgbà waited for her. She tapped her index finger against her thumb in a steady rhythm to keep from drifting off. She considered her options. She was confident that Márùn could get her to the temple; what she wasn’t sure of was everything that would happen when she got there. She found herself wishing Command were with her. She’d have the right answers. She’d know exactly what L’?r? needed to do, and how to get out of this alive. She wondered if her old commander was thinking about her too. Worried for her, as she always was but often pretended not to be. L’?r? wished she could’ve explained everything to her before she had to leave. She curled into a ball, and her heart ached for everyone she’d left behind. Back then she’d felt like she had no one, and now she was far from home, she realized how much she’d had to lose.
This thing between her and Alawani, this unspoken thing that was long overdue to blossom, was cocooned in a web of lies and secrets, and her heart broke at the thought that it wouldnever happen. Maybe she should have kissed him back at the palace when he’d tried. No, it was all wrong. She didn’t want her first kiss to be tainted with the bitter tears of grief. Yet every excuse she’d given herself as to why they couldn’t have explored this thing between them seemed irrelevant in the face of death. Now they were on the run for their lives, every day a gift, every day full of danger and uncertainty. Could she really die not knowing what it felt like to have his lips upon hers?
She rolled over on her bed and screamed into her pillow. She sprang up as the door to her room cracked open. She raised her hand and shone a beam of light at the door, and Alawani grimaced. ‘It’s me.’
L’?r? lowered her hand and reduced the glow of her agbára to a dull shine.
‘I heard you shouting. What’s wrong?’
‘You heard me from your room?’
Alawani looked away shyly and scratched his head. ‘I heard you from the door.’
L’?r? raised an eyebrow. ‘You were out there?’
He nodded and sat next to her on the bed. ‘I was deciding whether or not you’d want me to come in.’
‘And?’
‘And, well …’ he said, smiling, ‘I’m here.’
L’?r? glanced back at the door. ‘How long were you there for?’
‘Doesn’t matter.’
L’?r? sighed, and then her eyes widened. ‘Have you been there all night? Did you sleep on the floor?’
‘Doesn’t matter,’ Alawani brushed off. ‘Did something happen in your sleep? Is that why you screamed?’
L’?r? couldn’t believe it. Had he camped at her door all night? She couldn’t help the smile that crept onto her face. ‘Did you get any sleep at all?’
Alawani shook his head. ‘Nightmares. I can’t stop thinking about my father, those last moments with him. I think I just feel guilty for leaving what he’d dreamed for me and wish I could tell him why it’s not the path for me.’ He sighed, ‘And the moments of peace I get, my grandfather comes to me –’
‘What? Curse the sun! Why won’t he leave us alone? What does he say?’
‘Pretty much what he says to you. To come back.’
‘This will be over soon,’ L’?r? said as she pulled him in and wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug. He winced, and she pulled back. ‘What?’
